My i7 overclocking failure

Specs:

i7 920 processor, d0 stepping
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Motherboard
12 GB OCZ Gold RAM
GTX 295 Video Card
Corsair 850W PSU
Antec 1200 Full Tower Case
Prolimatech Megahalem Heatsink with AS5 thermal compound



I reset my CMOS Switch and then changed these settings:

36x QPI Linkspeed
6x Memory Multiplier
36X Uncore QPI Linkspeed
13x Uncore Frequency
Turbo Boost Tech on, Speedstep/C1E on, Turbo Performance Enhancement On


Starting off from a base clock of 133 and 1V VCore, I started raising the baseclock by intervals of 10. These were my findings:

VCore: 1, Baseclock: 143 --- boots into Windows, Prime95 runs without issue, 3 GHz achieved (143*21)
VCore: 1, Baseclock: 153 --- doesn't boot into Windows
VCore: 1.01250, Baseclock: 153 --- Bluescreened at login screen.
VCore: 1.05, Baseclock: 153 --- boots into Windows, Prime95 runs without issue, 3.212 GHz achieved (153*21)
VCore: 1.1, Baseclock: 163 --- boots into Windows, Prime95 runs without issue, 3.422 Ghz achieved (163*21)
VCore: 1.1, Baseclock: 173 --- bluescreen before login
VCore: 1.125, Baseclock: 173 --- Prime95 bluescreens upon running
VCore: 1.13750, Baseclock: 173 --- boots into Windows, Prime95 runs without issue, 3.632 Ghz achieved (173*21)
VCore: 1.2, Baseclock: 183 --- Prime95 bluescreens upon running
VCore: 1.21250, Baseclock: 183 --- boots into Windows, Prime95 runs without issue, 3.842 GHz achieved (183*21)
VCore: 1.2750, Baseclock: 193 --- boots into Windows, Prime95 runs without issue, 4.053 GHz achieved (193*21)
VCore: 1.3, Baseclock: 200 --- bluescreens upon Windows login


At the higher levels, the overvoltage lights turned green as well on my mobo.

And now for the anger-inducing part:

VCore: 1.275, Baseclock: 200 --- bluescreen
VCore: 1.25V, Baseclock: 193 --- bluescreen
VCore: 1.21250, Baseclock: 183 --- doesn't boot
VCore: 1.25, Baseclock: 183 --- doesn't boot


What on earth is going on? Did I do something incorrectly? My old setups stopped working.

I am back at default settings but with .95V right now, 2.8 GHz at load, because I'm damned scared I am going to break ***.

How do I know what VCore to use? How do I know what QPI voltage to use?

Why do I need to UP the voltage if my overvoltage lights are lighting up?

Well, ~1.25V for both QPI and CPU voltage would be a good starting point, try to see if you can go lower, I have 1.21875V on both, but I'm running at only 160bclk.

Dude you messed up, disable Turbo when overclocking, it will limit your overclocks, and read some guides before you overclock. Clearly, you are a noob, I know the truth hurts. Go read overshocked's guide

Good job, got a screenshot? What you using at 4.2, hardware, bios settings

nice what hardware u using, is that temps at load?? you can keep going ur vcore isnt high at all. is that stable 24/7 tested with prime?

turbo might make it unstable when testing, most overclockers turn it off.
i would keep going if i were u if those were load temps.

i tell you this with experience anything higher than 3.8ghz on the i7 920 will not make a difference, so save some power to reduce elect bill. overclocking higher than 3.8 is just for enjoyment basically or tryin to do some record breaking

overclocking the video card is a must, but it doesnt overclock that much.

and again what hardware you use, cpu cooler

im pretty sure u got a great sample of that chip, ur vcore isnt that high for 4.2ghz

also what is your ram speed at.

oh, now i understand your question. the two are independent, it wouldnt matter if ur at 3.8 or 4.2

nice heatsink btw, i suggest you keep it 3.8 or 4.0 for 24/7 use to save on electricity bill

the gpu will only overclock a bit because gpus are different than cpus. unless change the gpu voltage and voiding warranty and not recommended to do that (still wont be a large overclock) so just use rivatuner. monitor gpu temps with gpu z, i think rivatuner has monitor too.

gpu temps should be under 80C for 24/7 use. the thermal shutdown is around 110C

HL2 the benchmark in 3dmark? clarify please

what is "freeze after like 30s"

freezing as in 0 fps or actually the window is frozen and you have to restart the computer

how much was the overclock, was it in the memory clock or core clock or shader clock and in what program rivatuner? temperature is not ur problem.

it might be a problem with the game then, try a different game. use Fraps and do some testing before and after

what is the stock clocks then since overclock is 670/1444/1134

haha maybe that's why, try lowering your overclock to

625/1350/1050

and as stated above have you tried to use a diff game

Yes it is safe for 90C for just testing not recommended for 24/7 use, just try to keep it under 100C, because around 110C is thermal shutdown if i remember correctly.

I never used OCCT GPU test before, I just play crysis for 1 hour, if it doesn't fail then it's good. So is my suggested overclock working or not? If not then there's a problem because it's just a small overclock vs. your bigger overclock. Remember to keep in mind that GPU overclocking can't go up that much, so don't get your hopes up.

Haha I'm glad it worked and I'm here to help out
Again, GPUs can't be pusehd that much, I suggest uping the core clock and memory the most to achieve the best results. Shader isn't much of a big deal in the performance charts.

Heard of exact opposite which you mean or what you mean...the shader?? Upping the core speed is the most important, then the memory, then the shader. Balance it out if you can, but I suggest core and memory most. Shader is already good already.

increasing the core speed will help the overall performance..the time it takes to render will be shorter, thus moving into the next render will be faster correct?
memory because you want faster data transfer rate..
shader only if the game you play is like uses the most shaders or whatever..its least important.
find some articles, and decide on your own.

its just like overcloking the cpu, which will increase performance overall, just like gpu core speed..its almost the same concept (just example for comparing better understanding.)

well the results speak best right..test out on your own, see what overclock has the best fps..

most of the time, if you increase shader to high then the rest wont overclock much.

Like I mentioned above, you probably didn't read.

I said "well the results speak best right..test out on your own, see what overclock has the best fps.."

so test it out like first, use fraps to see the average fps results..use a intensive game...

up core/mem and leave shader
up core/mem/shader
up core/shader
up shader only...etc
find which way is best for the most fps you get out of.