Need some help and advice with my first OC

[Eru]

I'm currently using an intel i7 950 processor (stock speed is set to 3.06 GHz) on an Asus Sabertooth X58 mother board. I have not yet invested in an affter market heat sink. What I'm aiming for with this build for my first OC is to at least get it up to 3.4-3.5 GHz. At the stock settings and with the stock heatsink the CPU is idleing at 47C

I'd like to try my first OC with the set up I've got. I'd like some imparted wisdom so that I can blame you guys when something goes wrong XD

I've watched a few video on youtube and have picked up a few things but I still lack an in depth understanding of what some of the settings do. For example, I know that the desired of OC is the product of the base clock frequency and the multiplier. What I don't understand about the two is why not just keep increasing the multiplier, why even touch the base clock frequency? That's an example of my ignorance of the subject.

I also don't know what kind of software to use to test the OC after I've messed around with the BIOS settings. The video I watched use a program called LinX. Are there any other I should get?

If some one could point me in the direction of a complete and in depth guide to all of these setting or even post it here that'd be great.

 

[RedgyK]

To stress test for stability, and to load the CPU 100% so you can see max temps, use Prime95.

To check temps, I personally prefer RealTemp for its simplicity, but HWMonitor is also very good.

Idle temps usually don't mean a lot, but I would say if IDLE is 47C, you shouldn't go any higher without a better heat sink. Preferably a Noctua NH-D14 or a cooler close to the performance of it.

You could download realtemp and Prime95 then watch the temps as you run the "Small FFTs" option on Prime. Watch the temps in RealTemp, if it goes above 80C, just stop it. You don't have headroom to overclock if it hits 70-80C on stock. At least not in my book.

 

[Eru]

Ya, did what you said and is went above 80C, I'll wait to OC my CPU then until I have a better heatsink

 

[kilobravo]

Dont think its a good idea to oc with stock heatsink.

Linx is a good little program to test stability.

Linx

It need admin rights to run,right-click mouse and run as admin.

Realtemp is good monitoring temps

Realtemp

Hwmonitor is the best i think.It shows all relevant volts and temps.

Hwmonitor

Cpu-z are also needed

Cpu-z

Try to run linx at 1024mb ram,and report back cpu volts in cpu-z.Realtemp or hwmonitor cpu temps in celsius.

 

[Eru]

Of 10 tests in LinX at the setting you stated I peaked at 3.207GHz, 1.264V, and 86C

Out of curiosity what does the MiB setting change in LinX?

 

[Eru]

Actually, the hottest core went to 88. Looked ato nly one of the cores, oopsie. And the volts seemed to be more consistant around 1.232 and only went higher when LinX beggan running a new test.

 

[kilobravo]

Actually, the hottest core went to 88. Looked ato nly one of the cores, oopsie. And the volts seemed to be more consistant around 1.232 and only went higher when LinX beggan running a new test.

Ouch,temps are too high.Normal temps would be 70c max on hottest core.You badly need a heatsink like noctua nh-d14.

MiB is amount of ram used for testing.In your case 1024mb and 11530 in problem size.

Volts is normal for all auto settings in bios.

I will highly recommend not to go any further than stock settings,before you get a better heatsink.The stock heatsink is crap.

 

[RedgyK]

The best you can do is try getting stock clocks with lower volts. That could lower the temps down by quite a lot.

Here's a little list I found of estimated volts on i7 950's, it's not by any means completely accurate, but it's a pointer for the volts

@ Stock - 1.18V

@ 3.3GHz - 1.21V

@ 3.6GHz - 1.23V

@ 3.8GHz - 1.26V

@ 4.0GHz - 1.30V

I found that my i7 950 could do every clock stable at about 1 or 2 clicks under these volts. This varies from pretty much every CPU, even though they are the same

Anyway, just try lowering the volts a little from the stock, still at stock clocks, and check what the lowest is stable..

 

[Eru]

Hmmmm, I just turned down the voltage settings down from 1.232V to what it's now running on 1.088V. The temperatures came down to 75C lol

I know this got off topic but thanks for the help guy

 

[RedgyK]

Hmmmm, I just turned down the voltage settings down from 1.232V to what it's now running on 1.088V. The temperatures came down to 75C lol

I know this got off topic but thanks for the help guy

Is it stable at 1.088V? Seems very low, even for stock

Maybe you got a golden chip there

At least now you'll be good at stock clocks until you get a D14

EDIT:

No problem btw

glad to help

 

[Eru]

Idk if anyone is still reading this but I thought I'd follow up. After lowering my my voltage to 1.05V at the stock frequency (3.059GHz) and ratio (23x133) and my temperature resting nicely at around 68c (remember this is with the stock fan too) I decided to see how much I could get out of the processor without exceeding 75C

So, running at a ratio of 23x153 to give me a speed of 3.519GHz at 1.088V the processor peaks at 74C with the stock fan XD

You guys tell me, did I luck with the chip?

 

[kilobravo]

Once you get a better heatsink,4.2ghz maybe even 4.4ghz could be done with resonable volts.

74c is a lot better

 

[Eru]

Is there a specific temperature I should avoid like the plague or just ry to keep it under 75 and never hit 80?

 

[kilobravo]

Low 70`ish would be fine,75c is a bit to much,and deffo not 80c.

200bclk and use multiplier to up the oc.Try 200x17 to start with.

 

[Eru]

I will as soon as I'm done raiding on WoW XD

Why is better to max out the bclk over the multiplier?

 

[kilobravo]

I assume you have 1600mhz rams.

At 200bclk rams run 1600mhz with the right settings in bios.

 

[Eru]

I think my ram is higher than that actually

 

[JesseLactin]

Try Intel Burn Test (it's LinX with a easy UI). I use it personally after it was recommended on the forums. It drives temps 5C higher than Prime95. 1366 i7's beg for the NH-D14 or full blown water cooling. ND-D14 is probably good enough.

 

[Eru]

1366 i7's beg for the NH-D14 or full blown water cooling.

Why is this?

 

[RedgyK]

Why is this?

The 1366 chips run very hot, they need high end cooling if your going for high overclocks

Sandy Bridge runs a lot cooler compared.