Well you guys helped me put together a nice i7 rig

[entropy1982]

I am sure there are a million threads you guys can point me to or just give me some quick tips here. Maybe someone that has worked with my motherboard and an i7 before.
I am keeping all the cooling stock other than the hsf obviously. meaning i am not adding anymore fans to the case at least for now.

Here is my list of parts (Note I am getting 12 gigs of ram).

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$74.99

1

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$249.99

1

EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130433


$214.99
$204.99

1

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible ... - Retail

$149.99

1

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

$279.99

2

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231225

$199.98
$189.98
($94.99 ea)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
$99.99

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

$229.99

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 - OEM

$25.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

$8.99

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

$39.99

 

[soonerproud]

That is going to be one sweet PC. As much as I love my X4 955 BE, I would trade it in for a i7 in a heartbeat.

Congrats on your new purchase.

 

[entropy1982]

Thank you buddy

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Read the stickies up top, even if they aren't for an i7, the basics are the same.

Download :

Realtemp - for reading the CPU temp while testing your OC

Prime95 - to stress test your CPU (others use different stress programs, which is fine, but you need one stress program)

CPU-Z - Shows a lot of system info while you OC, including RAM speed and CPU speed.

HCI memtest - to test your memory

Memtest and Prime95 test different things, so one can pass, and the other can fail. You need to make sure that both your PCU and RAM is stable.

I prefer no to OC my RAM by a lot of possible. You got DDR3-1600, so you should be fine without OC'ing the RAM. You can use memory dividers to adjust the RAM speed once you settle on a CPU clock speed. I prefer to stay at or below the rated speed of the RAM (for example, if it works out to your RAM running at say 1500 instead of 1600, I would go with that, instead of the next higher multi which would put you over 1600.) Don't go over 1.65V with the RAM

CPU speed > RAM speed is the general rule.

With 12gig RAM, that may limit your max OC

That should get you started. As long as you keep all voltages within reasonable limits, you shouldn't hurt anything. Worst case is the OC doesn't work, and it locks/hangs the PC forcing you to reboot back at a slower speed. Go slow and increase one thing at a time, and test at every step.

 

[entropy1982]

Aww I didn't know getting more ram will limit my OC

Btw I am going for a moderate OC i am not going for getting every little mhz and testing for hours and hours. Any idea on what i should be able to OC to without any problems?

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: entropy1982
Aww I didn't know getting more ram will limit my OC

Btw I am going for a moderate OC i am not going for getting every little mhz and testing for hours and hours. Any idea on what i should be able to OC to without any problems?

Define moderate OC Some guys with the crazy cooling may have a different idea then mine and your ideas of a OC.

If you are shooting for less then 4Ghz you should probably be fine, but there are never guarantees. Mostly, I think when people are going for the 4.3-4.5 and up clocks that it gets more problematic with 12gig.

 

[1ManArmY]

What's the Batch# of your core i7 920? Is it C0 or D0 stepping?
I like to use LINX to stress the PC to determine if your overclock is stable, great program, I also use Prime 95 but LINX will let you know if your stable in ~ 30 depending on your settings.

 

[entropy1982]

I haven't gotten it yet. Should come on monday

What are some starting safe settings to try so i dont hvae to go up by 5mhz increments

 

[plion]

How many threads should you test in linx/intel burn test, because of hyperthreading I'm a little confused. Also any reason you guys recommended hci memtest over memtest86?

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Here's a good link I found to figure out all the different speeds of the i7's.

i7 link

You can plug in your max values, and it will calculate the end speeds for the RAM, CPU, Uncore, and QPI to make sure you don't overclock something too much.

 

[jandlecack]

Actually the x58 chipset handles 6 sticks of RAM incredibly well. Don't be afraid to use them all if there's need.

 

[1ManArmY]

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat
Here's a good link I found to figure out all the different speeds of the i7's.

i7 link

You can plug in your max values, and it will calculate the end speeds for the RAM, CPU, Uncore, and QPI to make sure you don't overclock something too much.

what about suggestions for voltages?

