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Overclocking the i7 860

anco85

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Processor Intel Core i7-860
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Great forum you guys have here, with some great members, I'm stoked to be amongst you guys.

Right, ass kissing over, now onto the questions :laugh:

I'm not entirely satisfied with my newly bought rig, seems the salesman just wanted to take my hard earned money from my pocket, so I'm trying to squeeze a little extra oomph out of it.

I've already OC'd my gpu by a healthy margin and it's now pushing 1000mhz GPU clock and 1400 memory clock on 1.25volts(IIRC)

I want to tackle the CPU next, but I'm struggling to wrap my head around it all.

I've read several novels worth of overclocking stuff, but I still only understand a little of it.

Mind helping me nudge out a tad more performance? I'd like about 3.6-4ghz from it if possible. Must be stable and I don't want to shorten the lifespan of my components considerably.

Full system specs as follows:

OS: Win 7 Ultimate 64bit
Case: Antec P182 SE (All air cooled, fantastic airflow)
CPU: Intel i7 860(stock cooler)
Mobo: Asus TUF Sabertooth 55i
Memory:2 x 2gb Mushkin redline DDR 3 1600(Stock heat spreaders)
GPU: Club 3D Radeon 5770 OC (Stock cooler)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar 1tb
PSU: Coolermaster 460w PSU

Where do I start, what do I do and where do I begin?

Like I mentioned, I've read most, if not all of it, so I understand the terminology and concepts behind it, what I need now is for someone to show me step by step what to do and where to do it.

Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and even more thanks for those who are willing to assist
 
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You'll need an aftermarket socket 1156 cooler to start with, the stock cooler will only hold up so much at higher frequencies. Simply increasing the bus speed a few mhz at a time and testing stability with a program such as Linx is where i usually start :) When it fails the test, volts need to go up a notch or two on the CPU
 

anco85

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Hrrmmm, so after market cooler first, then start playing around?
 

anco85

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Processor Intel Core i7-860
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Video Card(s) Club 3D 5770 OC
Storage WD Caviar 1tb
Case Antec P182 SE
Power Supply Coolermaster Xtreme 460w
Software Win7 Ultimate 64bit
Joined
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Location
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Processor i7 920 D0 @ 3.2Ghz 0.95V / 4.45Ghz @ 1.35V
Motherboard Gigabyte EX58-UD3R
Cooling Xig s1283 with Push/Pull Fans
Memory 6GB Corsair XMS3 1600mhz
Video Card(s) HIS 6950 2GB @ 950/1300
Storage Samsung F3 500
Display(s) 24" Acer V243HLmb LED
Case CM690 modded for airflow
Audio Device(s) Xonar D1 -> Marantz CR502 -> B&W 686 + RSW12
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750
Software Win7 x64 Home Premium
Benchmark Scores SP1M - 10s AQM - 202,200 marks w/ 8800gs + E7300 3D '06 - 26,000 4890+4870
The 'BCLK' is the one to change. I'd suggest a few mhz each time and you probably wont need to mess around with voltages until 3.6Ghz+
I wouldn't recommend increasing volts on the stock cooler, but up to 3.6Ghz with stock volts should be okay with good case ventilation.
 

anco85

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Software Win7 Ultimate 64bit
Awesome, I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Thanks a lot
 
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Processor i7 920 D0 @ 3.2Ghz 0.95V / 4.45Ghz @ 1.35V
Motherboard Gigabyte EX58-UD3R
Cooling Xig s1283 with Push/Pull Fans
Memory 6GB Corsair XMS3 1600mhz
Video Card(s) HIS 6950 2GB @ 950/1300
Storage Samsung F3 500
Display(s) 24" Acer V243HLmb LED
Case CM690 modded for airflow
Audio Device(s) Xonar D1 -> Marantz CR502 -> B&W 686 + RSW12
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750
Software Win7 x64 Home Premium
Benchmark Scores SP1M - 10s AQM - 202,200 marks w/ 8800gs + E7300 3D '06 - 26,000 4890+4870
No worries, there's a thanks button you know ;)
 

anco85

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Software Win7 Ultimate 64bit
Ahh, I see it now
 
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Processor i7 920 D0 @ 3.2Ghz 0.95V / 4.45Ghz @ 1.35V
Motherboard Gigabyte EX58-UD3R
Cooling Xig s1283 with Push/Pull Fans
Memory 6GB Corsair XMS3 1600mhz
Video Card(s) HIS 6950 2GB @ 950/1300
Storage Samsung F3 500
Display(s) 24" Acer V243HLmb LED
Case CM690 modded for airflow
Audio Device(s) Xonar D1 -> Marantz CR502 -> B&W 686 + RSW12
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750
Software Win7 x64 Home Premium
Benchmark Scores SP1M - 10s AQM - 202,200 marks w/ 8800gs + E7300 3D '06 - 26,000 4890+4870
Oh and watch the temps with realtemp (downloadable here at TPU) while it's stress testing, safe load temps are 70*C and under. If they go over this it's time for a new cooler!
 

anco85

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Processor Intel Core i7-860
Motherboard Asus 55i Sabertooth
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Video Card(s) Club 3D 5770 OC
Storage WD Caviar 1tb
Case Antec P182 SE
Power Supply Coolermaster Xtreme 460w
Software Win7 Ultimate 64bit
I've done some stress testing and it's usually at around 65 degrees, so I'll keep an eye on it
 
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Processor i7 920 D0 @ 3.2Ghz 0.95V / 4.45Ghz @ 1.35V
Motherboard Gigabyte EX58-UD3R
Cooling Xig s1283 with Push/Pull Fans
Memory 6GB Corsair XMS3 1600mhz
Video Card(s) HIS 6950 2GB @ 950/1300
Storage Samsung F3 500
Display(s) 24" Acer V243HLmb LED
Case CM690 modded for airflow
Audio Device(s) Xonar D1 -> Marantz CR502 -> B&W 686 + RSW12
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750
Software Win7 x64 Home Premium
Benchmark Scores SP1M - 10s AQM - 202,200 marks w/ 8800gs + E7300 3D '06 - 26,000 4890+4870
Great, keep us updated.
 

anco85

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Actually very good system in my opinion ,nice quality components .As good as i could bulid for myself (may be a bit better than i would build :laugh: ) .

