Core i7/X58 Overclocking Thread

[Chicken Patty]

that's the spirit mate My bottom card is riding the bottom of my case...literally; and has absolutely no exhaust. Single top card hits 771/1600/1406 with ease.

Here's a single 285 score, just to show the scaling.

I'm having same problem as you. But my c/f bridge doesn reach from my first slow to my 3rd. So i have both cards really close to each other in slots 1 and 2.

My bottom card has awesome temps, but my top card the fan is right on top of the back of the PCB of the bottom card, so that card is only sucking up hot air and getting really hot. I'm ordering a longer c/f bridge and once I do I can finally put them apart from each other and the temps should be fine.

[Jakethesnake011]

hey guys I got myself a i7 920 I have it going at 3.5 ghz now and I can not really push it more, since I am getting load temps of 81 max on core 1, and it is making me nervous to push some more. Now I have the thermaltake v1 cooler which I do not care for at all. I am thinking of either going with a Notuca or a True extreme. Not sure what to get thou, anyone have any input? My idle temps are in the low 40s high 30s so it is not bad when idle and runnign some apps, but when under load it jumps right up.

[Chicken Patty]

hey guys I got myself a i7 920 I have it going at 3.5 ghz now and I can not really push it more, since I am getting load temps of 81 max on core 1, and it is making me nervous to push some more. Now I have the thermaltake v1 cooler which I do not care for at all. I am thinking of either going with a Notuca or a True extreme. Not sure what to get thou, anyone have any input? My idle temps are in the low 40s high 30s so it is not bad when idle and runnign some apps, but when under load it jumps right up.

TRUE's seem to be working very well on i7's

[hlonipha]

+100 on TRUE

[Chicken Patty]

^^^ thanks.


Jakethesnake011

here is a link to it:

http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_pa...er_1366rt.html

[Jakethesnake011]

thanks hope it will help my temps out alot and let me push this more I shooting for 4Ghz

[Chicken Patty]

thanks hope it will help my temps out alot and let me push this more I shooting for 4Ghz

couple of people on here are doing 4ghz with a TRUE.

[road-runner]

Here is what I got with water cooling...



Put it under DICE today but could not get over 220 x 21 with 3DMark. I could boot up to 222 but could not boot at 223. I did break 30,000 in 06 though

3DMark 06 30878 220 x 21

[SteveRo]

dejanh

Also - I've figured out that I do not want a radiator in my Boreas loop -
I added the Feser quad radiator into the loop yesterday just to confirm.
Running at 4.2 ht on, cpuv just over 1.4v - my idle and load temps went up 10C each.
The radiator was certainly heating up the subambient water.

[Classic Satch]

couple of people on here are doing 4ghz with a TRUE.

Yeah, but we are a small sub-section of uber-nerds. And I say that in a good way. Let me just say that I crack up at your moniker but also assert that air-cooling will not get 95% of i7 users to 4.0Ghz. Air cooling just can't handle the heat put out by these chips and to reach 4.0Ghz, will in most cases, demand better cooling.

[SteveRo]

hey guys I got myself a i7 920 I have it going at 3.5 ghz now and I can not really push it more, since I am getting load temps of 81 max on core 1, and it is making me nervous to push some more. Now I have the thermaltake v1 cooler which I do not care for at all. I am thinking of either going with a Notuca or a True extreme. Not sure what to get thou, anyone have any input? My idle temps are in the low 40s high 30s so it is not bad when idle and runnign some apps, but when under load it jumps right up.

Its a bit more money but if you really want to get your temps down go to water, TECS (Thermoelectric Cooling - Coolit products as an example) or phase change.
If you decide to go with a Coolit TEC solution - you need one of the higher end units for i7 (due to the increased heat output from the cpu) - something like the freezone elite or the boreas.
After significant tweaking - I am most happy with my boreas.
Starting to read up on phase change now.
The cost of getting a really good cooling system (once you decide to leave air that is) -
1. Custom water (includes Feser quad) - approx $450
2. Coolit Boreas (stock) - approx $500
3. Coolit Boreas (replaced cpu block and pump) - approx $625
4. Phase Change (with i7 kit) - approx $900.

