Alittle help with i7 920 overclocking

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Gobitenq

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Nov 25, 2008
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I got alittle problem. I cant seem to get my core i7 920 stable above 3.5ghz. Got batch 3841A and an ASUS P6T mb. Have tried 1.35 CPU Voltage and 1.35 QPI/DRAM Voltage and still it just wont get stable above 3.5 ghz. And for 3.5 ghz I thought 1.296 was pretty high?


CPU voltage 1.296
CPU PLL 1.96
QPI/DRAM Voltage 1.325
Dram bus Voltage 1.64

Everything else set on auto. Anyone got any suggestions?
 
I'd bet you a dollar to a donut, it's your RAM divider messing it up. :)

Change the RAM divider, slow the ram down, then turn up the BCLK
 
Possible that its ram, you could be like me and have a crap chip.. I run at 3.6 with 190 BLCK with 19x muti at 1.4 vcore and 1.4 qpi/vtt... under load it drops down to 1.367 for vcore and the temps are good so I'm just sticking with that.
 
With the possibility of sounding like a real noob that RAM divider is that the DRAM Frequency? Right now its on auto and in CPU-Z it shows up as 525mhz and I think thats 1050 DDR3 speed right? Memory are Corsair 1600 mhz
 
if your running corsair on the p6t you can use the intel xmt memory profile. That is what I did.

18x200 for 180 and a ddr3 speed of 1603

voltage is 1.35

drr3 is 1.66
 
I was able to leave HT on, set 180 x 20 and am stable at 1.280v and with that my max temps are 79c after 7 hours of prime, idle of around 42. I missed the type of RAM you are running, I have mine set for 720 MHz but I am running 1600.
 
I can run prime 95 all day @4.0 ghz but crashes in two mins under intelburnin test - (linpack)

3.8 HT off I am 100% stable.
 
Hmm 3.5 ghz seems stable. Passes IBT and prime95. Will test for longer periods ofc. However the strange thing is that if I disable HT I still cant get any higher than 3.5 ghz. It boots into windows at higher speeds but BSOD on me when I start prime.

but 3.5 ghz is what I aimed for all along so :D Will try and lower voltage some 1.304 now at full load. Maby I just got alittle less lucky with my 920 chip :D (keeping it 24/7 if I can manage that @ 3.5ghz isent unlucky really :) )
 
If you turn on HT, you need to increase Vcore voltage as well. It's a trade off.
 
PC_User said:
If you turn on HT, you need to increase Vcore voltage as well. It's a trade off.
Click to expand...


Yeah but I meant that when I run with HT on at 3.5ghz its stable and when I turn it off its still stable but I cant get it any higher even with HT off.
 
Gobitenq said:
Yeah but I meant that when I run with HT on at 3.5ghz its stable and when I turn it off its still stable but I cant get it any higher even with HT off.
Click to expand...

Is your uncore multiplier twice as much as your RAM multiplier? If ram is 8x, uncore should be 16x. If ram = 1600 MHz, then uncore frequency should be 3200 MHz.

Also, what is your QPI/VTT voltage?
 
I have done 4.2GHz on my i7 with 1.42V to the core but it was unstable and I think that may have made my motherboard crap out. My evga X58 can't adjust the cpu Vcore voltage anymore... but I am still more than happy with a 3.6GHz on stock voltage.
 
coolchu001 said:
I have done 4.2GHz on my i7 with 1.42V to the core but it was unstable and I think that may have made my motherboard crap out. My evga X58 can't adjust the cpu Vcore voltage anymore... but I am still more than happy with a 3.6GHz on stock voltage.
Click to expand...

You haven't done 4.2 Ghz if it's unstable. You've booted 4.2 Ghz. Seems like a snitty detail but people develop BS expectations for their hardware if they hear it can DO x but no one can actually use it at x.
 
PC_User said:
Is your uncore multiplier twice as much as your RAM multiplier? If ram is 8x, uncore should be 16x. If ram = 1600 MHz, then uncore frequency should be 3200 MHz.

Also, what is your QPI/VTT voltage?
Click to expand...

DRAM Frequency 1403
UCLK Frequency 2807

Not 100% sure what QPI/VTT voltage is, couldent find any setting like that in bios. But QPI/DRAM voltage is at 1.344 and CPU PLL voltage is at 1.96, is it any of them you talk about?
 
