What Are the Max Overclocks Possible for Intel Core i7-860's and -870's without Fiddling with Voltages?

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the_ultra_code

the_ultra_code

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Apr 6, 2017
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Hello Tom's Hardware members!

I have hopefully a simple question.

To begin with, I was thinking of upgrading my i5-750 to an i7 processor, because of the small/medium boost in performance it would offer. Currently, I have my i5-750 overclocked to 3.5GHz (20x multiplier, 175 BCLK) on my Asus P7H55-M motherboard, because you can overclock this CPU to about this range without touching voltages ( as mentioned here: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-750-overclock,2438-3.html ; also, multiple hours in Prime95 and a few hours in AIDA64's stress test, plus the weeks of medium-to-heavy usage have confirmed these findings, to my joy).

Now, looking at these two i7's (i7-860 and i7-870), I want to know the same thing: want is the highest overclock possible on these two processors without touching voltages? I can't seem to find this information anywhere like I could with the i5-750. I want to be able to squeeze out some more performance out of them with little to no effort, and besides, if I don't overclock them, they aren't going to be too much more "powerful" than my overclocked i5-750, from what I can tell (at least gaming-wise; productivity-wise, with their hyper-threading, at stock clocks, I'm sure they would be close to or above my overclocked i5-750).

I'm relatively new to overclocking, so not having to touch voltages yet still be able to overclock is very nice. Besides, I don't care for all of the hours of at-the-desk tweaking and testing that is required for higher clocks able with voltage-tweaking, or the higher heat output and power draw accompanied with those clocks. Hence, a small overclock with voltages set to "auto" is what I look to do with either of these i7's, and is currently what I am doing with this i5 of mine.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
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william p

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Identical CPUs can vary somewhat and they can have different Voltages from the factory due to this. Also the overclock can vary from one to another.
You might look at an i7-875K which is unlocked multiplier. This avoids all the tweaking that comes from FSB overclocking. Voltage, multiplier, and cooling. Those 3 variables are all you need. Although i7 Voltage control is a little indirect. 20x175 is a nice overclock though.
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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Unless you can get the CPUs for really cheap, I would say start considering an upgrade. Only so much you can expect out of a platform nearly 10 years old.

i3-8100 will do 3.6Ghz as its base and that is only a $110 part. Finally have the cheap B and H class motherboards to go with them.
 
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the_ultra_code

the_ultra_code

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Well then, I have some explaining to do.

First of all: William.
Identical CPUs can vary somewhat and they can have different Voltages from the factory due to this. Also the overclock can vary from one to another.
Click to expand...
I already know this. A good point for those who don't know. But, this does not answer my question.

You might look at an i7-875K which is unlocked multiplier. This avoids all the tweaking that comes from FSB overclocking.
Click to expand...
I believe you are getting the Core 2 Duo and previous Intel CPU generations confused with the Core i series. There is no "FSB" overclocking, as that was replaced with "base clock (BCLK)" (at least, that is the case with my Asus P7H55-M motherboard). Oh, also, I am 99% sure that all first-generation Core i CPUs have unlocked multipliers (I thought I remember reading somewhere recently that the i7-875K had the "K" in its name because it was meant to overclock better than the i7-870). It wasn't until the next generation with Sandy Bridge that Intel decided, "Okay, let us charge people more money for an overclockable CPU", and thus finalized the "K" suffix and its effect. At least, if I remember correctly.

20x175 is a nice overclock though.
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Thanks! It is the first time I overclocked a CPU before. :D The only other thing that I have ever overclocked was a 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 with my first retro gaming PC.

And that brings me to you, Eximo.
Unless you can get the CPUs for really cheap, I would say start considering an upgrade. Only so much you can expect out of a platform nearly 10 years old.
Click to expand...
It was my fault for not making this known in the beginning; I keep forgetting to. I built this PC of mine just a few months ago to be my third (and hopefully final) retro gaming machine (RGM, as I abbreviate it). The platform is one of the last platforms to have full Windows XP 32-bit support for it (Sandy Bridge does, but I heard that around that time XP support was getting kind of, uh, "flaky" (?), so I stuck with Nehalem; besides, it is cheaper this way).

Here are my full specs:

  • ■ Intel Core i5-750 overclocked to 3.5GHz (20x multiplier, 175 BCLK, auto voltages)
    ■ Asus P7H55-M Motherboard
    ■ 8GB G.Skills Sniper DDR3 2133MHz RAM (clocked at 1750MHz)
    ■ Sound Blaster X-Fi PCIe soundcard
    ■ Asus Optical SATA drive
    ■ Crucial MX500 500GB SATA3 SSD
    ■ Western Digital Blue 1TB HDD
    ■ SanDisk Plus 128GB SSD
    ■ Corsair CX550 80+ Plus Bronze 550W PSU
    ■ EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 (will have a GTX 770 when it arrives in the mail)
    ■ Fractal Design Focus G Mini

You see, this system triple boots Windows 10 (Crucial SSD), XP (HDD), and Linux Mint (the mint installation on the SanDisk SSD was from another long-gone PC; it is very handy at times). 10 for Vista-on games, and is my daily-runner, as this is also the most powerful PC I own, XP for, well, XP games, and Mint for Linux stuff.

While I agree with you that I could build a better, modern PC for a little bit more than (or about the same as) I spent on this dated platform, it would not do what I wanted it to do, which this guy does perfectly.

So, I believe this finally brings me full-circle. I again ask for an answer to my question, something in the fashion of "An i7-860 will usually overclock up to 3.75GHz until voltages needs to be adjusted, and an i7-870 can go up to 3.8GHz until voltages needs adjustment.".

Thanks!
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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overclock.net is the usual source I use for rough figures, but they are rough. I can tell you that with a similar architecture I ran into memory overclocking issues well before the CPU ran out of headroom.

No one is going to be able to give you a direct answer, especially as most overclockers wouldn't stop at stock voltage.
 
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the_ultra_code

the_ultra_code

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Wait, I just found this article that details someone's experience overclocking the i7-870 ( https://techgage.com/article/overclocking_intels_core_i5-750_i7-870/3/ ). It was just what I was looking for!

In the article, they said that they were able to hit 3.72GHz with Turbo at stock voltages, so I think I would be fine to overclock my i7-870 (when it comes in the mail) to at least 3.65GHz no problem (hopefully). Again, though, I'll see. :)
 
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