Overclocking a i7 920

V-Spec · 25 Dec 2008 at 17:17

Hey there..

My i7 turned up yesterday, got it all up and working no problem with 2x 260GTX's in SLI and 6GB G.Skill, on a Asus P6T Deluxe x58..

I'm currently on stock cooling but was wondering how far I should be able to push my chip, and what are the best settings to change?

Cheers

TheCenturion · 25 Dec 2008 at 18:03

on stock, 3.6-4ghz, under water, 4 would be no problem, you probably want to increase your base clock, not sure haven't used i7 before,

aaronhowe · 25 Dec 2008 at 18:34

4Ghz is not going to happen on stock cooling. I'm running 3.8Ghz @1.28v and my load temps get to 80c with the Noctua NH-U12P. To go from 3.8Ghz to 4Ghz I have to add an extra 0.12 which increases temps considerably. This is with a 27C MB temp so its not extactly hot in the case. These chips run really hot so you may get 3.6 with the stock cooler but its still going to get pretty toasty.

TheCenturion · 25 Dec 2008 at 20:15

aaronhowe said:
4Ghz is not going to happen on stock cooling. I'm running 3.8Ghz @1.28v and my load temps get to 80c with the Noctua NH-U12P. To go from 3.8Ghz to 4Ghz I have to add an extra 0.12 which increases temps considerably. This is with a 27C MB temp so its not extactly hot in the case. These chips run really hot so you may get 3.6 with the stock cooler but its still going to get pretty toasty.

they don't run that hot, for the bottom of the range i7 to reach nearly 4 ghz on air ( some people have done it with the stock cooler!). to reach that speed at all without going to 100'c is quite good.

V-Spec · 25 Dec 2008 at 20:24

cheers guys,

whats a safe load temp for these chips?

TheCenturion · 25 Dec 2008 at 20:51

V-Spec said:
cheers guys,

whats a safe load temp for these chips?

I would say max of 85c but if you reach that, then back down a bit as that is pushing it... wait for someone else who owns an i7 to come along and confirm though

fornowagain · 25 Dec 2008 at 20:53

Lmao, don't run that hot? Try it at 4Ghz (1.35v+) with 8 thread HT enabled on Prime blend and see what happens. Even with good air, its going to get toasty.

aaronhowe · 25 Dec 2008 at 20:59

anant_shah94 said:
they don't run that hot, for the bottom of the range i7 to reach nearly 4 ghz on air ( some people have done it with the stock cooler!). to reach that speed at all without going to 100'c is quite good.

I'm not saying they don't clock well but even when running stock they create a lot of heat. My Q6600 at 3.0Ghz with a tuniq never got above about 50c at full load. The i7 at the same clock is more like 65-70c.

TheCenturion · 25 Dec 2008 at 21:02

aaronhowe said:
I'm not saying they don't clock well but even when running stock they create a lot of heat. My Q6600 at 3.0Ghz with a tuniq never got above about 50c at full load. The i7 at the same clock is more like 65-70c.

it depends what chip you get, some may run hotter than others ....

wingnuttzz · 25 Dec 2008 at 21:07

i'm at 3.5ghz on stock cooling, and i'm hitting 80 under prime95. but bare in mind i have very bad case cooling.

i have seen some cases of people getting 4ghz on stock cooling, but i feel thats pushing it a little.

AWPC · 28 Dec 2008 at 11:04

I7 are super toasty when overclocked.

Mine is idling right now around 34-35C but so it should as I have a Noctua HP12 with 2 fans in a push pull config and very good case ventilation and all the Intel tech to lower volts/temps enabled. Under heavy load on all 8 cores it gets to 75C very quickly.

The stock HSF which comes with the I7-965 is the best one Intel ship and a different design to the 920+940 HSFs. Even then it idles around 47-48C with AS5 and under heavy load hits 80-85C even on a very cold day like today.

Doing a massive overclock on the stock HSF is asking for trouble. Also be aware that you need to keep your DDR3 volts below 1.65V according to Intel. Any higher and you may damage the CPU permanently!!