Overclocking i7 950 - air cooled

[bubblehearthlol]

Hello,

Would it be possible to overclock my i7 950 to something reasonable for running 24/7? From 3.06ghz to something like 3.4-3.6ghz?

I have:

Cooler Master Haf 922 Mid-tower
XFX 750W PSU
asus x58 sabertooth mobo
i7 950
3x2gb gskill ddr3 1600 memory
Coolermaster 212 heatsink and fan
gtx 470

I bought a pack of 4 120MM coolermaster fans since they were 15 dollars on newegg and my case supports 2 120s on the side and 1 120 on the bottom.

What sort of reasonable OC do you guys think would be possible? Would it even be worth it? I'm going to use this computer to render and play Cataclysm.

I tested out the system and it idles at about 35C, and under heavy load (6 hours of WoW), I managed to get up to 47-48C temps. This is with the HSF and the 3 stock fans on the case.

I've looked up guides on ocing but is there any way I can keep my ocing to 3.6ghz or less? Most of the guides were were basically on steroids and gave instructions on going past 3.6ghz lol which is not what I'm looking for.


EDIT: I like my system the way it is, but my friends told me I can get way more out of it if I OC it, especially since I have 3 really good fans to put in my case. I can run wow at 1920x1080 on all ultra settings without a single drop in fps, and its stayed at basically 120 the whole time. It drops to like 90 during heavy AOe..

 

[dogman_1234]

Hello, and welcome to the Forum.

First off, you are in the wrong section. You are in the 'Build' section. I would recommend you post this question in the 'Overclocking' section. You will get more knowledgeable people about this question over there, instead of over here.

 

[Atotalnoob]

^Doesn't matter, half the other forums are dead.... and alot of us do several.

What sort of reasonable OC do you guys think would be possible? Would it even be worth it

you can definitly get 3.6+ with a hyper 212.... just watch your temps, and keep it slow... disable Turbo boost, and just raise the BLCK... don't mess with anything else right now. I'd wtahc my temps with PC wizard 2010, or Speccy... If your temps get a bit high, think about a few case fans...

 

[dogman_1234]

^Doesn't matter, half the other forums are dead.... and alot of us do several.

Which is sad, IMO.

 

[Atotalnoob]

yes, it is.... D,=

I actually post in this forum for my questions, tooo.... lol

 

[dogman_1234]

Well, I was always redirected by Grumpy when I would post in the wrong section.

 

[etdavenport]

the 950 is awesome. you should be able to do that without even changing anything. just a slight vcore bump. Im my opinion the best overclock isnt the highest you can go, its the hugest you can go with the tightest RAM latencies you can get. I noticed the most gains by clocking my ram timings than anything else.[i could be wrong, any pros out there feel free to rebuke me] I got my ram screaming at 1600mhz with low cl timings, it runs at 1800+ no problem but then i have to get up in the 9-9-9- range.

I have the sabertooth and an I7 950 as well.
Corsair xms 1600 CL8 6gb running 7-8-7-20 @ 1610mhz
750w psu
Sapphire Vapor X HD4890 [soon to be asus HD5870 reference card..]
Windows 7 HP x64 in a Coolermaster Mystique with only 2 fans and stock CPU fan.

I got the I7950 to 3.7ghz on stock air cooling stable at about 88c full load running prime 95 for about an hour [havent tested longer than that yet, dont want to until i change the cooling] Idle @ 43c

Settings:

Bus: 161mhz x 23
Vcore: 1.235
RAM voltage 1.67
DRAM 1.4v
everything else on AUTO, the sabertooth is freaking awesome, auto does most everything.

I was just wondering If you can get the QPI link any higher and what voltages I need to up to do it. its currently at 2898 [5796MHZ] which isnt bad but not fast either. I have also read that it doesn't make much difference anyway in performance. Also my northbrigde is only at 3219 mhz [6400] is that ok too? and should i raise the northbridge voltage when i get my cooler and try for 4.0+?

Aslo, UCLK? I still after reading so much am a bit confused? jsut need to be at least double BCLK but is it worth screwing with for performance gains? or jsut leave on auto?