Help me tweak my i7 860 OC

[LockeOak]

I'm not quite getting as much out of my i7 860 as I would like and I'm looking for suggestions, this is my first overclock since my old 939 Opteron 165. I intend for this rig to do a lot of folding.

System:
i7 860 w/ Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Asus P7P55D-E Pro
3x2GB Patriot 1600 RAM
HD4850 (temporarily, RMA'ing my 460s)
Antec P180
OCZ ModXStream 700W PSU
OCZ Vertex 2 40GB
1TB Samsung HDD
Windows 7 Pro 64bit

Settings:
HT On (for folding)
TurboMode Off
DRAM Voltage 1.65V
VDroop compensation enabled

Some of my tests so far (if no entry for PrimeStable I didn't test it):

BCLK VCore GHz MaxT IBTStable(5x) PrimeStable
170 1.20 3.598 78 Y
180 1.20 3.798 Crash
175 1.20 3.685 79 N
175 1.22 3.685 88 Y N
176 1.22 3.708 88 Y N
160 1.24 3.374 81 Y
170 1.24 3.598 85 Y
175 1.24 3.686 88 Y
180 1.24 3.798 Crash
180 1.26 3.798 96!! Canceled test


I seem to be hitting a wall at 3.7GHz before it goes over 90C or is unstable. I was hoping for 4GHz or at least 3.8, and I'm a bit disappointed in this CPU cooler. Those temperatures are using IntelBurnTest2. Playing with the multiplier doesn't seem to help either. Anything I'm missing?

 

[khaki]

Your temps seem really high. My 860 @ 1.31 vcore never goes above 80 C with my TRUE. I'd check if your heatsink is holding you back.

Also, I needed a lot of volts to go above 3.5 Ghz. To hit 3.76, I needed 1.31 versus 1.23 @ 3.5. I'm a bit disappointed it needed that much, but my system is rock stable.

 

[LockeOak]

What was your thermal compound method? I just put a grain of rice sized portion in the center of the CPU, twisted slightly and tightened it down.

 

[khaki]

What was your thermal compound method? I just put a grain of rice sized portion in the center of the CPU, twisted slightly and tightened it down.

I always spread a thin layer across the bottom of the heatsink with a credit card, then put the heatsink on the CPU. It's probably not your method, but remounting and checking that the heatsink is flush and tight against the top of the CPU couldn't hurt.

Is this a new build? If it's older than 6 months, I recommend going in and clearing off any dust buildup on the heatsink & fan with a compressed air can. It can make a big difference.

 

[LockeOak]

Yeah, brand new build. I'll recheck the arctic silver and maybe add another fan.

 

[LockeOak]

Success!

160BCLK 1.24V 3.37GHz Old Temp: 81C New Temp: 65C
175BCLK 1.24V 3.69GHz Old Temp: 91C New Temp: 70C

Note: Those temps are from 5 runs of IntelBurnTest and passed, though they probably aren't Prime95 stable without more voltage.

(Rest of the thread for the benefit of others with similar problems)

I took off the cooler to check the arctic silver. I hadn't used nearly enough and it hadn't spread very well (covered maybe half the cooler surface). I cleaned off the "old" compound and applied a very small amount along the cracks between the contact heat pipes and the cooling block and then spread it out with a credit card to fill in those cracks. I then laid three lines along the cooling block lines, as illustrated here. I placed it on the chip and gave it a few small twists before tightening it down. I also re-oriented the fan so it was blowing up and out the top of the case rather than out the back, which should also improve heat pipe function as the vapor inside the pipe doesn't have to fight gravity anymore. I also added a second fan to the cooler for a push-pull setup. Since the cooler is almost directly below the top case vent and there's a third fan mounted there that's a lot of air flow in the same direction. Now I can start increasing the voltage and really get a better handle on this thing. Thanks!

 

[khaki]

Glad you got things fixed up. Thanks for the link, never knew that cooler was so tricky to set up...