[SteveRo]

Yeah, but we are a small sub-section of uber-nerds. And I say that in a good way. Let me just say that I crack up at your moniker but also assert that air-cooling will not get 95% of i7 users to 4.0Ghz. Air cooling just can't handle the heat put out by these chips and to reach 4.0Ghz, will in most cases, demand better cooling.

I was able to do 4ghz on air but I run an open case and my temps where quite high.

[SteveRo]

Here is what I got with water cooling...



Put it under DICE today but could not get over 220 x 21 with 3DMark. I could boot up to 222 but could not boot at 223...

3DMark 06 220 x 21

So close!
Can you OC the vc's to get over 30k???
Excellent score!

[Classic Satch]

Its a bit more money but if you really want to get your temps down go to water, TECS (coolit as an example) or phase change.
If you decide to go with a Coolit TEC solution - you need one of the higher end units for i7 (due to the increased heat output from the cpu) - something like the freezone elite or the boreas.
After significant tweaking - I am most happy with my boreas.
Starting to read up on phase change now.
The cost of getting really a really good cooling system (once you leave air that is) -
1. Custom water (includes Feser quad) - approx $450
2. Coolit Boreas (stock) - approx $500
3. Coolit Boreas (replaced cpu block and pump) - approx $625
4. Phase Change (with i7 kit) - approx $900.

I was lazy and put a Koolance Exos-2 LX combined with an Apogee GTZ water block and the micronized diamond thermal paste(IC7). My load temps, under dual instances of Intel Burntest, not Prime, are around 70C. I challenge anyone to name a game or application that can touch this.

I agree with you bro. If you want good temps, you have to spend the money.

I play games. I don't need insane speeds. But, the Holy Grail of the TRUE is a joke. It can't touch H20 and anyone that thinks so is a fooll.

[SteveRo]

I was lazy and put a Koolance Exos-2 LX combined with an Apogee GTZ water block and the micronized diamond thermal paste(IC7). My load temps, under dual instances of Intel Burntest, not Prime, are around 70C. I challenge anyone to name a game or application that can touch this.

I agree with you bro. If you want good temps, you have to spend the money.

I play games. I don't need insane speeds. But, the Holy Grail of the TRUE is a joke. It can't touch H20 and anyone that thinks so is a fooll.

I have not yet seen a game out there that can really tax an i7 let alone an oc'ed i7.
Seems like Crysis Warhead loads a 4ghz i7 about 20% or so.

[SteveRo]

You quickly run out of head room on air - see the max temp in the screen shot below

[Classic Satch]

I'm very annoyed that my chip has no issues doing 211x19, Memtest @1691Mhz, 4.05Mz CPU, absolutely stable. But, because I refuse to go above 1.35 QPI voltage, my chip stops. I don't want to BBQ my 920 so if I go above 1.35 QPI , am I screwed?

[ReverendMaynard]

I'm very annoyed that my chip has no issues doing 211x19, Memtest @1691Mhz, 4.05Mz CPU, absolutely stable. But, because I refuse to go above 1.35 QPI voltage, my chip stops. I don't want to BBQ my 920 so if I go above 1.35 QPI , am I screwed?

That's the joy of overclocking. If you set limits according to Intels standard, you might as well run stock.

[Classic Satch]

That's the joy of overclocking. If you set limits according to Intels standard, you might as well run stock.

Lol, I'm a former AMD guy who pushed his Opty 165 to 3.0Ghz. However, I'm now married and can't "afford" to BBQ his new chip. Believe me, I want to push it, My SLI'd 260's are the height of my skills when it comes to the wife's compliance.

[ReverendMaynard]

Lol, I'm a former AMD guy who pushed his Opty 165 to 3.0Ghz. However, I'm now married and can't "afford" to BBQ his new chip. Believe me, I want to push it, My SLI'd 260's are the height of my skills when it comes to the wife's compliance.

