i7 940 at 3.95 OC concerned w/voltage & Temp

OK so I have an i7 940 running at 3.95 GHZ seams to be running stable however I had to bump the voltage all the way up to 1.5125 and it runs at max load with prime 95 between 82-85C.... Standard around 55C with no real load. Is this dangerous. I really dont want to blow up my proccessor and being rated at a max 1.35 by intel 1.5125 seams a bit high of a voltage especially for an i7 940 just to get 3.95 GHZ. Does anybody have any advice. Or am I just crazy and this is fine and dandy considering my configuration.

PS I have images of my configuration here http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6542833#post6542833 for more information to look over my setup.

I dont think I would want to run that voltage and temp all day. What cooler are you using.
That does seem like a ton of voltage to get 3.95ghz

Run mid 80's on prime will give you mid 90's on Intel burn test (download it - intel burn test 2.4 or 2.5).

I've seen Intel personal (or wannabe's - don't quote me) state specifications of 1.45V max for i7's floating around various forum boards. My personal suggestion would be try find the most stable setup at this V and run a few stress tests and get temps there.

On a personal note, anything over 80 C is what I would consider not for everyday use, but generally you'll run 10 C cooler than stress tests at max load anyway.

That intel board i sensitive to overclocking just so you know...thats why you are having problems. Plus, the 940's have probems overclocking...but that doesnt mean you can't hit 4.0GHz with decent voltage.

For now i highly suggest you turn everything back to default settings. 1.5v is too much...we don't know what cooling you are using but thats high still. Then restart and go back in the bios...

After you restart and everything is in default, try these settings

All these can be changed later
20X200 - You must turn turbo off to use this
21x191
Vcore = 1.38v - reduce later to see what the best voltage is
Uncore = 16X
RAM - 1.65v

Leave everything else on auto and save and quit to restart.

If it helps my old 965 needs 1.41 for 4ghz. C0 powa

My Heatsink

This heatsink and fan is a beast it barely fits in my thermal take case... It literally petrudes the case wall... But this is the best I have until I get the block for my koolance water cooler I pulled out of the old alien ware :/



Two 120mm cooling fans and thermal engineering technology deliver exceptional air cooling performance to keep your computer running smoothly. Four 8mm copper
heat pipes directly contact your CPU for effective heat transfer.


Corsair - 120mm Dual CPU Cooling Fan
◦Four 8mm direct-contact copper heat pipes
Direct heat away from your CPU.
◦Polished mounting surface
Increases heat transfer.
◦Aluminum cooling fins
For exceptional heat transfer.
◦Thermal engineering technology
Delivers excellent air cooling performance.
◦50-83 cfm airflow
For efficient cooling. Fan speed is adjustable to fit your needs.
◦Rubber mounts
Reduce noise and vibration to create a 26-45 dBA noise level for quiet operation.
◦1600-2300 rpm operating speed
For fast cooling.

All these can be changed later
20X200 - You must turn turbo off to use this
21x191
Vcore = 1.38v - reduce later to see what the best voltage is
Uncore = 16X
RAM - 1.65v

Click to expand...

When I do that it will start to boot then crashes when booting into windows if I raise the voltage to 1.45v then it gets more stable but when I run intel burn test it blue screens. Seams like no matter what I do the machine gets unstaible unless I really crank the power up

Too high, too hot.
I wouldn't go over 1.3625 unless temps are <60*c, personally.
Anything over that will shorten the life of the CPU, and adding high temps will shorten it's life much more significantly.

60c is just getting started for these cpus

When your going into the 90s or even breaking triple digits that would be cause for concern lol