OC the i7 920

[Nashsafc]

I'm going to buy a computer from pcspecialist.co.uk. I have configured the computer with a i7 920 CPU. i want to overclock it to 3.2ghz, doing this will i not really need to increase the voltages at all in the BIOS, even to make it just that little bit more stable? If i wanted to OC it to 3.5ghz, would i need to increase the voltages to make it stable, could someone also tell me how i would have to increase both the uncore voltage and the cpu voltage, i am a little bit unsure about this. i would sometime as a test like to increase the speed to 4ghz. Would someone tell me the voltages i would have to put the CPU up to, to ensure that it is stable. Is it also possible just to keep the voltages on auto, such as if i overclock it to 3.5 ghz, or do i really need to set the voltage to a particular level to maintain stability. With the computer i have configured, i am getting 6gb xms3 1600 mhz ram. Should the frequency of the ram be half the size of the CPU frequency? Can i just keep it at 1600mhz? WOW soo many questions, and at what overclock would i have to achieve to make the i7 920 to be as good as an i7 965 extreme untouched?

 

[spinny]

The're aren't 'cheat sheet' numbers to tell you what voltages will make your system stable at what speeds. It depends on how all your components decide to play together, you just have to try values out and see what is stable.

You should set the at least the important voltages manually, cpu/ram/qpi.

You are trying to keep your RAM running at about 1600. Exactly how fast it will be running will depend on what your final overclock settings are, as it is based on the clock. You can shift around multipliers and the clock to get it close to 1600 at your chosen processor settings.

As soon as you hit 965 speeds, you are performing at 965 levels.

 

[3Ball]

To be honest, I seriously doubt that you will need to raise voltages to hit 3.2ghz. I have overclocked 3 i7 systems, all with the 920 and achieved 3.4 - 3.5ghz on stock voltages and they are all perfectly stable. Tested for 24+ hours running prime95.

You will want to make sure that you set your voltages manually though, because auto will generally set them way to high. Also, make sure to disable CPU spread spectrum in the bios. I would make sure to keep the memory in check, slightly slower mem never hurt anyone, but instability due to OC has.

Make sure that you thoroughly check out this guide before you jump into the process. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-920-overclocking.html

Best,

3Ball