# I7 920 overclock



## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Hi guys...

I am a real newbie about overclocking and I thought that this could be the best place to get some qualified advice.

I just got a new videocard for my system, a GTX 660 2gb OC and I read around that my I7 920 2.67 ghz really acts as a bottleneck on CPU heavy games.

Mobo is a P6T, 8 gb of ram and PSU is Seasonic 620w

Now, I read some guides on internet and I really found them rather hard to understand, and I am also afraid of doing damage.


So, I wanted to ask some questions:

1) What can I gain performance wise by overclocking the CPU?

2) What are the risks? What pc components can get damaged?

3) I read around that all I need to do to get a modest overclocking to 3.2GHz I would just need to raise the stock Bclk of 133 to 160.
That sounds easy enough, but of course I haven't tried anything.

4) The cpu already runs a bit hot by stock...what is considered non safe for a I7 920?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I have some doubts that your CPU will cause a bottle neck and I would recommend trying anygames in question before attempting any OC'ing.
To avoid problems/damage, you would need to replace the OEM CPU heatsink/fan with an aftermarket unit. After that is done, refer to the sticky posts at the top of this section.
Brand & Model of the PSU?
Note: OC'ing adds stress/heat and can shorten life expectancy of components.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

read these http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...erclocking-read-here-for-starters-232382.html

whilst this guide is for an i2500k the process is basically the same apart from the voltages http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f273/how-to-overclock-an-i2500k-652418.html


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Hi Tyree, 

I do have tried some games, in particular Starcraft 2.
It seems that the gtx 660 is way more than enough to run it, but the CPU really holds the performance down...that's what I have read on benchmarks. 

I tried the game myself:
As soon as there are many units on the battlefield, I go from 60 to 15 fps...just like my old prehistoric video card. 

Would overclocking help? 
Also, how much is a decent (and hopefully silent) aftermarket fan?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Brand & Model of Mobo-RAM (+ amount/specs)-Graphics-PSU.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

> Would overclocking help?


Try this simple test:
Start Windows Task Manager >> Performance and allow it to run in the background as you play your game.
From time to time, Alt/Tab out of you game and look at the CPU usage graphs
If usage is consistently staying above 75% with frequent spikes to 100% then the proc may be causing a bottleneck and a healthy overclock may indeed help the situation.



> How much is a decent (and hopefully silent) aftermarket fan?


Figure around USD 35-40 for a good middle of the road unit. $50-75 for high end. $75-125 for liquid.


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Mobo is an Asus P6T, the most vanilla version, I suppose. 

Ram is 8 Gb in 4 sticks...brand (and probably the specs too) are mismatched, the second couple was added later...I admit I just got them for very cheap and slapped them there...system remained stable so I stopped worrying about them. Cannot access the precise specs now, I will post them as soon I go home. 

GPU is a Gigabyte gtx 660 2gb OC. 

Psu is a Seasonic model, 620 w.


Gcavan, I will run this test on Starcraft 2 tomorrow.


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Meanwhile, I can show you these...do you see anything wrong?

(especially in the ram, I am afraid that I was tempted by the low price and I just slapped them there...)


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Attempting to OC with mismatched RAM "might" cause some issues but the only way to know for sure is to try, a "little" at a time.


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Here's a picture of CPU usage while playing world of Tanks at middle settings:

As you can see, one of the cores sems to be constatly at 100% while other are barely working:


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

thats nothing to worry about some games never use more than one core, but if you want to overclock there is nothing to be bothered about.


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

I just worry about the CPU not being able to keep up with the new card. 

That CPU reading was done while the whole performance was going bad...not as bad as my 9800gt but very close. 
That quite frustrating, having shelled 150 € for the new card.

Before the upgrade, everyone said my CPU was wasted coupled with the 9800gt...now after the upgrade it seems exactly the opposite. 

What kind of performance boost can usually be achieved with a little overclocking around 3.2 ghz? 
I have read about the people pushing the i7 920 to 4 ghz with proper cooling...


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The only way to know how much/if any performance will be gained is to try.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

Every cpu is different even the same makes, so all you can do is try but when you overclock there is no point in a small increase. You either overclock as much as you can or you do not.

You should get an aftermarket cooler.


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Before getting the aftermarket cooler, I was thinking to start some cautious small overclocking, just to see how the CPU reacts. 

I read that starting to slightly increase the bclk would be good start...would you recommend it? 
All I have look to is the CPU temperature and system stability, right?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

OC'ing should always be done in slight increases and insure that increase is stable before moving on.
Personally, I wold not recommend any OC'ing until the OEM heatsink/fan is replaced.


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Would something like this be good for OC:
COOLER MASTER Ventirad Hyper 212 EVO (RR-212E-16PK-R1): Amazon.it: Elettronica

Or maybe this, which is cheaper:
Cooler Master Hyper 212EVO Ventola per processori PC: Amazon.it: Elettronica


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

By the way, I just checked that right now, idle temperatures according to Real Temp is 50 celsius degrees...pretty high to begin with.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you need to read the links provided before trying anything.

Second 50 is high that is why you don't overclock with the stock cooler

Third do not raise the BCLK raise the multiplier, you only raise the BCLK if raising the multiplier isn't working.

fourth the hyper evo is a pretty good cooler, make sure you have the room though because its quite big.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

I've got my I3-550 CPU overclocked from 3,2Ghz to 4,1Ghz and honestly you hardly notice in games. I really notice the speed when I convert videos to a different format. Overclocking is these days merely a hobby and I don't think it would remove your bottleneck.

Have a look at this thread: Low fps with powerful computer. HOTS expac. - Forums - StarCraft II Seems everyone is having problems and the one person has a 4,6Ghz oc'ed CPU. So overclocking would not help in this instance as previously stated.

How do other games run on the new card?


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

Thank you for the answers guys. 

As for now, I only tried Starcraft2, World of Tanks and Call of Juarez Gunslinger, with the last one as the only one running properly. 

Maybe I am just overreacting because of frustration...I will try some other games. 
Also I think that my system really needs a defrag...or maybe a nice format. 

Excluding weak or malfunctioning hardware, is there some kind of setting that might be causing trouble? 

Stuff like default nvidia settings or bios settings...


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

Hard drives should get defragged when needed but not solid state drives.


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## Romanov77 (Feb 25, 2005)

An update:

I tested Starcraft 2, and saw that even under the heaviest testing, cpu usage was well below 100%.
I am talking about the single core usage (the ones the game actually use).


I even tried the lowest settings...performance was slightly better but still ridiculous and unworthy of a GTX 660.
My 9800GT almost achieved better results.

This would actually make overclock quite pointless I think...and raise the question of why Starcraft 2 hates me and my hardware with a passion.


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