Overclocking my i7 950. How far can it go?

[ithehappy]

This is my last few months of using the i7 950 as I will be getting a new system at the end of the year, so decided to take the best out of it. So I am overclocking it. When I first got the CPU just for the sake of fun I tested some OC settings and found a stable OC at V-Core 1.225 V and QPI/DRAM at 1.23375 V. I didn't entirely do that config manually, I just twekaed some settings in my motherboard's BIOS OC settings, which has two OC presets, 3.3 GHz and 3.7 GHz, I chose the latter. And the temperatures were in decent level with a Hyper 212 +. Now I wanna know how far this i7 950 could be pushed, if I use some Hydro cooler, 4 GHz, 4.5 GHz or what? My ambient temps are pretty high as live in Calcutta (ambient 30/31°C), so I won't be looking at extreme settings, but at a somewhat limited OC. The point is will the OC be much higher with the help of a hydro cooler and worth investing in it or 3.7 GHz is good enough already for this CPU?

Thanks.

 

[Mk pt]

For 24/7, I think you can reach 4GHz with high end aircooler's or mid-range closed-loop WC, or 4.2/4.3GHz with high end closed loop/custom WC.
You may achieve a bit more, but it will depend if your i7 970 is a (very) good sample or not.

Still, better to stick in 3.8GHz with high end air cooler/ mid-range closed-loop WC or 4/4.1Ghz with good WC.

Why?
Extra performance from 'max. oc' for 24/7 doesn't worth the extra watts the cpu burns compared to just a few 5% less MHz [4GHz down to 3.8GHz], because with this 'almost Max. OC' you can use less voltage and have a more reasonable performance/power consumption.


It's my experience - I have a i7 920 cooled by a NH-D14:
- I can bench at 4.2GHz, if it's a bench not too heavy for cpu.
- I have decent temperatures for 24/7 between 3.9/4GHz
But for games or more heavy task's my cpu is at 3.8GHz and lighter software is at 3GHz/3.2GHz.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

I don't know that cooler you mentioned but with your set up you should be able to do 4.5 Ghz, don't know your board either so I can't offer you help. I know with the X58 boards you have to raise the BLK, blah blah blah. You should be able to do 4Ghz with stock voltage or a lil bump.
You can google for over clock on the Bloomfield or X58 motherboard for best settings........
Good luck!

 

[ithehappy]

Thanks both. My cooler is a cheap entry level Cooler Master Hyper 212+ and that motherboard is Asus Sabertooth!
Anyway, what software is recommended to overclock manually?

 

[Mk pt]

To overclock you don't use any special software.
You do overclock on BIOS.

Search on google for 'i7 950 overclock' or even 'i7 920 overclock' [you'll get more results and oc on these cpu's are identical]. It's better to look for examples from a similar motherboard or at least of any Asus P6T /P6T Deluxe- BIOS is identical.
Read a lot before try to do OC.
To do OC you must know what you're doing and test [stability/temperatures] a lot.

About software, you'll only use after, to test stability ant temperatures -
Stability - OCCT, prime95, etc
Temperatures- Hardware monitor, CoreTemp,...
And, of course, CPU-Z, to check how cpu, memories, etc are on windows.


Just remember that each cpu is unique, like any motherboard.
So any other oc example you see, even with the same exact components you have, is just a 'reference', and with your onw cpu/board/memories you can get better or worst results in terms of temperatures/voltage needed or highest OC you can reach.

 

[CropDuster]

I ran my 950 at 3.8ghz as the voltages and temps over that weren't worth it IMO. Is upgrading to a X5650/5660 an option for you?

 

[Mk pt]

I think X5650/X5660 is only a option if he uses heavy multithread software, and multi-thread really makes a difference - wich is only true in some software.

Since he as plans to buy a new system by the end of the year, only makes sense if he uses profissional software in wich a faster multi-thread performance means more work/money done.
Otherwise i7 950 in most cases is identical to X5660, is better idea to save the money fot the new system.

 

[Makaveli]

I don't know that cooler you mentioned but with your set up you should be able to do 4.5 Ghz, don't know your board either so I can't offer you help. I know with the X58 boards you have to raise the BLK, blah blah blah. You should be able to do 4Ghz with stock voltage or a lil bump.
You can google for over clock on the Bloomfield or X58 motherboard for best settings........
Good luck!

Guys 4.5Ghz on bloomfield is not a standard overclock its higher than average which is 4Ghz!
That cooler would melt at 4.5 with the voltage he would need and if HT was on for a 24/7 overclock.

4-4.2 is a good average with a good air cooler and I mean better than what he is using. Anything above that will need water or better for a 24/7 overclock.

 

[bleucharm28]

My D0 920 was stable at 4.5, with 1.29V. anything beyond was no go and this was on water. My Rampage II Extreme was a badass.

 

[ithehappy]

Hmm, so standard upper limit of i7 950 is somewhere around 4.0-4.2 GHz. Which isn't much from my 3.7 GHz, which was achieved already. Don't think it's worth investing behind a good cooler for that much gain only. Lets see.
And about multi-threading, well I don't use much multi-threaded software, I honestly don't even know which software's use multi threading properly for that matter. Everything is game related for me. Like archiving huge ISO file via WinRAR, converting my recorded game-plays via Handmark to somewhat a manageable size and all that, some Lightroom works, and that's all. I like Xeon, but I am not finding enough reason to get one over mine, as I am eyeing the 4930k at the end of the year, that is unless something better pops up at Q4.

PS: Someone said above that there is no special software needed for OCing, how is that? I mean under my BIOS I only see preset upto 3.7 GHz, so even if I were to push to more how could have I done that?
How to check the stability of an OC, well I know that as I have already done that, thanks.

 

[nwo]

If you have it at 3.7 right now I'd say that's pretty good. It wouldn't really be worth getting a $50 or $100 CPU cooler just so you can attempt to push it beyond 4GHz. Upper limit for most of them starts at about 4GHz from what I have seen around the web, and I have done a fair share of lurking around :sneaky:

 

[Makaveli]

Hmm, so standard upper limit of i7 950 is somewhere around 4.0-4.2 GHz. Which isn't much from my 3.7 GHz, which was achieved already. Don't think it's worth investing behind a good cooler for that much gain only. Lets see.
And about multi-threading, well I don't use much multi-threaded software, I honestly don't even know which software's use multi threading properly for that matter. Everything is game related for me. Like archiving huge ISO file via WinRAR, converting my recorded game-plays via Handmark to somewhat a manageable size and all that, some Lightroom works, and that's all. I like Xeon, but I am not finding enough reason to get one over mine, as I am eyeing the 4930k at the end of the year, that is unless something better pops up at Q4.

PS: Someone said above that there is no special software needed for OCing, how is that? I mean under my BIOS I only see preset upto 3.7 GHz, so even if I were to push to more how could have I done that?
How to check the stability of an OC, well I know that as I have already done that, thanks.

I agree the 500mhz range from 3.7-4.2 is not worth buying a whole new cooler. If you were looking into getting the current 6core used Xeon's right now then I would say yes get a better cooler.

Not using a lot of multi-threaded software then build a 4770k system instead of the 4930k. I had to read what you wrote here twice since you started off saying you don't use any threaded software then you list applications which are threaded in your examples

Now this makes the used Xeon a more attractive upgrade.

 

[ithehappy]

Oh, didn't know those software I use are multi-thread capable!