If it's just for bench runs Satch (name reminds me of Joe Satriani) 1.45v is fine if it's cooled sufficiently.

Every time my wife mentions my pc parts spending lol, I turn on a tivo'd episode of Intervention and ask if she'd rather spend my fun money on heroin. Works like a charm

[hlonipha]

I was lazy and put a Koolance Exos-2 LX combined with an Apogee GTZ water block and the micronized diamond thermal paste(IC7). My load temps, under dual instances of Intel Burntest, not Prime, are around 70C. I challenge anyone to name a game or application that can touch this.

I agree with you bro. If you want good temps, you have to spend the money.

I play games. I don't need insane speeds. But, the Holy Grail of the TRUE is a joke. It can't touch H20 and anyone that thinks so is a fooll.

the thing is that on air I have achieved 4159 mhz stable and my temps are
74c max under prime 64bit loads. why would I want to spend 450 dollars on a water cooling setup to achieve maybe150 mhz more? it just does not make spending sense to me and I can afford it but it is just not smart buying.

[ReverendMaynard]

the thing is that on air I have achieved 4159 mhz stable and my temps are
74c max under prime 64bit loads. why would I want to spend 450 dollars on a water cooling setup to achieve maybe150 mhz more? it just does not make spending sense to me and I can afford it but it is just not smart buying.

prime = useless with i7. Use Linx, set it to use ALL of your available memory and hover over the quit button.

[Classic Satch]

prime = useless with i7. Use Linx, set it to use ALL of your available memory and hover over the quit button.

Point made. Prime is pathetic when it comes to pushing temps. I used two instances of Intel Burntest with max memory usage and my temps went to 74-75C. An air cooling solution like a TRUE simply can't handle the thermal transference that is requisite.

Basic thermodynamics is all one needs to know. The ability of a liquid such as H20 cannot be compared to air, especially when the heat dissipation of such disparate substances is so apparent.

Honestly, the claims of those acolytes of the "TRUE 120" become rather laughable when compared with reality. An air cooler is simply INCAPABLE of handling an i7 at such high speeds as 4.0Ghz and/or higher temps.

[SteveRo]

Rev

Well maybe I am opening up a can of worms here - I am not sure that there is any one truly reliable measure of stability for i7.
Multi hour Prime has been the staple measure prior to I7.
LinX (at least in my recollection) in a new-comer.
Don't get me wrong, I like LinX in that it is a nice quick test but I can pass LinX x20 at a given clock then run prime and fail in less than an hour.
An example for me is 4.2 HT on with cpuv just over 1.4v - I can pass LinX just fine but then fail (reboot) running prime in about 30 min.
It was either Dejanh or RGE that gave me the idea of running linpack or linx first or even during the first 5-10 minutes of running prime.
If it didn't fail then you had a reasonable chance of continuing to run prime several hours more.
If it did fail you found out more quickly that you needed to try something else.
I think the use of all stability tools together makes the most sense: LinX, OCCT maybe and Prime.
The problem with Prime is it takes so frigging long!

[ReverendMaynard]

Rev

Well maybe I am opening up a can of worms here - I am not sure that there is any truly reliable measure of stability for i7. Multi hour Prime has been the staple measure prior to I7. LinX (at least in my recollection) in a new comer. Don't get me wrong, I like LinX in that it is a nice quick test but I can pass LinX x20 at a given clock then run prime and fail in less than an hour. An example for me is 4.2 HT on with cpuv just over 1.4v - I can pass LinX just fine but then fail (reboot) running prime in less than an hour. It was either Dejanh or RGE that gave me the idea of running linpack or linx first or even during the first 5-10 minutes of running prime - if it didn't fail then you had a reasonable chance of continuing to run prime several hours more. If it did fail you found out more quickly that you needed to try something else. I think the use of all stability tools together makes the most sense: LinX, OCCT maybe and Prime. The problem with Prime is it takes so frigging long!

failing prime is primes fault, not your systems. I've run literally 1000 runs of each (seriously) and in my opinion prime is about as useless as two tits on a bull.

Back on topic, here's my new high.