as per my sig, i'm wondering if the i7 950 Bloomfield will be a major bottleneck if i upgraded the gpus to a hd7950? (currently using 2x GTX260's). Was hoping to be ok with just a gpu upgrade since moving to a 4770 for example will mean a new mobo too.
-
Competitor rules
Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.
can the i7 950 cut it these days?
- Thread starter Rob200sx
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 18 Feb 2012
- Posts
- 431
- Location
- Birmingham
What pcz said. You could bump up the cpu to 3.8ghz-4ghz that should keep you going.
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Oct 2009
- Posts
- 9,282
- Location
- United Kingdom
Still a great platform and cpu. Get overclocking and with it sat at 3.8GHz or 4GHZ it's still a fantastic cpu. Certainly for gaming it wont be bottlenecking your gpu.
Associate
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2010
- Posts
- 1,981
- Location
- Gtr London
Probably still faster than some of AMDs latest CPUs! 
Permabanned
- Joined
- 9 Aug 2009
- Posts
- 12,234
- Location
- UK
yeah - perfectly happy with my 920 still.
Yes, get that 950 to at least 4.0ghz keep a eye on temps, a 6970 here just waiting for my GPU block to install a 670.
Note > you might have to upgrade your cooling to deal with the higher temps.
OC BIOS X58A UD5 REV2.0 / 4.0GHz - 4.2GHz > Note use this as a rough guide, overclock at your own risk.
BSOD codes for overclocking-
0x101 = increase vcore
0x124 = increase/decrease vcore or QPI/VTT...have to test to see which one it is <----- Almost always QPI...
0x0A = unstable RAM/IMC, increase QPI first, if that doesn't work increase vcore
0x1E = increase vcore
0x3B = increase vcore
0x3D = increase vcore
0xD1 = QPI/VTT, increase/decrease as necessary
0x9C = QPI/VTT most likely, but increasing vcore has helped in some instances
0x50 = RAM timings/Frequency or uncore multi unstable, increase RAM voltage or adjust QPI/VTT, or lower uncore if you're higher than 2x
0x109 = Not enough or too Much memory voltage
0x116 = Low IOH (NB) voltage, GPU issue (most common when running multi-GPU/overclocking GPU)
System Freeze = Usually increase V-core and test for improvement.
Universal terms
BCLK- Short for Base CLocK. This is the base frequency at which your CPU will drive the rest of the PC. The limiting factors in max BCLK will be
the cpu itself (luck of the draw) and the motherboard (luck of the draw/quality control). (BCLK)CPU Multi = CPU Frequency. For 32nm Westmere chips
It is best to overclock with chips that have high multipliers as max BCLK is low with these chips. At and beyond 200 BCLK the qpi/vtt voltage
required to post become too high to be considered safe to overclock for over 24 hours.
DRAM- Main Memory, ur DDR3, the triple channel goodness, whatever... (BCLK)Memory Multipler = DRAM frequency.
Uncore- This is in the block diagram but not written. Uncore is a frequency that the CPU handles everything from the north bridge to the south bridge. Uncore must be at least 2x as great as the memory frequency. This can be an issue if your CPU/motherboard can not handle an insanely high uncore, so for the record a memory overclock will affect the uncore stability.
An overclock can get a special edge by pushing the uncore beyond 2(memory multi). If you have room to OC it then go for it. SPECIAL NOTE there are substancial findings to suggest the average overclocker can increase their uncore multi by 1 and may achieve higher system stability even at mild OCs. This can even reduce voltage at higher OCs and is a MUST to consider for MAX OC.
QPI- Quick Path Interface is the memory I/O for the CPU. With CPUs like the i7 920 the low QPI rating can interfere with MAX OC. Only a few motherboards have the options to circumvent this barrier.
IOH- North Bridge, affected directly by Uncore
ICH- South Bridge, less affected by Uncore than the North Bridge
CPU Multiplier- Explained in the BCLK bullet as a factor of overall CPU frequency the CPU multiplier represents the CPU's proportional speed to the BCLK. For a x21 CPU multiplier you would take the BCLK frequency and that's how many cycles the CPU completes before it is addressed by the BCLK.
Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio ..................[a] 21x191=4.0GHz - 21x201=4.2GHz
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech ........[A] - E
CPU Cores Enabled ................[All]
CPU Multi Threading ..............[A] - E
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ..........[A] - E
C3/C6/C7 State Support ...........[A] - D
CPU Thermal Monitor ..............[A] - E
CPU EIST Function ................[A] - E
Virtualization Technology ........[A] - E
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ...........[A] - E
Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ...................[A] - x36
Uncore Frequency .................[A] - x17
Isonchronous Frequency ...........[A] - E
Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ....................[A] - E
BCLK Frequency (MHz) .........................[A] - 191/201
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ..................[A] - 101
C.I.A.2.......................................[A] - D
Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[A] - 800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive ......................[A] - 900mV
CPU Clock Skew ...............................[A] - 00ps
IOH Clock Skew ...............................[A] - 00ps
Advanced DRAM Features:
Performance Enhance ..........................[A] - turbo
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ...............[D
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ...............[A] - 8X
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .................[A] - TURBO
Channel A > B > C Timing Settings ALL THE SAME
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time .............................8 [A] - 9
tRCD .........................................8 [A] - 9
tRP ..........................................8 [A] - 9
tRAS ........................................24 [A] - 24
CR............................................2 [A] - 2
##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ..........................................[A]
tRRD .........................................[A]
tWTR .........................................[A]
tWR ..........................................[A]
tWTP .........................................[A]
tWL ..........................................[A]
tRFC .........................................[A]
tRTP .........................................[A]
tFAW .........................................[A]
Command Rate (CMD) ......[1]
##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ...........................[A]
Advanced Voltage Control:
CPU
Load Line Calibration ........................[A] STANDARD/LVL 1/LVL 2/ Enabled TO LEVEL 1 = 4.2GHz:Vcore-1.33125 / 4.0GHz:Vcore-1.3250Vcore
CPU Vcore ....................................[AUTO]= 4.2GHz:Vcore-1.33125 / 4.0GHz:Vcore-1.3250Vcore
Dynamic Vcore(DVID)...........................[AUTO] > Using DVID = MORMAL] [1.33125 - 1.25625=DVId 0.07500Vcore=4.2]/[1.3250 - 1.25625=DVID 0.06875Vcore=4.0]
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v .......................[A] - 1.335V
CPU PLL 1.800v ...............................[A] - 1.800v
MCH/ICH
PCIE 1.500v ..................................[A] - 1.500v
QPI PLL 1.100v ...............................[A] - 1.100V
IOH Core 1.100v ..............................[A] - 1.100V
ICH I/O 1.500v ...............................[A] - 1.500v
ICH Core 1.1v ................................[A] - 1.100v
DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.500v ..........................[A] - 1.540v
DRAM Termination 0.750v.......................[A] - 0.750V
Channel A > B > C Timing Settings ALL THE SAME
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v........................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v........................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v........................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v.....................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v.....................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v.....................[A] - 0.750V
A quick guide of how to enable Dynamic Vcore:
1. you need to know voltage needed for your OC under 100% load
2. you need to know your cpu's default voltage (can differ between identical cpu models!)
To find out both get CPU-Z. Load into windows and start CPU-Z, ie > start Linx, when the CPU is at 100% load check CPU-Z voltage. That's your load voltage.
Then go into the bios, set cpu vcore to normal. Lower your multi so you get around 2.8ghz speed at full load (imitating default speed). Boot into Windows and load your CPU 100% again, check CPU-Z while doing that to find out what is your normal voltage!
Now you're almost done, go into the bios again, set/leave cpu vcore at "normal", go into advanced voltage settings and set dynamic vcore at number closest to number derived from (VCORE_UNDER_LOAD_OC - VCORE_UNDER_LOAD_DEFAULT)
Note > you might have to upgrade your cooling to deal with the higher temps.
OC BIOS X58A UD5 REV2.0 / 4.0GHz - 4.2GHz > Note use this as a rough guide, overclock at your own risk.
