Core i7/X58 Overclocking Thread

[JWMc]

Well, after all this talk of BCLK I decided to do an actual test on mine. Low and behold, maximum BCLK of 222MHz...

Sigh, on your 940. I just know the 940s and 965s have way better IMCs on average!

Also, 100th post. Yesssssssssss:

[dejanh]

What frequency is your RAM and Uncore running at?

DRAM is at 8x222MHz so 1776MHz with 8-8-8-24-1T timings (loosened them from 7-8-7-20-1T to test for max BCLK), and Uncore is at 3774MHz (17x222MHz instead of the default 2xDRAM or 16x).

Sigh, on your 940. I just know the 940s and 965s have way better IMCs on average!

...snip...

My sarcasm-meter is running off the charts

[burningrave101]

Well, after all this talk of BCLK I decided to do an actual test on mine. Low and behold, maximum BCLK of 222MHz (set in BIOS, TurboV/CPU-Z reports it as 221 for some reason but whatever)...

Anyway, 20-pass LinX run completed without issues using 1.47500V QPI/DRAM (VTT). I'd say this is not bad?! See screenshot below.

Looks like your running XP (32-bit?) and possibly only 3GB of RAM though. Or at least your only testing 772MB of RAM in LinX instead of All. Try 6GB and Vista/Windows 7 64-bit and that will likely have more of an effect on how high your able to get with the BCLK.

You need a good IMC to be able to run high BCLK's or high memory speeds with the i7's and 6GB is more stressful on the IMC than 3GB. A 64-bit OS will also put more stress on the CPU than 32-bit.

[dejanh]

Looks like your running XP (32-bit?) and possibly only 3GB of RAM though. Or at least your only testing 772MB of RAM in LinX instead of All. Try 6GB and Vista/Windows 7 64-bit and that will likely have more of an effect on how high your able to get with the BCLK.

You need a good IMC to be able to run high BCLK's or high memory speeds with the i7's and 6GB is more stressful on the IMC than 3GB. A 64-bit OS will also put more stress on the CPU than 32-bit.

Yes I am aware of all of that. I do not clock my memory to arbitrary speeds before ensuring that it is completly stable at those speeds I already know for my numerous tests before that my memory is 100% stable up to 1900MHz OC using 8-9-7-20-1T timings and 1.43750V QPI/DRAM with 3800MHz Uncore. I use 6GB of Corsair Dominator DRAM.

So yes, in conclusion, this would be stable with all 6GB or DRAM used. This chip does seem to have a decent IMC. This was just a quick, isolated BCLK test. But, either way, what's the point when I still cannot clock it for 24/7 past 4.2GHz

*sarcasm alert* Yay, I can get a high BCLK, yay *sarcasm alert*

[Lukee]

I have to see how high my 940 can go then.

Do you think you can get 222 x 19 stable?

I have 12 GB OCZ gold 8-8-8-24 1.65 memory. I think that's keeping me from stabilizing memory over 1600 Mhz, but I would have to remove some memory to see and to be honest with you, I think that the 12 GB would be more beneficial than the extra speed.

[dejanh]

I have to see how high my 940 can go then.

Do you think you can get 222 x 19 stable?

I have 12 GB OCZ gold 8-8-8-24 1.65 memory. I think that's keeping me from stabilizing memory over 1600 Mhz, but I would have to remove some memory to see and to be honest with you, I think that the 12 GB would be more beneficial than the extra speed.

I could yes, but that would turn the CPU into a mini-heater. Not only does it require higher Vcore, but also much higher Vqpi than 21x200MHz.

No point in it really...

Either way I put it, 4.2GHz to 4.3GHz seems to be the maximum point to achieve for 24/7.

In terms of DRAM, both 12GB DRAM or >1600MHz DRAM are overkill for pretty much any application. I just wish I could load the whole OS into the memory and then somehow keep it there

That would be sweet!

[Lukee]

Dejanh, are you using an Asus Board? I can't find where to enable Turbo mode. I'm using Asus P6T deluxe bios 1102

[SteveRo]

I have seen many people say this but I'd like to know why this should make sense at all?

Higher bclk = higher IMC stress and more bandwidth to feed the cores at the higher core clocks. There's no reason I can think of for a lower multi with higher bclk to lower the required voltage other than some bizarre motherboard implementation thing. I'm still a noob though.

look at the pic attached.
don't ask me to explain it - but I get lower temps and higher oc at high bclock/low multi. All this was on air. (noctua 12 with 2x120 in push/pull)

[JWMc]

Thanks for your help in figuring out i7 overclocking dejanh!

I just wish I could load the whole OS into the memory and then somehow keep it there

That would be sweet!

Yea me too, just for fun! Linux has a way to do this easily, not that I use it outside of servers.

[JWMc]

look at the pic attached.
don't ask me to explain it - but I get lower temps and higher oc at high bclock/low multi. All this was on air. (noctua 12 with 2x120 in push/pull)

Thanks Steve. I'm still learning new stuff pretty much every day. Sorry I didn't go over your data in detail already. I just felt like there might be some magic to the EX58-Extreme+965 Extreme+3x1GB modules+Not Vista-64 you were using because my results were so different to yours but with a very similar motherboard.

