Never overclocked before... (I7 920 bloomfield)

[notigg]

I am wondering how overclockable my CPU is? I never tried it before. Just now I downloaded a Temperature monitor and I am in the 30's Celsius at it's default 2.66 Ghz.

here are my specs

SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

Antec Signature SG-850 850W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular

ALso I plan to get a 6990 in the future for surround monitors

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Depends. If it's C stepping, then 3.6-4.2GHz. If it's D, then another 2-400Mhz.

And just as an FYI, idle temperatures don't really mean jack shit. Load up your processor with something like LinX and report those temps after it's been running for a few minutes.

 

[Maximilian]

It is very overclockable, especially if it is a D0 revision although some C0's still do better than some D0's its all luck of the draw.

You will get at least 3.8ghz out of it, you will most likely get 4ghz+ but you will need to keep an eye on voltage and temps.

- Keep voltage below 1.40v for 24/7 use
- Load temps below 80*C is a good idea
- You can disable hyperthreading to lower temps, this is if you dont use it much
- Disable turbo while you OC and be wary of renenabling it, the 22x multiplier that kicks in on 1 core when it is stressed can cause instability

 

[notigg]

If I overclock it to 3.8 will that be enough to not bottleneck a 6990?

also.. what was the point in getting a socket 1366 as opposed to the 1156 ? is 1366 more overclockable or something? I don't remember why I chose it.

 

[Maximilian]

If I overclock it to 3.8 will that be enough to not bottleneck a 6990?

also.. what was the point in getting a socket 1366 as opposed to the 1156 ? is 1366 more overclockable or something? I don't remember why I chose it.

I would say so, only way to know is to try it. Benches show nehalem CPUs have a lot of headroom as far as being a bottleneck is concerned.

Bleh its not that much better... It has more PCI-E lanes or something, supposedly better for SLI/Xfire setups, triple channel memory, supposedly had a longer life. In reality for most people that's not worth squat. You have a bigger number than people on 1156, be proud, walk tall!

 

[VirtualLarry]

why hasn't anyone pointed out that he needs a third-party heatsink before overclocking those 1366 monsters?

 

[Bill Brasky]

If it's C stepping, then 3.6-4.2GHz. If it's D, then another 2-400Mhz.

Are you serious? I find it hard to believe 400mhz is the max overclock for a D stepping cpu. Any reason why?

 

[Ferzerp]

Are you serious? I find it hard to believe 400mhz is the max overclock for a D stepping cpu. Any reason why?

He means 2-400Mhz more than a pre-D

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Are you serious? I find it hard to believe 400mhz is the max overclock for a D stepping cpu. Any reason why?

Comprehension fail.

What is your cooler Original Poster?

 

[notigg]

already have a big ass third party heatsink. forgot what it is called though I don't see it in my order history on newegg. I must have gotten it from amazon or something.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

why hasn't anyone pointed out that he needs a third-party heatsink before overclocking those 1366 monsters?

All you need is a $20 120mm tower HSF like the Hyper 212.

 

[qliveur]

Don't forget to overclock the uncore (northbridge) as well.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Comprehension fail.

Derp a Derp. My apologies. That's what I get for reading too fast on my break.

 

[notigg]

Comprehension fail.

What is your cooler Original Poster?

Noctua NH-U9DX 1366 Dual Heat-pipe SSO Bearing Quiet CPU Cooler

 

[Dadofamunky]

Oh jeez that cooler should be plenty sufficient. Do get back to us and let us know your results.

 

[aigomorla]

need stepping of your 920..

run cpu-z... in the revision it should say D0, or C1/C0

See how this one says C1/C0

Tell us which one u have... and yes it makes a big difference.

 

[Shmee]

yes, let us know the stepping, and let us know the Bios version of your board. There may be releases from Asus that can help when overclocking or may improve bios tweakability in general.

Of course, flash the bios at your own risk! I flashed my UD5 quite a bit with beta bios' trying to get a better 980x oc back in the day, but YMMV.

 

[notigg]

CPUZ says mine is C stepping unfortunately. so I guess I should aim for 3.2 - 3.4 ghz?

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

You may get it up to about 4GHz. Depends on the chip, really.

 

[M1A]

You can prob sell the CO and get a DO for not too much now a lot of folks went to sandy

 

[Anubis]

even if you only get it to 3.5 you arent gonna be CPU limited by much if anything