Overclocking....still wary of attempting it....

[Navy Chief]

Some months back, just after I had gotten my system rebuilt, I posted about wanting to overclock my cpu.

Central Processing Unit(CPU): Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU X 980 @ 3.33GHz

Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series



I still haven't made any attempts at overclocking. If anyone here has experience with this, and is willing to provide me some EASY to understand pointers/tips, then please do!

I won't even try anything like that unless I am absolutely sure what to do, and how to do it!

I think my graphics card itself can be overclocked too!


Thanks.

NC

[PRB]

Yep, I'm wary of it too, that's why I'll never do it. Spent too much money on a fast system to "jack it up on coke" and try to make it live an exciting and short life!

[Navy Chief]

I blame it on Tim Allen's character; always wanting MORE POWER! Arrghhh!!

[James]

I am probably just stupid:gameoff:, but could someone please explain what overclocking is? If it's a way of making a bad system better, then I want it!

[Navy Chief]

I am probably just stupid:gameoff:, but could someone please explain what overclocking is? If it's a way of making a bad system better, then I want it!

As I understand it, computer processors are capable of faster speeds than what they are set at, coming from the manufacturer. Overclocking is the means to making the processor work at a higher capacity.

[ryanbatc]

Assuming you have a decent air cooler (aftermarket), and since you have the 980, all you really have to do is increase the multiplier, found in your BIOS. You may have to increase your cpu voltage just a tiny bit as you go higher.

Here's a good 980 OCing article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-980x-efficiency,2590.html

[Gatorlph11]

If it wasn't for my wife's knowledge on computers I probably wouldn't even be in this hobby but when I see all the stuff you guys accomplish on here "we" try to do the same. As for overclocking I have not tried yet but came across this site seem too have alot of good info. Might be helpfull. Have not had a chance yet to really read in detail yet myself. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=7

J.J. (Gator)

[Roadburner440]

Wow NC, you are rocking the big system. How is the 6 cores (it is the latest 6 core one right) working in FSX? I have been debating OC'ing my chip as well. I have an older 4 core i7-950 that I have already bumped up to a conservative 3.33ghz. I was debating going up maybe another 500 or so to 3.8ghz. I saw a video the other day of someone with a i7-920 pushing some 4ghz, and a GTX 480 and it looked smooth as glass. I have OC'd an older AMD FX-60 (I know, very very old), and managed to get about 3.2 stable out of it. I had water cooling on that system though. My current one with the i7 is air cooled.

[CH_OldZeke]

Basic OCing is not that hard, most mobo venders have their own programs to OC from windows.
The i7s run hot. Soooo before OCing you want to check that your rig is running "normal" temps to start with. My i7 920 ran around 39c at stock 2.66ghz with a freezer 7 cooler.
ATM running at 3.44ghz it's running at 44c, both unloaded...web browsing.

1st consideration with OCing is, do you need the higher clock speed to run something or you lookin for bragging rights?
I've had this 920 running battleground europe while OCed to 4.3 ghz, on air cooling. It never got to the 80c thermal throttle point. *BE is extremely cpu intense*.
However I did'nt see that big of fps increase over the 3.4 ghz clocking....just a hotter cpu...and a hotter room.
At the curent clock speed nothing bogs it down so no need for me to go higher, yet ;)

Now to get serious into OCing means not just upping the sidebus or BLC but also adjusting ram timeings to as tight as possible. Also if you want to get realy into the rideing the razorblade areas, upping voltages.

But don't expect to double fps in a game via a OC. 10% fps increase, 20% fps increase in rare cases of extreme OC.

Some mobos OC easisly. Some not at all, depends on the brand alot. Asus boards are easy clockers (with a OC from windows app that does somewhat ok) and generaly will simply tell you the oc failed and revert to stock settings if you go too far or set something wrong.

Bottom line. If you OC you own what you get. So read up 1st, talk to any you know with experience and then weigh whether or not you can afford to replace your rig if things go bad.
Not to scare anyone just simply a reality.

[CH_OldZeke]

And yes a i7 920 will run on air (stable at that) clocked to 4.3 :)

http://zeke.4mg.com/cool/4.3.jpg

Getting the ram timeings tighted up at that speed though does take some time.

[DaveKDEN]

I overclocked my Dell Dimension XPS with a stock Intel Q6600 from 2.4GHz/core to 3.0GHz/core quite awhile ago with great results. I didn't modify the stock cooling and the CPU temp is fine. Don't go too far with the overclock and you should be fine. I'd try doing an overclock search for your specific system and specific CPU to find "how to's" about your set-up. Mine was done solely through BIOS setting changes and a simple re-boot.

PS: Made a big difference with FSX for me. Not that it runs completely smooth, but I'm happy with FSX for now (until I can buy a new rig).

[DaveKDEN]

Here's my results;

[dharris]

Chief, the one you want to talk to is Ted aka txnetcop http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/vb4_blue/statusicon/user-offline.png
. He is great at this. He wrote an overclocking guide for the board I use and he tests all combinations of graphics cards cup's and mobo's. The guy is a walking encyclopedia as well a very helpful individual. Good luck.

[Navy Chief]

Thanks all! Appreciate all your inputs!

NC

[txnetcop]

I'm pretty sure I have aleady posted several guides on OCing a i7 Core they are all the same. However Chief what is the exact make/model motherboard you have and I will give you instruction. OCing i7Core is very easy.
Ted

[Navy Chief]

I'm pretty sure I have aleady posted several guides on OCing a i7 Core they are all the same. However Chief what is the exact make/model motherboard you have and I will give you instruction. OCing i7Core is very easy.
Ted

Hi Ted,

My motherboard is a Republic of Gamers Rampage III Extreme

The part #90-MIBC10-G0AAY00Z

Graphics card is a:

ASUS ROG Matrix 5870 2GB

Pete

[txnetcop]

First a disclaimer: I can be held in no way responsible for any damage done by altering the BIOS or CPU function of a PC. You overclock at your own risk!

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Ted-test engineer station 1C



Simple To Do Overclocking a Core i7 980X on the Rampage Extreme III



First check your temps with Everest Home or SIW. SIW is a free download and provides more info than Everest Home. Your idle speed should never exceed 50C. Your full speed test run for stability should never exceed 72C for any length of time.

After enabling manual overclocking in the BIOS you'll find a 133 MHz register called the Base clock; look at that as your 'FSB' to play around with. Of course, since you have an Extreme Edition processor, things are much easier. Just play around with CPU voltages and the multiplier and even on the stock air cooler you can achieve some pretty snazzy results.


Check what your current values are. The ASUS Rampage III X58 mainboard applies a dynamic multiplier. A baseclock of 133 MHz times a multiplier of 25 is 3.33 GHz. That is your base clock frequency.


In the default configuration however, it can also apply a multiplier of 26 with Turbo mode enabled. So your Core i7 processor will go beyond spec at default already.


ASUS Rampage III Extreme has an easy OC function in the BIOS:
If you if you want to do things simple, go into the BIOS and select the CPU level up function.
With the 980X Gulftown you can select 4.0 and 4.2 GHz, enable, save and reboot. and bam .. you OC is steady and running completely automatic.


[I]
[I]This part is NOT for New Beginners and make sure you are using water-cooling to go above 4.0-4.2GHz
If you want to overclock extensively by hand, first off in the BIOS please disable Speedstep, C1E and TM functions preventing the processor from clocking down or up dynamically based on diverse variables including heat and CPU load. Now simply increase the multiplier until the system crashes, then increase voltages and start over again. Inevitably you’ll find the maximum frequency or temperatures simply get out of hand.
For our overclock we increase voltages towards 1.35V-1.4V on the processor and use a water cooler. We easily booted into Windows at ~4.2 GHz with the Core i7 980X processor.


Temperatures now start to increase fast but regardless of that, I ended at a 100% stable 4.5 GHz. That is a baseclock of 151 MHz with a 30 MP. Overclocking itself is a pretty easy thing to achieve with this processor and motherboard. Bear in mind that overclocking draws much more power from your system and also take into consideration that your cooling solution needs to be proper as going from four to six cores should produce more heat.


Now test for stability!
Ted

[Bjoern]

I've spent every available second of the last few days overclocking my new mainboard and RAM. It's tedious process, but soooooo rewarding!

[Navy Chief]

I've spent every available second of the last few days overclocking my new mainboard and RAM. It's tedious process, but soooooo rewarding!

Haven't done it yet, but thanks to Ted, I have all the information I need. I have printed it all out, and will do this in a day or so....

Thanks.

NC

[Bjoern]

Haven't done it yet, but thanks to Ted, I have all the information I need. I have printed it all out, and will do this in a day or so....

Just go ahead and remember to use common sense and you'll be fine. ;)

[oakfloor]

I overclocked my Dell Dimension XPS with a stock Intel Q6600 from 2.4GHz/core to 3.0GHz/core quite awhile ago with great results. I didn't modify the stock cooling and the CPU temp is fine. Don't go too far with the overclock and you should be fine. I'd try doing an overclock search for your specific system and specific CPU to find "how to's" about your set-up. Mine was done solely through BIOS setting changes and a simple re-boot.

PS: Made a big difference with FSX for me. Not that it runs completely smooth, but I'm happy with FSX for now (until I can buy a new rig).
How did OC dell XPS? Im on my second one and they have figured out a way to stop you OCing the chipset.

[beana51]

Reminds me that kid in that great Movie."A Christmas Story"..when getting something he was not familiar with.,a Red Ryder BB gun,...""he was told"YA GONNA SHOOT YER EYE OUT"....Computers are expensive,their are some with great talent and know how,and then there are some destined to "SHOOT THEIR EYE OUT??...be careful chief...I Know,years ago in essence ..I SHOT MY EYE OUT!!..anyone who employs himself as an expert computer person,has just hired a confirmed incompatant..........CHEERS CHIEF!!..:salute:

[Alan_A]

Sorry... am coming late to this thread because I've been caught up in rebuilding my FSX system around an overclocked i7 980x.

All I can say is it was unbelievably easy. Overclocking a 965 was a struggle by comparison. I don't claim, by the way, to be a very skillful or experienced overclocker.

I don't mean to step on Ted's advice. There are many different ways to clock this animal and I'm sure most of them will produce good results. For what it's worth, I followed THIS GUIDE (http://www.simforums.com/Forums/guides-for-building-fsx-system_topic37060_post217682.html#217682)to the letter. It overlaps with Ted's guide on many points, as it should, but there are some differences, too. It includes full settings for an ASUS BIOS and links to freeware tools. Thanks to this set of instructions, I had the system running at 4.48 MHz on air and on surprisingly low voltage (1.3375,though if things get unstable later I'll go to 1.35) inside of about an hour and a half.

So if you'd like, give it a try. If you're already set up, that's even better.

Ted - hope you don't mind this. I haven't seen your guides before but will definitely want to spend some time with them. You can't know too much about this stuff.

Enjoy!

[txnetcop]

Sorry... am coming late to this thread because I've been caught up in rebuilding my FSX system around an overclocked i7 980x.

All I can say is it was unbelievably easy. Overclocking a 965 was a struggle by comparison. I don't claim, by the way, to be a very skillful or experienced overclocker.

I don't mean to step on Ted's advice. There are many different ways to clock this animal and I'm sure most of them will produce good results. For what it's worth, I followed THIS GUIDE (http://www.simforums.com/Forums/guides-for-building-fsx-system_topic37060_post217682.html#217682)to the letter. It overlaps with Ted's guide on many points, as it should, but there are some differences, too. It includes full settings for an ASUS BIOS and links to freeware tools. Thanks to this set of instructions, I had the system running at 4.48 MHz on air and on surprisingly low voltage (1.3375,though if things get unstable later I'll go to 1.35) inside of about an hour and a half.

So if you'd like, give it a try. If you're already set up, that's even better.

Ted - hope you don't mind this. I haven't seen your guides before but will definitely want to spend some time with them. You can't know too much about this stuff.

Enjoy!

No problem...Chief has never done this before so I only gave two quick options. I test computer equipment for mfgs through TechCorp. I do this for a living and OCing is very easy on the i5 and i7 Core systems. I have a complete guide that I wrote back in the 775 socket days that has been updated to today's standard or just use Maximum PC magazine's guide at maximumpc.com
Ted

[rhumbaflappy]

One thing to keep in mind about overclocking, is that you only gain a tiny fraction of speed, while risking a significant monetary investment.

3.6 to 4.2 only yields +15% processor speed. And upping your CPU speed by 15% may not be a significant factor in FSX. You may have problems with memory, hard-drive speed, motherboard chip sets, or your graphics card might be lagging. Sometimes the combination of scenery and aircraft will just plain give you 12 FPS, and that won't budge until you push the sliders to the left.

I wouldn't do it.

Dick

[Alan_A]

No problem...Chief has never done this before so I only gave two quick options. I test computer equipment for mfgs through TechCorp. I do this for a living and OCing is very easy on the i5 and i7 Core systems. I have a complete guide that I wrote back in the 775 socket days that has been updated to today's standard or just use Maximum PC magazine's guide at maximumpc.com
Ted

Thanks, and your advice to Chief makes perfect sense.

If I'd kept to my original plan, my first overclock would have been a 775, and I would have come across your guide that way. But the i7's were just coming out and I decided to take the leap. I believe you that they're much easier to work with.

I'm really surprised at the performance I've been able to get out of the 980. I could never get the 965 stable at 4 and had to back it off to 3.875. I think better cooling has something to do with it - I switched from a Silverstone case to a better ventilated Coolermaster 932, and replaced a Thermalright 120 Extreme heatsink with a better designed Thermalright Silver Arrow. But my guess is that the bigger margin of difference comes from the chip itself. The 965 ran hot and I probably got one that didn't clock well. The 980 is a couple of generations ahead and runs much cooler, so there's more overhead to work with. Makes for a very nice experience. I'll be happier, though, when i know it's completely stable. Testing continues...

[Alan_A]

One thing to keep in mind about overclocking, is that you only gain a tiny fraction of speed, while risking a significant monetary investment.

3.6 to 4.2 only yields +15% processor speed. And upping your CPU speed by 15% may not be a significant factor in FSX. You may have problems with memory, hard-drive speed, motherboard chip sets, or your graphics card might be lagging. Sometimes the combination of scenery and aircraft will just plain give you 12 FPS, and that won't budge until you push the sliders to the left.

I wouldn't do it.

Dick

That can be true. Of course, the 15 percent difference can allow one or two notches of autogen, or much smoother performance at an existing setting. To me, FSX overclocking is partly a matter of the numbers and partly a matter of the overall impression. A little additional smoothness goes a long way.

The latest chips seem to be much easier to work with - there are good safeguards and fewer settings to get critically wrong. Of course, it helps to be an expert, like Ted or Nick... or if you're not, to be like me, and do everything Ted or Nick tell you to do... I've done fine so far. Just trying not to step off the path...

[txnetcop]

One thing to keep in mind about overclocking, is that you only gain a tiny fraction of speed, while risking a significant monetary investment.

3.6 to 4.2 only yields +15% processor speed. And upping your CPU speed by 15% may not be a significant factor in FSX. You may have problems with memory, hard-drive speed, motherboard chip sets, or your graphics card might be lagging. Sometimes the combination of scenery and aircraft will just plain give you 12 FPS, and that won't budge until you push the sliders to the left.

I wouldn't do it.

