New build - Needs overclocking

rebel rebel · 19 Jun 2010 at 23:28

Ok here we go.. I recently purchased and built my new pc, here are the stats.

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66GHz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - OEM
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard
OCZ Obsidian 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600Mhz Triple Channel Kit
Fractal Design Define R2 Midi Tower Case - Titanium Grey
Corsair H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM
Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Windows 7 Ultimate.

I've had it running for about a month now all at stock and eveythings been fine, so thanks for helping me choose the items. I added 3 more fans and they are all set up as shown in this pic.

If the fans are positioned wrongly please. let me know.

I wanted to overclock it but im a complete novice when it comes to adjusting the bios. I've read a few of the stickys and gone through other peoples threads but still don't feel confident changing things, so I was wondering if some kind person could walk me through what i need to change, and how to test it afterwards. Ideally I would like to get it to around 4.0Ghz but if that's not possible then anything close is fine.

I have cpuz, coretemp, realtemp and prime95. But im not sure if thats all I need. I can take pictures of whatever stats/bio settings are needed.

Thanks for taking your time to read this and hopefully someone can help me.

jorzeh · 19 Jun 2010 at 23:33

Fans seem fine get overclocking it.
Altho i upgraded mine to Viper fans recently on my h50 and i see a big improvment on temps.

rebel rebel · 19 Jun 2010 at 23:36

I will most probably change the 2 fans on the h50 to vipers at some stage. I'll use the leftover Fractal on the side of the case to cool the graphics card.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 14:55

Does anyone with some time on their hands want to mentor/help me overclock this?

rjk · 21 Jun 2010 at 15:51

nice setup

why not try this

cpu ratio 21
bclk 191
dram frequency [around 1500mhz]
9-9-9-28 2T on the memory for the time being [tighten it up when its all running well]
cpu vcore 1.3v [work down in increments until it becomes unstable then put it up a notch]
dram voltage 1.65

you may need to enable load line calibration but dont bother to start with
try each Phase of LLC one at a time until it becomes stable if required

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 17:49

Ok first of all thanks for helping, I've done what you said.

cpu ratio 21

bclk 191

dram frequency 1528

9-9-9-28-2

cpu vcore 1.3v

dram voltage 1.64v (it didn't let me choose an odd number)

Booted fine but temps at idle are high.

That's about 22c higher than the stock temps.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 20:05

I've put it all back to stock because those temps are just to high.

bifday2k · 21 Jun 2010 at 20:12

Is your Qpi set to auto, or have u manually set it?

As if its on auto, it may be adding more then is needed, and therefor adding a lot more heat.

Try setting it at 1.25, stress test, and keep raising untill its all stable.

As an example my 4ghz clock is

200 x 20
1.275 vcore (bios) 1.26 windows idle 1.254 windows load (load line calibration on)
Qpi 1.275
dram 1.64 (for some reason can only choose 1.64 or 1.66)
Pll 1.80 (lowest i can seem to set on my mobo)

ID still use rjkoneill's settings, but setting the qpi manually will deffinatly help, also u may be able to get away with lower vcore if u do so too.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 21:10

Qpi was set to auto 1.2.

I changed it to 1.24 and the system never loaded, I changed it down to 1.22 and same thing. Its now back to auto. Should I try it lower than 1.20?

bifday2k · 21 Jun 2010 at 21:16

Nah not lower, seems like u will need 1.25 or higher for it to load, and be stable, don't worry thats normal for these clocks or higher. If you have it on auto it will be using more then 1.2v when in windows, so thats why i asked if it was on auto.

Try at 1.25, and keep going up gradually little by little until it boots up, then test with prime95/IBT to see if its stable at said qpi volts.

Edit:

Also if you are worried about temps, make sure the cooler is seated right, can allways be an issue at times.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 21:20

It only goes up in even numbers so i'll try 1.26 and keep raising it. Just so I don't blow something, how much is too much?

bifday2k · 21 Jun 2010 at 21:29

Stay below 1.4v, the lower u can get away with on qpi the better, but ofcourse when overclocking we need to raise it from the stock 1.2.

Each cpu is different, some can use low qpi others have to have it quite high, but defiantly stay below 1.4

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 21:37

I tried 1.26 - didn't load.

1.28 and it got as far as the windows loading screen then failed.

1.30 and windows has loaded and temps are 57 - 54 - 55 - 51.

So the temps have come down 6c.

bifday2k · 21 Jun 2010 at 21:58

Those are high idle temps, very weird mines idleing in the low/mid 30's without speedstep on.

Are you sure the cooler is seated correctly, and that u hav'nt under or over done the thermal compond, might be best to double check.

Try doing what rjkoneill said earlier now, and see how low u can get the vcore, untill its unstable, then raise it again until it is stable, now that we have the qpi set.

Also try load line callibration (on) some mobo's only allow on or off, some have 3 lvls, so turn on, or try lvl 2 if u can choose. This will stop fluctuations in volts, so its more stable across the board.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 22:07

I replaced the thermal compound last week and the temps stayed about the same. It might be because I have 2 different make/speed of fans on the h50 cooler. I think im going to order 2 apache vipers just incase.

I will now try turning on the load line calibration level 2.

Thank you for all your help, im definately making progress.

bifday2k · 21 Jun 2010 at 22:11

No probs mate, im no expert by any stretch of the imagination, and im sure others will step in and help when they can, but yeh you are making progress and thats what counts, aslong as your enjoying the process its all good. When it starts getting annoying take a step back, even a stock I7 is fast lol.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 23:15

update:

cpu ratio 21

bclk 191

dram frequency 1528

9-9-9-28-2

dram voltage 1.64v

LLC level 2

Qpi 1.30

vcore 1.18750

idle temps are 48 - 46 - 48 - 44

Should I carry on lowering the vcore?

bifday2k · 21 Jun 2010 at 23:21

Im not sure that vcore would be stable under load, seems rather low for that clock, are you doing any stress testing with either prime95 or Intel Burn Test.

If not deffinatly test, as you need to first find the vcore that its stable under stress at. IF you want to do quick testing use IBT set to max memory with minimum 10 times to run 10.

Once u have found the lowest possible vcore it will keep passing IBT at, you can then go on to do further and longer stress testing and further tweaks.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 23:26

Ahh ok I was lowering it until it wouldn't load. I'll raise it a couple and test it in I B T.

rebel rebel · 21 Jun 2010 at 23:41

Right I tried testing it in Intel Burn Test with the vcore at 1.25, and the system rebooted within 5 seconds. So where do I go from here do I lower or up it?