Gaming Need help overclocking and setting memory clocks

[Madridi]

Hey guys,
I finally assembled my PC, mentioned here in this thread
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=178581

I've also bought an 80GB intel SSD for OS.

Now I need to overclock my i7 920 CPU to something above 3.0GHz as well as having my RAM run as 7-7-7-24 on 1600 MHz (which is the advertised timing on ocz platium)


Problem is, I dont get it, so I need a step by step direction that applies to my components (because i read some random ones on evga forums that confused me because they were generalized)
I'm prepared to report back after each trial. I just want to get it done.. Hopefully someone can help

Also, can anyone recommend a way I can monitor the stability of my PC?
Oh and, the whole temperature thing, I dont get it, whats considered normal and whats considered too high.

I hope someone will be willing to help

Thanks in advance

 

[cornaljoe]

Can you post your final build?

 

[Joe88]

for temps you can use speed fan or hwmonitor to keep an eye of system temps

as far as general temps, (I do hope you invested in a 3rd party hsf and not junky intel stock one) cpu 70C and above is the danger zone
if you see the cpu get that hot turn off the computer and reset the bios to default (or undo whatever change you do when ocing)

gfx cards can take a lot more abuse
somewhere around 110C
but that doesnt mean its safe to let them get that high
I would worry if it hits 90C
personally mine never goes above 65C

 

[Madridi]

Can you post your final build?
Sure

Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
Motherboard: 32-BL-E758-A1
Case: Cooler Master 922M ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-850TX 850-Watt TX Series
HDD x 2: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
RAM: OCZ DDR3 1600MHz 6GB Platinum XTC Triple Channel Kits CL 7-7-7-24/(CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
GFX Card: XFX Radeon HD 5770
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master V8
DVD Burners x 2: Samsung Internal Half Height DVD-W Supermulti SATA 22X Lightscribe
Mouse: Logitech G9X Laser Mouse
Card Reader: Sony Internal 17 in 1 Memeory Card Reader/Writer
Case Fans x 2: Cooler Master 120mm Red LED Case Fan - (R4-L2R-20CR-GP)
Monitor: Samsung TV Tuner 2333HD
SSD: Intel 80 GB

QUOTE(Joe88 @ Feb 1 2010, 06:28 AM) for temps you can use speed fan or hwmonitor to keep an eye of system temps

as far as general temps, (I do hope you invested in a 3rd party hsf and not junky intel stock one) cpu 70C and above is the danger zone
if you see the cpu get that hot turn off the computer and reset the bios to default (or undo whatever change you do when ocing)

gfx cards can take a lot more abuse
somewhere around 110C
but that doesnt mean its safe to let them get that high
I would worry if it hits 90C
personally mine never goes above 65C

Well, I think that I'm around 30C.. That doesnt make sense does it?
Here is a pic of what it shows me
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/8532/67342304.png

 

[cornaljoe]

Overclocking the i7 920 is pretty simple. Just go into the BIOS settings and increase the frequency. The default is 133Mhz so try around 160Mhz for starters. This will require you to increase the voltage also so try 1.3-1.4V. Set, restart and go test to check for temps. 30C is normal for load so make sure it's about there.

 

[omgdaniel]

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439...i7-920-4-a.html

There's a helpful guide to overclocking a 920.

30C is normal for load so make sure it's about there.

30C for load? 30C for idle, load should push it way up. Maybe with a good HSF you can hit 50C load.

 

[cornaljoe]

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439...i7-920-4-a.html

There's a helpful guide to overclocking a 920.

30C is normal for load so make sure it's about there.

30C for load? 30C for idle, load should push it way up. Maybe with a good HSF you can hit 50C load.

Yeah, I meant at OS load not under stress load.

 

[Scorpei]

Overclocking the i7 920 is pretty simple. Just go into the BIOS settings and increase the frequency. The default is 133Mhz so try around 160Mhz for starters. This will require you to increase the voltage also so try 1.3-1.4V. Set, restart and go test to check for temps. 30C is normal for load so make sure it's about there.

First try to set the frequency higher, rather then already upping the voltage. Aside from that perhaps being needed, you won't know until you try and running it stable without voltage increase is always good/better. You also might need to push the chipset a bit more to get the performance increases you want.

And when we're on the topic of voltages, if there is more then a 0,5v voltage difference between VTT and vRam voltages on a i7 cpu it (IMC) will fry. So please do check that out

. In general mind you increasing voltages can be dangerous.

Now your temps, remember that higher temps, and higher voltages for that matter, can/will decrease the lifespan of the hardware.

For stability testing, running Orthos / Prime95 (and in your case at least 8 instances) for several hours (depending on how stable you want your machine to be, I do a few hour runs until I start hitting errors at which time I go with 12-24-48 hour runs and slightly lower settings). Also, only change one variable at a time (except with the 2 voltage thing I mentioned above making sure that the delta doesn't get surpassed) and do stability testing each time to make sure the system runs stable. I tend to test the cpu first and push the mem later.

p.s. Why don't you get yourself an old machine and try playing around with that, then when you have a bit more experience go and do it with your expensive hardware

?

 

[GexX2]

These guys have you covered, I'm just popping in to say, BE CAREFUL. You don't seem to know much about overclocking, and this is one thing that can and WILL fry your shit if you screw up. Take it slow, be patient, and make sure you know what you're changing before you change it. That said, good luck, and enjoy your new comp.

 

[zeromac]

whats over-clocking?

