Overclocking i7 920

Horrorcosmic · August 24th, 2009, 01:04 PM

Ok so ever since i finished my PC i had it overclocked to 4ghz, but i've always had a problem on certain programs, I couldn't figure out what it was since benchmarking and high performance games like Crysis and whatnot ran great, I thought it was the ram which i ruled out that it wasn't.

So i went to Gigabyte and they had a PDF on how to overclock the i7 to 4ghz, so i defaulted bios and set it up, i did everything word for word of the tutorial.

My specs are:
Core i7 920
GA EX-58 extreme
2 GTX 285
Ultra X3 1k watt
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

The tutorial (luckily) was using the same exact motherboard i had, my board is watercooled and air cooled (hybrid cooler) and in the tutorial during there 2 hour PC stress test they reached about 50 degrees CPU temp with a 33 degree NB. Well my systems water cooled i reach about 42 degrees CPU temp with a 55 Degree NB and i have no idea why my NB is getting so hot! I believe thats where my problem is since it'll last longer in the stress test after its cooled down.

Even at stock speeds my NB is reaching 42 degrees, now i'm not sure whats the temp limit on this chipset but 55 degrees sounds a bit much, i think why my overclock is not being stable.

The tutorial was using air cooled on both NB and CPU, mine is all water cooled, i thought that maybe it was a problem in my loop so i removed the NB block and re-applied the air cooler, still reaching 55 degrees, on air, water, or even both it still hits 55 degrees.

Its kinda discouraging...

If anyone has any ideas please tell me.

Horrorcosmic · August 24th, 2009, 01:06 PM

I also wanted to add i used 3D mark as the benchmark, which fails when it hits the CPU test, and i also used Super prime 2004, the very same test that the tutorial was using, again failed after about 5 min if i let the cpu cool off.

Overvoltage:

I set the voltage the same as the Tutorial:
CPU - 1.40000 volts (tutorial said 1.4v or higher)
QPI - 1.51 (I thought this was a bit high, the norm is 1.1**v even in the bios it was redded)

Everything else they said leave on auto.

Aaron_8015 · August 24th, 2009, 01:16 PM

Well it sounds like you may have it clocked too high.... Games wont use 100% cpu power which is why it probably ran fine.... When you run PRIME it will put 100% load on every core which is most likely why it fails....

Horrorcosmic · August 24th, 2009, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_8015

Well it sounds like you may have it clocked too high.... Games wont use 100% cpu power which is why it probably ran fine.... When you run PRIME it will put 100% load on every core which is most likely why it fails....

Well thats why i'm posting it, i don't wanna think its overclocked too high seeing as it can reach these speeds, if the turorial and everyone else thats overclocked these chips can reach 4ghz but mine then that would mean i'm either doing something wrong (which i hope) or somethings damaged/defective.

Aaron_8015 · August 24th, 2009, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horrorcosmic

Well thats why i'm posting it, i don't wanna think its overclocked too high seeing as it can reach these speeds, if the turorial and everyone else thats overclocked these chips can reach 4ghz but mine then that would mean i'm either doing something wrong (which i hope) or somethings damaged/defective.

All chips are different some will hit certain speeds others will not... You might be able to get it stable and run prime at that speed if you can cool that N-bridge better... but without seeing it, it is difficult.... Are you sure its on properly/placed right?

Horrorcosmic · August 24th, 2009, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_8015

All chips are different some will hit certain speeds others will not... You might be able to get it stable and run prime at that speed if you can cool that N-bridge better... but without seeing it, it is difficult.... Are you sure its on properly/placed right?

If your talking abut the water block then yes, its on the same way it was from factory, i did however remove it to replace the ceramic paste with arctic silver i had left over.

Aaron_8015 · August 24th, 2009, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horrorcosmic

If your talking abut the water block then yes, its on the same way it was from factory, i did however remove it to replace the ceramic paste with arctic silver i had left over.

Okay just looking at the board (which looks awesome by the way.

) Did you apply new paste when you first got it or after you used it for a bit and wanted to get temps down?

If I was you I would take it all off, clean up and re-apply...

Horrorcosmic · August 24th, 2009, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_8015

Okay just looking at the board (which looks awesome by the way.

) Did you apply new paste when you first got it or after you used it for a bit and wanted to get temps down?

If I was you I would take it all off, clean up and re-apply...

I applied it the second i took it out of the box, and thanks it a badass board!.

I'll try that tonight but doesn't thermal paste only change the temp by 2 degrees or so? this is running 12 degrees hotter then gigabyte claims which i know doesn't mean much but its still a good bit.

Aaron_8015 · August 24th, 2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horrorcosmic

I applied it the second i took it out of the box, and thanks it a badass board!.

I'll try that tonight but doesn't thermal paste only change the temp by 2 degrees or so? this is running 12 degrees hotter then gigabyte claims which i know doesn't mean much but its still a good bit.

Its not changing the paste... Mabye you used to much or did'nt polish/clean off the old stuff properly (Im not saying you would'nt). You can also see where the paste is after you take it off to determine where it needs it. (or it may be a good surface on the underside)

If you wait a little longer till some of the (older

) members are online who have more experience..... You can get their opinions....

ShyguyXPC · August 24th, 2009, 01:57 PM

when your talking about the northbridge, your referring to the chipset on the board, right?

(reason I ask, is because technically speaking there is no North Bridge on X58/i7 boards anymore, since the memory controller was moved onto the CPU.)

if so, 55C is warm, but not unheard of. my MSI board as a so-so cooler on it and hits 55C easily on load, at stock speeds with my 920.