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Intel 7 920 OC

It's not dangerous, but only to a certain point. I would not overclock the CPU speed past 15-20% without an aftermarket heatsink.
 
Go for it, but keep an eye on temperatures @ load, back off at roughly 85c and keep the voltage as low as you can when overclocking.
 
How high are you looking to go? You can probably get 3ghz to 3.2 ghz on stock cooling without doing anything too wacky. There are people with high-airflow cases that are pulling pretty good overclocks on stock cooling. There's a YouTube of a guy who is pulling 3.6 ghz, although like I mentioned, he has a really good case with a boatload of fans.
You can probably pull 3.0-3.2 ghz without changing anything except bclk and ram speed - so give that a shot and see what CPUTemp tells you. Run something that'll push your CPU and keep an eye on your temps. If you can keep things under 90, you're probably pretty safe. If not, back it down a bit.
There are some coolers that'll let you pull bigger temps for pretty reasonable prices if you hunt. My microcenter has a huge section of coolers and some are only $30'ish. they might not be amazing, but I bet you can get a steady 3.2ghz with them.
 
I have Cooler Master 690, 3 x 120 mm fans inside :
1 in the front,1 in the back,and 1 on the bottom.
My specs :Intel 7 920, 3 GB DDR3 triple channel, Gigabyte GA EX58-UD5 ,Nvidia PNY GTX 285 ,2 x WD 6400 AAKS,SoundBlaster Xtreme Gamer,Corsair TX650W.
I will give it a try,after i read a bit more about OC,because i never did that before.
Do i have to change everything from BIOS ?
I have the motherboard driver CD,there is "Easy Tune" option.
Please advice me. Thanks in advance.
 
Yup, you'll want to make the BIOS changes.
There's an OC guide at Xbitlabs that can help you with BIOS settings. You might also check YouTube for "i7 920 overclock" to see some actual video of people changing their settings. Don't just imitate them directly, but use the video as a guide for the settings you'll need to adjust.
The Xbitlabs guide will definitely help you out.
 
The only reason now,to OC my CPU is the game NFS Shift.
Some users told me that my GPU is pulled down by the CPU.
Is that true ? CPU Intel 7 920 2,66 Ghz stock, GPU Nvidia PNY GTX 285.
When i play NFS Shift,its visible,i don't know how to say in english ( flickering ? )
But it's hard to believe that those " flickerings" are caused by the stock speed 2,66 Ghz CPU
What do you think,guys ?
 
That game is pretty odd in general. Granted that overclocking the CPU will help, but even at 4Ghz and a 5870 I've gotten hiccups in Shift. In particular in the 1 on 1 vs. race things can hiccup for even the most potent systems.
 
I can't understand to much from the sites.
Can someone explain to me,step by step, what do i have to do in BIOS,when i modify ?
I repeat: i wanna keep the stock cooler,for a few weeks.
Can i reach 3,2 Ghz without "killing" the CPU,with the stock cooler ? My motherboard is Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5.
Please,someone helps me.
Thanks.
 
What is the stock voltage set to? Many i7 920 owners could reach around 3.2-3.6GHz without changing the Vcore voltage. I would begin by simply increasing the BCLK to 160MHz and setting the CPU multiplier to 20x. Of course, there are more settings that you should tweak, but in several cases, that was the only necessary one. Make sure to test your system's stability after the changes.
 
85c, IMO, is way to hot to run a cpu at load. Once my chip starts edging over 60 I either back off the oc/voltage or upgrade my cooling.

My PhII@3.7ghz 1.5v sits at 58-60c full load. It runs stable all the way up to 4ghz almost, but it gets to 65c+ which is too hot for me..
 