Dick

Dick your argument against overclocking is very understandable...but since the socket 775 days Intel has put safeguards into the motherboards and CPUs to help minimize that very danger. All of the newer motherboards from AMD and Intel now include these safety freatures like auto shut down, boot loop and other schemes to keep one from ruining their investment. The real danger to parts is heat generated by raised voltage, so if you use a the heat spreaders for memory, the aftermarket cooling products for your CPU and video card your chances of doing any real damage is minimal at best. I had been running a Q9550 on a Gigabyte X48 DQ6 board at 4.0Ghz on air for over two years and it runs just as good today as it did when I first did the overclock. The guy I sold it to is still praising the way it handles all the new games. I tested the entire system every six months to ensure that it put out the power it stipulates. By the way that is over 30% on my overclock and I run FSX extremely well as many in here can attest that I have built for. My i7 at the office has been running at 4.4Ghz for 7 months and has never exceeded 72C running full tilt...well within the Intel guidelines.
Ted

[stansdds]

I overclocked my E6850 from 3.0GHz to 3.6GHz. I was able to pick up a few fps, but the bigger benefit was a more stable fps and a smoother simulation. FSX needs a fairly good video card, but it really needs a fast multi-core CPU.

[Alan_A]

Sorry... am coming late to this thread because I've been caught up in rebuilding my FSX system around an overclocked i7 980x.

All I can say is it was unbelievably easy. Overclocking a 965 was a struggle by comparison. I don't claim, by the way, to be a very skillful or experienced overclocker.

I don't mean to step on Ted's advice. There are many different ways to clock this animal and I'm sure most of them will produce good results. For what it's worth, I followed THIS GUIDE (http://www.simforums.com/Forums/guides-for-building-fsx-system_topic37060_post217682.html#217682)to the letter. It overlaps with Ted's guide on many points, as it should, but there are some differences, too. It includes full settings for an ASUS BIOS and links to freeware tools. Thanks to this set of instructions, I had the system running at 4.48 MHz on air and on surprisingly low voltage (1.3375,though if things get unstable later I'll go to 1.35) inside of about an hour and a half.

So if you'd like, give it a try. If you're already set up, that's even better.

Ted - hope you don't mind this. I haven't seen your guides before but will definitely want to spend some time with them. You can't know too much about this stuff.

Enjoy!

Quick update for anyone who wants to follow the advice in the linked thread - although my system passed its tests at CPUv 1.3375, I ran into some minor stability problems in FSX, so I'm now up to 1.35. Temperatures are still astonishing low - the 980 is a dream to overclock. Still a tricky business, but not a very risky one. Enjoy!

[Bjoern]

To everyone trying to overclock, this is a great tool to test system stability and temperatures:

http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/

If your system survives the one hour automatic test, you're good to go. If your system survives an hour of Linpack, you're even better off. If you can run an infinite standard test for over two hours, you won't have to worry and if you survive more than two hours of Linpack you're absolutely safe.

Nothing will get damaged in the process. If the CPU gets hotter than 80°C, the test will shut down.




...back in the 775 socket days...

Makes S775 systems sound really old. :(




All of the newer motherboards from AMD and Intel now include these safety freatures like auto shut down, boot loop and other schemes to keep one from ruining their investment.

I think they've been there before. Could be that they were refined ever since, but a thermal shutdown and throttling exists at least since the Core2x.


I had been running a Q9550 on a Gigabyte X48 DQ6 board at 4.0Ghz on air for over two years and it runs just as good today as it did when I first did the overclock.My Q9450 still runs great after more than 2 years. Got upped from 3.2 to 3.5 GHz this weekend, thanks to the great X48T. :d

Sadly, 3.6 GHz will be the end of the line. I'd have to fry the North Bridge for more than FSB450.

Apart from that, I doubt I could have my RAM timings in any sweeter spot than this one...876 MHz, T(RD) at 6 and 7-8-7-24 timings.

Still drooling...