I7 920 d0 OC vs i7 950 d0 OC

[WynnFinnely]

I'm trying to decide between the 920 and the 950. Everything I have read thus far praises how well the 920 overclocks, but I'm having trouble finding anything about how well the 950 does and how they compare while oc'ed. I'm only planning on getting the d0 line for either. Of course, I know that with the price difference I could get better cooling or another device to offload work from the cpu. This inquiry is primarily about overclocking. Thanks for any and all input.

 

[belial2k]

Your max overclock on any i7 will be similar. Buying the more expensive models doesn't make sense unless you only intend to run them at stock speed, and even then the .6ghz increase in performance from the 920 to the 975 for $700+ is a questionable decision. There is a lot of misinformation out there from intel and the people who want bragging rights by buying the most expensive chip. The truth is they are the exact same chip based on the exact same manufacturing process. They have just been binned for different speeds. Spend the money on a good OCing MB and cooling, and there will be NO difference in the way they perform. (of course given the individual differences you will encounter in any two processors...the snowflake principle) Can you actually find a D0 stepping 950? I know the 940 never changed...I have not seen that info for the 950 and 975 yet.

 

[WynnFinnely]

So let me get this straight: the only difference between a 720 and a 750 is that the 750 IS a 720 but labeled at an average higher non-overclocked speed? Is that just from the luck of the draw when the chip is made, some are faster than others due to luck or tighter mfg specs? As for a d0 for the 950 I just assumed that there was one, I don't actually know if it exists.

Then if that's the case, should I go WC with the extra $$ I would save or would I not find a good system that would be in that 200+ price range?

Thanks Belial2k!


EDIT: I'm planing on getting this motherboard (EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366) and was wondering if it is good for OC'ing or if I should go for a different one. Thanks.

 

[belial2k]

just from personal experience, I've had better luck overclocking the Asus p6t line than the evga 3xsli line. The new Asus bios is great up to about 4.0ghz, and you can get there using GOOD air cooling. If you want to go over 4.0- 4.2, you'll need to have a little luck in the processor you get and you'll need to move to TEC or water. Since Asus has released the new bios, EVERY build we've done using the C or D stepping has hit at least 4.0ghz. But there problems going over 4.0 - 4.2. You begin to lose efficiency to a huge degree. Meaning, it takes huge voltage increases to get little gains. Also, you will see very little real world difference in games and apps between 4.0 and 4.5, 4.6, ect. You will find the cpu is held back by something else at that point, even if you go crazy with other hardware, OCs above that usually just are not worth it. So I would shoot for 4.0 on good air cooling that can be found in the $75 - $100 range, (or use the ultra tec cooler found at compusa/tigerdirect) and use the money you save to buy a game or something else.

 

[WynnFinnely]

If you look most of the enthusiasts buy buy the EVGA X58 classified...this is obviusly out of your budget so i would go for the standard evga x58

The 920 will have a very substantial overclock of somewhere around 4.3 Ghz which is 1.6 times as fast as it originally was

but if i had a 975 the max overclock ON AIR may be around 4.6 GHz wich is 1.43 times as fast as it originally was... The 975 is probably well out of your budget but the 950 will usually offer an overclock close to what the 920 was so that would be somwhere around 1.43 times as fast as it originally was.

Thus that brings us to our conclusion that the 920 is a better buy

So, you are saying that the 920 is best because it has the same oc coefficient as the 950 and therefore has more bang for the buck? Or are you saying that the 950 will only oc as fast as the 920 anyway, so I may as well just get the 920 and save my $$ because the two will reach the same oc speed in the end?

Here is another question, is the Ultra ChillTEC not going to do anything more than the Dark Knight or Thermalright TRUE? Of those three, is there much difference?

 

[WynnFinnely]

Hope that helps!

Soo helpful, thanks a ton man.

 

[OvrClkr]

let me clear things up a bit for you...i made images to help you out...

when they make the silicone the purest silicon is in the middle (If you want to know more about the process look it up, i dont feel like explaining)
Therefore the best cpu's are in the middle.

Here is a wafer of cpu's, they come out of the plant like this then they cut out the cpu's from the wafer.

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/5990/300mmwafer.png

Like i said the best cpu's are in the middle the next image i made was an image showing out of all the cpu's wich one are the 920's 950's and 975's.

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3492/300mmwaferj.png

So, as you can see maybe out of 100 chips only 5 are 975's.

These will operate on lower voltages with higher frequencies. For instance if i had an i7 920 then it may require 1.375v to reach 4.0 GHz but if i had a 975 then it may run at the same speed with 1.25v

If i were you i would get the 920 and stick with the current motherboard you have picked out. Because that motherboard has VERY high end capacitors that allow for more stable overclocks.

If you look most of the enthusiasts buy buy the EVGA X58 classified...this is obviusly out of your budget so i would go for the standard evga x58

The 920 will have a very substantial overclock of somewhere around 4.3 Ghz which is 1.6 times as fast as it originally was

but if i had a 975 the max overclock ON AIR may be around 4.6 GHz wich is 1.43 times as fast as it originally was... The 975 is probably well out of your budget but the 950 will usually offer an overclock close to what the 920 was so that would be somwhere around 1.43 times as fast as it originally was.

