Cooling for an I7

[Griffolion]

Hey TH,

I'll be getting an I7 920 in the coming months (as part of an entire new build). Most people are getting the 920 up to 3.2 GHz on air cooling and im looking to do the same thing. I'm just wondering what the best air coolers are at the minute. I was also looking at the closed loop Corsair Hydro which has been well recieved for cooling an I7 but i'm open to all other suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=18

Not only does it top all 3 lists but it's the easiest to install. And 4.0 GHz is doable....not that I have done it, but many here have....I use my boxes in a production environment and I am loathe to do more than 25% OC. Been working on getting my son's new build up and not having much luck at it.

 

[geofelt]

Hey TH,

I'll be getting an I7 920 in the coming months (as part of an entire new build). Most people are getting the 920 up to 3.2 GHz on air cooling and im looking to do the same thing. I'm just wondering what the best air coolers are at the minute. I was also looking at the closed loop Corsair Hydro which has been well recieved for cooling an I7 but i'm open to all other suggestions.

Thanks.

Nothing more than a decent oem cooler is necessary. Pick any one of the top ten units from this excellent review:
http://www.frozencpu.com/resource/r24/Best_CPU_Cooler_Performance_LGA1366_-_Q1_2009.html?id=JqPuITTJ

 

[chunkymonster]

The Scythe Mugen 2 is a good choice. Keeps my i7 oc'd to 3.6Ghz at 42C and no higher than 54C under load.

 

[Griffolion]

Thanks for the links guys, i'll get reading up.

 

[jsrudd]

3.2 is probably doable on the stock cooler. You don't have to raise the voltage much (maybe none).

 

[Griffolion]

Ok, what would be a more challenging OC for the 920? Its being sat on a Rampage II with 6GB of Corsair Dominator GT, powered by a Corsair HX 850W.

 

[Conumdrum]

Hmm. Have you even tried Google? It's a neat search engine where you can answer your own questions!

Give it a try, you can do it all by yourself!

Or we can hold your Diablo hand through the first 25 levels, up to you.............

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Ok, what would be a more challenging OC for the 920? Its being sat on a Rampage II with 6GB of Corsair Dominator GT, powered by a Corsair HX 850W.

Personally, I can't be bothered w/ all the fiddling. I usually go 25% if I can get it done in 10 minutes. I find to some OC'ers "rock solid stable" means that they can get Prime95 to run for 4 hours or 3D marks to post a score.....log out delays, occasional crashes, warnings in event viewer don't matter

On my son's box last night I noticed that the XiFi driver / software wouldn't install properly at even 3.4 GHz (prime95 temps are 58ish) .... I also had some issues with Win7 taking forever to log out and Crysis 64 locks up after about 45 minutes of play and checking event viewer revealed a host of messages. Dropping the CPU down to stock speed and all disappeared. On my production boxes, when I see 1 warning / stop in event viewer, I get cranky.

I will get to OC'ing his box but since I am going beyond the levels I have ever tried before, I'm gonna post the BIOS settings and ask the veterans here for help. Need to find some time to jump on this. Look for a post .... maybe later tonite .... I guess the thread should be appropriately entitled "Casual OC'er Attempts Better w/ R2E OC'ing" .

I originally thought I'd try for 3.67 GHz.....but as you can see here:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20081220191040237&board_id=1&model=P6T+Deluxe&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

4.0 Ghz is readilly doable. Look at the table entitled "Overclockings for Core i7 920 / Core i7 940"

Here you can try the 180 BCLK and all the non voltage settings remain the same up till 200.

 

[geofelt]

What would be your objective with a high OC?

If you have cpu bound applications that can drive all cores, then maybe.

If you want to see how high you can go before destroying your cpu, then go ahead.

If you want more FPS in games, and will be satisfied with a handful more, then go ahead.

The i7-975 runs at 3.33, it is the same chip as your 920, so that should be a safe number in my opinion.

 

[Griffolion]

Hmm. Have you even tried Google? It's a neat search engine where you can answer your own questions!

Give it a try, you can do it all by yourself!

Or we can hold your Diablo hand through the first 25 levels, up to you.............

Is that really a mature response to a genuine question? For the record i had googled the question and read through a few versions of Custom PC mag to see if they've got a preferred cooler but i was merely asking the TH community for their opinions on things. Also for the record i had a level 90 Assassin and epic fail for not knowing the reference to the other game in that quote.


