Overclocking i7 920 on P6X58D-E

zom247

zom247

zom247

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This is my first overclock for years so please be gentle!

I have the following:

Asus P6X58D-E
6GB Patriot Viper DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz
C300 64GB SSD
Corsair H50 in push/pull config
ATI 5870 at stock
Antec 1200 case

I've followed some guides and tried to get 3.8GHz but I got a BSOD. Today I removed the H50, cleaned/re-seated the cpu and then fitted the H50 back on. I've now got my PC running at 3.4GHz and ran Prime 95 for 2 hours without any BSODs.

My temps idle were:

Core 1 - 43c
Core 2 - 39c
Core 3 - 41c
Core 4 - 36c

Temps after Prime:

Core 1 - 89c
Core 2 - 91c
Core 3 - 83c
Core 4 - 84c

Are these temps ok or high? I thought I'd be able to get 3.8GHz with my cooling system and the case I'm using. As it's my first time oc'ing for ages I'm not sure if I have got all the BIOS settings correct.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks.
 
What are you using to measure your temps? Should be using Core Temp or Real Temp.

It definitely seems like your air flow is wrong (not enough fans, fans in the wrong place or orientation or incorrect heatsink seating maybe) because those temps are more what you'd expect from 4-4.2 GHz than 3.4 GHz.
 
Temps very high for that OC

Is the 920 a D0 or C0 chip and what vcore are you pushing through it?
 
for all i7 cpu's apart from the 950 and upward the overclockability is actually pretty crap.
The i7 950 can be overclocked at maximum 4.2GHz and thats only when using the sabertooth mobo when using any other mobo u can't take the 950 above 4.0GHz without raising the voltage to unsafe levels for your machine.
On a normal basis i would have said yes it definately sounds like a cooling issue and would have advised you to go buy a better heat sink and a couple of fans to go with it,
But with only a i7 920 i'd suggest u go review your cpu on overclockers3d or whatever site it's called with the overclockers reviews for the i7 rundown, i believe you actually have the best clock you can get your 920 to without damaging your machine, i do know for sure tho the i7 950 is the best for overclocking untill u go higher than that of course like i said earlier, the 950 can be clocked at 4.0GHz on many normal mobo's but on a military grade mobo such as the sabertooth u can clock it at 4.2GHz granted thats with the stock cooling changed to a much more suitable 1
 
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zebedeee said:
for all i7 cpu's apart from the 950 and upward the overclockability is actually pretty crap.
The i7 950 can be overclocked at maximum 4.2GHz and thats only when using the sabertooth mobo when using any other mobo u can't take the 950 above 4.0GHz without raising the voltage to unsafe levels for your machine.
On a normal basis i would have said yes it definately sounds like a cooling issue and would have advised you to go buy a better heat sink and a couple of fans to go with it,
But with only a i7 920 i'd suggest u go review your cpu on overclockers3d or whatever site it's called with the overclockers reviews for the i7 rundown, i believe you actually have the best clock you can get your 920 to without damaging your machine, i do know for sure tho the i7 950 is the best for overclocking untill u go higher than that of course like i said earlier, the 950 can be clocked at 4.0GHz on many normal mobo's but on a military grade mobo such as the sabertooth u can clock it at 4.2GHz granted thats with the stock cooling changed to a much more suitable 1
Click to expand...
What a load of rubbish. Almost all i7 920/930s can reach 4 GHz with safe temps and voltages if you have a decent cooler.
 
All the 920/930/950 are basically the same chip just with the multiplier set differently. All will clock the same. There was a post not long ago....all bloomfields clock the same, or something.

C0 didn't clock as well as D0 (need higher voltage) but that's a different story.
 
Biffa said:
Temps very high for that OC

Is the 920 a D0 or C0 chip and what vcore are you pushing through it?
Click to expand...

It's a D0, just followed this guide to get my PC to 3.6GHz so just going to run Prime95 and see how I get on:

***************************************
Running 3.61GHz w/o HyperThreading (Stable)
***************************************
Code:
Ai Overclock Tuner.....................[Manual]
CPU Ratio Setting......................[21.0]
Intel(r) SpeedStep(tm) Tech............[Disabled]
Xtreme Phase Full Power Mode...........[Enabled]
BCLK Frequency.........................[172]
PCIE Frequency.........................[100]
DRAM Frequency.........................[DDR3-1379MHz]
UCLK Frequency.........................[2758MHz]
QPI Link Data Rate.....................[Auto]