BSOD codes for overclocking-
0x101 = increase vcore
0x124 = increase/decrease vcore or QPI/VTT...have to test to see which one it is <----- Almost always QPI...
0x0A = unstable RAM/IMC, increase QPI first, if that doesn't work increase vcore
0x1E = increase vcore
0x3B = increase vcore
0x3D = increase vcore
0xD1 = QPI/VTT, increase/decrease as necessary
0x9C = QPI/VTT most likely, but increasing vcore has helped in some instances
0x50 = RAM timings/Frequency or uncore multi unstable, increase RAM voltage or adjust QPI/VTT, or lower uncore if you're higher than 2x
0x109 = Not enough or too Much memory voltage
0x116 = Low IOH (NB) voltage, GPU issue (most common when running multi-GPU/overclocking GPU)
System Freeze = Usually increase V-core and test for improvement.
Universal terms
BCLK- Short for Base CLocK. This is the base frequency at which your CPU will drive the rest of the PC. The limiting factors in max BCLK will be
the cpu itself (luck of the draw) and the motherboard (luck of the draw/quality control). (BCLK)CPU Multi = CPU Frequency. For 32nm Westmere chips
It is best to overclock with chips that have high multipliers as max BCLK is low with these chips. At and beyond 200 BCLK the qpi/vtt voltage
required to post become too high to be considered safe to overclock for over 24 hours.
DRAM- Main Memory, ur DDR3, the triple channel goodness, whatever... (BCLK)Memory Multipler = DRAM frequency.
Uncore- This is in the block diagram but not written. Uncore is a frequency that the CPU handles everything from the north bridge to the south bridge. Uncore must be at least 2x as great as the memory frequency. This can be an issue if your CPU/motherboard can not handle an insanely high uncore, so for the record a memory overclock will affect the uncore stability.
An overclock can get a special edge by pushing the uncore beyond 2(memory multi). If you have room to OC it then go for it. SPECIAL NOTE there are substancial findings to suggest the average overclocker can increase their uncore multi by 1 and may achieve higher system stability even at mild OCs. This can even reduce voltage at higher OCs and is a MUST to consider for MAX OC.
QPI- Quick Path Interface is the memory I/O for the CPU. With CPUs like the i7 920 the low QPI rating can interfere with MAX OC. Only a few motherboards have the options to circumvent this barrier.
IOH- North Bridge, affected directly by Uncore
ICH- South Bridge, less affected by Uncore than the North Bridge
CPU Multiplier- Explained in the BCLK bullet as a factor of overall CPU frequency the CPU multiplier represents the CPU's proportional speed to the BCLK. For a x21 CPU multiplier you would take the BCLK frequency and that's how many cycles the CPU completes before it is addressed by the BCLK.
Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio ..................[a] 21x191=4.0GHz - 21x201=4.2GHz
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech ........[A] - E
CPU Cores Enabled ................[All]
CPU Multi Threading ..............[A] - E
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ..........[A] - E
C3/C6/C7 State Support ...........[A] - D
CPU Thermal Monitor ..............[A] - E
CPU EIST Function ................[A] - E
Virtualization Technology ........[A] - E
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ...........[A] - E
Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ...................[A] - x36
Uncore Frequency .................[A] - x17
Isonchronous Frequency ...........[A] - E
Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ....................[A] - E
BCLK Frequency (MHz) .........................[A] - 191/201
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ..................[A] - 101
C.I.A.2.......................................[A] - D
Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[A] - 800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive ......................[A] - 900mV
CPU Clock Skew ...............................[A] - 00ps
IOH Clock Skew ...............................[A] - 00ps
Advanced DRAM Features:
Performance Enhance ..........................[A] - turbo
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ...............[D
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ...............[A] - 8X
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .................[A] - TURBO
Channel A > B > C Timing Settings ALL THE SAME
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time .............................8 [A] - 9
tRCD .........................................8 [A] - 9
tRP ..........................................8 [A] - 9
tRAS ........................................24 [A] - 24
CR............................................2 [A] - 2
