I7 920 to 930, what to expect?

[rofl_my_waffle]

Im thinking of pulling the trigger on a i7 930 to replace my 920 for a long time now. Actually I was thinking of replacing my 920 with a different 920 for a long time now.

The thing it, my piece of junk CPU can't overclock.
3.6ghz takes 1.32v
3.8ghz takes 1.35v (with some stability issues)
4.0ghz takes a whopping 1.48v (didn't even run this for longer than what it takes to get single benchmark)

So im thinking of getting a i7 930 and give my 920 away to a friend who wouldn't care for overclocking.

So what can the majority of i7 930 chips clock at. Review sites probably got the best of the best chips so they can give good reviews but real consumers like me can easily end up with the worst of the worst chips. I am asking for 3.8ghz at below 1.3v, maybe even 4ghz at 1.3, anyone got a 930 that can't even do that?

I don't like running my 920 with so much voltage, then steaming hot air comes out of it and it becomes a space heater in the summer.

 

[Lmeow]

If you really do care about overclocking then go for it. I've heard (don't expect me to back this up though lol) some i7 930s and generally i7 D0s can get 3.8 GHz or more from less than 1.3V (specifically some Asian site running an i7 930 from my batch at 4.0 GHz at 1.26V, probably epic chip/fluke), although it's all to do with the chip itself.

 

[avatar_raq]

I've got mine running @ 3.8 GHz (3.6 + Turbo & HT) , 1.25v with load line calibration on, I also left speedstep enabled to clock down the beast when it's not needed ! Perhaps I could push it further if I raised the voltage more but I didn't want to, 8 threads @ mere 3.6 is more than enough in my book and I live in a hot climate where the room temp exceeds 35-40 C in summer days!! At stock speed, my 930 ran stably at 1.00v + load line calibration, (at 0.98v it was unstable) the undervolting helped reducing my full load temps big time..See mu full specs in my sig.
The summery is : my i7 930 is a good chip, all thanks to GOD.
I heared of others having better chips than mine, but who knows what chip you will get, it's all luck!!
If you ask me, I say try OCing your 920 on another system (mobo+RAM) and make sure it's the cause of poor OCing results before giving it away and throwing more money to intel!! Cheers!

 

[RJR]

You may want to hold off just a little while longer:

http://www.fudzilla.com/processors/processors/processors/core-i7-950-to-drop-below-us-300

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

Hmmm, the core i7 950 is not D0 so it uses more voltage and has less overclocking headroom. Though it is a better graded chip and has higher stock clocks so I don't know. Maybe they are about the same. I will probably just get the 930 since two months is a long time in the tech world.

I can see intel doing this because they want to clear inventory, those i7 950s aren't selling when the 960 has the newer s-spec and is the same price or even slightly cheaper.

 

[bobbyjb]

is there any gaming performance increase from the 930 to the 950 iv had the 930 on my buy list and im getting the cash to order my setup 5 weeks from now, iv been out a computer to play games for 3 months and i cant wait till aug. i play games that are fairly processor demanding but if there is no difference then ill just order the 930 and oc it if need be.

 

[avatar_raq]

@bobbyjb :
Please start your own thread and people -me included- will be glad to help you!
Thanks.

 

[redechelon]

I don't know if I could justify that... unless some friend bought your 920 off of you. Temps are bothersome, but you really aren't gonna see too much difference from 3.6-4.0GHz.

For reference, I've got a 930 running 4.0 @ 1.20v on air... so I don't think it's a fluke. It's not rare at least.
Stock, it easily went a few notches lower than 1.0v.

I'd try what avatar said if it's possible... try a different mobo.

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

I have used 3 mobos, two kits of ram and im using water cooling.
I tried from auto settings to whatever recommended every day on this forum. I am pretty damn confident it is the chip.

 

[avatar_raq]

Well if you have water cooling then cooling the chip @1.32v, 3.6Ghz won't be a problem for you, and can you tell me what software/games will be hindered by that cpu? I mean really man it's enough for regular home PC uses, unless you use your PC for non-regular tasks (like heavy video editing or 3D modeling), you won't notice a difference going to 4Ghz+ as redechelon said. In other words; keep it, at least till the hexacores become mainstream!