Gobitenq said:
Not 100% sure what QPI/VTT voltage is, couldent find any setting like that in bios. But QPI/DRAM voltage is at 1.344 and CPU PLL voltage is at 1.96, is it any of them you talk about?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that you're QPI/DRAM voltage is the same as my QPI/VTT because the values are pretty close. However, DRAM voltage would seem like it should be a separate voltage for the ram (1.5v<DRAM<1.65v).

I've read in another article that the CPU PLL voltage should not exceed 1.88v. Is that your default value?
 
PC_User said:
I'm guessing that you're QPI/DRAM voltage is the same as my QPI/VTT because the values are pretty close. However, DRAM voltage would seem like it should be a separate voltage for the ram (1.5v<DRAM<1.65v).

I've read in another article that the CPU PLL voltage should not exceed 1.88v. Is that your default value?
Click to expand...

Yeah DRAM Voltage is at 1.64 :) I think asus just got a bad name for that, I think I read something about it.

As for CPU PLL its not my default value its set to 1.96 from some guide I read but I will change it back right away then :) Thanks again
 
Gobitenq said:
Yeah DRAM Voltage is at 1.64 :) I think asus just got a bad name for that, I think I read something about it.

As for CPU PLL its not my default value its set to 1.96 from some guide I read but I will change it back right away then :) Thanks again
Click to expand...

CPU PLL should not exceed 1.88v. DRAM should not exceed 1.65v.

Did you manage to reach a stable overclock?
 
My system is nearly identical. Here are a couple pictures of my bios that is 24h prime stable and runs everything great now for months without one issue. 3.6GHz, 35*C idle temps. Maybe it will help you.

IMG_5963.JPG

IMG_5964.JPG
 
1.3v (Vcore) for 3.6 GHz seems a bit high. Is that with HT on or off? I hit 3.6 GHz with HT on at 1.2375v (bios) and 1.2v (idle) / 1.184v (load) in Windows.

My ram was running at 1440 MHz, however...
 
Like I said, not every i7 chip is a good OCer, mine is only at 3.6 but needs 1.38 vcore/qpi to stay stable. But my temperatures are 75C max load so I don't really care. Some just need more voltage.
 
could just be your CPU doesnt want to go higher. I have a real problem tying to get mine to do more than 3.6 stable. Doesnt matter if HT is on or off, anything over 180bclk sends it into instability. Pushing the voltages up high doesn't help it any.

3.6 stable, I needed to use 1.325v.
 
Ok guess that 3.5ghz is close to the maximum on my cpu/mb combo for 24/7 settings. 1.312 v under full load and 1.304 v idle (CPU-Z). Still got QPI/DRAM Core Voltage at ~1.33 v. My temps idle are about 45-48 degrees celcius and at full load the max temp I´ve gotten so far is 79 degrees after about 3 hours of prime 95. But 78 degrees is very rare and usally it drops down to 75 in just a second or two.

However does that sound like fairly good temp with a noctua push/pull and cooler master ATCS 840? (Speedstep disable atm, that might have something to do with my high idle temps, will turn it back on later when I found my lowest voltage settings)

All this is with HT on.

And thanks for the informative screens Erik. Looks alot like my settings so i know I´m not that far off :) Maby I got alittle less lucky then some with my chip but Im really happy :D

My first time OCing aswell.
 
I got one more question. When I load up IBT it doesent seem to stress the CPU as prime95 does. Temps are lower and they jump around alot, over 10 derees celcius up and down in just half a sec. Have I done anything wrong? Using vista 64bit btw.
 
Check cpu usage, I'm assuming it is utilizing only 50% of overall CPU so probably 2 cores are working and the others are just relaxing lol.
 
Gobitenq said:
I got one more question. When I load up IBT it doesent seem to stress the CPU as prime95 does. Temps are lower and they jump around alot, over 10 derees celcius up and down in just half a sec. Have I done anything wrong? Using vista 64bit btw.
Click to expand...

Are you running the maximum stress test? How much memory is being utilized? Give LinX a try (problem size ~20,000) and see if it does a full stress test. Also, I would suggest turning off HT and trying to push the chip a bit further. You might gain some extra clock speed without changing the Vcore voltage. And you'll notice a drop in your idle temps.

viets7ylez said:
Check cpu usage, I'm assuming it is utilizing only 50% of overall CPU so probably 2 cores are working and the others are just relaxing lol.
Click to expand...

