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Which Overclock Should I Stick With?

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PC_User

Supreme [H]ardness
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After about 6 hours of finding combinations and testing, I've come up with 2 stable overclocks for my i7.

#1 - 3.80 GHz
Vcore: 1.24375 (BIOS), 1.216v (idle), 1.2v (load)
RAM: 9-9-9-24 @ 1520 MHz
Idle: 40*C
Load: 66-67*C
Hyper-Threading ON

#2 - 4.00 GHz
Vcore: 1.3750 (BIOS), 1.344 (idle), 1.328 (load)
RAM: 9-9-9-24 @ 1600 MHz
Idle: 39-42*C
Load: 75-79*C
Hyper-Threading OFF

Which overclock would you recommend for me to stick with? Am I at a safe Vcore for the 4GHz? How important is the advantage of HT versus a gain of 200 MHz and faster RAM? Thanks for your suggestions.
 
Hyperthreading is not worth it for most applications. For what it's worth, i would settle for 3.8GHZ, hyperthreading off and keep the lower voltage and temps.
 
I would try and keep temps below 70C.
Both voltages are fine as long as the cooling is good enough.

You wont harm your CPU in a year at 79C and it should operate reliably as long as you have made sure it is stable.
So you could use either but keep an eye on the CPU temps to guard from things like dust build up, fan failure, airflow blockage, hot days...
 
the difference of 200 mhz is not worth it for more than .1 volt needed to keep it stable in my eyes..
 
Nenu said:
.1V ;)
Anything less than 1.36V is very safe.
Click to expand...

I'm running a TRUE-120. Idle temps right now are about 40-43*C. 100% load it hits 79*C, possibly 80 but not more than that.

The voltage in BIOS is set to 1.3750. The real-time BIOS read-out says its at 1.364v, but CPU-z has it at 1.344v. I don't know which reading is more accurate...
 
None of them are likely accurate, one will be closer than the other but thats anyones guess unless you measure it with a calibrated meter.

I've been running 1.4V (BIOS set voltage not measured) for a year on an old E8400 (@4.1GHz) + TRUE + MX2, Red Wing silent 120mm fan, Antec 900 case (low fan speeds) and its been rock stable.
So I have no qualms in recommending 1.4V if temps can be kept down, as long as you are aware of what you are doing and can look after your kit.
My max load temp is 67C on a hot day, ordinarily less than 62C.

Intels max rated voltage for 45nM chips is 1.36V which is why I quoted that as very safe (cooling must be able to cope too :)).
 
Nenu, thanks for the heads up.

Do my temps seem ok?

40-43*C idle
77-80*C 100% load

After all, the i7 920 does run hotter than standard LGA775 chips and it's 130W.
 
Ignore idle temps, they are highly inaccurate.

Regardless of the power required to run the chip, the silicon still has the same thermal properties.
My own advice is to stay below 70C so better airflow in the case or on the CPU fan are my recommendation.

If you hear of enough people running long term with high temps on i7 and you know for sure they have no issues, then that is a fair stamp of approval, I havent researched this.
Also look for any cases where damage has been caused to 45nM (especially i7) chips through heat, to get a balanced view.
 
Thanks guys. I guess I'll just keep it at 4 GHz. I figure that 1.344v (+/- .02v) is safe considering the other voltages/speeds that people are running on various forums.
 
yeah all those numbers seem perfectly fine.. also what are you basing your full load temps off of? prime95 or IBT? if anything prime95 full load would be closer to your standard application using 100% of the cpu then IBT.. so might want to try that and see what it shows.. might give you a better idea on what your actual full load temps are with the standard application.. but nice overclocks.. id go with the 4ghz as well since the odds of you really needing the hyperthreading are pretty slim.. unless you do Folding@home or something similar to that..
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
yeah all those numbers seem perfectly fine.. also what are you basing your full load temps off of? prime95 or IBT? if anything prime95 full load would be closer to your standard application using 100% of the cpu then IBT.. so might want to try that and see what it shows.. might give you a better idea on what your actual full load temps are with the standard application.. but nice overclocks.. id go with the 4ghz as well since the odds of you really needing the hyperthreading are pretty slim.. unless you do Folding@home or something similar to that..
Click to expand...

Load temps are from LinX and IBT.
 
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