i7 920 overclocking problem

[strep3241]

I had my sig rig overclocked to 4.0ghz for a while now. I have not noticed any problems. I went into the system page of Windows 7 and it is only showing me running at 2.7ghz. So I ran cpu-z and it showed the same speed. So I go into the bios and I get the message "the system has experienced boot failures because of overclocking or changes to the voltage, last settings in this page may not coincide with current hardware states."

I have only experienced one boot failure just recently and when it happened, I didn't think nothing of it. Maybe that is when it messed something up.

According to the bios, it is still set at 4.0ghz but Windows is only showing 2.7ghz.

I thought about updating the bios but how do I find out the current version I am using? If I do update the bios, should I be worried about losing any files? Would it be better to update from Windows using @bios or in the bios itself?

Should I reset everything back to default and start over?

Let's say I find a stable overclock at 4.0ghz. For whatever reason say I have to put it back to default settings. Can I go directly to 4.0ghz without causing any damage?

 

[TurtleCrusher]

is speedstep enabled?

run LINX and CPUz at the same time. tell me how fast CPUz says your CPU is.

 

[strep3241]

Speedstep is not enabled. I ran Linx but I don't think Linx is working right for me. I let it run for over 2 minutes and it didn't do anything.

So I ran OCCT and the cpu stayed the same speed.

 

[postaled]

Try changing any setting, then changing it back and saving your BIOS. See if that fixes it. Also do you have a C0 or a D0 920?

Just curious because I run my D0 @4.0 with stock voltage, kinda nuts.

 

[strep3241]

I got the problem sorted out. I did what postaled suggested and it worked. Although I have it running at 4.2ghz, Windows is only showing 4.0, but cpu-z shows 4.2ghz. I guess I shouldn't worry about Windows not showing the right speed?

I might try to go a little higher and was curious about a few things. According to cpu-z, the FSB to DRAM ratio is 2:8. Should that be a different ratio? Also I have 6 gigs of DDR3 1600 memory, how do I know if it is running at 1600? Is this what the DRAM Frequency is? Cpu-z is showing that as 800mhz. Is that right?

Right now I am stable at 4.2ghz with I think 1.32 voltage, I ran OCCT and Intel Burn Test at maximum and the highest core temp was 70 and the lowest was 63. What do you think I could get up to without risking damaging anything? The idle temps are around 40 degrees. Of course I like to keep my room a little on the cool side, low to middle 60's Fahrenheit.

One more thing, lets say I have to return everything back to default settings. Would it be okay to jump straight to 4.2ghz(since I know it is stable) without hurting anything?

EDIT: Tell me if this seems strange. IIRC, I was running Intel Burn Test and according to task manager, the cpu only hit 50%. Why wouldn't it be 100%?

 

[d4a2n0k]

EDIT: Tell me if this seems strange. IIRC, I was running Intel Burn Test and according to task manager, the cpu only hit 50%. Why wouldn't it be 100%?

Make sure IBT is set for 8 threads and maximum memory when you run it.

 

[strep3241]

That did the trick.

It seems that I hit a wall. I tried to overclock to 4.3 but I can not get it stable running IBT on standard settings. Crashes within a few seconds. I bumped the voltage up to almost 1.4 with no luck.

 

[Athadeus]

Speedstep is not enabled. I ran Linx but I don't think Linx is working right for me. I let it run for over 2 minutes and it didn't do anything.

So I ran OCCT and the cpu stayed the same speed.

LinX is stupid on Win 7, and doesn't request admin permission to run automatically (which it requires). If you run it as administrator it should work.