hey guys,

just received a computer from a mate.. only a 2wks old and he's moving to Japan perm because of work so he handed it off to me.

current specs are:
i7 950
AsRock x58 Extreme
6gb 1600mhz Patriot - S DDR3 ram
768mb Inno3D 460gtx
WD 1tb hdd
2x dvd burners
500W PSU
Cooler master RC-600 case


thought i might use it as test computer to see if i can overclocking before i go ahead and overclock mine. problem is i know shit all bout it haha and don't want to screw it up.

does anyone know of any good ideas or tips or any easy to understand tutorials they recommend would be happy to learn. my comp atm is similar with just 2x 1gb 460s Asrock Extreme 3, 6gb corsair ram 2000mhz and 1000W PSU.

The higher the clock the higher the voltage of CPU v core CPU Pll and QPI link that all you realy need to knw.

yeh but coz of the psu he has, and considering it's all on air (not planning on getting watercooling for more fans or shit). what would be the safest way to overclock and how far should i be pushing

Do you really need to overclock it?? Not point unless you going to be doing benchmarking

^1+

It's worth doing in some games. ie Crysis, but every other game that set up will do. Heck I have a Q9550 with a 4870 and it does the job. That set up is a lot newer than mine. Only OC it if your a sceptic in gaming performance. Or a benchmark freak.

Well when you over clock you change how fast the CPU switches the transistors on and of so it will speed up windows a bit and if you make you QPI link clock fast the more data that can be sent to and from your CPU and memory thats why u overclock you MOBO to handle memory above 1066 MHZ with socket 1366 and 1156 buy adjusting the QPI link = FSB front side bus.

my advice to you is just overclock to what works best for you and what your think is safe, i push my shit to the max, but if you wanna do it by the book just see what Intel says the max temp is for your CPU and stress test the those specs.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/IntelBurnTest-v2.3-download-2047.html if it says you fail you fail need to put your voltages up.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ use this program to test what temps you are getting

http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103 and this to stress test your CPU

Dont go above what intel says the Max temp is for the CPu though.

there are also some features that you need to disable in your bios to help keep you over clock stable i think its

Execute bit
over speed protection
and another cant remember

if you also have a option to enable v droop enable it helps to keep your overclock stable
and disable spread sprectum or some shit like that.

Heres a guide l found useful

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439-guide-overclocking-core-i7-920-930-a.html

hmm so i tried overclocking and managed to underclock it.. FAIL...

cbf no more lol. everything just turned shit laggy till i realised i had underclocked my shit instead of overclocking it

LOL

Syler what are the CPU spec's of YOUR pc not the one you just got. You may be able to build a better system by combining the two? i7 950 is a better starting point that the 920.
You should be able to get 3.6ghz on air with std volts shit easy with that CPU, just bump up the BCLK until you hit 3.4ghz and test it out. You do not say if it has a std cooler or not. 3.4 should run fine with a stock cooler.

SylerFTW wrote:

hmm so i tried overclocking and managed to underclock it.. FAIL...

cbf no more lol. everything just turned shit laggy till i realised i had underclocked my shit instead of overclocking it

AHAHHAHA thats buszzie as hell dude.

hmm my specs are:

i7 950 running at 3.07ghz with stock cooler
6gb 1600mhz ddr3 ram
1gb Gigabyte GTX460 x2 in SLI mode
AsRock x58 Xtreme Motherboard
1.5TB Samsung TB Hdd
1200W Antec
2x Pioneer DVD-RW burners
1x Blu Ray Burner.
Leadtek tv tuner

all im wanting to overclock is the cpu and ram. gpu is all good for me at sli. get perfect graphics on crysis 1920x1080p with all full options.
just want to overclock it with normal air and the fans it has. ( got 6 fans in the case already and standard cpu cooler.).

Nice nice,

IMO your CPU can hit 4-4.5 Ghz (evenhigher with AMC) No problems.
ram is default @ 1066MHZ in bios, you can change that, make sure it has adequate voltage, or if u dont mind the extra voltage leave it on auto.

With ur i7 950 is it C0 or D0 stepping? (CPU-Z Can tell u)

if its D you got a good batch ;D

yea Syler do a bench mark and post some pics of you GPU and CPU using CPu-Z and some pictures really wanna see what it looks like.

umm mines D0.

and what do i do a benchmark with lol? if its more than 20mbs then ill have to wait till i'm uncapped

hmm my edit/quote buttons aren't here....


what does AMC mean Virt?

Chuck a Linux Test or Prime95

The i7 950 is a D0 chip. Hay syler you interested in swopping one of the 950's for a 920 and some cash?

of what i know AMC controls some I/O functions, usually your CPU would control them, but you can buy external dedicated AMC processors which give faster performance with RAM and HDD capabilites.

Have a look at what arny said, if your not going to OC the 950 to its potential you might as well trade it for 920 assuming is d0 stepping xD and just OC that

well i have been trying to overclocking and got halfway this time. but got a mate to come in and now it's running at 3.6ghz for now.

and sorry Arny, won't be able to do that, as my gf has been bugging me about a new computer for the house for work and we just got this. she has been working with some clients from home so don't think she would be happy if the computer was out of order for a while.

will download 3Dmark to do some tests when i get uncapped.


although they are selling for $349 at msy Arny if ur interested. It's where i got my 950 from. cheapest i could find

Np mate.
Getting a 980 anyway just thought i like to give a 950 a go.