Overclocking i7 860

Hi,

Recently I have upgraded my MSI P55M-GD45 to a Asus P7P55D-E Deluxe which I will be installing tomorrow when my new case arrives (Cooler Master HAF X).
Now I am wondering if anybody has a guideline as to overclocking with this combo. Also does anybody know if I will run into driver issues after switching the motherboards?
They have the same chipset but I have never switched out a motherboard without reinstalling and I would like to not have to do that.

On my MSI board I have it overclocked like this at the moment (after much trouble):

Frequency 21x180 MHz (3,80GHz)
VTT Voltage 1.303
DRAM Voltage 1.651
Core Voltage +0.272

Don't ask me why but the MSI board doesn't show actual core voltage. I have however found out it's 1.4 volt. Recently I read about somebody overclocking to 4,0 GHz with only 1.3 volt so I was wondering how I can achieve this as well. I use the Scythe Mugen Rev. B cooler by the way

Also does anybody know about overclocking the RAM? The MSI board automatically raised it from 1333 MHz to 1448 MHz while retaining 9-9-9-24 timings. I was wondering how far I can push those settings, I'm not familiar with RAM overclocking in any way.

Thanks in advance.

When you get your board try these settings:

CPU- 200x20 multi and bclk, this will give you 4ghz. Use around 1.35v, you might need more or less depending on your CPU.

VTT- Use 1.33v

Memory- you have cheap memory so there's no telling how far it will go. You can try 1600mhz at standard 9-9-9-24 timings. Use at stock speeds until you get stable overclock. Use standard DRAM volts.

Of course take all of the power savings and turbo boost features off.

You will have to reinstall Motherboard specific drivers like sound and probably video card drivers. You'll have to see what happens when you get it.

Hope you enjoy your HAF-X, it's the best case.

Check out the overclocking guide in my signature for a how to.

Though I have had successful swaps like you are doing, I wouldnt reccomened it. Best to do a reinstall of the OS when switching motherboards.

So I have everything up and running and windows booted right up without a single issue! I installed the drivers off the CD, but it told me I already had newer chipset drivers so I just took the USB 3.0 and some others. Same deal with the Sound & Network, they were already newer/the same and worked.

I am currently running on 20x200 with 1.3 Core and 1.3 IMC, which is VTT I think? And it has booted up the first time with no problems at all so far.
However I saw it underclocking my RAM when I did this, giving me the options to set it to 1200, 1600, 1800 en 2200 manually. By default the RAM runs on 1.5 volt, what settings could I use to boost it up as well?

Also are there any specific settings I should have enabled or disabled? I disabled Turbo Boost, Energy Savings and some others.. I can take a picture of my BIOS later on and see what you guys can recommend I change.

EDIT: after a BSOD I went to 1.35 and 1.33 but I got yet another BSOD, then I tried going back to 3,80 GHz on 1.35 and 1.33 as well, I went okay and suddenly the entire PC just shut off, no BSOD or anything. Now whenever I try to turn it on it goes on, off, on, off, on, off. I'm afraid something broke!!! I can't even reach the BIOS to set it back to default. It also made a weird noise once or twice when trying to boot, no idea what it was.

I THINK I'M IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!

After much trying my BIOS has been reset and the computer lives again! I hope it stays alive this time...

Should I continue to try OCing? It always ran fine at 1.4 core, 1,33 VTT and 3,80 GHz on my old board.... which was 21x181 or something like that... not 20 actually.

Also below are the options my new BIOS provides (ignore the speeds as I am using default now):

Of course you should try overclocking and continue. I started overclocking and building PC's in April of 2010 and I knew a lot before but man was I inexperienced and made noob mistakes. For God's sake I pointed 2 fans at each other instead of away thinking that was push/pull You'll gain experience and sooner or later you'll have settings you'll like and be stable with. I've had my computer BSOD and/or crash hundreds of times so don't be scared you'll brick the system. At 20x200 did you try higher CPU voltage? Put IMC at 1.33v and make your CPU 1.35v to start with. As for the memory run it at 1600mhz at 9-9-9-24 CAS latency. You might have to bump your DRAM voltage to 1.6v of 1.65v.

Well I was getting very scared that I ruined a piece of hardware when it did the on/off thing, but I thought OC always gave a BSOD and not a random shutdown.

Anyway with my old and cheaper MSI motherboard my CPU happily ran on 1.4 Core and 1.3 VTT at 3,80 GHz with 1.65 DRAM running on 1448 MHz

The pictures below are from my old motherboard: (note the voltages/speeds are not the final ones I used)




I am just wondering if I should adjust any specific settings other than enabling Load Line Calibration and disabling Turbo Boost on my new motherboard because it has WAY more options than the old one did. Any insight provided would be appreciated.

I have now set the core voltage to 1.35 with IMC at 1.33 and I am back to 20x190 (3,80 GHz). I also set the DRAM voltage to 1.65 and put the RAM on 1500 something MHz because it would only allow a few presets and the other was 1800 or something which felt too high.

It has been running happily for a few hours while gaming. I don't care much for stress testing because I only care that the computer can handle what I give it, not what some test that does not reflect reality gives it.

hi... i have a i3 530, but is the same chipset (p55)... i also have a little problem to overclock high, like 4.0gh+, but i find a solucion, it's hard is not very easy you need to be patience...
first put down the multi of the clock frequency, and the qpi, and the mem, i rise the blck and when i have problem i rise the imc, after i found the max blck, i start rising the multi of the cpu, and the vcore, and after the qpi and the memory, now it's tricky becouse you need to see it's is the imc or the dram, just put the dram in 1.65 and after you find stable your system try to lower it... y did in manual voltage, nothing was in auto, so start with the normal volt of the sections and start rising if you need... i found that rising the pch a little, put my system stable...
i hope this is helping you, and sorry for my bad english...

I'll have to try this out on my 860

BigTerminator said:

When you get your board try these settings:

CPU- 200x20 multi and bclk, this will give you 4ghz. Use around 1.35v, you might need more or less depending on your CPU.

VTT- Use 1.33v

Memory- you have cheap memory so there's no telling how far it will go. You can try 1600mhz at standard 9-9-9-24 timings. Use at stock speeds until you get stable overclock. Use standard DRAM volts.

Click to expand...

tHIS ^^^

EarthDog said:

Check out the overclocking guide in my signature for a how to.

Though I have had successful swaps like you are doing, I wouldnt reccomened it. Best to do a reinstall of the OS when switching motherboards.

Click to expand...

The oc guide they have here is awesome for the lynnfields. it's direct and easy to read. good luck. your chip should do 4ghz at 1.35v max but may need a little more juice.