Help , How do i overclcok my core i7. Options

[Lastman]

Hi, I am new to the forums.

I have an Antec 900 2

I will be getting these parts in 3 days. And i will then Build my computer.

Evga SLI Le Motherboard.

Sapphire HD 5850

OCZ 12800 1600 mhz 7-7-7-24 (3 x 2 GB)

Core i7 920

Corsair HX 750w

Prolimatech Megahalms Cpu cooler

Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste

I want to overclock my cpu to 3.6 GHZ. I have seen guides about overclocking. But non of them tell you how to overclock it to 3.6 GHZ. Do you have a Link that could help me , or could you post what Timings and multipliers i would need?

This is the only guide I have found so far. Would this work?

" Step one: Enter the BIOS and go to the "Frequency/Voltage control" menu.
Step two: Change the "CPU Host Frequency" to 180. This should be good for 3.6 GHz.
Step three: Make sure the PCI-E frequency is still at 100MHz.
Step four: Set the CPU Vcore up to around 1.35V
Step five: Go into the "Memory Feature" submenu
Step six: Set the memory frequency as close to 1600MHz as you can. With a 180MHz bclk, this will probably be around 1450MHz or so.
Step seven: Make sure the first 4 memory parameters are (in this order) 7-7-7-24. Also set the last memory parameter to 2T if it isn't set to that already.
Step eight: Go back to the main "Frequency/Voltage control" menu, and make sure the DIMM voltage is set to 1.5V.
Step nine: Leave all other voltages on auto, and then go into the "CPU feature" menu. Disable Turbo Mode.
Step ten: Set the "QPI frequency selection" to the lowest option.


This post has been edited by Lastman: Oct 31 2009, 03:28 AM

[Hyper]

If it where only that simple. every chip and MB is a little different. you could order 2 of everything and both systems would have different limit's on how far it can OC, and what voltages are needed to achieve "x.x" overclock.

For 3.6ghz you will need a multiplyer of 20 and a bclk frequency of 180 as you have read elsewhere(you can lower the multiplyer and increase the bclk to achieve the same results but the simplest way is 20x180). The spec's on your ram indicates you will need 1.65v for the ram so a DIMM voltage of 1.5 would most likely cause instability as you would be under volting the ram you ordered. And ram timmings I would leave on auto to start with, you can tune them in later if you wish.

There are several settings you will want to turn off, some on auto and some you will set manually.. I did a quick search and found a couple guides

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=642527
http://www.knharris.com/Overclockingx58 (there is a link at the bottom of this one for more detailed info)


You will want to read though them to get an idea what you will need to do. The first thread talks about going to 4.2 so voltages and some settings will be higher then you will need... (my i7-920 was able to hit 3.6 at stock voltages on all with only a slight bump on the QPI PLL vcore.

Something else to be aware of is there are 2 different steppings on the i7-920 a "C0" and a "D0", generally the "D0" requires less voltage to achieve an OC but not always...

Jumping straight to your goal is never advised... take little steps and test each one to ensure stability before pushing further...


Welcome to OCC...

[Lastman]

Thankyou for all the help. The last link you gave me really helped. I will use E-Leet to overclock in small steps. When i Reach a stable 3.6 GHz. I will put the settings in my Bios and Run Prime 95 over night.

If i used a 19x multiplier and 190 bclk , it would let me get 1512 mhz out of ram in stead of using 20 x 180 bclk 1440 mhz on my ram.

Is this a good idea??

This post has been edited by Lastman: Nov 1 2009, 12:47 PM

[WR6X]

I would say: Leave Turbo and HTT enabled instead of lowering your multiplier. Set your ram on 2:8. This will put your cpu @ 3675 with BClk 170. But your mem will run @ 1400. In that case you can tighten your timings. But if your mem is capable you might set the divider to 2:10.

[Lastman]

HI , I used the settings I mentioned and I am getting 1540 Mhz out of my Ram. I used 1.25 V-Core.

Here is the proof of 3.6 GHZ.




These are my Idle Temps.




And these are my temps after running Prime95 for 2 hours.




Now I am busy trying to lower the V-core from 1.25 even further. I also order 2 (Scythe 1900 rpm Slipstream) fans for my Cpu cooler. I currently have a really bad fan on it. Should drop temps by 5C.

What do you guys think of my first attempt?

[Hyper]

Looking good so far

Looks like you still have room to push it further if you want.

[WR6X]

Looks good. Temps too. But why do you want to use multiplier 19? Is there a special reason for you to lower the multiplier?

[Lastman]

Looks good. Temps too. But why do you want to use multiplier 19? Is there a special reason for you to lower the multiplier?

I used an Multiplier of 19 becuase my Ram can only go to 1600 MHZ. If I used 21 x or 20 x I would only use 1300 - 1440 MHZ of my ram speed. But with a BCLK of 190 x 8 = 1520 MHZ which I get out of my Ram.

These are my new temps at Idle. My ambient is 18C.



This is how my cable managment looks. What you think?

[WR6X]

I used an Multiplier of 19 becuase my Ram can only go to 1600 MHZ. If I used 21 x or 20 x I would only use 1300 - 1440 MHZ of my ram speed. But with a BCLK of 190 x 8 = 1520 MHZ which I get out of my Ram.

Your RAM is rated to go 1600MHz. But it probably can run a on higher frequency. For example: My mem is rated 1866MHz but now it runs 1920 MHz. When I use 2:8 divider it runs @ 1536. So I tried 2:10. In memtest it's stable for 6 hours. Didn't test it on LinX yet.
Maybe your mem is doing 1700MHz. I think it's worth to try.