[SteveRo]

Sigh, on your 940. I just know the 940s and 965s have way better IMCs on average!

Also, 100th post. Yesssssssssss:

Based on my reading - all this thread, several others and my own experience - I don't think there is anything different between 920, 940 and 965 except the multi locks.
Random chance (maybe week of manufacture?) determines best oc regardless of how much you paid for your i7.
I am not completely happy about this actually.

[SteveRo]

Thanks for your help in figuring out i7 overclocking dejanh!



Yea me too, just for fun! Linux has a way to do this easily, not that I use it outside of servers.

dejanh already has his os in memory - the os just doesn't know it yet. (SSD)

[dejanh]

Based on my reading - all this thread, several others and my own experience - I don't think there is anything different between 920, 940 and 965 except the multi locks.
Random chance (maybe week of manufacture?) determines best oc regardless of how much you paid for your i7.
I am not completely happy about this actually.

Tell me about it. I adopted i7 one week after it's official release (actually less than that, only about 4 days). I did pay less for my i7 940 than some other people paid for it but still, I am extremely pissed over this and will likely never get over it until I move to a new system. But because of the price I paid, I am not planning on moving anytime soon so it looks like I'll be reminded of this for a very long time.

I personally do not feel that Intel does any sort of binning on these chips.

dejanh already has his os in memory - the os just doesn't know it yet. (SSD)

Not just yet, need to move there though soon but put off still by the high price/low capacity of these drives, especially for the really good ones like Intel. The damn HDD is crippling my system performance. Still though not as fast as loading the whole OS into the memory

Finally, a note about lower voltages for higher base clocks/lower multipliers vs. the other way around...

This is strange, and I found this strange from day 1 when I started overclocking i7 back in the beginning of November. Usually having unlocked multipliers means that you can achieve higher clocks with lower voltages and a cooler system as you are not required to overclock basically everything else in the system. However, with i7 this definitely does not seem to be the case. I'd say maybe that is where the problem in differentiating i7 920 from i7 940 from i7 965 really is...multiplier is almost meaningless especially in the case of i7 940 vs. i7 920.

Dejanh, are you using an Asus Board? I can't find where to enable Turbo mode. I'm using Asus P6T deluxe bios 1102

I use the R2E not P6T board. My Turbo settings are located under the Advanced tab in the BIOS, under CPU Configuration option.

[SteveRo]

Tell me about it. I adopted i7 one week after it's official release (actually less than that, only about 4 days). I did pay less for my i7 940 than some other people paid for it but still, I am extremely pissed over this and will likely never get over it until I move to a new system. But because of the price I paid, I am not planning on moving anytime soon so it looks like I'll be reminded of this for a very long time.

I personally do not feel that Intel does any sort of binning on these chips.



Not just yet, need to move there though soon but put off still by the high price/low capacity of these drives, especially for the really good ones like Intel. The damn HDD is crippling my system performance. Still though not as fast as loading the whole OS into the memory

Finally, a note about lower voltages for higher base clocks/lower multipliers vs. the other way around...

This is strange, and I found this strange from day 1 when I started overclocking i7 back in the beginning of November. Usually having unlocked multipliers means that you can achieve higher clocks with lower voltages and a cooler system as you are not required to overclock basically everything else in the system. However, with i7 this definitely does not seem to be the case. I'd say maybe that is where the problem in differentiating i7 920 from i7 940 from i7 965 really is...multiplier is almost meaningless especially in the case of i7 940 vs. i7 920.

rge has the intel 80gb SSD not you - my bad!

[SteveRo]

To lap or not to lap that is the question, whether it is nobler ...
OK - enough - so it has been suggested that I should lap my cpu to try to get better heat xfer.
I am having 2nd thoughts about doing this because doing so voids the intel warranty (on a $1K processor!)
The reason this was suggested was the load temps that I have been posting.
So those of you that have an i7 under water - please take a look at the three screen captures below.
All three are on water - the first is with everything at stock, the second is at 4.0 HT on and the third is at 4.2 HT on and at vcore of 1.55v.
Can anyone confirm that these are inline with your experience or are they high for water?

[Lukee]

ok so new topic - to lap or not to lap that is the question, whether it is ...
It has been suggested that I should lap my cpu to try to get better heat xfer.
I am having 2nd thoughts about doing this because doing so voids the warranty(on a $1K processor!)
The reason this was suggested was the load temps that I have been posting.
So those of you that have an i7 under water - please take a look at the three screen captures below.
All three are on water - the first is with everything at stock, the second is at 4.0 HT on and the third is at 4.2 HT on and at vcore of 1.55v.
Can anyone confirm that these are inline with your experience or are they high for water?

I'll comment on your 4.0 HT on.

I'm running 211 x 19 ~ 4.0 1.288-1.296V

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=2394

Temps are max 69C running LinX so your temps aren't bad considering you are giving it more Vcore.