But,can you explain to me,please, where did i go wrong with the OC ?
I only modified the BCLK,to 160 ..and the CPU multiplier was at 20 X ...i didn't touch the voltage.
Should i change the voltage,too ? If YES ,than...lower.....higher?
PS: My CPU is revision c0/c1. I heard about this revision that is getting hotter than the new revision.
If i buy the Noctua NH-U12P - 1366 CPU cooler ,how high can i go with the CPU ? About 3,6 / 3,8 Ghz ?
 
white_dove said:
But,can you explain to me,please, where did i go wrong with the OC ?
I only modified the BCLK,to 160 ..and the CPU multiplier was at 20 X ...i didn't touch the voltage.
Should i change the voltage,too ? If YES ,than...lower.....higher?
PS: My CPU is revision c0/c1. I heard about this revision that is getting hotter than the new revision.
If i buy the Noctua NH-U12P - 1366 CPU cooler ,how high can i go with the CPU ? About 3,6 / 3,8 Ghz ?
Click to expand...

What speed is your RAM rated for? You may need to adjust your memory frequency. As you push your processor speed up, that will affect your ram speed. I know my ram is rated at 1600, but if I push it much higher than that, the system is not stable, or might not boot up at all.
 
Did you take all of the voltage settings off of Auto and set them to stock levels?

If not, there is a VERY good change that when you upped the bclk to up the processor speed, the motherboard automatically raised multiple voltages on your motherboard, CPU, and RAM.

Were you running a temp monitoring program such as coretemp when you ran Prime95?

If so, what temp was the CPU at before the system restarted?
 
I only modified the BLCK,to 160,and the multiplier i leaved it to 20 x,nothing else.
What kind of RAM are you talking about ? My memory RAM ? I attache one more picture with the RAM,from Everest.
When i ran the Prime95,i used Everest. Before the system did SHUTDOWN ( not restarted ),it was 100 degrees ( Celsius ).
After that,about 15 minutes later i turned on again my PC,went in BIOS,and i changed back the BLCK,like it was before OC.
That's all i did. I didn't modified something else.
http://img14.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img14/9140/ramgy.jpg&via=mupload
Thanks for your replies.
PS: The PC is working fine now,no "damage" :D ,after i set it back the BLCK.
 
It might have to do with your RAM. It's Corsair DDR3 1333MHz. If you have a BLCK of 160MHz, then you need the RAM multiplier to be set to 1333/160 = 8. You will also have to set the DRAM voltage to the manufacturer specified voltage for that specific kit.
 
I'm sorry,but i'm not sure what do you mean with " 1333/160 = 8 "
Can you explain in,please ? Do i have to set to "8" ??
And " You will also have to set the DRAM voltage to the manufacturer specified voltage for that specific kit " ?? I'll have to set the DRAM voltage to ....?
I didn't OC never before,please excuse my questions.
 
Your RAM is rated at DDR3-1333. If you are running your BCLK at 160, you need to set the DD3 multiplier in the BIOS to 8x so that your RAM continues to run within spec.
 
Ok,i'll give it a try. I hope that i'm not gonna burn something :D
But first,i wanna make sure which DD3 multiplier are you talking about.
I went into BIOS 5 minutes ago,just to have a look,and there is a lot of DRAM -options.
I attache here 3 more pictures ,i toke them from the Gigabyte's Mobo ..user's manual.
I can "smell" it,i'm close,very close to do that,thanks to you,boys. :D
http://img21.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img21/2599/drambios.jpg&via=mupload

http://img21.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img21/3456/dram.jpg&via=mupload
http://img21.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img21/2707/drame.jpg&via=mupload
I just can wait to have it done,and to stress a bit,the CPU,after that.
Thanks a lot,guys.
 
Thanks. I do it now,in 5 minutes.
After i'm done, shall i test it with Prime95 ? And,how long should i leave it running the test ?
10 -20 -30 minutes ?And during the test,would you recommend to monitor the temps,with Everest or with Realtemp ??
THANKS AGAIN !!!
 
Judging by your BIOS images, it looks as though you have a Gigabyte motherboard. :)
 
Yes,i have a Gigabyte motherboard. Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5. Why ?
I tried again. Same like you said,above. After 1 - 2 minutes stres test with Prime95,98-100 degrees ( Celsius ).
I set it back again,to default. I don't understand why....
 