 

[Scorpei]

whats over-clocking?

link

 

[Madridi]

Overclocking the i7 920 is pretty simple. Just go into the BIOS settings and increase the frequency. The default is 133Mhz so try around 160Mhz for starters. This will require you to increase the voltage also so try 1.3-1.4V. Set, restart and go test to check for temps. 30C is normal for load so make sure it's about there.

Yeah I did that at first, I increased it to 200 then i went back and put it to 160, then I realised i had no idea what I was doing so I set everything back to default

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439...i7-920-4-a.html

There's a helpful guide to overclocking a 920.
Thanks, it still confused me though, as well as other guides I've followed.
The problem is that I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to this. So I need a step by step instruction according to my build, and not a general one.

Overclocking the i7 920 is pretty simple. Just go into the BIOS settings and increase the frequency. The default is 133Mhz so try around 160Mhz for starters. This will require you to increase the voltage also so try 1.3-1.4V. Set, restart and go test to check for temps. 30C is normal for load so make sure it's about there.

First try to set the frequency higher, rather then already upping the voltage. Aside from that perhaps being needed, you won't know until you try and running it stable without voltage increase is always good/better. You also might need to push the chipset a bit more to get the performance increases you want.

And when we're on the topic of voltages, if there is more then a 0,5v voltage difference between VTT and vRam voltages on a i7 cpu it (IMC) will fry. So please do check that out

. In general mind you increasing voltages can be dangerous.

Now your temps, remember that higher temps, and higher voltages for that matter, can/will decrease the lifespan of the hardware.

For stability testing, running Orthos / Prime95 (and in your case at least 8 instances) for several hours (depending on how stable you want your machine to be, I do a few hour runs until I start hitting errors at which time I go with 12-24-48 hour runs and slightly lower settings). Also, only change one variable at a time (except with the 2 voltage thing I mentioned above making sure that the delta doesn't get surpassed) and do stability testing each time to make sure the system runs stable. I tend to test the cpu first and push the mem later.

p.s. Why don't you get yourself an old machine and try playing around with that, then when you have a bit more experience go and do it with your expensive hardware

?

See now this is what's scares me, the whole frying thing.. I'm not sure what volatges it should be to begin with.
I thing it currently says 1.7v even though its set on a way lower setting (donno if that makes sense)
As for not trying on an old machine, the one i owned before this one is like.. 10 years old or even more. I dont have the money to spend on different hardware so i'd rather invest in one PC

Now, I tried running Prime95 without changing anything (like.. right now) and it run the torture test with 8 workers, within 5 minutes of test, two workers stopped, one had 100 warning and it stopped because of the following:
ERROR: ILLEGAL SUMOUT
Possible hardware failure, consult readme.txt file, restarting test.

The other one stopped working because it had one error and zero warnings (i dont know what the error is)


QUOTE(GexX2 @ Feb 1 2010, 12:35 PM)

These guys have you covered, I'm just popping in to say, BE CAREFUL. You don't seem to know much about overclocking, and this is one thing that can and WILL fry your shit if you screw up. Take it slow, be patient, and make sure you know what you're changing before you change it. That said, good luck, and enjoy your new comp.

Well, I dont know ANYTHING about overclocking (except for the concept)
I do wanna take it slow and be patient, which is why I'm seeking for help. Because I wanna make sure that I know what I'm doing instead of screwing everything up


Thanks all for your help, hope I get some more!!

 

[Madridi]

I ran Prime95 again and this time workers 1,2, 6, 7 and 8 (it was 4 and 6 or 8 before) stopped working with one error:
Hardware Failure detected. Consult stress.txt

Help

Edit: Now they all stopped running except for worker 4, which i'm sure will stop working soon as well.

All same error

 

[budrow66]

Sounds to me like it is already an awsome little machine. Why risk it for the sake of overclocking? IMO overclocking only causes problems.

 

[Madridi]

Well, I do want to learn, as well as putting my hardware up to its potential


As for my previous post, I went back to my BIOS and apparently I forgot to put the voltages back to auto.

Running torture test with Prime95 now with no changes in BIOS, lets see if test run stable before I attempt on doing anything.

Anything else I should try running to check for stability? Memtest86+ maybe?
I think the first thing I should do is to check that I dont have harware failures, and once those tests confirm that, I should try overclocking and setting my RAM to what it can actually advertised
(1600 Mhz 7-7-7-24)

Waiting for everyone's comments

 

[Joe88]

Sounds to me like it is already an awsome little machine. Why risk it for the sake of overclocking? IMO overclocking only causes problems.

nothing like buying a $120 cpu and overclocking it to turn it into a $300 cpu

 

[Madridi]

Well, I've been running Prime95 with the PC's default settings for about 6 hours now, so far all tests are passing, no errors whatsoever.

The test has put the CPU usage up to a 100%. System temp is 48-50C

All these are good right?
How long should I keep this running? 24 hours? More? Less?
I can see the RAM is being tested as well (up to 52% now), but would the tests show me if there is a problem with it or not? Or is there a better method to test RAM?

What else could I test? HDD? S.M.A.R.T. test? any program recommendations for that?

Well, awaiting your help everyone, thanks in advance

 

[Madridi]

wow.. no one at all?

I'm having much trouble with the RAM, I think they need to be RMA..

Please the first post in this thread for more info
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/sh...6GK-and-X58-SLI

 

[GexX2]

You'll get more replies if you ask in a forum dedicated to this sort of thing. Try http://www.overclock.net/ they've helped me in the past.

 

[Madridi]

Thanks, I'll do that once I get stuff sorted out. Apparently my RAM has to be RMA'd
and my SSD is failing full diagnostic data integrity and tells me to contact intel about it, so yeah I have some bad components..