Core i7 voltage question

[calgaar]

Hey, I'm new to the forums, and pretty new to overclocking. I have a new system, and I'm looking into overclocking it, but I wanna make sure it's safe, and wont mess up the system. I'll start with the speccs:

1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm HDD
Intel DX58SO motherboard
Intel Core i7 940 CPU
6GB (3x2GB) OCZ Platinum RAM
Nvidea GeForce 9800 GTX
(plus PSU and optical drive)

Before anyone starts with "shoulda gotten the 920", the mobo and CPU were won in a contest, free of charge, so yeah I'm gonna take a free 940. Also taking into account the graphics card is a bit of a skimp comparitivly, but that wasn't totally my choice. On to the question:

I've looked around, and found that even though this OCZ RAM (p/n OCZ3P1333LV6GK) advertises that it supports core i7, and lists the 940, it requires 1.65v. According to Intel, the 940 is recommended for 1.5v, but can handle up to 1.6v. Even though this isn't technically considered overclocking, and Intel tells me it does not void my warranty, it puts additional stress on the processor. So my questions are, at this point, with this hardware, is it A) worth my while to OC the system, B) is it safe to OC the system, since there's already extra stress on the processor (i.e. - will it cause any permanent or lasting damage, or shorten the life of the processor?), and C) with these speccs, what would I be able to OC the system up to?

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone is able to give!

 

[Shadow703793]

RAM voltages up to 1.65v is fine. Anything above that, according to Intel can damage the IMC or something along those lines.

A) worth my while to OC the system, B) is it safe to OC the system, since there's already extra stress on the processor (i.e. - will it cause any permanent or lasting damage, or shorten the life of the processor?), and C) with these speccs, what would I be able to OC the system up to?

A. Depends on what you are doing and if you will benefit from the aditional speed.

B: ASSUMING you don't push insane voltages (above 1.45-1.5v) and good cooling, OCing will not do much harm. You'll be upgrading before the CPU eventually dies from OCing.

C: Don't know much about that Intel board, but GENERALLY Intel boards don't have many options for OCing, hence why most run Gigabyte/ASUS/DFI,etc boards. As for the CPU, 3.8-4Ghz depending on cooling,voltages, and your skill.

 

[mortonww]

You actually just need to keep the difference in voltage between uncore and DRAM at .5 volts. Since uncore is usually defaulted to 1.150, 1.65 is usually said to be the maximum safe DRAM voltage (1.150 + .5 = 1.65). But the important thing is just the voltage drop between these two. A large voltage between these will do the damage. So, if you bump your uncore up to 1.25, 1.75 is even theoretically safe.

What kind of CPU cooler do you have?

 

[calgaar]

Currently it's using the cooler that came with the i7 out of box. If I decide to move into overclocking, I was planning on replacing it. I was going to look into the affordability of a water cooler, or just a good air cooling system, but wanted to make sure that OCing was a safe and beneficial option for me first. I was going to do some research on cooling after making this determination, I'm sure there are other posts and stickys discussing cooling options, unless you wanna go into it here.

 

[mortonww]

People always recommend the Cooler Master Hyper 212. I use the Cooler Master V8 personally and it works well. It is very large, though, so you'd have to be sure that you had the case space. I ran Prime95 on my overclock (3.2 GHz) and my temperatures didn't exceed 62 C, which is pretty good. I can't remember what the room temperature was that day, but hmm. Here are the coolers that everyone links to charts and reviews of:

Cooler Master Hyper 212

Xigmatek Dark Knight

But it would be a good idea to do some independent research too. I don't know anything about water cooling, but a mild overclock can be done safely on air.

 

[epkfaile]

yeah, the v8 is good. i got my 920 to 4ghz but the temps were ~80c. but i blame my crappy ambient. also check out the thermalright ultra extreme 120. also good.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I've looked around, and found that even though this OCZ RAM (p/n OCZ3P1333LV6GK) advertises that it supports core i7, and lists the 940, it requires 1.65v. According to Intel, the 940 is recommended for 1.5v, but can handle up to 1.6v. !

Memory voltage and CPU voltage are separate thingies. Mine at are 1.6 or so and 1.38

 

[spoofedpacket]

B: ASSUMING you don't push insane voltages (above 1.45-1.5v) and good cooling, OCing will not do much harm. You'll be upgrading before the CPU eventually dies from OCing.

I don't think I have ever heard of a CPU running well within its thermal boundries to die prematurely from simply being clocked at a higher frequency.

As for the parent post, voltage is something you really only have to deal with if having stability issues. I've got my 920 clocked to 3.4GHz and running 1.12v and has been rock solid for a couple of months. I'd assume since all 940 processors fall under D0, you should not have to modify your voltage levels from stock unless going for a pretty high clock.