Last edited:
white_dove said:
Yes,i have a Gigabyte motherboard. Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5. Why ?
I tried again. Same like you said,above. After 1 - 2 minutes stres test with Prime95,98-100 degrees ( Celsius ).
I set it back again,to default. I don't understand why....
Click to expand...

It sounds like your stock cooler may not be seated properly. Can you wiggle the cooler around or move it at all? It should feel very firmly attached and should not move up or down on any of the corners where the pins go into the motherboard. Is this a pre-built system, or did you build it yourself?
 
Last edited:
I ordered the pc,online ,but the componentes were not together :)
I assembled the PC. About 2 months ago,i removed the CPU cooler,to clean the dust....
After i checked today,the cooler seems to be seated properly.I check again.
Maybe i do something wrong in BIOS,i don't know.
Thanks,anyway.
 
Malakai said:
85c, IMO, is way to hot to run a cpu at load. Once my chip starts edging over 60 I either back off the oc/voltage or upgrade my cooling.

My PhII@3.7ghz 1.5v sits at 58-60c full load. It runs stable all the way up to 4ghz almost, but it gets to 65c+ which is too hot for me..
Click to expand...

Tj max for i7s is 100C. Basically anything under that is safe operation according to Intel's spec. I still like to keep it under 80C though.
 
white_dove said:
I ordered the pc,online ,but the componentes were not together :)
I assembled the PC. About 2 months ago,i removed the CPU cooler,to clean the dust....
After i checked today,the cooler seems to be seated properly.I check again.
Maybe i do something wrong in BIOS,i don't know.
Thanks,anyway.
Click to expand...


What are your Prime95 temps with everything at stock settings? When you removed the CPU cooler the last time, did you clean off the old thermal grease and apply some new?

I agree with X3Sphere. Anything much over 80C at load would make me very nervous.
When I built my I7 920 system, my idle temps were in the low 50s with the stock cooler. And this was with an Antec 900 case which has good ventilation. I put a Zalman 9900 on, and dropped my idle temps to around 40C. I have a mild overclock of 3.2 and my load temps with Prime95 are around 63-65C. At stock settings with the stock cooler, I would think your load temps should not be more than 75-80C unless your room is pretty hot.

Bottom line is that a mild overclock of 3.2 should not raise your idle/load temps more than a few degrees over stock.
 
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Yes,last time when i removed the cooler,i changed the thermal grease.
Here is the attached file,with the temps. ( No overclock,at all )
I repeat again,the exactly way i did last time when i tried to OC :
Went to BIOS,changed the BCLK to 160MHz ,and after that i changed "System Memory Multiplier" to 8.
F10 / SAVED.... / ran the Prime95 test,and 100 degrees Celsius,after 1-2 minutes.
Do i miss something to change,in BIOS ???
http://img39.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img39/6927/cputemps.jpg&via=mupload
 
Your stock core temps at idle look pretty good.

This is all I did to get to 3.2

(1) Change CPU Host Frequency to 160
(2) Changed memory to 2:10 (I have Corsair XMS3 1600 DDR3) For yours it should be 2:8 (1333)
(3) I changed the DIMM voltage to 1.65. Actually, I believe it was already at 1.65

That's it, except I have an aftermarket CPU cooler. I wouldn't think that a lower DIMM voltage would heat up your CPU though.

Just to make sure you ARE at stock, I would go back into the bios and make sure you select system default settings, save and exit. It may be you have a voltage setting out of whack somewhere.

Maybe it's time to invest in a new cooler. For me it was definately worth it for piece of mind. Don't want to cook that nice new hardware over lack of a 40-60 dollar cooler.
 