Thus that brings us to our conclusion that the 920 is a better buy





EDIT: Don't bitch at me if you claim you got higher overclockes with these varius chips i am just setting a standard

I could not agree more but this is my question.... Why 4.3 - 4.6Ghz??? Do you really need that speed? I have an i7 920 @ 3.5Ghz on a daily basis and yea if I want some more horsepower I can crank it up to 3.9 - 4.0Ghz but I do not see a need for that speed for some reason. You into auto-cad? Cine-benching? Mad rendering? If not, the 920 is plenty fast and as far as price to performance ratio the 920 remains as the King.

btw.. VERY AWESOME POST..super-KUDOS!!!

 

[belial2k]

yes, the bottom line is the 920 is the way to go. You will probably see similar performance out of all 3 cooling solutions, unless you want to really push it, then the Ultra might show some benefits once you go over 4.0, but keep in mind to get the most out of it you will have to do everything you can to keep your case cool and the ambient temps down, because as the ambient temps go up, so will the temps that the controller keeps the cpu at.

@ overshocked......I was going to let your stuff go unchallenged, but then you had to start name calling, so I'll bite. I build systems for a living, and have hands on knowledge of all the processors we've discussed. I get customers who insist on "bragging rights" computers, even though they are pissing their money away. I knew I would get some "more money than brains" idiot who bought a 975 try to justify it....but I'm the stupid one? You basically back up everything I said, except you exaggerated what the 975 will do on air. There is no substantial difference in the clocks you can reach on air with a 920 vs the 975. The results will be very close to the same, I've seen some reviews comparing the two where the 920 has beaten the 965 on the same machine. You are right, the 975 has unlocked multipliers...yehawwww! That has nothing to do with what I stated they have the exact same manufacturing process and the exact same architecture. Show me the real world use of the unlocked multiplier...there is NONE, besides an excuse to call it an extreme edition and to get idiots to pay 5x more for the same performance they can get in any real world scenario with a 920. But you've already wasted your money on a rig that is such overkill you'll never see the value out of it. Wow, I bet you get like 200fps on most games, that must really help your fragile ego, but truth is the games will play exactly the same as if you were getting 60fps out of them. But thanks for pumping all that money into our economy, we need people like you to pull us out of the recession.

 

[OvrClkr]

Appreciate it, i dont mind helping people if they have deep questions like this


[:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape] [:thegreatgrapeape]

A post like that does not come by very often....

Will put in my favs to make sure I don't lose this thread......

 

[WynnFinnely]

Ok, its decided. I'm getting the 920. BUT...

Cooler? of the: knight, True, or ChillTEC?

You are saying to stay away from the board that I listed for OC'ing and go for something else?

 

[OvrClkr]

let me clear things up a bit for you...i made images to help you out...

when they make the silicone the purest silicon is in the middle (If you want to know more about the process look it up, i dont feel like explaining)
Therefore the best cpu's are in the middle.

Here is a wafer of cpu's, they come out of the plant like this then they cut out the cpu's from the wafer.

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/5990/300mmwafer.png

Like i said the best cpu's are in the middle the next image i made was an image showing out of all the cpu's wich one are the 920's 950's and 975's.

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3492/300mmwaferj.png

So, as you can see maybe out of 100 chips only 5 are 975's.

These will operate on lower voltages with higher frequencies. For instance if i had an i7 920 then it may require 1.375v to reach 4.0 GHz but if i had a 975 then it may run at the same speed with 1.25v

If i were you i would get the 920 and stick with the current motherboard you have picked out. Because that motherboard has VERY high end capacitors that allow for more stable overclocks.

If you look most of the enthusiasts buy buy the EVGA X58 classified...this is obviusly out of your budget so i would go for the standard evga x58

The 920 will have a very substantial overclock of somewhere around 4.3 Ghz which is 1.6 times as fast as it originally was

but if i had a 975 the max overclock ON AIR may be around 4.6 GHz wich is 1.43 times as fast as it originally was... The 975 is probably well out of your budget but the 950 will usually offer an overclock close to what the 920 was so that would be somwhere around 1.43 times as fast as it originally was.

Thus that brings us to our conclusion that the 920 is a better buy





EDIT: Don't bitch at me if you claim you got higher overclockes with these varius chips i am just setting a standard

Yeah stay away from the EVGA X58 LE as it may have good reviews on newegg its worth to spend the extra $30 to get the original version of this board with nice capacitors and better cooling on the chipset... here is a link

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188046

Hey I have the LE and I think it is awesome. I just suggested the LE cause he stated that he does not plan to go Sli in the near future.....My NB stays nice n cool... maybe it's my case, maybe all the 120mm fans, but so far I can't find 1 flaw....

 

[belial2k]

i think if it were me I would go with the Ultra or the True 120. The evga is a good MB, but I've used both it and the p6t deluxe v2 (over 100 p6t v2s and once when I couldn't get them I ordered 5 of the evga) and had better luck with Asus p6t.

Yes, I agree if you are going to use Ln2 the 975 will get you farther, but that is about as far from real world performance as you can get. This guy is not going for bragging rights, he just needs some good advise about which hardware he should use. As I said before, your post backed up mine with the exception of what 975 will do on air. But you calling me stupid for pointing out that there is very little difference in the real world between any of the i7s was wrong....This guy is obviously not trying to set OC records on liquid nitrogen, so why inflate the differences for that use? All that is doing is confusing the fact we all agree the 920 is the way to go, and we all agree on how the processors are made. From what I can tell the only thing we disagree on is the OC a 975 will reach on air. I've had hands on experience with them and the 965, and have constantly been disappointed they don't do better on air. So please don't confuse the facts for people reading this. If someone asks the best chip for Ln2 we can tout the praises of the 975, but when someone ask the best i7 processor for a 24/7 consumer rig only an idiot would recommend anything other than the 920.