Is this accurate?

[looper]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-overclocking-efficiency,2850.html

This article says the i7-2600k can get to 4.5 >5.0ghz on air cooling? OMG... for real? And what MB's can facilitate that big of an OC happening?

If I was going to build a new rig between now and @ September-October, should this be my CPU? This computer in our home is for gaming.

Thanks.

 

[Castiel]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-overclocking-efficiency,2850.html

This article says the i7-2600k can get to 4.5 >5.0ghz on air cooling? OMG... for real? And what MB's can facilitate that big of an OC happening?

If I was going to build a new rig between now and @ September-October, should this be my CPU? This computer in our home is a serious 'gaming' machine.

Thanks.

I've hit 5.2 with my H70 but for everyday use i set it at 4.6ghz. Any board with decent power phase's will hit 4.6Ghz+. All Dependant on the processor now.

 

[Krynj]

Yes, that's entirely true. My 24/7 overclock is 4.7GHz. Although while idling, it clocks itself way down. I idle in the mid 20s, and under load, I'm mid/low 60s.

If you're waiting until then, you might consider just waiting until January when Ivy Bridge hits. Then again, there's always some new thing right around the corner, so at some point, you're just going to have to make up your mind. The new i7s are awesome chips, and you will not be disappointed, no matter what's coming just a few months away.

And then there's Bulldozer, but, I wouldn't count on that living up to the hype.

 

[GFORCE100]

It's true but if it was me I would wait about 2 months until they iron out the eSata bug and there's enough time for the revised boards to penetrate the channel. That's of course unless you don't care your eSata port dying within 3 years because for example you plan to upgrade by then anyway. Still, I take it you'll sell your current board by that time, ask yourself, would some one of eBay want to buy a faulty board?

Intel will jump on the 22nm bandwagon by fall 2011 so consider 32nm to be already mature, hence the high overclocks at moderate voltage.

 

[pjkenned]

Mine hit 4.4GHz using the stock cooler, but ran really hot. On my watercooling setup it runs at 5.0GHz using all auto settings on the ASUS P8P67 Pro. One has to question if they really need the extra performance that a more expensive cooling setup brings, but it seems like the headroom is there.

 

[Hogan773]

Yes, that's entirely true. My 24/7 overclock is 4.7GHz. Although while idling, it clocks itself way down. I idle in the mid 20s, and under load, I'm mid/low 60s.

If you're waiting until then, you might consider just waiting until January when Ivy Bridge hits. Then again, there's always some new thing right around the corner, so at some point, you're just going to have to make up your mind. The new i7s are awesome chips, and you will not be disappointed, no matter what's coming just a few months away.

And then there's Bulldozer, but, I wouldn't count on that living up to the hype.

what are your voltage settings and where does it Vcore while under load?

 

[Krynj]

what are your voltage settings and where does it Vcore while under load?

I set my voltage to 'Normal', but then set DVID to anywhere between +0.080v and +0.065v. Under 100% load, my Vcore is in the 1.356 range. Under these settings, it clocks itself way down to the ~1.010v range while idling/casual computing.

 

[spacejamz]

It's true but if it was me I would wait about 2 months until they iron out the eSata bug and there's enough time for the revised boards to penetrate the channel. That's of course unless you don't care your eSata port dying within 3 years because for example you plan to upgrade by then anyway. Still, I take it you'll sell your current board by that time, ask yourself, would some one of eBay want to buy a faulty board?

Intel will jump on the 22nm bandwagon by fall 2011 so consider 32nm to be already mature, hence the high overclocks at moderate voltage.

Microcenter will start receiving the new boards which have fixed the Cougar Point chipset issue starting March 3...I am assuming that other vendors will be receiving stock around this time as well...

 

[looper]

GForce100... I am waiting 'til the Fall... that's what my OP says!!

I'm currently using an older Lian Li mid case... would like to use same case for new rig. Wondering if new MB will fit...currently have a socket 775 Asus P5B-D. The one Radeon Sapphire 5870 I have barely fits...had to push outward the HD cage... wonder if future vid cards will get any longer....hope not...

KRYNJ... Wondering why you got the Gigabyte MB .. I'm still trying to decide on which MB...

 

[GFORCE100]

GForce100... I am waiting 'til the Fall... that's what my OP says!!

I'm currently using an older Lian Li mid case... would like to use same case for new rig. Wondering if new MB will fit...currently have a socket 775 Asus P5B-D. The one Radeon Sapphire 5870 I have barely fits...had to push outward the HD cage... wonder if future vid cards will get any longer....hope not...

Ahhh, that's twice in the same day that I miss something Maybe I need a rest from computer screens, hehe.

In that case I uphold my opinion but instead you'll probably find a 2700-2800K your best bet by then. Of course you could get a 2600K then too which will be cheaper but I'm reckoning yields will improve further and the creme of the crop will continue to be the higher clocked parts, regardless whether there's a new CPU revision out or not by that point.

As for your case and motherboards. If a case states support for ATX then ATX boards will fit but it might be tight depending on the case design, i.e. the drive bays may be close to the right side of the motherboard making it more of a pain to install parts. The same can be true with a longer graphics card too. If you ask me case length is something to take into account but first and foremost I would want to make sure my case could accommodate a great cooler such as the Noctua NH-D14, quite, excellent build quality and mount design and up most performance too - something to definitely set you on your way to 4.5GHz+ with a sandy bridge CPU.

 

[Hogan773]

Ahhh, that's twice in the same day that I miss something Maybe I need a rest from computer screens, hehe.