Guys,i forgot to mention something : when i purchased the computer ( about 7 months ago ) there was a strange noise. I thought it's the "popular" graphic card coil noise.
When i opened my Yahoo Messenger / Youtube / and a lot of web sites, there was a very annoying noise.
After a lot of researches in Internet,i found out what's the problem.
I disabled CPU ENHANCED HALT ( C1E) and CPU EIST FUNCTION,and the noise was gone.
I seated CPU EIST FUNCTION back to ENABLE,just to test it,and... as well... the noise was gone,so just the CPU ENHANCED HALT ( C1E) was leaved to DISABLED.
You think,that this option has something to do with my temps,when i OC ? Hard to believe that.
I'm gonna try again,like poppachocks said,but if i'm doing that,there will be the same annoying noise.
PS: Please excuse my bad english.
 
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Well, I have not heard of a CPU Enhanced Halt setting, but why not set it back to whatever the default is.

I would definately write down what you have changed, and what difference it made (if any). Sometimes it's easy to lose track of what you have and have not done or tried.

Those 90+ temps are NOT normal. The reason I asked about the CPU cooler originally was that when I installed my stock one on the initial build, I did not get all four pins locked in properly and my temps were high. It's generally better to install the cooler with the motherboard outside of the case so you can look and make sure those pins are locked in place.

I hate those push pin type coolers.

Good luck and keep us updated
 
Ok,i understand what you mean.
But if i enable the CPU Enhanced Halt ,with or without OC,with good or very hot temps,there is a noise,please believe me.
This noise is only when i browse in some different web sites ,yahoo messenger, and a few more programs.
Now the thing about the cooler ; i agree with you,about those pins what are locked in place,but if the cooler would be wrong seated,i think ( i'm not sure ) the temps shouldn't be pretty good,in idle with no OC, too
What do you think about a BIOS update ? I have the F6 version, there is F7 ( Update new CPU microcode )
and F9E ( Fix abnormal CPU temperature - above is BETA BIOS-with red color )
http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2958
I'll go in BIOS again, put everything to default settings,and i'll try again,with the present BIOS version,F6.
And to make sure the cooler is okay,i'm gonna open the case,have a closer look to the cpu cooler if is right locked.
PS : to be onest,i hate those push pin type coolers,too. :D
 
Absolutely right about the temps. Your idle temps seem fine, so it is strange that your load temps are so high. From your current idle temps, I would expect 70-80C at load max.

The bios update sounds like a possibility. I would post your issue on the Gigabyte forums and see what people there recommend.

I have an Evga X58 board, and have gotten some very good info from their forums.

I think Gigabyte has a utility that lets you easily update your bios from within Windows. If given the option, make sure you back up your current bios first.

I'm out for the evening, but will check this thread in the morning.

Best of luck.
 
Back again.
I updated the BIOS to version F9E.
I checked the cpu cooler to make sure is properly seated.
About 18 minutesa ago i started the Prime95,to stress the CPU.
I OC ,changed the BLCK to 150 ,and the System Memory Multiplier to 8.
This time was no more shut down. The max temps ( so far ) was 87-88 ( the 4 cores )
By the way ,which one is the real cpu temp ?
CPU / CPU1 / CPU2/ CPU3/ or CPU4 ? The CPU reached the max temp about 70-72.
So,the CPU is OC to 3.00 GHZ,stable ,so far.
How long do i have to run the Prime95 test ??
http://img208.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img208/2700/cpub.jpg&via=mupload
 
Look at each of the four core temps. My core #3 is always a few degrees cooler than the other ones. Upper 80's is still pretty warm, but much better than what you were getting.

Some people would say run Prime95 for up to 24 hours, but it will get to the max temp pretty quickly. I would say if it is stable and running after a few hours you are probably OK.

I would still recommend an aftermarket CPU cooler for you even at that small of an overclock.
OR maybe look at increasing air flow through your case.

Plenty of threads in this section about CPU coolers. I bought a Zalman 9900 based on a review here at Hard, and I am pretty happy with it. Got it for 47.00 with free shipping from the Egg. Their deals change pretty frequently though.

Good luck.
 
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Thanks. I stopped the test. I better buy an aftermarket CPU cooler.
I report here again,after i buy it.
Thanks a lot for your help,guys.
 
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