• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

[O/C]3 Step Guide to Overclock Your Core i3, i5, or i7

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
Great guide!

Found this forum searching google for some hints on overclocking my i7 860 and like some of the other posters I just had to register to post my appreciation.

Only problem I have now is to make a good chunk of time available to try this out without the gf complaining to much...:D
 
Hey guys....:welcome: to OCForums to the both of you!

Found this forum searching google for some hints on overclocking my i7 860 and like some of the other posters I just had to register to post my appreciation.

Only problem I have now is to make a good chunk of time available to try this out without the gf complaining to much...:D
Nice....thanks for stopping by :) Stick around a bit ;)

good Guide!
Here my i5-661 @4,7Ghz LinX and Prime stable

47linx5pjl.jpg 47ghzmit1376v7pg0.jpg

Whoa :eek:....nice OC :thup:
 
Excellent Guide

never had i register in any OC forum just to say thanks.

where i come from, it's very hot, like always in the 30c ~ 34c range. 100% load on my stock intel cooler can easily hit 90c.

even thou, u made me dauntless in my impending attempt to OC, at least to 4ghz.

Thanks
 
Hey guys....:welcome: to OCForums to the both of you!
Nice....thanks for stopping by :) Stick around a bit ;)

I sure will...

Been doing some initial testing and I've managed to get my i7 860 up to 3,8GHz (BLCK190*20) so far... the voltages I've used are 1.3V for VCore and 1.3V for VTT - With that I'm stable for a full night, and temps keep between 75-79C running Prime95 which means I can do most of my "stuff" at temperatures around 70C.

I do have serious problems taking the step up to 4GHz though, because right now I just don't have sufficient cooling for that... Need some better fans in my box first (but that's a question for the "cooling" section.

Anyway - Thanks again for the guide, now I'm looking forward to the next step!
 
QPI question

Hi, this is my first time overclocking. Thanks MIAHALLEN, for the amazing guide, it cleared up alot. I am overclocking an i7-930, and I have a question about the QPI clock ratio. You mentioned that it is a function of the bclock, so should I just keep the QPI clock ratio at 'auto' since it will be increased as I increase my bclock, or should I change it to something else? (I can chose between x36, x44, x48, and slow mode). If i do keep it at auto, when (if ever) would need to change it?
 
Hey Joe, :welcome: to OCForums :)

If you leave the QPI ratio on "auto", most motherboards will set it to x36 when you OC....and that would be fine. If you'd like to set it manually, do so at x36. And no, there would never be a need to change that unless you want to push the bclock to the limit for benching (not for everyday use), in that case "slow mode" sometimes helps a bit :thup:
 
thx MIAHALLEN for great info especially newbie like me!!
nod question here, if i would like to fix my CPU clock to 3.9Ghz but i doubt which option i should increase, either BCLOCK or CPU Multiple? there are few combination i can play around this two option to get 3.9Ghz but what is your suggestion? Increase BClock or CPU Multiple?
thx again!! :salute:
 
Unless you have an unlocked multiplier chip, you cant move your multi up outside of the turbo function (which on most boards can be permanent).

With that said, IMHO, thats the game, a nice solid bclck will improve performance a bit more than only a raised multi.
 
Unless you have an unlocked multiplier chip, you cant move your multi up outside of the turbo function (which on most boards can be permanent).

With that said, IMHO, thats the game, a nice solid bclck will improve performance a bit more than only a raised multi.

thx! i tried play around and found Temp increase more if increase BClock compare to CPU multiple... too bad. btw another nod question, will SPD number lower will be better? i try change from Auto to 6.
thx a lot!!
 
You cant change SPD number...thats just a setting for a specific speed. You would need to know your memory's default timings/voltage (the SPD you were talking about!). I would set those 4 main timings manually as well as the voltage.

You can change the memory latency speed though (which was what you were talking about with just the wrong terminology). I doubt you will be able to go to 6.
 
You cant change SPD number...thats just a setting for a specific speed. You would need to know your memory's default timings/voltage (the SPD you were talking about!). I would set those 4 main timings manually as well as the voltage.

You can change the memory latency speed though (which was what you were talking about with just the wrong terminology). I doubt you will be able to go to 6.

you are right sir. it just died when try to restart. i have to reset the BIOS :cry: so should i put into Auto mode? as i saw memory frequency at bios shown more than 1333(default) = around 17++ when i set to auto mode and it can reduce by put the SPD to 6... would should i do then. thx again!! :salute:
 
No set it manually as mentioned above. :)

Dont bother with CAS6 really. If 7 is stock, run it there.
 
thx!! let me have a try and review again the tutorial. i must be miss out something that i yet understand... Thx!!!
 
So, are you ready to start overclocking? After entering your BIOS and lowering the CPU & MEM multipliers, go to the voltages section and raise your IOH to 1.3-1.35V and your CPU VTT to +0.2V. Then restart your machine and go back into the BIOS

If the test ran without error, raise the bclock by 10MHz, reboot into your OS and run the test again. If the test failed, raise the CPU VTT voltage by a small increment, reboot into your OS and run the test again

What is the maximum safe CPU VTT voltage? Depends on a lot of things, but I feel like these are some basic conservative guidelines. If you’re running the stock Intel heatsink and fan, I would not advise more than +0.2V, if you are running a high end air cooler

So I am using a stock intel cooler with an i7 920 so you say in the first step to increase the CPU VTT to +0.2V and then perform a few tests if the first test fails to increase the CPU VTT by a small increment(what exactly is considered a small increment 0.05?) but its already at the maximum safe voltage. So do I just adjust the bclock frequency and leave the CPU VTT Voltage alone after setting to +0.2V in step one? Sorry just a bit confused here. Thanks
 
Last edited:
So do I just adjust the bclock frequency and leave the CPU VTT Voltage alone after setting to +0.2V in step one?

That is correct :thup: Since you're using the stock cooler, my reccommendation for starting voltage, is also the recommended max, if you feel more would be benneficial, I would suggest getting a better cooler first ;)

Good luck, and keep us posted. Feel free to start a new thread so more people will look at your questions :cool:
 
Back