OC FIRST TIME

[Foozle]

WOW I just tried running the temperature monitor while i played a game of counter strike, the temps immidiately jumped to 70 and after 2 minutes of playing i checked back and the max was 95... WTF Is it even safe to keep using my CPU? What could be the problem?

 

I have attached the screenshot.

[malmsteenisgod]

Those are some crazy high temps and I would be concerned too. And I don't suppose your room temperature is 100+ Fahrenheit is it?

[Foozle]

No lol, its not. I have fixed it for now by sticking the stock cooler in there, the temps are now normal, with stressing producing around 60 instead of 95-100

 

But yeh, if i ever want to overclock im going to have to look into this cooling issue.

 

Just by the way, i was using this CPU for a good 2 months before i discovered this problem and with much higher stressing games than the one i tested and got those temps with, could i have possibly caused any damage?

[sack_patrol]

No lol, its not. I have fixed it for now by sticking the stock cooler in there, the temps are now normal, with stressing producing around 60 instead of 95-100

 

But yeh, if i ever want to overclock im going to have to look into this cooling issue.

 

Just by the way, i was using this CPU for a good 2 months before i discovered this problem and with much higher stressing games than the one i tested and got those temps with, could i have possibly caused any damage?

Ok so if you are now using the stock cooler and u get ~60C, then it's a cooler problem. I suggest you buy a new cooler. Finding a quality cooler isn't hard nor expensive. I have a Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer 4 with a 120mm that at the time used some new technology to make it much quieter while running at 2000rpm I think it was... I got it for like 50 bucks and I think it very very good for the money. You can just look around and read some cooler reviews and decide what you would be happy with. That's how I did it. OCC has a load of cooler reviews. Also a good thing to do when looking for any new hardware is to read more than one review for the item from different sites because different people use different ways to test and decide...that way you can see exactly what the quality is.

 

After you sort the cooler issue, you can move onto some real overclocking.

[RogerDeath]

Ok so if you are now using the stock cooler and u get ~60C, then it's a cooler problem. I suggest you buy a new cooler. Finding a quality cooler isn't hard nor expensive. I have a Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer 4 with a 120mm that at the time used some new technology to make it much quieter while running at 2000rpm I think it was... I got it for like 50 bucks and I think it very very good for the money. You can just look around and read some cooler reviews and decide what you would be happy with. That's how I did it. OCC has a load of cooler reviews. Also a good thing to do when looking for any new hardware is to read more than one review for the item from different sites because different people use different ways to test and decide...that way you can see exactly what the quality is.

 

After you sort the cooler issue, you can move onto some real overclocking.

Xigmatek has some good coolers that can take several rounds with some of the bigger name guys (not Noctua, nobody touches them) for a decent price. If price is of no importance then Noctua is the way to go, more specifically the NH-D14 (reviewed here).

 

And I'm impressed, our uber troll is acutally helping out quite a bit!

[wevsspot]

the way to overclock is to increase the Bus Speed which should be set to 200Mhz by default.

 

ballist1x - this is an Intel Socket 1366 platform, not AMD. The default buss speed on the 1366 is 133Mhz NOT 200Mhz.

 

The first step in any overclocking endeavor is to ensure that your system is stable at stock BIOS settings across the board - using the tools that you pointed out in your previous post.

 

To the OP - regardless of whether it is a i7 920 or i7 930 the overclocking steps are pretty much the same.

 

Depending on how far you want to push it you should be able to achieve a 166Mhz bclk without changing a single thing in your BIOS other than your memory multiplier in order to keep your memory at or below its rated spec.

 

Once you've confirmed your build is toaster stable at stock settings you can begin the overclocking fun.

 

Leave everything in your BIOS stock except for;

 

1. Change CPU VTT from Auto to 1.24v

2. Change bclk from 133Mhz to 166Mhz

3. For now disable Turbo Mode

4. Disable TM Protection (Intel thermal throttling technology)

5. Manually set your DRAM voltage and primary memory timings to those specified by the memory manufacturer

6. Once you've upped the bclk make sure to check the resulting RAM speed to ensure that you are at or below the memories rated speed - if you're above that use the memory multipliers to reduce the memory speed

 

If you can successfully boot into windows at those settings then you can run your stress tests on a slightly overclocked sysem

 

I highly recommend that you read any number of excellent socket 1366 overclocking guides readily available on the web - you'll find many specifically tailored to the i7 920.

Edited July 20, 2010 by wevsspot

[wevsspot]

Foozle - after carefully digesting the BIOS settings you posted earlier in the thread, the fact that your computer booted and is stable at all is a testament to that board.

 

First - you're running a base clock of 200Mhz and a multiplier of 21 so that gives you an effective cpu speed of 4.20Ghz

Second - if you still have turbo boost enabled you are getting another multipler so under load you're running at 4.4Ghz

Third - the cpu cooler you have right now isn't any where near capable of handling the i7 930 quad at those speeds

Fourth - you are running your RAM at DDR3 2100 speeds which is putting a massive load on the memory controller - running those memory speeds on and i7 920/930 WILL increase your cpu operating temperature to insane levels

Fifth - 1.50v core is WAY too much for normal 24//7 day to day operation

 

If you want any of your gear to last, a reasonable overclock using that heatsink would be in the 3.4Ghz to 3.6Ghz range max.