CPU Voltage Control....................[Manual]
CPU Voltage............................[1.10625]
CPU PLL Voltage........................[1.80]
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage..................[1.20000]
IOH Voltage............................[1.12]
IOH PCIE Voltage.......................[1.50]
ICH Voltage............................[1.20]
ICH PCIE Voltage.......................[1.50]
DRAM Bus Voltage.......................[1.64]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA...........[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB...........[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC...........[Auto]

Load-Line Calibration..................[Enabled]
CPU Differential Amplitude.............[800mV]
CPU Clock Skew.........................[Delay 300ps]
CPU Spread Spectrum....................[Disabled]
IOH Clock Skew.........................[Auto]
PCIE Spread Spectrum...................[Disabled]

C1E Support............................[Disabled]
Hardware Prefetcher....................[Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetch...........[Enabled]
Intel(r) Virtualization Tech...........[Disabled]
CPU TM Function........................[Enabled]
Execute Disable Bit....................[Enabled]
Intel(r) HT Technology.................[Disabled]
Active Processor Cores.................[All]
A20M...................................[Disabled]
Intel(r) SpeedStep(tm) Tech............[Disabled]
Intel(r) C-STATE Tech..................[Disabled]
 
Prime95 started and then almost instant BSOD with this message:

A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Machine Check Exception
Error Type: Internal Timer Error
Processor ID: 0

Is my cpu dodgy?
 
This should tell you what's wrong:

0x00000101 - increase vcore
0x00000124 - increase vtt or vcore (you will have to test each one)
0x0000009c - increase vcore
0x0000000A - raise/lower vtt or dimm
0x00000050 - raise/lower dimm (usually, can also be vtt related)

MACHINE CHECK EXCEPTION is 9c, so up the VCore. I'd start with 1.25 V but with your abnormally high temperatures I'd be careful. Check the temps whilst Priming and if they go above 90 C, cancel the Prime run.
 
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DragonQ said:
This should tell you what's wrong:

0x00000101 - increase vcore
0x00000124 - increase vtt or vcore (you will have to test each one)
0x0000009c - increase vcore
0x0000000A - raise/lower vtt or dimm
0x00000050 - raise/lower dimm (usually, can also be vtt related)

MACHINE CHECK EXCEPTION is 9c, so up the VCore. I'd start with 1.25 V but with your abnormally high temperatures I'd be careful. Check the temps whilst Priming and if they go above 90 C, cancel the Prime run.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I'll have a look at event viewer after the footy.

Just a quickie about thermal paste. I'm using arctic silver 5 and I spread it over the cpu with a thin card. Is it better to apply it like this or just put a blob in the middle and let the contact with the H50 block make it spread? Just wondering if this will make any difference.
 
Last edited:
Try these settings, should be enough for 4ghz with HT on, if prime fails, up the vcore 1 notch, if its stable, u can try lowering the vcore, but test that first.

Code:
Ai Overclock Tuner.....................[Manual]
CPU Ratio Setting......................[20.0]
Intel(r) SpeedStep(tm) Tech............[Disabled]
Xtreme Phase Full Power Mode...........[Enabled]
BCLK Frequency.........................[200]
PCIE Frequency.........................[101]
DRAM Frequency.........................[DDR3-1600MHz]
UCLK Frequency.........................[3200MHz]
QPI Link Data Rate.....................[Auto]

CPU Voltage Control....................[Manual]
CPU Voltage............................[1.3]
CPU PLL Voltage........................[1.80]
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage..................[1.3]
IOH Voltage............................[1.12] <<< auto
IOH PCIE Voltage.......................[1.50] <<<auto
ICH Voltage............................[1.20] <<<auto
ICH PCIE Voltage.......................[1.50] <<< auto
DRAM Bus Voltage.......................[1.64]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA...........[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB...........[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC...........[Auto]

Load-Line Calibration..................[Enabled]
CPU Differential Amplitude.............[800mV] <<< auto
CPU Clock Skew.........................[Delay 300ps] <<< auto
CPU Spread Spectrum....................[Disabled]
IOH Clock Skew.........................[Auto]
PCIE Spread Spectrum...................[Disabled]

C1E Support............................[Disabled]
Hardware Prefetcher....................[Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetch...........[Enabled]
Intel(r) Virtualization Tech...........[Disabled]
CPU TM Function........................[Enabled]
Execute Disable Bit....................[Enabled]
Intel(r) HT Technology.................[Disabled] <Enabled
Active Processor Cores.................[All]
A20M...................................[Disabled]
Intel(r) SpeedStep(tm) Tech............[Disabled]
Intel(r) C-STATE Tech..................[Disabled]
 
What bifday has recommended is pretty much it for 4ghz, which these chips should do. If you're having stability problems at 3.6ghz though, I would be aiming to find out why that's not stable before trying 4ghz :)
 
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