Overclocking with Corsair H50 & i7 860

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
slayernine

slayernine

Senior member
Jul 23, 2007
894
0
71
slayernine.com
So yesterday I finally got around to overclocking my new i7 processor. (Specs listed below) Laughably I was still using the Intel stock cooler which is a total joke when it comes to dissipating an increased amount a heat due to increasing the clock speed. Originally I was actually running it lower than specification(2ghz with turbo enabled) because I found it was running hotter than proffered. So when I bumped up the speed to 3.5ghz I found the processor was running at 56 degrees while idle :S

Testing software: LinX for stress-test/heat-testing and CPU-Z for Processor info and Core Temp for some basic temperatures and core utilization.

System Specifications:
Processor: Intel i7 860
Motherboard: Gigabyte P55M-UD4 (micro ATX)
Ram: G.Skill F3-12800CL9-2GBRL Ripjaws
Video Card: XFX ATI 5870 1GB
Hard drive 1 (OS): Intel 80gb SSD
Hard drive 2: WD Green 1.5tb

Screen shot of idle temps stock cooler running at 3.5ghz:
3486.2mhz%20stock%20cooler%20IDLE.png

Screen shot of load temps stock cooler running at 3.5ghz:
3486.2mhz%20stock%20cooler%20LOAD.png

Photo of case with stock cooler:
IMG_4134.JPG


So to fix this issue I went to a local unnamed retailer and purchased a Corsair H50 to lower these ridiculous temps!

The Corsair H50 box:
IMG_4150.JPG


The mounting bracket:
IMG_4139.JPG


Installed with dual exhaust fans:
IMG_4141.JPG


My immediate temperature drop :D
IMG_4144.JPG


So now for some testing here are a couple screen shots of IDLE and LOAD temps with the new cooler:
3486.2mhz%20Corsair%20H50%20IDLE.png

3486.2mhz%20Corsair%20H50%20LOAD.png
 
slayernine

slayernine

Senior member
Jul 23, 2007
894
0
71
slayernine.com
You can see it dropped around 40 degrees off the load temperatures which makes me more than happy. So I thought hey why not touch up the vcore and get a bit more speed out of this. So I went and pushed it up to 1.2 volts and 3.6ghz.
Idle temps:
3612.0mhz%20Corsair%20H50%20IDLE.png

Load temps:
3612.0mhz%20Corsair%20H50%20LOAD.png

During this test more so than all the others I noticed my mouse get very lagged out so I think I need to run some overnight stress tests to verify this is actually stable.

Has anyone else had good results with this cooler, overall it seems to get fairly good reviews.

Oh and here is a final look at the completed system:
IMG_4146.JPG
 
K

Kenmitch

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,505
2,250
136
Yes the H50 works pretty good. I tested one on a e5200 overclocked to 4.25ghz and I was amazed how well it did.

Don't think I'd use one on my system in sig tho :)
 
slayernine

slayernine

Senior member
Jul 23, 2007
894
0
71
slayernine.com
Kenmitch said:
Yes the H50 works pretty good. I tested one on a e5200 overclocked to 4.25ghz and I was amazed how well it did.

Don't think I'd use one on my system in sig tho :)
Click to expand...

What cooler or coolers do you recommend over this one? From what I've seen this compares to the results of most high end air coolers and I paid a fair bit less too :)
 
K

Kenmitch

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,505
2,250
136
slayernine said:
What cooler or coolers do you recommend over this one? From what I've seen this compares to the results of most high end air coolers and I paid a fair bit less too :)
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with the H50 cooler as it performs very good. I wasn't dissing it. But as with all cooling solution it has it's thermal limit.

Edited Part:

If you look at your two overclocks and compare the speed and the temps then you will see what I mean. The higher the voltage and overclock the higher the temps. Most people like to keep the temps below the 70's. Which your temp is fine still.

But if you popped that bad boy on my cpu my temps would most likely be closer to your stock cooler temps. With my water cooling setup my temps at 4.2ghz are lower than your temps at 3.48ghz with the H50. So that is why I said I wouldn't use it on the rig in my sig.
 
Last edited:
I

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
6,294
171
106
Looks good, I just set up a Q9550 with an H50. At 3.6ghz/auto (cpuz says 1.3v) I get ~35C idle and 55C load.

Not a bad cooler, this H50 is. I only got mine because I had a 50 dollar GC to BB and this thing seemed 'cooler' than a normal hs/f
 
K

*kjm

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,222
6
81
My setup is almost the same as yours but I'm running it on an Asus. Temps are about the same and everything is working great. The thing I like most about the H50 is I dont have 10lbs hanging on the MB.
 
n7

n7

Elite Member
Jan 4, 2004
21,281
4
81
Nice pics!