I'm not entirely satisfied with my newly bought rig, seems the salesman just wanted to take my hard earned money from my pocket, so I'm trying to squeeze a little extra oomph out of it.
 

anco85

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Power Supply Coolermaster Xtreme 460w
Software Win7 Ultimate 64bit
Haha, I also thought it would be a mini monster, but was heart broken when I struggled to run most games on decent settings. I know my 5770 is to blame, but I reckon I could get a little more out of the whole thing with some simple tweaks.

If not, why not?
 
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What games are you trying to play on that system and at what resolution? Should be fairly capable of playing most games.
 

anco85

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Lemme think.

Not running properly(medium to high 1280 x 1024):

Just Cause 2, even though the in-game bench says it runs at 62-70 fps
NFS Shift
Dirt 2
Battle Field: Bad Company 2(runs okay, but not smooth)

Working properly(full settings 1280x1024):

Batman AA
Fallout 3
Dragon Age
Operation Flashpoint

There are many more, but those are the main ones I (try to) play
I'm not quite sure, according to some forum guys, I'm expecting too much from my 5770, but a buddy of mine with an old core2duo running at 3.2ghz and a gtx275 gets way better results benching and gaming.
 
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most of those games should run fine something else is wrong if they arent. the 5770 is almost as capable as my 4890 mine stuters a tad at HDMI resolutions stock speeds but overclocking will help. your res is real low and should play it no prob. I would get another 5770 and run xfire bgut im a dual card junkie. now onto overclocking. the 860's are good for about 4.4ghz on air give or take. stock cooling is only good for 3ghz or less. buy one of these: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...Ultra-120_Extreme_Successor_.html?id=8kEBRoiT its one of the best and keeps these chips cool. then we can start overclocking if you do to much on stock cooling it will randomly shut down from overheating
 

Cold Storm

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All right OP, how do you like that Asus board? I was thinking about getting one myself but never went around and got one.

As for cooling. I say go with a Noctua NH-D14 Or the little brother. Even better. Find the Zalman CNP Proforma cooler.. In recent tests, if you add that with a good fan, and it even beats the Noctua NH-D14.
 

OneMoar

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Lemme think.

Not running properly(medium to high 1280 x 1024):

Just Cause 2, even though the in-game bench says it runs at 62-70 fps
NFS Shift
Dirt 2
Battle Field: Bad Company 2(runs okay, but not smooth)

Working properly(full settings 1280x1024):

Batman AA
Fallout 3
Dragon Age
Operation Flashpoint

There are many more, but those are the main ones I (try to) play
I'm not quite sure, according to some forum guys, I'm expecting too much from my 5770, but a buddy of mine with an old core2duo running at 3.2ghz and a gtx275 gets way better results benching and gaming.

just cause 2 = buggy ( I get about 40-60 fps on mine playing everything very high ssao med x4AF x2AA 1280 x 1024 ) also the 5770 is a entry lv card don't expect miracles from it

install the need for speed shift patch 1.02(I get a a stable 50-100+ fps )
install the latest drivers the rest of your issues will go away
 

anco85

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Processor Intel Core i7-860
Motherboard Asus 55i Sabertooth
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Memory 2 x 2gb Mushkin Redline DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) Club 3D 5770 OC
Storage WD Caviar 1tb
Case Antec P182 SE
Power Supply Coolermaster Xtreme 460w
Software Win7 Ultimate 64bit
Thanks guys.

I upped the blck clock to 152 last night to give me a nice 3.2ghz and it runs semi cool. Tried to bump it to 171, but it ran at 99 degrees during a linX run.

Also oc'd the 5770 by quite a bit(gpu clock = 970 mem clock = 1350)
Just Cause 2 bench gives me an average of 78 fps, but the game still seems sluggish, so I'm jotting it down to bad code. This is one 1280x1024, aa and anistropic on x2, vsync of and all the rest on it's highest setting.

I'm semi happy with the performance now, but I do expect more from the rig.

I'll play a bit more on it, might just be buyers remorse.

Thanks guys
 

DriedFrogPills

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i have the megahelams on the same CPU you have and my OC is running at 3.82 stable and temp peaks around 69-72 celsius. my bclk is at 191 witht he mulitplier set to 20. voltage is around 1.29 and my memory is running at 1910 on the 1:10 divider, runs like a champ. Great CPU enjoy it mate
 

dnottis

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Yep - first thing is the cooling. On a stock cooler you are really limited.

As a long time overclocker I found the i7 860 really easy to overclock. Using a EVGA P55 LE some of the options are limited but I did alright.

Disable hyper threading - games don't use it and in fact may cause stuttering. Also, it increased your temps by about 10 deg c per core. Also, disable turbo and all C1E (The lower power stuff.), etc.

This is where I'm at for 4.2Ghz, but I'm water cooled.

PLL 1.80v
VTT 1.3v
BCLK (fsb) 200
Multiplier 21
vcore 1.3875v




and for 4.0Ghz.

PLL 1.80v
VTT 1.3v
BCLK (fsb) 200
Multiplier 20
vcore 1.30v

 
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