In that case I uphold my opinion but instead you'll probably find a 2700-2800K your best bet by then. Of course you could get a 2600K then too which will be cheaper but I'm reckoning yields will improve further and the creme of the crop will continue to be the higher clocked parts, regardless whether there's a new CPU revision out or not by that point.

As for your case and motherboards. If a case states support for ATX then ATX boards will fit but it might be tight depending on the case design, i.e. the drive bays may be close to the right side of the motherboard making it more of a pain to install parts. The same can be true with a longer graphics card too. If you ask me case length is something to take into account but first and foremost I would want to make sure my case could accommodate a great cooler such as the Noctua NH-D14, quite, excellent build quality and mount design and up most performance too - something to definitely set you on your way to 4.5GHz+ with a sandy bridge CPU.

If you can easily overclock a 2600K, then why does one care if they sell a 2700K in the Fall? Stock freq will be 100mhz higher? So what?

 

[looper]

I'm using a Xigmatek s1283 cooler on my current rig. Wonder if they've been keeping up w/ the best HSF's out there now...

 

[GFORCE100]

If you can easily overclock a 2600K, then why does one care if they sell a 2700K in the Fall? Stock freq will be 100mhz higher? So what?

Like I wrote above, potentially better yield of the given chip, which if he's into overclocking will/can matter (i.e. more MHz and/or lower core voltage).

 

[Hogan773]

Like I wrote above, potentially better yield of the given chip, which if he's into overclocking will/can matter (i.e. more MHz and/or lower core voltage).

Only if you're pushing it to the limit OC. Or perhaps you get .01V lower consumption at a given speed. Great and all, but not worth specifically waiting for.....

 

[GFORCE100]

Only if you're pushing it to the limit OC. Or perhaps you get .01V lower consumption at a given speed. Great and all, but not worth specifically waiting for.....

Well I was thinking along the lines of 100mv hence 0.1V which makes a difference if you run your CPU at say 1.244V and 1.344V, both in head and power consumption. Granted the difference might be +/- 40mv for most scenarios it's something the OP might want to dwell on prior to his purchase.

 

[Hogan773]

Well I was thinking along the lines of 100mv hence 0.1V which makes a difference if you run your CPU at say 1.244V and 1.344V, both in head and power consumption. Granted the difference might be +/- 40mv for most scenarios it's something the OP might want to dwell on prior to his purchase.

dunno but would be surprised that simply better binning or improvements in manufacturing over a 6 month timeframe would result in a chip that used to run at 1.34 now runs at 1.24 at the same speed. You think their process really gets that much better in six months?

 

[GFORCE100]

dunno but would be surprised that simply better binning or improvements in manufacturing over a 6 month timeframe would result in a chip that used to run at 1.34 now runs at 1.24 at the same speed. You think their process really gets that much better in six months?

As I wrote 100mv would be on the optimistic side, 40mv would likely be what you can expect unless you check out a lot of batches.

Generally speaking yields improve over time, but there will always be lemons.

 

[Hogan773]

As I wrote 100mv would be on the optimistic side, 40mv would likely be what you can expect unless you check out a lot of batches.

Generally speaking yields improve over time, but there will always be lemons.

Yeah I'm not an electrical engineer....just seemed like quite a big improvement. Perhaps I give Intel more credit that their process and knowledge is pretty refined at the front end by this point, meaning there is less drastic improvement once they get going.

 

[GFORCE100]

Each time they launch a new CPU on a new revision it needs to mature meaning they need to fix the errata that's inherent in its design. If you look at the PDF datasheets available through Intel you can see how progress is made over time. They also tweak power properties. The other thing is the yield itself, which in turn means a) fine tuning the production process and b) using better quality silicon.

If you take 100 CPU's from an early production run you will find fewer golden chips than if you were to do the same say one year from when they first started, even 6 months can make a difference.

I went through 5 different Q6600 back in 2007/2008 before I found my gem that did 3.6GHz at only 1.272V load (no vdroop). Most need about 1.4V. The same goes for the Q9650's. My first X3370 (same chip but called a Xeon) needed 1.288V for 4.05GHz, the best I found needs 1.21V but runs hot. I too went through 5 different chips.

But my favourite is my X9750 non-production model which is an E0 quad core with unlocked multiplier. It's not exceptional in as far as Vcore but runs cool on air at 4.2GHz at 1.344V fully stable (LinX, Prime95, OCCT) etc. Maybe I'm starting to get older but I seem to prefer keeping the FSB an official 1600MHz effective and instead using the unlocked multiplier, i.e. 10.5x. Got the memory latency down to 48.5ns so feels snappy either way.

They say it's the same in other walks of life, i.e. car engines, supposedly each performs slightly differently (more torque/power) in the region of say 5-10% than what the manufacturer advertises. I think that's a bit over-estimated by 2-3% seems possibly.

 

[tweakboy]

We should see more peep here with a 5Ghz OC of the 2600k ?

Why not set 4.7 for everyday use ? As long as your temps are good. I think temps for the 2600k should be IMO

30's to 40's celcius idle . and 50's to 60's C your safe!

But if your taking her to 70c and beyond then the lifespan will reduce. thx gg

 

[Krynj]

We should see more peep here with a 5Ghz OC of the 2600k ?

Why not set 4.7 for everyday use ? As long as your temps are good. I think temps for the 2600k should be IMO

30's to 40's celcius idle . and 50's to 60's C your safe!

But if your taking her to 70c and beyond then the lifespan will reduce. thx gg

4.7GHz is my OC for every day use. With my cooler, I could take it pretty high. It's just that nobody really knows how much voltage is too much for a 24/7 OC.

I idle in mid 20s. Full load mid 60s. It's not the heat I'm worried about, just the voltage.