 

[plion]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat
Here's a good link I found to figure out all the different speeds of the i7's.

i7 link

You can plug in your max values, and it will calculate the end speeds for the RAM, CPU, Uncore, and QPI to make sure you don't overclock something too much.

what about suggestions for voltages?

bump

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Good starting point for max voltages:

1.65V max for RAM
1.35V max for VTT
~1.35-1.4V for CPU (on air, you will max out your temps before maxing voltage)

I'm not saying these are the true max values, but they seem to be reasonable in that staying at or below them will not damage anything. I'm sure you can go higher, but I like to stay conservative. I can't risk burning up any expensive equipment

 

[1ManArmY]

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat
Good starting point for max voltages:

1.65V max for RAM
1.35V max for VTT
~1.35-1.4V for CPU (on air, you will max out your temps before maxing voltage)

I'm not saying these are the true max values, but they seem to be reasonable in that staying at or below them will not damage anything. I'm sure you can go higher, but I like to stay conservative. I can't risk burning up any expensive equipment

What type of overclock would you expect to get with vcore at 1.35? Doesn't Intel reccommend a max vcore of 1.375?
Some MOBO's only offer increments of even numbers for the RAM, will I lose potential stabitlity at 1.64 or should I exceed the max of 1.65 and enter 1.66? I believe Corsair says my RAM can run at 1.68.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Depends on your CPU, but just at a guess, I'd say 3.8 at a minimum.

Remember. the voltage you set in BIOS isn't alwasy the real voltage...it can be higher or lower. Only way to be sure is to get out your voltmeter and measure directly. So all these numbers have some built in error.

RAM-wise, intel recommends 1.65V max, but I doubt 1.66 will hurt anything. Again, you mobo may undervolt a bit, so you might not even be at 1.65.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Oops,, double post

 

[entropy1982]

interesting posts... can anyone recommend some values that are pretty tried and tested for all the settings i need to change? I know how much of a noob i sound like ... I just don't want to mess anything up.

What is the max temp i should hit with it at load?

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: entropy1982
interesting posts... can anyone recommend some values that are pretty tried and tested for all the settings i need to change? I know how much of a noob i sound like ... I just don't want to mess anything up.

What is the max temp i should hit with it at load?

Start at default voltages and work your way up from there Increase your CPU speed gradually, and check for stability with Prime95 or Linx. If it's OK, then up the CPU some more. Once it crashes, up the voltage a bit, and continue the process. You may also have to adjust the VTT as well. Keep going until you either hit your speed goal, temp limit, or voltage limit.

I wouldn't go over 80C for max load temps.

 

[entropy1982]

wow I can go to 80C on that cpu?

 

[Shmee]

Curious that my temperatures are not my limiting factor. Right now I am at 3.8 GHz, 19x200, about 1.35 Vcore and 1.42 QPI I believe. During linx, max temps are around 57 C. I tried upping the multi one, but when trying to boot into windows I kept getting a restart. Uncore at 13x, Ram is at 6x.

Should I try lowering the uncore to 12x? I hear it is best to have it at Ram mulit*2 or ram multi*2 +1. My motherboard is the gigabyte UD5, with F6 bios. also, HT is off.

And ^ yes, 80 C is like the upper bound for linx stress testing. It is way to high if just idle or partial load though.

 

[jaggerwild]

A good over clocking bios setting template bair in mind this is for the BASIC EVGA X58 motherboard........

EVGA FORUM

:thumbsup:

 

[entropy1982]

Yeah i've seen this one, I just wonder how this is going to differ from my mobo settings

 

[jaggerwild]

The ASUS is a lobor of love I have friends over @ overclockaholics.com they use bleeding edge though so you know.

Overclock-a-holics

 

[entropy1982]

What is bleeding edge? (sorry for the most likely noob question)