Core i7 Over Clock

[Dariuas]

So, I over clocked to 3.8 and it blue screened on me, I turned it down to 3.6 and it ran fine. I am benchmarking it right now. I only ran a 6m OCCT check on both, and at the 5->4 min is when 3.8 BSOD on me. The idle temp for the 3.6 is right around 42-44c. I am a bit unsure if my voltage and such is set right; after this BM runs I'll post the info here and let you judge.

Here's my machine:

 

Core i7 Nehalem 920 (Zalman 9500 HSF)

Asus P6T Deluxe OC Palm

Sapphire Radeon 4870x2 (Only 1)

OCZ Platinum 6gb DDR3 1600

ABS Tagan 1100W

Cooler Master Storm Sniper Case

 

So here is my overclock

 

 

 

 

And here is the CoreTemp reading

 

I ran OCCT again with the above OC at a 30 minute time table, and here are the results

 

 

 

 

 

 

So my question is;

A) Is there anything wrong with the voltage settings, or any of the OC Settings (This is my first OC)

B) Are my temperatures ok?

C) Is there any specific ram configuration in the DIMS that I can take advantage of?

I remember reading some place that there is a specific setup to put the sticks in the DIMM slots

to take better advantage of HighSpeed

 

Thank you in advance!

[Crazy_Nate]

Not sure about the voltages. Temperatures are warm, but it seems like all the i7's do run a bit warm (yours seems better than some). Make sure the ram is in a triple channel configuration (probably in the manual...they usually color code the memory slots, too).

 

Welcome to OCC

 

EDIT: CPUz should be able to tell you if you're running triple channel or not

Edited April 25, 2009 by Crazy_Nate

[Zertz]

QPI voltage seems high, you shouldn't need so much. Setting the QPI at 1.45V should be enough and then move the Vcore to 1.35V. That's roughly what you should need for 3.8GHz, depending how good your chip is. Some voltage on the IOH can help at high BCLK's also, 1.3V is a good number

 

Your temperatures are okay, just don't go any higher

 

Your memory slots are color coded, just put all three in the same color and it'll be triple channel

Edited April 25, 2009 by Zertz

[Dariuas]

QPI voltage seems high, you shouldn't need so much. Setting the QPI at 1.45V should be enough and then move the Vcore to 1.35V. That's roughly what you should need for 3.8GHz, depending how good your chip is. Some voltage on the IOH can help at high BCLK's also, 1.3V is a good number

 

Your temperatures are okay, just don't go any higher

 

Your memory slots are color coded, just put all three in the same color and it'll be triple channel

 

 

I set my voltage to 1.35 and that made my system unstable, but the BLCK was also at 190 running @ 3.8 I'll try 1.35 and 1.45 for the QPI.

[Dariuas]

QPI voltage seems high, you shouldn't need so much. Setting the QPI at 1.45V should be enough and then move the Vcore to 1.35V. That's roughly what you should need for 3.8GHz, depending how good your chip is. Some voltage on the IOH can help at high BCLK's also, 1.3V is a good number

 

Your temperatures are okay, just don't go any higher

 

Your memory slots are color coded, just put all three in the same color and it'll be triple channel

 

Also, yes, CPU-Z says Triple.

So I lowered my QPI and raised my Voltage to 1.35, still running a bit warm for my taste, so I am going to lower my voltage to 1.30 and see how that does.

[Zertz]

I was just throwing rough numbers, you'll have to tweak for your own processor of course

[Dariuas]

What is the major contributor of heat? I would think Voltage would be that. I would like to get my temps down a bit; I am going to eventually

go with the Domino ALC cooler, I hear its good for what it does, and think it would be best suited for me.

What are your thoughts?

[scr4wl]

Yeah voltage is the biggest contributer of heat.

 

Try and keep it as low as you can.

[Zertz]

There are many factors that contribute to the power dissipation of a processor, but, yes, it's mostly voltage.

 

CoolIT Domino Review

[Dariuas]

There are many factors that contribute to the power dissipation of a processor, but, yes, it's mostly voltage.

 

CoolIT Domino Review

 

So, does this mean you approve of the Domino?

[Zertz]

It seems a bit expensive for what it does. A high end air cooled heatsink like the TRUE or Noctua U12P paired with good airflow will perform as well, if not better.

[Nuclear]

Woah...I just caught wind of this post.

 

1. Your QPI voltage is way too high for air cooling and is really pushing it for water cooling. I wouldn't recommend going over 1.45v on your current setup. There is no reason your chip should need that much QPI voltage to reach those speeds. Adding too much QPI can lead to lots of instability and a lot of unnecessary heat.

 

2. Forget the Domino and just get a nice air cooler, or better yet save up and buy a nice H2O system. You'll get better results and should be happier in the end.

 

Now...I realize that adding QPI voltage to your system helped gained stability but I would be willing to bet that it was because of an auto voltage being set higher due to your outrageous QPI setting. ICH and IOH voltages are very important when pushing the bclck higher on your i7 system, and often a little bump from the 1.1v setting will gain lots of stability. Every board is different but what I have seen most boards need a slight bump at or around 190, and then need a little more the higher you go up. I would recommend dropping the QPI to 1.375, setting the CPU vcore PLL to 1.82v, IOH and ICH to ~1.2v and try again.

 

Just to give you a heads up on my settings for my C0 i7 920 (D0 is another story)

 

24/7 3.9GHz:

 

CPU vcore: 1.4v

CPU PLL: 1.82v

QPI: 1.375v

IOH / ICH: 1.3v

IOH / ICH PCI-E: 1.5v

DRAM: 1.66v

 

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