An END to the Foolishness Spreading

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
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Some people/sites have been spreading more Doom and Gloom about the end of overclocking with Nehalem / Core i7. This is just lies or misunderstandings. The TDP locks referred to are only functioning with Intel's Turbo Boost Technology enabled.

This is what Intel has to say on the subject.

Q: Will the TDC and TDP Turbo limits that Core i7 have limit my ability to OC a locked CPU?

A: No, the TDC and TDP limits only apply to Intel® Turbo Boost Technology. These Intel® Turbo Boost technology limits (130W and 110A) will never force the CPU below the Base Operating Ratio (20 for the 920 and 22 for the 940). It is possible to be operating above these TDC/TDP limits while at the base operating ratio, if the CPU is operating out of spec (i.e. BCLK of >133 MHz). In this case there will be no Turbo headroom available. Additionally, there are no new technologies relative to QX9700 that add additional checking or limits for core frequencies.
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We do NOT use any Turbo Boost or SpeedStep functions turned on when we test our CPUs at HardOCP.

Here are shots of a locked 920 CPU operating.

First, one of the CPU 100% loaded while being overclocked to 3.8GHz. CPUZ is dynamic and does record clock changes in real time. (10 minutes later as of posting this, it is still showing the same clockspeed.

FullCPULOad-920_at_3800.jpg


And the second sporting a Sandra CPU score of over 90,000.

sandra2009-920_at_3800.jpg



Here is another pic of the 920 at 3.8GHz with the CPU at 85 degrees C and the CPU is not throttling. At 87C as of typing this and still stable. (Yes, I turned the pump speed and the fans way down on the Koolance Exos to accomplish this.)

920-at-3800-at-85c.jpg
 
Thanks Kyle. Your results are making me seriously consider going with a 920 and overclocking the hell out of it. That seems like the best bang for the buck route to go with Nehalem.
 
evilcartman said:
Thanks Kyle. Your results are making me seriously consider going with a 920 and overclocking the hell out of it. That seems like the best bang for the buck route to go with Nehalem.
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The entry level model always is. Good stuff from Kyle
 
How high did you need to raise the voltage? And did you only have to raise the CPU voltage?
 
Kyle, later down the line could u make a beginers guide to OC'ing a i7 cpu please and make it as a sticky just like the core 2 one?
 
Looks good,

However I will have to stand by my decision to purchase an E8400 and not the i7 920...
 
jonneymendoza said:
Kyle, later down the line could u make a beginers guide to OC'ing a i7 cpu please and make it as a sticky just like the core 2 one?
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It is already in the gaming article.

Overclocking the Core i7

Overclocking CPUs is the only reason HardOCP is around today. We have been overclocking CPUs for over a decade now and we have to say that over the years as OCing has become mainstream, it has gotten hell of a lot easier to successfully accomplish. There was a ton of the usual DOOM and GLOOM about “Nehalem will kill overclocking for good!” and the like. The fact of the matter is that overclocking the Core i7 920 (which is supposed retail for around $284) was one of the easiest overclocks I have ever experienced. It went like this. Set BCLK from 133MHz to 190MHz. Set Vcore to 1.35v. Set RAM speed to 1520MHz. Reboot. And that was it. I was off and running at 3.8GHz; the easiest 1.14GHz I ever got. I remember when 450MHz cost your around a grand!
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We did not focus on DDR3 OCing and to do that you are going to have to bump the QPI/DDR3 controller voltage some. Looks about 1.4 at 1600 levels with aggressive OCs.

From some personal emails below..

Besides Memory Voltage, the single most important setting that aids in pushing memory overclocking is QPI Voltage. Increasing QPI Voltage benefits Uncore (IMC, QPI interface, L3) and that allows to push memory frequency as well as BCLK up. Most of the time, to reach fully stable DDR3-1866, at least Vqpi=1.45V is needed, and reaching above DDR3-2000 will require 1.50V. Final production Intel DX58SO motherboard will allow for QPI Voltage to be increased to 1.80V, and Asus P6T Deluxe already offers an option to run much above that (still buggy, though).
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The mention of the P6T being buggy about QPI voltage settings is still correct. Currently I have not been able to move the P6T or the Rampage II QPI voltages past 1.4v without locking up the board through TurboV or getting a no-POST working directly in the BIOS. That said, 1.4V is still great for 1600-1800 with the right RAM and I honestly don't see too many applications benefitting from RAM speeds over the 1600 or 1333 even except for benchmarks.
 
Rather a simple question, whats the default frequency of the uncore? 1:1 with the cores? Less?

And what exactly determines the memory frequency? Ratio from the base, or ratio to the uncore (IMC), or something else?
 
I picked up my board here:

Asus P6T Deluxe
http://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/product.php?productid=18235&cat=0&page=

Picked up this ram( G.Skill DDR3):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225


And the CPU I got coming in from a buddy who works out in California, probably will be the last item to come in.

To use my current Thermalright TRUE120 Extreme I called Thermalright and they pointed me over to Frozencpu.com for the bracket.

To complete my SLI setup I picked up a GTX280 off ebay using the 25% cashback promo.
 
Overclocking CPUs is the only reason HardOCP is around today.
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I know you are your own worst critic, but that’s a bit harsh.;)

 
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