You don't want to use more than 1.35 - 1.40 CPU voltage max under air cooling

Your QPI VTT is amazingly low for DDR3 2100 speeds and that particular RAM. Are you sure that you passed hard core stress testing at these settings?

 

I'm posting up recommended changes to your setup based on your hardware - my recommended changes are bold;

 

 

3. Advanced BIOS Features | CPU Feature | Hyper-Threading Function - Enabled

 

4. Advanced BIOS Features | CPU Feature | Execute Bit Support - Disabled

 

5. Advanced BIOS Features | CPU Feature | C1E Support - Enabled (works fine in most situations with 1366 platform - try disabling if system isn't stable)

 

6. Advanced BIOS Features | CPU Feature | Overspeed Protection - Disabled

 

7. Advanced BIOS Features | CPU Feature | Intel Virtualization Tech - Disabled

 

8. Advanced BIOS Features | Chipset Feature | HPET - Enabled.

 

9. Green Power | CPU Phase Control - Disabled

 

10. Cell Menu | Intel EIST - Enabled - (works fine in most situations with 1366 platform - try disabling if system isn't stable)

 

11. Cell Menu | Intel C-STATE tech - Enabled (works fine in most situations with 1366 platform - try disabling if system isn't stable)

 

??? Intel Turbo Mode Technology - Disabled

 

12. Cell Menu | Base Clock (MHz) - 172 (until you bet better cooling)

 

13. Cell Menu | Adjust CPU Ratio - 21

 

14. Cell Menu | QPI Configuration | QPI Links Speed - High-Speed Mode

 

15. Cell Menu | QPI Configuration | QPI Frequency - Auto

 

16. Cell Menu | Advance DRAM Configuration | 1N/2N Memory Timing - 2N (can possibly change back to 1N later)

 

17. Cell Menu | Advance DRAM Configuration | CAS Latency(CL) - 8 (see note on actual memory speed)

 

18. Cell Menu | Advance DRAM Configuration | tRCD - 9 DRAM Clocks (see note on actual memory speed)

 

19. Cell Menu | Advance DRAM Configuration | tRP - 8 DRAM Clocks (see note on actual memory speed)

 

20. Cell Menu | Advance DRAM Configuration | tRAS - 24 DRAM Clocks

 

21. Cell Menu | Advance DRAM Configuration | Advanced Memory Setting - AUTO

 

22. Cell Menu | Extreme Memory Profile - Disabled

 

23. Cell Menu | Memory Ratio - set ratio to achive memory speed in range of 1750Mhz to 1900Mhz

 

24. Cell Menu | Uncore Ratio - Auto

 

25. Cell Menu | CPU Voltage (V) - +0.240 *****(this you can play with reducing or increasing after you get a stable boot, but this should put your Vcore to just under 1.5 V) (SO WRONG - WAY TOO MUCH VOLTAGE!) adjust add so that resulting CPU Voltage is around 1.28 to 1.30V

 

26. Cell Menu | CPU PLL Voltage (V) - 1.88

 

27. Cell Menu | QPI Voltage (V) - (once you hit over 1800Mhz or so you will need 1.45V or a little higher for stability - anything between 1600Mhz and 1799Mhz 1.3V should be fine)

 

28. Cell Menu | DRAM Voltage (V) - (up to 1800Mhz between 1.60V or 1.62V will be fine - above that may require 1.64-1.65V)

 

29. Cell Menu | All remaining Voltages - Auto

 

30. Cell Menu | Spread Spectrum - Disabled

 

Once you have made these changes you WILL see a drop in temperatures. These settings aren't the ceiling of your hardware, but should be the considered the ceilings until you upgrade cpu coolers. I've compensated for a reduction in RAM frequency by tightening your primary timings. Performance will be equal to or better than DDR3 2000 speeds.

 

Make these changes as soon as possible, because your current settings are dangerous. And contrary to what some people may tell you ..... you CAN burn up hardware by overclocking/overvolting components.

Edited July 21, 2010 by wevsspot

[Foozle]

Hey Wevsspot,

 

Thanks so much for your replies!! Actually those settings i posted up were recommended on another guide i had seen by someone with the same chip and mobo as me, i never actually used them, just wanted to see what people thought of them. Obviously they are not the best

 

Im off work for the next few days so i have time to have a hunt round for a good cooler, because i do realise that the stock one is useless for overclocking my CPU, when i have the cooler sorted i will start by just upping the base clock, altho i am still unsure of how to adjust the memory multipliers to keep the RAM speed down to where it should be, any more specific advice on that would be great

 

As for the settings you posted up, thanks heaps!! I will incorporate them into my testing after i have a play round and learn my BIOS a bit better, as i said, this is my first dive into the world of overclocking.

 

you guys have really been a great help so far, keep the posts coming

Edited July 21, 2010 by Foozle

[wevsspot]

Hey Wevsspot,

altho i am still unsure of how to adjust the memory multipliers to keep the RAM speed down to where it should be, any more specific advice on that would be great

 

In your BIOS navigate to;

 

Cell Menu>Advanced DRAM Configuration>Advanced Memory Setting>Memory Ratio

 

Also to clarify my earlier post about EIST - the i7 930 doesn't support that feature so it should be greyed out or maybe not even visible in your bios, but it does support Intel C-State and C1E. If EIST is visible in your BIOS set it to Auto or Disabled.

 

Cheers

Edited July 21, 2010 by wevsspot