[SteveRo]

Looks like your running XP (32-bit?) and possibly only 3GB of RAM though. Or at least your only testing 772MB of RAM in LinX instead of All. Try 6GB and Vista/Windows 7 64-bit and that will likely have more of an effect on how high your able to get with the BCLK.

You need a good IMC to be able to run high BCLK's or high memory speeds with the i7's and 6GB is more stressful on the IMC than 3GB. A 64-bit OS will also put more stress on the CPU than 32-bit.

I think I agree with 6gb memory maybe making oc harder, higher qpi and mem v probably.
Regarding 32 vs 64 os not so sure.
64 os seems to corrupt easier when crashing alot, but once a high stable oc is found - 64 seems to run it just as well as 32.
When benching - you may need to turn some things off in vista to equalize of course - like aero, ...

[SteveRo]

I'll comment on your 4.0 HT on.

I'm running 211 x 19 ~ 4.0 1.288-1.296V

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=2394

Temps are max 69C running LinX so your temps aren't bad considering you are giving it more Vcore.

Thanks Lukee - that helps!

[r3zon8]

about to pull the trigger on a 920/x58(p6t) combo; i havent been active on the forums since the G0 q6600's were all the rage

im trying to get familiar with x58 overclocking, not looking to break any records here, but id like to hit 3.6-4.0 on air and not sure what heatsink/fan to go with, suggestions?

also, the p6t thread is pretty quiet, which was a surprise to me since i thought the p6t board was dominating this time around.. maybe not i guess

[Lukee]

Thanks Lukee - that helps!

NP Steve.

I think you'll see lower temps with a higher bclk and lower multi, but kinda goes against what the 965 is intended for.

[SteveRo]

Thanks Steve. I'm still learning new stuff pretty much every day. Sorry I didn't go over your data in detail already. I just felt like there might be some magic to the EX58-Extreme+965 Extreme+3x1GB modules+Not Vista-64 you were using because my results were so different to yours but with a very similar motherboard.

The UD5 is an excellent mobo - just as good as the extreme for oc based on what I have seen
The 920 with F4j or m and with turbo turned on gives you constant x21 cpu multi - this is a big deal!
Do any of the other mobo's do this - ggbt did a great thing when they enabled turbo full time.
Don't be shy about the voltages or the temps - i7s can take it like there is no tomorrow.
Stay within the cpu max voltages - don't worry about the high temps for benching - the cpu can take it.
It will not thermally throttle until 100C!
see below -

[SteveRo]

NP Steve.

I think you'll see lower temps with a higher bclk and lower multi, but kinda goes against what the 965 is intended for.

Yes I agree, I wish I could get higher than 211.
I bet the x20 would be even lower vcore ad temps again! (vs the x21)

[SteveRo]

about to pull the trigger on a 920/x58(p6t) combo; i havent been active on the forums since the G0 q6600's were all the rage

im trying to get familiar with x58 overclocking, not looking to break any records here, but id like to hit 3.6-4.0 on air and not sure what heatsink/fan to go with, suggestions?

also, the p6t thread is pretty quiet, which was a surprise to me since i thought the p6t board was dominating this time around.. maybe not i guess

Does the p6t allow locking the "turbo on" the way the ggbt boards do - see - http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=2446

[rge]

I think I agree with 6gb memory maybe making oc harder, higher qpi and mem v probably.
Regarding 32 vs 64 os not so sure.
64 os seems to corrupt easier when crashing alot, but once a high stable oc is found - 64 seems to run it just as well as 32.
When benching - you may need to turn some things off in vista to equalize of course - like aero, ...

I agree and can attest that windows xp sp3 32bit which I ran for first month or so versus windows 7 64 bit last weeks, there was no difference at all on any of my settings between two, 24/7 OC or benching.

Max bclk 215 at 1.35vtt/qpi on both (3x1gb ram)
Max bclk 217 at 1.68vtt/qpi on both. (soft wall at 215 and hard wall at 217).
Max OC 4.899 on XP, 4.922 on wind 7 (but that was likely 2C diff in temps not OS), using exact same settings.

All my stable overclocks at 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 require exactly same settings on both windows 7 64bit and XP for prime stable.

I have 3x2gb 1600 OCZ 7,7,7 ram coming tomorrow, so regarding how much more qpi/Vtt for 3x1 vs 3x2 in same system, I will post in a day or two after it gets here. I currently have 3x1 OCZ and 3x1 corsair dom.

As an aside, benching spi and arena chess were basically same speed on windows 7 64bit as XP32, though chess may have been little faster on 7...at least running approx same number runs I got highest score on 7...hard to call for sure.

[burningrave101]

Yes I agree, I wish I could get higher than 211.
I bet the x20 would be even lower vcore ad temps again! (vs the x21)

Most people seem to be reporting that the 920 and 940 i7's don't like the even multipliers like x20 as well as the odds like x21 and x19 so they require higher vcore. I would think that rule applies to the Extremes as well.

Does the p6t allow locking the "turbo on" the way the ggbt boards do - see - http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...postcount=2446

Unless Asus has released a new BIOS that changed the requirements for Turbo to be enabled then no the P6T does not. Asus still has either a TDP or temp requirement in place in order for Turbo to be enabled.