Sure beats the stock cooler, or should i say, stock heater...
 
DrMrLordX

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
23,026
13,125
136
slayernine said:
What cooler or coolers do you recommend over this one? From what I've seen this compares to the results of most high end air coolers and I paid a fair bit less too :)
Click to expand...

If the case permitted it, I'd take an nh-d14 or Venomous X over the H50, at least. Or the Arrow.
 
S

Skott

Diamond Member
Oct 4, 2005
5,730
1
76
That is one of the nice things about the H50. It will fit in some cases where bigger better air hsf cannot fit. If you have a large ATX case you can put in a better hsf than a H50 but if you use a mid-size tower or SFF case the H50 fits in nicely with good performance.
 
slayernine

slayernine

Senior member
Jul 23, 2007
894
0
71
slayernine.com
Agreed, I went with a matx case and mobo for my main system and I found that with less airflow other coolers don't work so well. I did try one of the cheaper direct touch air cooling system and it didn't fair much better than the stock cooling. Well at least not as good as I would have liked. Likely due to the bad airflow in the smaller case I'm thinking.
 
slayernine

slayernine

Senior member
Jul 23, 2007
894
0
71
slayernine.com
As an update to my overclocking results here is a screenshot of the same system running at much higher voltages to push the clock speed higher. (3.82ghz)
P55M-UD4&


I also was able to run somewhat stable up to 3.96ghz however after about one minute in Linx it bluescreened.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
slayernine said:
I also was able to run somewhat stable up to 3.96ghz however after about one minute in Linx it bluescreened.
Click to expand...

To get there you'll likely need to bump CPU voltage a little bit, as well as QPI voltage.

I am running 3.9ghz ~ 1.312V cpu voltage and my temps with megahalems under LinX are: 71/71/70/72*C. So 4-6*C cooler than the H50. I think this may come down to room temperature and differences in the case airflow.

But Ya I was getting 95-100*C at 2.8ghz with Turbo enabled with the stock cooler (what Joke!)
 
slayernine

slayernine

Senior member
Jul 23, 2007
894
0
71
slayernine.com
RussianSensation said:
To get there you'll likely need to bump CPU voltage a little bit, as well as QPI voltage.

I am running 3.9ghz ~ 1.312V cpu voltage and my temps with megahalems under LinX are: 71/71/70/72*C. So 4-6*C cooler than the H50. I think this may come down to room temperature and differences in the case airflow.

But Ya I was getting 95-100*C at 2.8ghz with Turbo enabled with the stock cooler (what Joke!)
Click to expand...

I increased the QPI voltage to 1.21 and the CPU voltage to 1.30 already.
 
n7

n7

Elite Member
Jan 4, 2004
21,281
4
81
slayernine said:
I increased the QPI voltage to 1.21 and the CPU voltage to 1.30 already.
Click to expand...

You may need more of both, depending what speed you end up going for.

Something to note for isolating which is holding you back (vtt or vcore):

Lower CPU multi while checking for higher BCLK stability.

Basically, take the chance of the CPU being what's holding you back out of the equation.

So if you have 22x174 (3828 MHz) stable, but increasing BCLK isn't stable, you cannot always easily tell if you need more vcore or more vtt.

Lower the CPU multi to something like 19x & increase BCLK gradually.
If it's unstable with the low CPU multi, it means you need to up VTT.

I'd actually suggest testing all the way up to around 200 BCLK & note how much VTT (QPI voltage) is needed for various BCLK speeds.

You can then go back & increase CPU multi back to where you where & work on increasing BCLK, as this time, you now know how much VTT is needed for stability, meaning you just have to increase vcore.

Or, you can do it the lazy/less safe way like i sometimes do.
Pump up vtt to something like 1.3v & lower it once you get the CPU speed locked down to what you want...
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
slayernine said:
I increased the QPI voltage to 1.21 and the CPU voltage to 1.30 already.
Click to expand...

Ya, I am running my QPI at 1.25 and voltage at 1.31V. 100mhz wont make much difference in performance, so don't worry.
Sometimes increasing CPU PLL from 1.80 to 1.91V may help. I've seen others also increase PCH voltage from 1.05 to 1.14V (but I wouldn't touch that until it is the last resort). More likely than not, the VTT/CPU voltages are holding you back.

Also, Core i7 architecture overclocks better with odd multipliers. Try 186x21 instead of 174x22.
 
Last edited:
D

deanx0r

Senior member
Oct 1, 2002
890
20
76
It doesn't beat most high end air cooler, but I would totally rock one of these just for the ease of installation. I have a Tuniq Tower here, and I have to curse myself every time I have I swap the CPU or resit the heat sink. It's going to be just fine for mild overclocks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom