Maximum Core i7 overclocks without voltage adjustments

[Soccerman06]

Ive hit 3.8 at 1.2 but temps were too high for me to want to keep it there, 95C after 5 minutes so I stopped. Ive gotten some case fans since then but havent installed yet because Im not pushing anything beyond what the stock cooler can cool which seems to be between 3.5-3.6 depending on room temp. The stock cooler does just enough to keep 2.66g at 60C but no where near powerful enough for higher clocks, and could reach 70-75C if I stayed at load for a few hours.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN

Originally posted by: aigomorla
if you guys get an i7, try to get a B stepping.

those seem to do better with lower voltages.

Of course. Can you point me to the mass of evidence?

Collecting my own studies right now off friends and a bunch of people im in a group with.

So far A's require about 1.375-1.4Vcore to get 4.0 this is QPI voltage @ 1.425.

All the B's ive seen require 1.35-1.375 and they overclock better on the 20x multiplier.

But BTRY when have you seen me fubar an intel cpu?

So trust me on it.

I'd like to get my hands on a "B" batch and test it out. Just missed a deal in the FS;FT thread

 

[palladium]

At the moment I'm running 3.15GHz ( 21*150 - gigabyte MBs always keep the multi on 21 if Turbo is enabled) @1.104V load ( stock is 1.26V). My RAM is running at 1200 @1.5V, uncore 2.55GHz ( 17 multi), VTT 1.200V, the rest at stock. All these on a stock cooler. Passed 10 hours of Prime95, with temps maxing out at 70C ( ambient is 25C).

Will try 160BCLK tomorrow without raising the volts.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN

Originally posted by: aigomorla
if you guys get an i7, try to get a B stepping.

those seem to do better with lower voltages.

Of course. Can you point me to the mass of evidence?

Collecting my own studies right now off friends and a bunch of people im in a group with.

So far A's require about 1.375-1.4Vcore to get 4.0 this is QPI voltage @ 1.425.

All the B's ive seen require 1.35-1.375 and they overclock better on the 20x multiplier.

But BTRY when have you seen me fubar an intel cpu?

So trust me on it.

I wonder if the A's and the B's come from two different fabs.

It is not uncommon for there to be some level of imperfection between fabs when it comes to implant targets and CD control as the toolsets are only identical up to a point, just as all 2008 Honda Accords are not identical due to Honda optimizing their manufacturing processes throughout the production cycle.

 

[Leafshutter]

Ok here goes

Running :
Core i7 920, asus Striker 2 extr, 2x 500gb WD on raid 0 and single 320gb for vista boot, 280gtx (picked one up for $300 AUD), 6gb corsair 1600 kit and a Zalman 850W psu.

First off considor yourselves lucky, a core i7 costs a charming $540 here in australia before tax right off the wholesalers shelf

My question, is anyone having any issues with heat on the north and south bridge when under load in modorate overclocks? my north bridge runs at around 55 degree's sometimes and up to 58 on a bad day, should I be worried? how hot can it get before I'm doing damage? I'm not over volting it btw, just have hot ambient temps here in summer.

I also found that disabling C1E made life a lot more stable, and I don't think asus's idea of auto voltages is much better then other manufacturer's as turning them from auto to deffault values made my rig a lot more stable.

My rig runs at 3.8 ghz on a 20x multiplier with standard voltages so I think the cpu gods must have been favorable to me upon purchase, but ambient temperatures only really permit me to run it like that at night. if anyone's interested I can post my voltages for running over 4ghz?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Yes that's too hot for the NB even if the memory controller is now in the cpu chip. You need some type of active cooling on it e.g. a fan blowing on it.

 

[THERESONATOR]

IDK what others are experiencing but with the EasyTune installed with my 920 and Gigabyte UD5, it overclocks itself without me pressing anything, and a couple of times I switched it back to 2.67Ghz stock, only to find, even when I turn EasyTune off, it overclocks itself. This thing is a beast, its got a mind of its own!

Anyone else finding their i7 wanting to go faster without being told? I think its like tugging on my coat, like "Please daddy, can we go faster, pleeeeeeeease?"

 

[Leafshutter]

I tried putting a more active cooling solution on it, as in clamped a little spot fan to it and tried clipping the fan that came with the rampage 2 extreem onto the mosfet cooler as it's towards the end of a heatpipe set up I thought that might help a bit. But even then under load it hits like 51 degrees C.

It seems Asus did a pretty basic chip set cooling set up for thier x58 boards, which was supposedly meant to be ok as the x58 no longer has the memory controller on it, but maybe my ambient temps from 25 degree's up to 30 on a hot day are too much? (it's summer here in west Australia and outside hit around 36-40+ degree's C on a bad day)

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: THERESONATOR
IDK what others are experiencing but with the EasyTune installed with my 920 and Gigabyte UD5, it overclocks itself without me pressing anything, and a couple of times I switched it back to 2.67Ghz stock, only to find, even when I turn EasyTune off, it overclocks itself. This thing is a beast, its got a mind of its own!

Anyone else finding their i7 wanting to go faster without being told? I think its like tugging on my coat, like "Please daddy, can we go faster, pleeeeeeeease?"

Methinks you have Turbo mode enabled in the BIOS. When the temps are cool enough the cores will automatically clock themselves up one multiplier higher (so from 20x133=2.66GHz to 21x133=2.793GHz).

And damn it, I knew I shouldn't read this thread, now I want one of these rigs...

/banging head on wall

Must wait for Westmere...must wait...

 

[aigomorla]

you guys if your not happy with your overclock try droping your multi to an odd multi and retry.

the i7 does not like overclocking on an even multi.

This is why i gave out recomendations for the 940 and got uber flamed for it.

But this was from dr.who's mouth directly.

 

[AdamK47]

Doesn't like an even multiplier? That's.... odd.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: AdamK47
Doesn't like an even multiplier? That's.... odd.

:laugh: :beer:

Aigo, who's dr.who?

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: AdamK47
Doesn't like an even multiplier? That's.... odd.

:laugh: :beer:

Aigo, who's dr.who?

Francois Piednoel

His handle is dr.who on XS forums and just who? on aces.

 

[Phantomaniac]

I did some more extensive testing and made the unfortunate discovery that 3.6Ghz is unstable at 1.2v regardless of the CPU and DRAM multipliers. :frown: I'll probably experiment with some very slight voltage changes later on but it seems like 3.5Ghz is my top on 1.2v.

 

[dajeepster]

I'm at 3.150 GHz @55C under full load (eight threads running in DC) watercooled
blck at 150.
1.264V from cpu-z

i920 @3.15 GHz on water
Asus P6T Deluxe bios ver. 1102
Radeon 4850
two 74Gb seagate cheetas 15k.5 SAS drives in raid0
PCPower&Cooling 750 silencer
6gig (3x2) Patriot Extreme DDR3-1600(9-9-9-24) @DDR3-1500

 

[f111]

My goodness these things are amazing. Anyone think the LGA 1066 chipset and corresponding i7s will provide any better overclocking performance?