##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ..........................................[A]
tRRD .........................................[A]
tWTR .........................................[A]
tWR ..........................................[A]
tWTP .........................................[A]
tWL ..........................................[A]
tRFC .........................................[A]
tRTP .........................................[A]
tFAW .........................................[A]
Command Rate (CMD) ......[1]
##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ...........................[A]
Advanced Voltage Control:
CPU
Load Line Calibration ........................[A] STANDARD/LVL 1/LVL 2/ Enabled TO LEVEL 1 = 4.2GHz:Vcore-1.33125 / 4.0GHz:Vcore-1.3250Vcore
CPU Vcore ....................................[AUTO]= 4.2GHz:Vcore-1.33125 / 4.0GHz:Vcore-1.3250Vcore
Dynamic Vcore(DVID)...........................[AUTO] > Using DVID = MORMAL] [1.33125 - 1.25625=DVId 0.07500Vcore=4.2]/[1.3250 - 1.25625=DVID 0.06875Vcore=4.0]
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v .......................[A] - 1.335V
CPU PLL 1.800v ...............................[A] - 1.800v
MCH/ICH
PCIE 1.500v ..................................[A] - 1.500v
QPI PLL 1.100v ...............................[A] - 1.100V
IOH Core 1.100v ..............................[A] - 1.100V
ICH I/O 1.500v ...............................[A] - 1.500v
ICH Core 1.1v ................................[A] - 1.100v
DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.500v ..........................[A] - 1.540v
DRAM Termination 0.750v.......................[A] - 0.750V
Channel A > B > C Timing Settings ALL THE SAME
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v........................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v........................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v........................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v.....................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v.....................[A] - 0.750V
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v.....................[A] - 0.750V
A quick guide of how to enable Dynamic Vcore:
1. you need to know voltage needed for your OC under 100% load
2. you need to know your cpu's default voltage (can differ between identical cpu models!)
To find out both get CPU-Z. Load into windows and start CPU-Z, ie > start Linx, when the CPU is at 100% load check CPU-Z voltage. That's your load voltage.
Then go into the bios, set cpu vcore to normal. Lower your multi so you get around 2.8ghz speed at full load (imitating default speed). Boot into Windows and load your CPU 100% again, check CPU-Z while doing that to find out what is your normal voltage!
Now you're almost done, go into the bios again, set/leave cpu vcore at "normal", go into advanced voltage settings and set dynamic vcore at number closest to number derived from (VCORE_UNDER_LOAD_OC - VCORE_UNDER_LOAD_DEFAULT)
A good quality air cooler will be more than adequate, i used a thermalright ultra extreme, a prolimatech supermega and an alpenfohn k2 on a 920 @4.2ghz. All kept it sub 80c running intel burn test. Still a very powerful cpu for a gaming rig, certainly wont hold back any modern high end single gpu.
I have just upgraded to haswell from O/C 920. I will say games in general feel smoothier, I cant really qualify it. The main difference is all the nice new tech sata 3 / usb 3. All in all the whole package just feels faster.
Only thing I have notice a bit strange was Batman Arkam City ran dreadfully in dx11, although choppy before not this bad. The one thing i think it might be is sound related though, so installing my Soundblaster now to give it a go. Most other games have much better min framerates it feels though.
Only thing I have notice a bit strange was Batman Arkam City ran dreadfully in dx11, although choppy before not this bad. The one thing i think it might be is sound related though, so installing my Soundblaster now to give it a go. Most other games have much better min framerates it feels though.
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Apr 2010
- Posts
- 3,034
How are you getting on with the Forumla? I have had my eye on the board for a while now and it will probably be my next upgrade.
Associate
- Joined
- 13 Nov 2007
- Posts
- 2,427
I have a 920 at 3.7 GHz with GTX 680 SLI - runs things beautifully, even though I know a more current CPU will give me a nice FPS boost.
Yeah that's a good plan. 4.0 and 4.2 is minimal difference but in temp difference it'll be a good few degrees. 93 is very toastie and not ideal for prolonged use.