Overclocking, just can't do it!

[Bigglesworth 1]

Hi guys,

 

After trawling the net for advice/tutorials etc. I still can't get my system to overclock.

 

I have a 3.3GHz Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge which should according to Dell be able to be overclocked to at least 4.2GHz. There are two factory set overclock profiles in the bios but these do not effect the performance in any way. I have tried manually changing the bios settings but the speed still remains at 3.3GHz.

 

Has anyone had experience in overclocking? After spending a great deal of wonga on a system that should be configurable, I'm feeling a bit short changed.

 

Mike

[laserit 93]

You have a brandname Dell computer?

 

Your overclocking issues probably have everything to do with your mother board and nothing to do with your cpu.

[PieEater 10]

What if any conversations have you had with Dell? Is your system still in warrenty? If they guarenteed a system that could run at 4.2Ghz but have failed to deliver then your beef is with them and anything you do that may infringe on their contract with you (i.e. change system state or settings) isn't going to help your position and you should realy be getting them to fix this issue rather than trying to fix it yourself because this could jepordise your position.

 

I've dealt with Dell legally before and they will take it to the wire before caving in, and I'd be happy to assist if need be. If you're out of Dell's warrenty then post your detailed system specs.

[alainneedle1 97]

Bios locked from the manuf.?

[coa1117 53]

You've probably read this, but just wanted to point out what it says on that page:

 

"Once the computer has been overclocked, this does not mean that it will always run at the overclocked speed. The computer will automatically throttle the speed when required, such as during performance taxing video games or applications. The only reliable place to determine the maximum speed once the computer has been overclocked is in the computers' BIOS as many software applications may not reliably determine the maximum speed."

[Bigglesworth 1]

I think posting this topic has realized my basic misunderstanding of the basics of overclocking. After all I am an old fart tinkering with things I obviously don't understand.

 

That said, I have done some more research into this and installing some different tools such as Intel's i7 turbo boost diagnostic tool and a decent stress test program (AIDA64) I now know that I had up to 4.2GHz available all the time :blush2:

 

If I had found out more about turbo boost, I wouldn't have bothered you gentlemen. My learning curve just got steeper.

 

Regards,

 

Mike

:england-flag:

[PieEater 10]

With computers the more you know the more you realise you don't know, so don't worry, at least you've figured out you weren't short changed.

[Bigglesworth 1]

With computers the more you know the more you realise you don't know, so don't worry, at least you've figured out you weren't short changed.

 

Too true!

[dysphoria 2]

Glad you sorted this when I baught a motherboard/CPU/ram bundle my i7 was meant to be 4.5 after windows was reinstalls it was bobbing along at 1.6ghz I was instantly panicked until I realised I throttled back

Good luck with the learning curve