Before I start, I know this doesn't probably belong here but I have yet to see an over clocking thread on here so here goes: (I know people on here have OC'd their machines at some stage)
So. I've built a custom machine and have been using the following specs below for 6yrs now and I think I owe it to my Extreme edition gear now to get overclocking. I'm ashamed to say I've not done it until now (maybe wise to save my CPU, I dunno). But I lie, at the start I did try with the automatic Overclocking software that came with the motherboard but I just kept getting BSOD's and left it at factory setting until now.
The last two days I've been trying to get stable results without BSOD's every other attempt or PC just automatically shutting off. (I'll explain further down about my failed attempts).
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SPEC:
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
CPU: Intel® Core(TM) i7 CPU 965 @ 3.20GHz Extreme edition
MB: Rampage II Extreme (Intel® LGA1366 Platform & Intel® X58/ICH10R chipset)
RAM: Crosair 12288 MBytes DDR3
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Primary HD's: 2 x WD VelociRaptor 300 GB SATA Hard Drives @ 10,000RPM
Secondary HD's: 2 x WD VelociRaptor 1000 GB Hard Drives @ 7,200RPM
MONITOR: 32" HP LP3065 Wide LCD
COOLING: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
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I've mentioned the whole spec so you can get an idea of the system I got all those years back (A bit OTT come to think of it). Anyway, cooling system is pretty okay. I just want to achieve a realistic 3.9Ghz or even 4Ghz at a push. I've seen on other forums that they achieve 4.0 on air-cooled systems with ease. Maybe my CPU is past it OR I do believe it may be down to reapplying thermal paste and reseating the cooler?!
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OC attempts (Changed factory values in bold)
I've tried just stepping up the ratio to x 27 (133Mhz bus speed x 27=3.591Ghz) without any other adjustments and it fails. It says CPU temp too high after saving the BIOS settings and restarting. The tutorial I followed was from here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/i7-c0-d0,2386-5.html (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/i7-c0-d0,2386-5.html) where they managed 4.0GHz but I nver even got close to that.
I tried other settings but the best and most stable attempt is the multiplier of x26 (Increased 135Mhz bus speed x 26=3.510Ghz) and disabling any power saving options such as speedstep etc. I still have to do a stress test on that yet though. At least it's not shutting down. CPU temps are still higher than I'd like at 70degC Average.
As you can see there's not much difference there so do you think 3.510Ghz is the limit or does the VCORE need adjusting? I followed the exact vales in the tomsharedware link but nada y nada (nothing)!! and have tried in vain.
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I just thought I'd forget about it until I get some advice by 'more knowledgeable people' as to what may be the root of the problem. I just hope this isn't too off-topic.
On forums like I said they say it's probably the readjustment of the cooler and thermal paste. I DO NOT KNOW! Probably could be a busted CPU or something else.
I'm eager to get this thing working whatever way possible. The results are really good (See gif) at an OC that I got working. (36sec / 17% improvement on 2:54min test render at stock) Although, I'd love to push it to 4.0Ghz to see the improvement (I bet it's unreal) but I suppose that means water cooling which I don't mind installing.
I'm looking to see what peoples experiences are with this sort of thing and if they can help me out then great. The post is a bit long winded, so I won't blame you if you hit the backspace key :P)
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