That could be the case.
 
Using max stress test and yes only 50% CPU used. Will try out LinX and turn off HT and try to push it alittle further. Thanks
 
Gobitenq said:
And thanks for the informative screens Erik. Looks alot like my settings so i know I´m not that far off :) Maby I got alittle less lucky then some with my chip but Im really happy :D

My first time OCing aswell.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Did you get a stable OC yet?
 
Gobitenq said:
Yeah, it seems to even out at about 3.5ghz with HT on or off. But Im very happy with that :D
Click to expand...

Still a 30% overclock...quite good. I honestly was not expecting to get a 50% overclock to 4 GHz with the luck that I was having with CPUs. My previous E6750 would not go past 3.3 GHz.
 
I got 3.7Ghz with a 1.2 vCore.

185 bclk
HT on.

Prime stable.
Been like this about 2weeks now with 60> hours of gaming
 
Turn "uncore" off of auto and leave it at about the 3Ghz range. I am guessing that's the cause of your problems.
 
I feel pretty lucky with my setup - especially since this is the first time I've ever tried OCing. Currently am running my 920 at 4.0GHz (bclock 211 x 19x multi), which also means an OC of 1690MHz on my RAM (bclock 211 x 8x multi). I have never had a BSOD or any stability issues whatsoever (4 months, heavy gaming). This is all on a Foxconn Renaissance board, Noctua push/pull cooler on my CPU, CPU voltage of 1.35v, QPI voltage of 1.35v, DRAM voltage of 1.64v.

It's probably worth noting that when I first put together the system I had difficulty getting any kind of OC whatsoever (system was crashing at 3.2-3.4GHz), probably because I'm new and didn't know what I was doing. Not sure why, but the 20x multi was giving me a lot of problems and limiting my overclock. I went to 19x and the system was stable and I was able to increase the block from 170ish to 211. I also found that increasing the QPI voltage the same as my CPU voltage gave me more stability - and I was able to go from a 3.2-3.4GHz overclock to 4.0GHz, which I now run 24x7 and is as smooth as silk.

BTW - I'm a noob to overclocking but I think testing with Prime95 is overblown. When I tested the 4.0GHz (maxing all 8 threads) temps shot up to high 70s, which made me nervous and caused the warning sounds to beep on my motherboard. So after 1 hr I shut it down. In the real world I run 4.0GHz 24x7 with idle temps in the high 30s, never going over low 60s during my most demanding times. Been rock solid for me and I couldn't be happier.
 
Last edited:
jdyoung75 said:
I feel pretty lucky with my setup - especially since this is the first time I've ever tried OCing. Currently am running my 920 at 4.0GHz (bclock 211 x 19x multi), which also means an OC of 1690MHz on my RAM (bclock 211 x 8x multi). I have never had a BSOD or any stability issues whatsoever (4 months, heavy gaming). This is all on a Foxconn Renaissance board, Noctua push/pull cooler on my CPU, CPU voltage of 1.35v, QPI voltage of 1.35v, DRAM voltage of 1.64v.

It's probably worth noting that when I first put together the system I had difficulty getting any kind of OC whatsoever (system was crashing at 3.2-3.4GHz), probably because I'm new and didn't know what I was doing. Not sure why, but the 20x multi was giving me a lot of problems and limiting my overclock. I went to 19x and the system was stable and I was able to increase the block from 170ish to 211. I also found that increasing the QPI voltage the same as my CPU voltage gave me more stability - and I was able to go from a 3.2-3.4GHz overclock to 4.0GHz, which I now run 24x7 and is as smooth as silk.

BTW - I'm a noob to overclocking but I think testing with Prime95 is overblown. When I tested the 4.0GHz (maxing all 8 threads) temps shot up to high 70s, which made me nervous and caused the warning sounds to beep on my motherboard. So after 1 hr I shut it down. In the real world I run 4.0GHz 24x7 with idle temps in the high 30s, never going over low 60s during my most demanding times. Been rock solid for me and I couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that you shouldn't go over 1.35v on QPI/VTT voltage.

Are you running 4.0 GHz with hyper threading on?
 
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