Overclocking Intel's Core i7 920

Originally Posted by plageclochard
Is there any real performance gain for DDR3 1600, as opposed to 1333 or even 1066? While DDR3 is still expensive compared to DDR2, there's also significant price jumps within the DDR3 speed ranges, so I was wondering if this is an area where you could perhaps save a little bit of money, and not notice too much of a performance hit.

There will be differences around the world but here the difference between 6GB of corsair (high end) 1600MHz and 6GB of valuekitt @ 1066 about £50-55. When you are buying that expensive memorys you might as well put in some extra. Its about 25% extra of the total price (for the value kitt)...

I don't think the real world performance gap will be big though, trippe channel @ 1066 will be enough. If not the memory is not you biggest problem :P

This is PORN.

'nuff said.

Originally Posted by SuperNova
There will be differences around the world but here the difference between 6GB of corsair (high end) 1600MHz and 6GB of valuekitt @ 1066 about £50-55. When you are buying that expensive memorys you might as well put in some extra. Its about 25% extra of the total price (for the value kitt)...

I don't think the real world performance gap will be big though, trippe channel @ 1066 will be enough. If not the memory is not you biggest problem :P

This is yet another Core i7 article we have planned

/ me wants!

*runs for a lottery ticket at the nearest shop

I thought these were limited in their OC ability. Could someone explain how this high of an OC was possible?

Originally Posted by TreeDude
I thought these were limited in their OC ability. Could someone explain how this high of an OC was possible?

Misguided musings from Taiwanese manuf. and other journalists? (mostly the latter :P)

They took a while to get the BIOS' right because it's a new platform and normally journo's fear the worst ;)

Wow that's expensive. £200 for a "low-end" mobo? You must be f**king kidding me.

i7 should sell in pitiful amounts until it becomes more affordable (i.e. P55 early next year).

When are they going to start to use DDR5 on motherboards? It works wonders for the 4870X2 graphics card!

I think only then will I upgrade as my Q9450 @ 3.5Ghx and DDR2 RAM @ PC9200 is plenty fast enough.

Some random shopping:

i7 platform:
6gb memory (triple) config:
Intel i7 920 | 281,59 euro
Asus P6T Deluxe | 263,50 euro
OCZ3G1600LV6GK DDR3 | 285,99 euro
Total: 831 euro

Core2 platform:
Asus Rampage formula | 315,26 euro
Intel core2 quad Q9550 | 294,90
Corsair Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF DDR2 8GB | 102,50 euro
Total: 712 euro

As you can see, the DDR3 prices need to drop big time or else you would be a thief of your own wallet to upgrade.

And did you know you can only shop for 3x2GB memory for triple channel max.
But you can shop 2x4GB for DDR2 for 1,5 the price of 3 strips of 2GB DDR3. Makes you wonder why the want us to use triple channel of DDR3. They must be desperate to sell their overstocked pile of DDR3.

Whats even more ridiculous is the fact that 3 small pcb's with a few layers called DDR3 is more expensive then a 8 layer 20 times bigger pcb full of hardware and stuff called i7.

The price of the motherboard are almost even if you take the topline of 775 motherboards as comparison.
Same goes for the processors. Considering the performance is almost the same.

"AMD retires to GFX chips only", larrabee > "AMD goes bust" .. chipzilla wins!

Originally Posted by bogie170
When are they going to start to use DDR5 on motherboards? It works wonders for the 4870X2 graphics card!

I think only then will I upgrade as my Q9450 @ 3.5Ghx and DDR2 RAM @ PC9200 is plenty fast enough.

I think that GPU's are using different memory type. You see - DDR3 are currently 1600MHz+, while GDDR3 is now somewhere around 2100MHz(ie GeForce 260).

Or maybe I just misread something.

Well, for the "Value and Performance" Article.

Maybe it's an Idea to create overclocking categories:
Most people don't overclock at all.
Many who do look for a simple, stable performance boost (without much tinkering / stock cooling).
Enthusiasts will tinker and cool (to fight instability) and get faster.
And a select few go all the way to the max.

first would be stock.
second would be I7920@4Ghz Q6600@3Ghz*
third would be I7920@4.27Ghz Q6600@3.3-3.6Ghz
fourtht would be ...dunno (Nitrogen cooled?) ;-)

Thats what your overclocking guide was aiming at as the level "this is what every chip should reach on stock cooling", right?

Just some thoughts...

Xir

Originally Posted by Xir
Well, for the "Value and Performance" Article.

Maybe it's an Idea to create overclocking categories:
Most people don't overclock at all.
Many who do look for a simple, stable performance boost (without much tinkering / stock cooling).
Enthusiasts will tinker and cool (to fight instability) and get faster.
And a select few go all the way to the max.

first would be stock.
second would be I7920@4Ghz Q6600@3Ghz*
third would be I7920@4.27Ghz Q6600@3.3-3.6Ghz
fourtht would be ...dunno (Nitrogen cooled?) ;-)

Thats what your overclocking guide was aiming at as the level "this is what every chip should reach on stock cooling", right?