Well with what you guys have said i think an OC to 3.2 GHz seems like a safe bet. The hardest use my new machine will get is gaming with the likes of Crysis etc. I'm hardly using Labview or AutoCAD so i doubt anything bigger will benefit greatly.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Check your mobo manual for any built in PC features. Many Asus boards for example have something called "CPU Level Up". With a 920 on your box, the CPU Level Up feature, will give you 3 options in BIOS

i7 920 (Auto)
i7 940
i7 965

 

[Griffolion]

Yeah, i've heard of the CPU Level Up feature but never used it. Do you have to manually set the voltages JackNaylor or does Level Up do this automatically?

 

[Conumdrum]

Is that really a mature response to a genuine question? For the record i had googled the question and read through a few versions of Custom PC mag to see if they've got a preferred cooler but i was merely asking the TH community for their opinions on things. Also for the record i had a level 90 Assassin and epic fail for not knowing the reference to the other game in that quote.


Well with what you guys have said i think an OC to 3.2 GHz seems like a safe bet. The hardest use my new machine will get is gaming with the likes of Crysis etc. I'm hardly using Labview or AutoCAD so i doubt anything bigger will benefit greatly.

There is sooo much info here and at other forums on how to overclock your chip and what is considered a good overclock. You then do it and monitor your temps.

You'd be better off learning about it yourself, educate yourself somewhat on the bios settings etc before asking what is a challenging overclock. Just reading for a few hours, making a few fav links to refer to is what you should do.

Yea your right, I did jump on you, but if you can't read up on it yourself then it's hard to help you.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Yeah, i've heard of the CPU Level Up feature but never used it. Do you have to manually set the voltages JackNaylor or does Level Up do this automatically?

Nope, all automatic.

 

[tkgclimb]

If I just had a nickel every time this question was asked.

 

[impaledmango]

I'm at 52c idle at 3.2ghz 1.18125v with stock cooler with the i7 920. Under full load the highest it'll go is 85c, which is kinda high in my opinion. I'm buying a cooler master hyper 212 plus. In the reviews I've seen it's pwned the v8, and is almost close to the TRUE and can support 2 fans... Only costs $30 too. Sounds like pure win imo

 

[RJR]

I'm at 52c idle at 3.2ghz 1.18125v with stock cooler with the i7 920. Under full load the highest it'll go is 85c, which is kinda high in my opinion. I'm buying a cooler master hyper 212 plus. In the reviews I've seen it's pwned the v8, and is almost close to the TRUE and can support 2 fans... Only costs $30 too. Sounds like pure win imo

Now I can go to bed, I've had a good laugh for the night. :lol: :lol:

You better keep it at 3.2 GHz if you get the 212+ , and yes i've used one on an i7 860, that's all I could get when they first launched, kept it for about two weeks then bought a good cooler when they became available.

 

[impaledmango]

Now I can go to bed, I've had a good laugh for the night. :lol: :lol:

You better keep it at 3.2 GHz if you get the 212+ , and yes i've used one on an i7 860, that's all I could get when they first launched, kept it for about two weeks then bought a good cooler when they became available.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/19383-cooler-master-hyper-212-plus-cpu-cooler-review-10.html

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2419&page=5

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2904/cooler_master_hyper_212_plus_cpu_cooler/index6.html

http://www.guru3d.com/article/cooler-master-hyper-212-plus-review/7

http://www.vortez.co.uk/contentteller/articles_pages/cooler_master_hyper_212_plus_cpu_cooler_review,7.html

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/coolermaster_hyper_212_plus/4.htm

Pretty damn good results for a $30 cooler... And you have the option to add a second fan. And the fact I'm getting descent temps with stock cooler under-volted and at 3.2ghz, I can only imagine I should easily be seeing 3.8ghz on stock voltages.

I have heard that installing it is a pain, but I'm sure if you take your time you would've installed it properly and your results would have been better.

 

[RJR]

Under full load the highest it'll go is 85c, which is kinda high in my opinion.

And the fact I'm getting descent temps with stock cooler under-volted and at 3.2ghz,

Your idea of decent temps seems to be a little different than mine.

If your happy running in the 80s, well above specs, by all means pick up the 212+, it's your computer not mine.

 

[impaledmango]

Your idea of decent temps seems to be a little different than mine.

If your happy running in the 80s, well above specs, by all means pick up the 212+, it's your computer not mine.

well above? Tj. Max is 100c, 85c is definatley below that and like I said it's the stock cooler. And as I said 85 is kinda high. And remember genius you arent running 100% all the time -_-. I'm using no more then 20% on games and even then it doesnt go above 65c which is perfectly fine. Regardless I picked it up today and installed it. I'm currently have the Vcore at 1.2v at 3.8ghz. Running around 30-32c idle and 60-65c on 100% burn test. I'm quite happy with those results.

You probably had it seated wrong, because everywhere else I've looked (and my own personal experience) it has been given great praise for it's cooling for the price.