Good build for Oc'ing ?

I

ImAgainstIt

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
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Hi, I'm about to buy this set-up and want to know if it is good for oc'ing, I've heard people getting the Core i7 into insane 4.0+ghz clocks and I want to know if it would be possible with this setup or if I need better parts


Intel - Core™ i7 Processor 920 2.66GHz w/ 8MB Cache

Thermalright - Ultra-120 eXtreme 1366 RT CPU Cooler w/ 120mm Fan

ARCTIC SILVER - Arctic Silver 5 High Density Silver Thermal Compound, 3.5g

Gigabyte - GA-EX58-UD5 w/ TripleDDR3 2000, 7.1 Audio, Dual Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E, 3-way CrossFireX/ SLI

OCZ - 6GB PC3-12800 Platinum Edition Low-Voltage Triple Channel DDR3 Kit (3 x 2GB
Timing CL 7-7-7-24 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)

Thanks
 
I think you're just fine for OCing. My wife has a similar rig to yours (i7 core 2.66, etc), and we were able to overclock it to 4.2 ghz....but it was unstable. So far we've gotten 3.8 ghz stable. I would say focus on your temperatures (cooler, the better), and you should be set for some air cooled OCing. I don't see why your rig wouldn't accomplish something similar to our experience.
 
Ok thanks alot for the reply, the ram, mobo and cooling are all sufficient to get to those clocks?

I lack alot of knowledge on overclocking, but what made it unstable?
 
I'd probably go with OCZ Freeze for the thermal paste. It doesn't require a cure time, and it's easier to apply. Where will you buy the i7 920? You might want to wait for the D0 stepping, which is a toss-up for better overclocking.
 
Get some thermal compound that requires no curing time. Three such examples are the aforementioned OCZ Freeze, the Arctic Cooling MX-2, and the Tuniq TX-2.

I haven't heard much about the D0 stepping (or, more accurately, revision), but you shouldn't have much trouble getting a decent overclock from just about any Core i7 920 processor.

Check the voltage level used by the RAM you're considering and pick up RAM that runs between 1.5V and 1.6V. That matters more towards overclocking than the RAM timings.
 
That's at the limit that the Core i7 could safely handle. Try to find RAM that runs at a lower voltage.
 
The place where I'm buying from only has 1.65v ram, does it really matter and will I even need to do anything with the ram to oc? specifically with the voltage?
 
You may be limited on how far you could push the overclock, but I personally don't know.

Couldn't you get the RAM from another store? (Or, why can't you?)
 
The only ram I can find that isn't 1.65v is
Mushkin @
Timing: 9-9-9-24
Voltage: 1.5V – 1.6V

from 7-7-7-24 1.65

and that is dealing through newegg.ca which would take a few weeks to get to where I am in Canada where everything else is local / memoryexpress.com
 
ok ncix has the mushkin ram, but how is it better for overclocking ? and what about the timings
Mushkin @
Timing: 9-9-9-24
Voltage: 1.5V – 1.6V

from 7-7-7-24 1.65
 
ImAgainstIt said:
ok ncix has the mushkin ram, but how is it better for overclocking ? and what about the timings
Mushkin @
Timing: 9-9-9-24
Voltage: 1.5V – 1.6V

from 7-7-7-24 1.65
Click to expand...
Timings don't matter. You would honestly not notice the difference between 7-7-7-24 and 9-9-9-24.

The Mushkin RAM isn't that much better for overclocking. The lower voltage RAM is recommended simply to avoid potential RAM death.
 
Ok Thanks alot for the answer, I'll go with the mushkin then. The voltage is 1.5-1.6V, what would I set the Volatage to when I Install it?

also how could the high voltage ram die?
 
Last edited:
Set it to 1.5v, 1600 MHz, and manually set the timings to 9-9-9-24 as lowteckh mentioned.

However, due to vdroop, you might have to increase it a bit higher. I have mine set to 1.54v in BIOS but it only 1.52v at that setting. You can go up to 1.6v on that kit, so don't worry.
 
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