Help overclocking i7-920 d0 to 4 Ghz

[Finalheaven]

Hello members,

 

I have built a Core i7 computers with hopes of overclocking it to 4 Ghz.

 

My build is as follows:

Intel Core i7-920 d0 Processor (Currently running at 3.36 Ghz)

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Motherboard

Scythe Mugen-2 Revision. B Heatsink w/Silent Cooling Fan(Airflow blowing towards back of case)

4 GB(2x2Gb) G.Skill RIPJAWS DDR3 1600 (CAS 9-9-9-24 @ 1.50V)

Antec Performance One P180 with 3 120mm fans (Airflow from going in from top of case, exausting from behind)

Antec True Power Trio 550W PSU

Artic Silver 5 Thermal Paste (Used on Heatsink/Applied it using the line method)

Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Paste (Didn't use)

 

As you read, I overclocked it to 3.36 Ghz and ran Prime95 for 2 hrs straight on blend and still running Prime95 while typing this.

My OC settings are as follows:

Multiplier - 21X (Turboboost on, manually used the extra multiplier)

BCLK - 160

VCore - 1.10V

QPI - Set on Auto

QPI Voltage - Set on Auto

Memory - 1280

Memory Voltage - 1.5V

Hyper-Threading - On

Various Power Saving Features - On

 

IDLE TEMPS

 

 

LOAD TEMPS

 

 

I was wondering what I should do if I want to achieve a stable 4 Ghz Overclock on this processor. I was worried about my temps being a bit on the higher end and I have tried to reseat the heatsink in an attempt to lower temps. I also heard that AS5 Thermal paste takes 200 hrs to properly cure, before I see some tangible benefits to temps. I tried to overclock it to 3.8, but failed to even get it to boot to windows. Anyways, please offer any suggestions on reaching me reach the next 'level' of computing.

[dling]

As far as the temps you can disable HT in the bios and it help lower them.

Put the vcore to 1.35v and the vtt to 300mv or a total 1.4v with your temps

that high at such low voltages you will have a hard time them.

Heres a link its for Evga but it may help.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=106693&high=sli+le

Good Luck. Just remember some chips do not ever get that high,its all luck of the draw.

Edited March 5, 2010 by dling

[rourkchris]

Try reading through this thread http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.p...172832&st=0

 

I think it will help.

[Finalheaven]

Thanks guys, I am reading through the threads right now. I am trying to push it to 3.6 and running

 

My OC settings are as follows: CHANGES ARE RED

Multiplier - 20X (Turboboost off)

BCLK - 180

VCore - 1.20V

QPI - Set on Auto

QPI Voltage - Set on Auto

Memory - 1440

Memory Voltage - 1.5V

Hyper-Threading - OFF

Various Power Saving Features - On

Load-Line Calibration (Vdroop Control) - Level 1(Not sure what this means, but I heard it helps)

 

So far idle temps are averaging 43 C and at full load it is at 65 C. I tried reducing the temperatures by opening the left side of my case to increase airflow and it helps reduce the temps by 2/4 C respectably. I am also debating reseating the cooler one more time and putting on MX-2 Thermal Grease instead.

 

I just started P95 and hopefully I can figure out if these settings is stable.

 

Thanks for all the help. It is going to be a long and arduous journey ahead of me.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Finalheaven

[nanoprobe]

FWIW the i7s seem to perform better with odd number multipliers. I would suggest you enable turbo boost and disable any power saving settings in the bios. Disabling HT will lower your OC temps 10-12c on air as a rule. Kinda defeats the purpose of having HT but that's your call. You're going to need a very good HSF to keep 4 GHz cool enough to be stable. i7s run hot. Water cooled is the way to go.

 

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1002480

 

Here is my CPUZ validation to get an idea of where my settings are. My temps are 56-60c on water with HT enabled. Good luck

[Finalheaven]

FWIW the i7s seem to perform better with odd number multipliers. I would suggest you enable turbo boost and disable any power saving settings in the bios. Disabling HT will lower your OC temps 10-12c on air as a rule. Kinda defeats the purpose of having HT but that's your call. You're going to need a very good HSF to keep 4 GHz cool enough to be stable. i7s run hot. Water cooled is the way to go.

 

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1002480

 

Here is my CPUZ validation to get an idea of where my settings are. My temps are 56-60c on water with HT enabled. Good luck

Do you have any suggestions on decent water cooling or air coolers? I thought that Mugen-2 was pretty good, I saw reviews of it keeping up with Thermalright MUX-120.

 

At the moment, I am managing with P95 for one hour at 3.6 Ghz (180 @ 20x). I am gonna run it for another 3-4 hrs and it should be alright. I think if I wanna hit higher, I will have to take up on your suggestion to hit up the odd multiplier.

 

*UPDATED*

 

 

My highs seem a big drastic, but when I opened up the left side of my case my temps dropped to 61-59 C as you can see. I think my case has poor airflow, and I was taking into account how to change my fan layout and make it heat exhaust thru the top of the case and the back be intake. I would also set the fan blowing upwards towards the top of the case. It would make sense since hot air rises.

 

The overclock seems stable with no errors in memory or crashes for 4 hrs on P95. With 61 C under load, I feel that I can push it to 3.8 Ghz by raising the multiplier to 3.78 Ghz (180 x 21). With 70 C being the temperature to avoid, perhaps I may be just shy from 4 Ghz. Here I go...

