Thread: First time OC i7-950

Not bad for first attempt. Nothing wrong with the DX58SO. I had one which would do 219Bclk on a C0 stepping 920. Volts are a tad high, maybe drop it to 1.35 (within intels whitepaper specs) and drop you speed to 4.0Ghz. What is your QPI or VTT voltage at?

What ram are you running, cause you can definately get more out that, and the NB is obviously a bit slow cause of the slower ram speed. Up the ram multi a notch and just remember to keep your NB/Qpi frequency= 2 x ram frequency.

Edit: I see you got a 950, drop you Bclk and up your multi to 23, might allow for a slight voltage decrease.

thanks for the help the volts was on 1.35 but it wasnt running stable so i bumped it up a bit, but will lower it a tad again and see how it works, and is there a specific reason to lower the speed from 4.2 to 4.0Ghz ?
My QPI voltage is currently at 1.375V, IOH Core is at 1.35V

Im running 3x2Gb Kingston KVR1333-DDR3 1.5V ram...im not sure how overclocking RAM works so i didnt really touch it, except lowering the uncore and memory multiplier to 12 and 6..

Ok so this is what i changed now...
Bclk : 181x23
CPU voltage : 1.38V
Memory Volts : 1.54 (stock)
QPI : 1.5V
NB Core : 1.4V
Memory uncore multiplier : 16
Memory Multiplier : 6

Dude, your IOH Core is only really necessary to stabilize your overclock when you're running multiple gfx cards. For a single card you should keep it at 1.1V, adding 0.05V to it for every card you add.

What temps are you getting with a 1.38V core voltage under Prime load? It should be really high, as I get around 72-77 with my NH-D14 with two XtraFlo fans on.

The QPI is really high for a 181 bclk. I can get 191 with my 920 D0 using 1.3V. The QPI is basically the voltage you need to up relative to your bclk.

Read this guide. It's by far the most methodical and logical guide I've seen, and it gives you a great understanding of WHY you're actually changing the volts that you are, and lets you troubleshoot instability quickly. It doesn't take very long to get a decent overclock using it either. I got my 920 stable at 4011MHz with it within a night.

3 Step Overclocking Guide – Bloomfield and Gulftown | TechREACTION

I'd recommend that to anyone looking to overclock X58.

Ok so this is what i changed now...
Bclk : 191*22
CPU voltage : 1.325V
Memory Volts : 1.65
QPI : 1.4vmax needed
NB Core : 1.3V
Memory uncore multiplier : 16
Memory Multiplier : 6

McDangerous thanks for the info, I will go read through that guide to understand the reason for changing volts and I got a max temp of 83 while running prime, but its mostly in the high 70's...during games it's a lower tho
And I set the QPI to its stock settings it came out, but I'm gonna change around and play with the settings

The new settings already gave me a higher score in 3D Mark 11, so atleast there's progress

Silent1, thanks for those settings, I'll try them and run prime95 and 3D mark to see what happens

Run the sensor test on core temp gt and then run linx and if it passed all that try some other program called IBT or something like that.

If i recall it must be on all threads and max mem for max stability and heat..

Correct me if i am wrong guys

I prefer using IBT for the shorter tests too, as those that you need to run when using the guide I posted. Just set it to maximum, 8 threads and do 4 or 5 runs. If it passes that, you're cool to move on to your next step in the process. Once you've reached your desired clocks, do a decent Prime95 run (say 12 hours).

The reason I like that guide so much is you don't have to do the guesswork that comes with random overclocking. If the stability test fails, you know exactly which voltage to change, as you're overclocking in sections. If your overclock fails in the bclk section, then you know you only need to change the QPI voltage. Stuff like that.