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***The Official Core i7 Overclocking Thread***

Yeah just read about that myself for the last few hours - seems originally the i7 was x58 socket which supported triple channel RAM and 2x(16x) PCIe for max performance in SLi/crossfire, whereas the newer P55 chipsets only support dual channel RAM and either one PCIe 16x or 2x(8x) if you run SLi/crossfire. Having said that, apparently the 2x(8x) is just as good in real world performance. The P55 also gets rid of the northbridge chipset and integrates the memory controller onto the chip (I think this seems to allow theoretically faster RAM, although the X58 is listed as the top end socket for more extreme systems.) The P55 only supports up to 12Gb RAM whereas X58 supports 24Gb.

In short the X58 is the original top end i7 [LGA1366] socket and the 900 series chips are based on this. The 920 was the 2.66Ghz original and I think the 930 is the refresh at 2.8Ghz for £240. The P55 [LGA1156] is the newer more value socket that is being used for i5 as well (i5 = slower versions of i7 without Hyperthreading.) The 800 series CPU run on this socket.

I'm not sure how much of a benefit the triple channel RAM offers, but the motherboards for X58 are generally more expensive than the P55 ones (there are some cheap ones such as the gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R.) Also I hear some motherboards allow really easy overclocking to 4Ghz by only altering one voltage (although I haven't worked out which - the gigabyte above seems quite complicated for this...)

Lastly both chipsets have had refreshes with support for 6.0gb/sec SATA and USB 3.0 which the motherboards are subdivided by on the OCUK website. I think it is worth going for the newer ones as new hard drives are supporting the faster transfer rate (including solid state drives) although it probably is more for future proofing.

I also noticed that the motherboard and RAM needed for a "guaranteed" OC are about £150 more in total than buying for stock, and I hear that the CPU overclock makes little difference in games which are mainly GPU limited on the i7 series at stock. Personally I am thinking of going for an i7 930 with 6gb triple channel RAM and the gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (or the -UDR5 which has better cooling.) Having said that OCUK do a i7 930 bundle overclocked to 4.0Ghz for £630 which would take a lot of the hassle out of it, and is similar in price to the components bought yourself... (+£50)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-044-OE&tool=3

Think I will get that :)
 
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A little prime

9 hours of prime for easy! ;)

9hoursprime4200ghz21x20.jpg


Vcore - 1.28
PLL - 1.88
QPI - 1.28
IOH - 1.16
ICH - 1.2

Am happy enough with that.
 
i'll be going for 4.4Ghz once i get my triple Rad watercooling and my new corsair 800D :P shame i can't afford it for 2 months till i've moved into my new place.
 
AaronS said:
Nice, is that what it is set at in the BIOS, as I know it alternates, so you could have got a screen print on a lower voltage lol..

and again.. what cooling?
Click to expand...

Yes the voltage is genuine (checked with DVM on monitoring points on board), so is this;)

4881mhzcas7spi1mb.th.png
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CPU is cooled by chilled water at 15 deg C
 
Not much over 4ghz, (4050mhz), vcore in bios of 1.2750, load, 1.280, idle, 1.264. LLC enabled.

linx40.jpg


i7 920 DO stepping on an asus p6t deluxe v2, cooling is a lapped TRUE black with 2 x 300-1350 rpm PWM fans
 
How accurate are the temp values in RealTemp?
My i920 is overclocked to 4ghz yet the hottest temp under load is reported at 55c, seems very cool; idle temps are reported as low as 15c.
 
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