Hi all. I can't get my i7 920 stable @ 4.2ghz due to heat but it runs great at 4ghz. My cooling setup is a H50 in a push pull config.My aim originally was to get over the 4.2ghz mark so my thoughts where to go the cheaper option buy purchasing a i7 960 and o/c that rather spend more on the i5 2500k and a new mobi. What would be a better option?Pete Walsh.

All the 9xx's are pretty limited to that ~4.2 range. When they make these chips, they're all the exact same thing and certain dies just get "binned" as 920s, 940s, 960s or whatever. Just because the 960 has a higher stock clockspeed doesn't mean it's going to have a better maximum overclock. It's the same fundamental design that has its limits on all of them. The Sandy Bridge chips are a different design and thus have the higher overclocks now.I don't know that I'd spend the money to go from a 4GHz 920 to a Sandy Bridge though... I'd probably try to wait at least one more generation before upgrading.

And don't forget that you'll have to ditch your (expensive) triple-channel RAM and get some dual-channel for your sandy bridge board.I know reading all those posts about people cranking their 2500K to 5GHz makes upgrading sound like a really good idea, but what you've currently got gets along at a pretty good clip and couldn't exactly be described as old cr@ppy! I think that ryan's idea of waiting is the way to go. There'll be a Next Big Thing in 6 months or so.Jeff Hunter

Ah rightio cheers. Yeah I'm running the 4ghz with a 580. I might do a re-install and put my FSX on the same partition as Win7 and get a better case to improve airflow and see if I can tweak things to get higher FPS... Or just move the sliders abit more to the left :(Cheers,Pete Walsh.

And don't forget that you'll have to ditch your (expensive) triple-channel RAM and get some dual-channel for your sandy bridge board.I know reading all those posts about people cranking their 2500K to 5GHz makes upgrading sound like a really good idea, but what you've currently got gets along at a pretty good clip and couldn't exactly be described as old cr@ppy! I think that ryan's idea of waiting is the way to go. There'll be a Next Big Thing in 6 months or so.Jeff Hunter

You can always use 4GB of the 6 in the new mobo, or all 3 sticks in Flex mode

You can always use 4GB of the 6 in the new mobo, or all 3 sticks in Flex mode

D'oh!!:blush:And indeed you can! I had no idea that it was a board architecture thing and had nothing to do with the DIMM.I have been pointlessly and obsessive-compulsively checking this site for weeks. Now I have learned something.Jeff

Slightly OT, but this brings up a related question - while tinkering with shopping carts, spec'ing what system I might like to build next, I'm left wondering if there are certain cores for the 2500/2600K's which are prefered. For example, the i920 d0(zero) core was prefered over the earlier c0 cores becuase it had better OC capabilities at lower voltages. Is there anything similar to think about in the Sandy Bridge line?

Slightly OT, but this brings up a related question - while tinkering with shopping carts, spec'ing what system I might like to build next, I'm left wondering if there are certain cores for the 2500/2600K's which are prefered. For example, the i920 d0(zero) core was prefered over the earlier c0 cores becuase it had better OC capabilities at lower voltages. Is there anything similar to think about in the Sandy Bridge line?

there's only one stepping for Sandy Bridge for what I know

I might do a re-install and put my FSX on the same partition as Win7

That would probably decrease performance further as you'll have WIN7, FSX, Page file etc all fighting for disk access simultaneously.I have loads of hard drives in my system with one ssd for Win7, one ssd for FSX, and the rest for Page file/Photoshop and storage....it works well.Chris Farrell

Ryan,Do you know where I can find a good overclocking guide?Thanks in advance!

I've been very tempted to upgrade to the 2500K/2600K as I bought my i7 950 late (last October) but being a student atm, it just doesn't feel economically viable upgrading 1 generation so close after a full build. Same thing with my gtx480... I think ill wait and see how the SB-E/ivy bridge is before I do my next upgrade, hopefully MS flight has been released by then so I don't put all my money on a dead-end platform again (maybe upgrading the GPU is smarter at that time etc).My i7 950 (d0) is a beast as well, with my NH-D14 I'm getting temps in the mid-60's (core temp) and I could probably get some more juice out of my Vcore (1.32) as I just followed a template without gradually OC:ing and raising Vcore.Nah, I'll stick with my "old" CPU for now.EDIT: Fernando: this is the template I used, with stability testing procedures as well, all from NickN himself: i7 9xx OC BIOS

All this talk of you guys upgrading make me feel that I should that too - I run currently an Q9550, but I am looking forward to the SB-E. So I guess I will be waiting another half year for that. ( I mean Imaging a tripple Channel Sandy Bridge with 12GB Ram - I think I am gonna wait :( )

I was looking at the SB a few months back myself but did not see it as enough of a boost, and a chance of no boost at all, so I plan on skipping the SB generation all together, and wait for the Ivy Bridge. Those will be the real bee's knees. Doesn't make too much sense to me to replace an i7 9xx with a SB.

I've been very tempted to upgrade to the 2500K/2600K as I bought my i7 950 late (last October) but being a student atm, it just doesn't feel economically viable upgrading 1 generation so close after a full build. Same thing with my gtx480... I think ill wait and see how the SB-E/ivy bridge is before I do my next upgrade, hopefully MS flight has been released by then so I don't put all my money on a dead-end platform again (maybe upgrading the GPU is smarter at that time etc).My i7 950 (d0) is a beast as well, with my NH-D14 I'm getting temps in the mid-60's (core temp) and I could probably get some more juice out of my Vcore (1.32) as I just followed a template without gradually OC:ing and raising Vcore.Nah, I'll stick with my "old" CPU for now.EDIT: Fernando: this is the template I used, with stability testing procedures as well, all from NickN himself: i7 9xx OC BIOS

I think you're logic is perfect. Wait an architecture change or two and make the upgrade worth the trouble. Our "old" CPUs are capable. For now.

All this talk of you guys upgrading make me feel that I should that too - I run currently an Q9550, but I am looking forward to the SB-E. So I guess I will be waiting another half year for that. ( I mean Imaging a tripple Channel Sandy Bridge with 12GB Ram - I think I am gonna wait :( )

Sandy Bridge E is quad channel, but I wouldn't expect that or those 12GB of RAM to make no difference

I was looking at the SB a few months back myself but did not see it as enough of a boost, and a chance of no boost at all, so I plan on skipping the SB generation all together, and wait for the Ivy Bridge. Those will be the real bee's knees. Doesn't make too much sense to me to replace an i7 9xx with a SB.

and Scott. IB is just a die shrink of SB. Usually die shrinks just overclock a bit higher. This time Intel announced this tri-gate thing that is supposed to improve the manufacturing process beyond the expected reduced die size, and allegedly boost performance by another 20% or so. If it turns out being just a marketing gimmick in the end, expect a 10% more overclock from IB when compared to SB, but that's about it. The real performance leap is in the architecture change (Nehalem - Sandy Bridge in your case, about a 30 - 40%)The next real architecture is Haswell, and you are looking at another 2 or 3 years before it's available. I prefer to make the move when a new architecture is out. If you need an IB or just feel the itch to upgrade, P67 / Z68 boards apparently will support them anyway