Overclocking the i7 920

madindehead

madindehead

madindehead

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Overclocking the i7 920 - Final tips

Hello,

So, I finally placed my order for my i7 setup today, and all being well it should be arriving tomorrow. I have obviously read a lot on these forums, and on the internet about overclocking the 920, but was just wondering if anyone had any vital tips/hints/things I can print and read tonight, before I embark on my quest for 4GHz tomorrow?

Thanks =)
 
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set the QPI Link to your target speed and test to see what voltages you need before overclocking the cpu it's self.
 
Thanks guys. So, I guess, it's simply a case of increasing the CPU clock, QPI clock and UnCore Clock one at a time, and seeing what the best maximum is, and setting volts from there?

Just a wee bit daunting coming from a E6850 where all I had to do was up the FSB, so I don't want to mess anything up you know.
 
Don't overclock the Uncore more then you need to so it is at least 2x the ram speed. The Uncore has no bearing on CPU speed and you gain nothing by making it go faster then you need it too.
 
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Well, my stuff arrived just 2 mins ago =D

Gutted I missed out on Operation Flashpoint with my CPU =( Oh wells.

Will probably update this as I go about overclocking my i7 later on ^^

And also ask for more tips if I get stuck =p
 
Noob overclocker alert !!

Just got the X58-UD5 / Noctua / Core i7 3.8ghz bundle and have a few questions.

Using a coolermaster Cosmos S (3 fans in the top, one rea exhaust by the cpu, one bottom intake, one front intake). Side fan removed (doesnt fit with the noctua - need to see if its possible to trim the fan shroud...)

1: Vcore / dram voltage seemed to be pretty high. Is there any negative effect to reducing this value ?( assuming the system is stable under prime95 for a few hours). I've reduced it ti around 1.28xxx at the moment, its stable and has reduced load temps a little, is it worth going lower ?

2: Core temps. I seem to be idling at around 41C @ 3.8ghz. Under load im seeing around 78-79C max. Would these values by typical for the system described ? Or do you think its worth trying clean off the thermal paste, reapply and reseat the CPU ?

3: Am i worrying too much about cpu temps ? Its a gaming machine, and after a few hours gaming im seeing around low 60C with various games. Dont really do any number crunching so dont expect to see gaming load anywhere near prime95 load testing so should i just leave things as they are ?

cheers
 
1) What do you call high?

2) Those all seem to be good temps to be honest mate. Most people get around 80C in Prime95 @ 4GHz, so seems ok.

3) A little bit. But it's always good to be safe. 60C in games is very good I would say.

I've not personally overclocked my i7 yet, so need to see what I come out with.
 
1: Well vcore was 2.2+ volts, but its perfectly stable at 1.28xxx. Going to lower it a bit anyway and see what happens. I gather its set high as default to ensure stability for most people given different psu etc.

2: Just thought id double check on temps because reading various posts etc, some people say above 75C is very bad, just didnt want to fry my new beast !

I had just expected lower temperatures given the case, number & make of fans plus the noctua cooler. Going to reseat the cooler and try different thermal paste application and see how that goes.

In the end ill go watercooling anyway, had planned this from the start but was forced into an early upgrade due to a large volume of coke being spilt into my last machine... Blew up my q6600 @3.2 and killed my gtx295. Not happy lol !
 
What you using to load the CPU and how hot is your room? Mine doe's doe's 4Ghz with the hottest core reaching 77c but thats using a H50 Cooler.
 
MattCaddy said:
1: Well vcore was 2.2+ volts, but its perfectly stable at 1.28xxx. Going to lower it a bit anyway and see what happens. I gather its set high as default to ensure stability for most people given different psu etc.
Click to expand...

No way was your Vcore at 2.2v mate.. the techs here who put your bundle together would NEVER have set the Vcore to that!!

Not only that, I am pretty sure if you had been running your system with that amount of Vcore your chip would be dead.

From what I have read on here, most guys who have these bundles, their Vcore has been set to about 1.3v..

Regarding temps, most people say that they are good to go right up to 88c, I have seen some guys on another forum with temps in the low 90's.

My temps at 4GHz sit around 74c, and at 4.2GHz they are in the low 80's.

The temps you have sound about right to me for the Noctua tbh.
 
I have been using Prime95 to load the CPU, checking temps with both RealTemp and CoreTemp.

Ambient in the room is pretty hot which isnt helping, but i suspect with a bit of tweaking and moving cards about in the system i'll be able to bring it down a bit.

Im guessing the Cosmos S side fan issue isnt helping (ie most tall coolers hit the very recessed fan, need to get the dremel out to cut the fan shroud.
 
DavyBoy said:
No way was your Vcore at 2.2v mate.. the techs here who put your bundle together would NEVER have set the Vcore to that!!
Click to expand...

Hmm ok fair enough, i ust remembering the wrong figure then. However i can definately say i've taken it down a hell of a lot of notches to the 1.28xxV i set it to last night (it was about 2am when i got the thing booted up so forgive me if this figure is wrong), and the overvolt warning lights on the mainboard are certainly nowhere near as bright ;)

If the general consensus is my temps are about right then ill stop worrying and fiddling, not like im ever going to see prime95 levels of load when gaming
 
I wasn't having a go at you mate, I just wanted to point out that Vcore would never have been set to 2.2v by the techs here, 1.55v is the max amount of Vcore for these chips.

And they dont take anywhere near this to sit at 4Ghz, I have currently got mine at 1.275v Vcore, and 1.215v Vtt for 4GHz.

You shouldn't stop fiddling though, it's always best to use the lowest possible voltages when o/cing, you might manage to get them down a little more yet from 1.28v.

But like I said, you shouldn't worry about your temps, they are fine mate.
 
Cheers for the help mate, its appreciated. As per my intial post i am an overclocking noob.

Last and only overclock was my old q6600 at 3.2 on stock cooler - that ran hot but was solid as a rock for years :) Lots of reading and learning to do.
 
So, I overclocked my chip to the settings posted by DIABLO above. In fact, I went a little lower, and clocked it to around 3.6GHz with BCLK of 180.

And while my computer booted into Windows 7 fine, it wouldn't load anything past logging me into MSN. Was very strange. I couldn't even click on the start menu or anything. I run ObjectDock, so usually that loads pretty fast after it loads Windows.

At stock settings however, it seems to be ok. Until just a minute ago, when it wouldn't even do it at stock. I changed my SATA cable over for my hard drive, and it loaded fine. Going to do another test at a 3.6GHz overclock. Let's hope it loads.

Any ideas what might have caused my programs to not load?
 
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