Just some thoughts...

Xir

Good idea, the extreme methods (phase/nitro) are probably unnecessary but a good selection would be:

Stock- straight out of the box
Air 1- stock cooler
Air 2- aftermarket cooler
Water- pushed to the max

Originally Posted by Kúsař
I think that GPU's are using different memory type. You see - DDR3 are currently 1600MHz+, while GDDR3 is now somewhere around 2100MHz(ie GeForce 260).

Or maybe I just misread something.

It is pretty much the same ram, gddr3 is rather similar to ddr3 if you look at the architecture, but, there are still big enough differences to make it incompatible.
Also the higher speeds on the gddr parts are mostly due to the fact that the ram is soldered on the pcb, it will only be paired up with a certain gpu, every latency setting is known ahead, so they can push it far closer to the limit than the normal ram as there they have to plan in security margins for the worse signal quality, big range of cpu's / chipsets, unknown amount of ram, unknown latencies.

Thanks for info, Naokaji

Originally Posted by willowthewhite
Good idea, the extreme methods (phase/nitro) are probably unnecessary but a good selection would be:

Stock- straight out of the box
Air 1- stock cooler
Air 2- aftermarket cooler
Water- pushed to the max

You're talking an impossible amount of work in a given time period, it's simply infeasible sorry.

As with any review you can't tailor it to suit everyone - you have to take a pinch of salt and read them as relatives, then scale it according to your own needs.

4ghz q6600 on air is imposible at least as stable for any lengh of time

i got mine on air to 3.3ghz and was happy with that.

but to be the blunt

if your gonna spend £800 on a mainboard cpu and ram whats another £200 for a decent water cooler system

Id expect to se the i7 sell very well. the people most likely to buy this are between 18 and 24. With very few bills and working. 1months wages on a new pc every year. Ive done that before.

compare it to the extreme line which sells in exess of £900 for a chip and £800 for cpu ram and mainboard doesnt sound like a bad deal anymore

A note concerning HPET, it's required for Windows logo testing. (Do the letters DTM strike fear in anyone else? :) )

You guys covered the BIOS on the Asus board, but what about the MSI board? Are they continuing the UEFI experiment? Any opinions on it?

I,m one of the 4ghz plus q6600 (4.31ghz crunching WCG )owners that is thinking of making the change to i7 920 with a x58 motherboard, I,m really keen for some 4ghz q6600 against i7 920 benchmarks,

Good solid write up look forward to the follow up !!!

Originally Posted by Splynncryth
A note concerning HPET, it's required for Windows logo testing. (Do the letters DTM strike fear in anyone else? :) )

You guys covered the BIOS on the Asus board, but what about the MSI board? Are they continuing the UEFI experiment? Any opinions on it?

They have UFEI, but I didn't get time to look at it before the board popped its clogs. I will be covering it if it's available in the full review, that's for certain.

-Acid - I've no idea how you've managed to get a 2GHz overclock out of a Q66 unless you're running it with so many volts using extreme cooling that you probably won't have a chip left in 6-12 months :p Stonking overclock, but not something I have the time or spare CPUs to replicate sorry.

We appreciate the support :)

This exactly the info i was looking, x264 +40% on any other c2q, yes please.

YoYo have my digits and im eagerly awaiting.

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
They have UFEI, but I didn't get time to look at it before the board popped its clogs. I will be covering it if it's available in the full review, that's for certain.

Too bad about that, I was curious to hear about it in the mainstream space where the OEM is touting it as a feature.

Originally Posted by Splynncryth
Too bad about that, I was curious to hear about it in the mainstream space where the OEM is touting it as a feature.

I was after it on the P45 boards but UEFI enabled boards never made it outside east Asia :(

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
-Acid - I've no idea how you've managed to get a 2GHz overclock out of a Q66 unless you're running it with so many volts using extreme cooling that you probably won't have a chip left in 6-12 months :p Stonking overclock, but not something I have the time or spare CPUs to replicate sorry.

We appreciate the support :)

I,m on phase cooling 24/7 and i,m running just over 1.6v real ( 1.65 in bios) i,ve had the chip a year now, ( will admit it is a very rare chip tho and my cooling methods are better than most but there are a lot of water cooled q6600 out there thinking like me is the leap worth the outlay.

If you would like I could run the tests for you at 4 ghz and you could add them to your test results. I will set up the computer as requested provide all information required.

Thanks -Acid-

There seriously aren't that many watercooled Q6600's out there and for the cost of watercooling you might as well buy a faster chip and overclock that just as much instead.

I've met extreme coolers in the industry who'd never buy 1.6V through a core 2 for any length of time :p

I appreciate your offer of help, but I think you're a minority within a minority sorry and we'd look like we're seriously favouring the Intel side of things :)