How do you think I'll do with this setup?

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avatardelta

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Okay, so I just ordered a Cogage True Spirit HS/F after reading the roundup.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/07/23/intel_core_i7_heatsink_roundup_q309/5

Currently I've got a P6t deluxe, i7 920 (c0 stepping) with CNPS 9600, which apparently isn't very good for overclocking, 12GB G.skill 1333, dual video cards, 850W Zalman psu.

I was hoping in passing to get up to 3.5Ghz on air. How far do you think I could go? This will be my first real foray into overclocking.
 
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Thats a very nice setup there. As long as you take your time, read all the information you can find, and ask for help with any problems you're having, I think you could surpass that 3.5 easy. With luck and patience, 3.8 might be very possible.
 
I recently switched out my CNPS 9700 for a Xigmatech 1283 cooler. Not looking back. That Cogage looks like a really nice cooler for your app.
 
You should probably be good for at least 3.8GHz. Most C0 chips can go at least that far, and many can hit 4GHz and above.
 
Looks great! I love big coolers and for over clocking it would rule! Just be careful if your case has a blow hole, I bought the Cooler Master Scout for the 140mm fan in the top and when I mounted a Cooler Master CPU cooler it just barely rubbed on the fan in the top making it unusable, I was going to swap out the CPU cooler but decided to swap out the case as a better idea. Lets just say I wasn't happy and wont buy any more CM products... I've always seen people reviewing items on new egg and take a lot to heart, I didn't think CM would make incompatible products so do your measuring twice and buy once... Hope that will save you some downtime and get your system up faster! Have fun i7s Rock!

IMG_0486.jpg
 
Yeah, my case had a fan on top, but I had to take it out or else my PSU wouldn't fit. And I will have fun.
 
Up, and current progress - at 3400, going to try for 3500, but my cpu temps are getting towards 82-86C. Should I let the TIM cure some more, or try reapplying? (I just replaced the heatsink with the COGAGE)

I've only been upping the BCLK by 10Mhz intervals. Switching to 5MHz intervals.

I am using IntelTestBurn to test stability - running two passes, maximum stress level. Each run takes about 15 minutes.


I'm also folding on my gpus, strangely enough my first GPU folds fine, but the second one keeps getting an UNSTABLE_MACHINE error.
 
Those temps seem way too high for the speeds you're running at. Do you have high ambient temps? Are you using a high Vcore? Make sure that you have good airflow in your case as well.
 
My ambient temp is about 26C, but I was planning on getting some new case fans (Switching out my Lian Li LED fans with some Scythes), installing them, and then reapplying the heatsink.

Would letting the TIM cure help temps?

The ONLY setting I've changed other than disabling speedstep and turbo mode, is upping the BCLK to 170. Since temps are at an average of 84, I'm going to see what they go to at 175 BCLK.

Temperature is under stress testing. I just finished my tests and the cpu is idling around 56C. This is inside my case, and about the same place I was with stock speeds and my old cooler.
 
You can never be too sure.

Oh, turns out I was an idiot and didn't have speedstep disabled. In my current stress test my cpu temp is at 75. +/- 3

And I'm using Noctua NT-H1.

I'll keep an eye on the tempurature. If it stays that way I'll take it up another notch or two.

Edit: Second pass of five for this round of Intel Test Burn: Temps are now staying around 80C. /now around 85ish.
 
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Speedstep would not increase your temperature, so that has nothing to do with it. You also don't need to disable it altogether.
 
Well I'm just going to leave it disabled for now, and wait to increase my OC until I get some case fans that move a bit more air.

Thanks for your help!
 
No problem. I just hope that you'll be able to get your temps down so you can increase your overclock more.
 
I reseated my heatsink, and my temps are down! Although I still think they're too high.

(Temps around 75 on IntelBurnTest at 3.5Ghz)

Still too high?
 
Bleeegh. While reencoding a movie, folding (gpu clients only) and trying to play a game my computer suffered a big slowdown, including stuttering performance, slow response, and freezing up momentarily.

temps are not high, cpu usage without the game is around 40%

Any ideas?
 
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Thanks, I was wondering, since I did a pass of memtest86 and everything was fine.

When you say vcore do you mean cpu voltage or QPI/DRAM voltage? -nevermind, quick google answered my question.
 
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take babby steps when your ocing thats all C0 i7 can oc good but the D0s get alot better c0 could get 4.0 maybe but 3.8 you should get fine with that cooler too
 
CPU voltage was at 1.296, I bumped it to 1.35 (hah, not a great idea, computer shut down after rebooting), bumped it to 1.31 (showing 1.304V), now cpuz shows my multiplier jumping between 15 and 17.

So now I'm going between 2.5Ghz and 2.8Ghz on my original OC settings with voltage at 1.304.

Anyways, CPUz shows my speed going all over the place.

Edit: more stuttering, only while folding this time.

I did five passes of IntelTestBurn last night to check if it was stable. =/
 
Okay, what I would suggest is that you reset your BIOS and start overclocking from scratch. It sounds like something got messed up and now you're having odd stability issues.
 
BIOS has been reset, Speedstep, C1E has been disabled, restarted my OC.

Edit: I've been redoing my OC, taking note of voltages (Voltage setting set to auto) as well as the average temperature.

Code: 
Vcore@ 150x20 - 1.176/1.184 (3ghz) ~Not checked
Vcore@ 160x20 - 1.248 (3.2Ghz) ~65C
Vcore@ 170x20 - 1.280 (3.4Ghz) ~ 73C
Vcore@ 175x20 - 1.280 (3.5Ghz) ~ 77C

Well, I think the stuttering could be connected to folding@home/Nero Vision. (How? Nero Vision can't work with Aero for some reason after I press Ctrl+alt+del (which seems to be a bit slow), and the system switches back to classic vista. The Folding@home GPU client causes desktop stutters if your theme isn't Aero, for some reason.)

If you're wondering what kind of load I'm running: Two Linux VM SMP clients (each using four cores, I have HTT enabled) for folding, nero vision rencoding a video, dual folding GPU clients.
Even then, should I be concerned with my voltage?
 
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