Overclocking in General - Preping the CPU.

[therock003]

Besides tweaking the frequencies and voltages i would like to know what kind of conditoning is required in order to have your cpu oc'ed up and running.

Can you overclock it on one night or is it a gradual process that may take one week to one month and maybe more?

Is it possible that at one time the cpu didnt function at certain speeds, but at a later time and with better condition it will?

So is it all about upping cores and voltage and stress testing to see if it handle things?

 

[jay2tall]

When I do a built the first thing I do is make sure everything is STOCK. Make sure the memory is running at the rated speed in the BIOS and then run OCCT for an hour. If you have an i7 make sure you have the latest OCCT. This will beat the crap out of your CPU to make sure it is not defective. I actually had a defective i7 recently in my personal computer. It wouldn't pass at stock speed and actually thought it was the motherboard, so after a mobo RMA and then CPU its finally running. It's just good to make sure you can run stock with no issues. I also usually run a few games, run a few benches at stock to give it a good go.

Once you know you don't have any defective parts, you can start to OC. some people will say "oh you have to break it in". But it's not a car or mechanical, so just go for it. Start low and work up to the OC. Research before you start to OC to see what others are getting and get a good starting point and understand what you can expect. Different models OC differently.

You will only be able to OC so far with the stock cooler. So even a good $30 will give you a much higher ceiling in your OC. You want to know the safe temps for your CPU. It's all research and reading on forums and review sites. That is KEY. The rest it cake anymore these days. Good thermal paste is also a good idea. I never stick with that is already applied on a heatsink. Artic Silver Ceramique is good stuff.

 

[therock003]

I do intend to get great quality parts that will help me OC as much as possible.

One thing that i do not understand is why do you have to proceed 5-10Mhz each time. For example why shouldnt you start stress testing on the other end and proceed backwards?

For example core i7 comes at 2.66 and most people can get more than 3.6 from it.

So why not start from 3.700Mhz and substract till you find the right speed?

 

[jay2tall]

That's why I said research it to get a good starting point. I started at 3.8 and worked to get it stable there and them proceeded to 4.0. It depends what cooling solution you have as well.

If you have a good cooler and a D0 stepping i7, I'd start at 3.8, stock.. maybe 3.2 or 3.4.

If it's a C0 stepping, I'd start around 3.2 or 3.4.

The better the parts you have the easier it is to OC. Not saying you need the BEST. I have the $230 ASUS P6T mobo which is just about the best value you can get for a solid OC mobo. I had no issues. Just get at least DDR3 1600 memory. Because it will limit you a little with your OC and you want the flexibility to run it faster. With my BLK running at 200 the memory runs the stock speed of 1600MHZ. However sometimes you have to run lower than the rated speed or sometimes higher depending on the memory divider.

 

[therock003]

I did, and this guide in particular is the one i was focusing on.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=716108&mpage=1&key=

It basically tells you to run benchmarks with stock parts to ensure they're functional exactly like you said, and then it says to start increasing the qpi by 3-5 mhz and test it for 5-10 minutes. But this will take forever, if you start at the stock speed and you up it each time by 5! That's why i asked if it is possible to start from somewhere way ahead. I really hope i will be getting a D0 stepping 920 but that will probably mean i have to order it from abroad, since it is not available in my country yet.

I think i'll start with a 1600 kit but i'm still debating if i'll need more. Do you think it is enough for an 920?

I guess i would need to max the QPI all the way up to 225 and have a ratio of 2:8 in order to utilize an 1800 Ram Kit, correct?

 

[jay2tall]

Either C0 or D0 you will still be able to OC the thing. Run CPUz and it will tell you the stepping. I'd start at like 3.2 or 3.4 and work from there.

I choose the 1600 3x2GB kit from G.Skill because it was 8-8-8-21 timing and was $100. It was cheap and fast. My buddy spent $200 on Corsair 1866 memory at 9-9-9-24. I am running ming at 1600 and he is running his at 15xx something because of his OC. Otherwise he would have to run it at 19xx something and it won't run stable. I wouldn't get anything less than 1600 if you plan to OC, the difference in price between the 1333 and 1600 is almost nothing anyways.

every Mobo has different settings. U can not choose my memory ratio, rather it give me the available speeds at the set frequency. I wouldn't worry much about the calculations. Your mobo will give you the speeds avaliable.

Also, the guide you linked, is VERY extensive. Also to the point to making it confusing. haha.

 

[therock003]

I never considered getting less than 1600 Ram, i'm only questioning if i should get more. For example your buddy got to spend like double money only to be betrayed by the ram by a few Mhz not being able to get it at the next level. I would hate to have to buy 1866 only to find out that 19xx is needed to achieve better overclocking!

So how did this happen?

BTW do you have a more appropriate guide? There's seems to be many of them, but i cant figure out which one's more suitable for me, since i'm novice with all this.

 

[jay2tall]

actually what happened was he DID have it running at the 1950MHz or whatever it was but it was a 3x1GB kit and he got a 2nd kit. and with all 6 sticks in it wouldn't hold the 1950 overclock. So rather than lowering his CPU overclock he ran it at the next avaliable speed which was 15XX something.

Honestly the difference between 1600 and 1800 is not that much for a much higher cost. It's not work with and the extra money is better spent elsewhere.

I didn't use a guide. I just read a bunch of forum posts and used my knowledge from OCing Core2's.

Just start a thread and post your setting and say. hey i have this... now what.

 

[therock003]

Ok, well thanx for all your input, now i guess i'll have to gather every part and start ocing when i receive them. Appreciate your help, take care