Edited March 6, 2010 by Finalheaven

[Crawlerz246]

running my i7 920 >>> @ a whopping 4.1GHz (I say whopping because for a coolermaster V8 screaming for mercy at load, that's pretty good).

 

hyperthreading OFF untill I get enough knowledge and money for H2O cooling. speedstep off. 1.23 VCORE, 1.25 (I forget the exact number) VTT. the rest to auto.

 

65 at max load is pretty good IMO, maybe gonna raise the clock today a bit. maybe try to reach 4.2?

Edited March 6, 2010 by Crawlerz246

[rourkchris]

You don't need water cooling to get to 4Ghz. A good air cooler, good case airflow, A decent overclocking motherboard, a good clean and strong power supply, capable RAM, and a little luck getting a good CPU for overclocking is all you need. Most DO stepping i7 920s are more than capable of 4Ghz. I run 4.312Ghz OCCT 1 hour stable on air with Hyperthreading ON http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.p...p;#entry1727253 but run it @ 4Ghz even 24/7 with 1.275v to the CPU with HTT ON for the last 7-8 months.

 

I use a Prolimatech Megahalems with 2 Scythe 110CFM fans in a push/pull configuration. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835242001 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835185060

 

I use OCZ Freeze Thermal compound http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g8/c127/s4...unds-Page1.html

 

Enjoy the process, have fun, and take notes. Keeping notes can be invaluable.

[Finalheaven]

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it. I decided to take the next step into 3.8 Ghz.

 

My OC settings are as follows: CHANGES ARE RED

Multiplier - 21X (Turboboost on)

BCLK - 180

VCore - 1.20V

QPI - Set on Auto

QPI Voltage - Set on Auto

Memory - 1440

Memory Voltage - 1.5V

Hyper-Threading - OFF

Various Power Saving Features - On

Vdroop Control - Level 1(Not sure what this means, but I heard it helps)

 

I kept everything the same from my stable 3.6 Ghz, but allowed the multiplier to hit 21x, thus, making my speed bump up to 3.78 Ghz. I took into suggestion the odd multiplier and left my cooling setup alone. Once I can get 3.8 stable, I will set up the heatsink to properly exuast hot air to the top fan to quell the temperatures further and do one final push into 4 Ghz territory without my comp crapping on me. So far, Prime95 is stable for an hour, gonna wait it out for another couple hrs and run memtest86+ after to see how RAM fares. I will post some temps and speeds once stable.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Finalheaven

[nanoprobe]

If your temps drop significantly with the case open you definitely have an air flow issue. Since my i7 is water cooled I can only guess what might work for air. A push/pull set up works best AFAIK. Intake from the front, exhaust from the rear and top. cable management is also important. The more that are obstructing flow, the more heat. Most of the newer cases allow you to hide cables behind the mobo and/or in unused drive bays. The ones that are not hidden in my case are tie wrapped out of the way. it's mostly trial and error with air. Good reliable water cooling isn't cheap. Check my sig for the one I use on my i7. Good luck

[Finalheaven]

If your temps drop significantly with the case open you definitely have an air flow issue. Since my i7 is water cooled I can only guess what might work for air. A push/pull set up works best AFAIK. Intake from the front, exhaust from the rear and top. cable management is also important. The more that are obstructing flow, the more heat. Most of the newer cases allow you to hide cables behind the mobo and/or in unused drive bays. The ones that are not hidden in my case are tie wrapped out of the way. it's mostly trial and error with air. Good reliable water cooling isn't cheap. Check my sig for the one I use on my i7. Good luck

 

I read about your water cooler, seems nice. I may try to stick with air cooling for now, as I am still new to air cooling and overclocking in general. However, I may invest in the same one you are using if I feel the need to push things further. I will be taking pictures of my rig and, perhaps, you can give me some suggestions on what I could do to improve things. Prime95 has been running 3 hrs straight without a hitch at 3.78 Ghz. I will be doing a Memtest to test ram stability after an hour or so.

 

*UPDATED*

 

PICTURE OF MY RIG

 

 

AIRFLOW PICS

 

 

i7-920 3.78 Ghz (21x @ 180 BCLK) FULL LOAD

 

 

Prime95 ran just fine with the extra multiplier. I have yet to run memtest86+, but the temps remained relatively the same as when I had it at 3.6 Ghz. As you can see, my cables are not the neatest and my airflow is towards tbe back end. I could set the fan on my heatsink to blow upwards and change my top fan to exaust air. The back end would be intake instead and well... my case has fairly bad front intake that is blocked by the Hard Drive Tray from the back, a dust mesh from the front and a plastic door with little vents, which cuts airflow quite a bit. If the door to the case is closed, the front vent gets almost on air at all.

Edited March 7, 2010 by Finalheaven

[Finalheaven]

I tried to overclock my PC to 3.99 Ghz (190 @ 21x) last night. It booted to Windows perfectly fine and I tried running Prime overnight. It ran okay for 2 hrs, then I decided to leave it on overnight and sleep. I wake up to a frozen PC. I set the voltage to 1.25V. I am not sure if I should play with the VTT, which is currently on Auto. I am sure my ram can run at 1.5V since it is still running below due to dividers(Not quite hitting 1600Mhz speeds). I may pour in a little more volts to make it stable. I am not sure what else I should change in my settings to ensure I can hit 4 Ghz properly. Any suggestions?