timw86 Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 (edited) Hey guys, I'm so new to the overclocking scene that I don't even know where to start. Just bought a new rig and about to build it. But I figure since I'm getting a whole new computer, might as well try to overclock it to really unlock the potential of it. Being a 3d animator, I have to do alot of CPU intensive rendering, and it would be nice to have an overclocked processor do it super fast. My rig is i920 cpu, antec 1200 case, corsair 1000w psu, western digital 750GB HD, corsair dominator 6gb ram, gtx 285 gpu, asus p6t deluxe motherboard, coolermaster v8 cpu cooler I guess my first question is, what is a good and stable overclock on the i920? I have been reading some guides and it seems that all I have to worry about is the BCLK frequency and the CPU voltage? And what would be a stable number for those? I'm not really trying to hit those crazy 4.0ghz overclocks, just a relatively stable, maybe 3.2-3.5 ghz area. My second question is cooling. I have a coolermaster v8 cpu cooler, is that going to be enough to cool the cpu when I over clock? I'm trying to keep the voltage relatively safe, maybe even not change it if I don't have to. And finally, when you reach a stable overclock, how long can i leave it running? Can I overclock for a bit and then restart the computer and change everything back to normal? I guess these are REALLY newb questions, but I gotta start somewhere. I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing, wondering if the whole cpu+motherboard is going to explode on me when I start tweaking around in the BIOS. So any help would really nice. Thanks! Edited February 3, 2009 by timw86 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coors Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 Stable would be any settings that allow you to prime for 8+ hours..... All hardware is not created equal and won't all run at the same settings. Overclocking correct takes time and patience. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 First timer? Read up on some guides before messing with things you have no idea what they do. OC FAQ OC Guide From what I've heard the Core I7 is pretty easy when it comes to overclocking. A good start would be around 3.4GHz then work your way up to 3.6~3.8GHz. Some can easily do 4GHz. Make sure you have adequate cooling first! Good luck Have Fun! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philbrown23 Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 but do not take the risk of overclocking if you dont wanna fry your stuff. everyone does it and it sux when it happens I would buy a crappy setup to practice on before you do it on an expensive one, that is of course unless you have a money tree like I do Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccokeman Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 An easy safe overclock of 150 to 160x20 should be achieveable with no voltage increase to the CPU. My test rig is at 150x20 without an increase and my chip is far from shall i say Stellar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitch Itch Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 I just oc'd my rig, Im a oc noob as well, It was allot easier then I thought. In your asus bios, got to ai tweaker and change it from auto to manual mode in the blck block type 167 hit enter go to dram mhz I changed mine to 1339, I use 6 gigs of OCZ Platinum tri channel 1333 memory I didnt touch ANY other settings, I have had no problems, seems stable, I ran prime95 for about 1 hour, no errors or crashes, Im using the stock cpu cooler, during the prime test the temp did go up to about 74c, that seems high but Intel spec for the I7-920 cpu is 100c, not htat anyone would want to get close to that. I am going to swap to an aftermarket cooler within the next week, with your v8 you should be fine. programs you will probably want, cpuz, real temp, prime 95 gl, here ia screen shot of mine Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
road-runner Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 but do not take the risk of overclocking if you dont wanna fry your stuff. everyone does it and it sux when it happens I would buy a crappy setup to practice on before you do it on an expensive one, that is of course unless you have a money tree like I do Phil not everyone just burns up hardware like you do, I have been overclocking since 2003 and only killed 1 cpu and it was not dead I got mad and killed it on purpose. As far as a stable overclock I got 3.8Ghz out of my i7 920 on air, it may go more but the temps start getting to high for me. I have some water cooling I am putting on today so I will see if I can squeeze a little more out of it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLS2008 Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 Read up on the guides here, but the setup you have should do pretty well. I'd expect 3.5 GHz to come pretty easily. As for you question about how long you can leave it... Well, if it passes Prime95 for 12 hours, temps are in line, and voltage is in Intel's range, you can leave it running 24/7/365. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy1ear Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=200...SLanguage=en-us Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
timw86 Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=200...SLanguage=en-us WOW thanks! Thats a really helpful article. So when you set the BCLK everything changes. I know I can't change the CPU multiplier, but every other multiplier is adjustable? So if I want to achieve a stable overclock, lets say by increasing the BCLK to 160, does that mean I need to reduce the DRAM, UCLK, and QPI multipliers so they remain the same? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitch Itch Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=200...SLanguage=en-us That is the article I read and I used that chart to do mine, If I read it right all thats needs to be done is set asus ai tweaker to manual, set the bclk (167 for me) then set your dram mhz to 1339mhz, (for me) and leave everything else alone, everything else is in auto mode or is changed automaticlly when you change those 2 settings, you can see from my screen shots the the voltages changed by them self, I didnt make ANY voltage changes. The longest part of my oc was getting into my bios setup and restarting the comp. I dont think I missed anything did I? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted February 6, 2009 Posted February 6, 2009 Hey man. Overclocking the i7920 is extremley easy and this thing has major head room. It was designed to run at 2.66, but everyone will tell you that its merley a locked multiplier that keeps it there The overclocking potential is insane with this thing. Ive got mine running stable at BLCK at 160 and running 6 gigs of OCZ gold 1600 at 1604. That puts the processor at about 3.21g. With stock cooling, mine nevere goes above 71ish on prime 95, but this setup is very stable. I plan, once I get a TRUE cpu cooler, Im gonna push it on up to 3.6-3.8 and drop the mem down to prob 1520ish. You made a good decision on getting the 920 over the 940 because of the overclocking abilities. With the bios and aboout 5 mins you can match the frequency of the $1000 dollar extreme. (of course with the extreme you get the unlocked multiplier and 6.4 bandwidth, but imo is not worth $1000.) The coolermaster v8 should do fine and honestly, you can leave most options on auto. The cpu voltage and QPI voltages should adjust acordingly. Good luck!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now