Overclock an Intel i7 860 2.80GHz

[Alpha Floor 237]

Hello guys!

 

I've been said my FSX rig is being hold up by my CPU and I'd like to learn how to safely overclock it. I've never OC'd anything before, but I understand the biggest issue of overclocking is keeping temperature under control so that the CPU doesn't fry.

 

My current system:

 

MOBO: Asus P7H55/USB3

BIOS: American Megatrends 1606
CPU: Intel i7 860 2.80 GHz (not overclocked)
GPU: Asus Nvidia GTX 770 (brand new, I've installed it yesterday, before I had a Sapphire ATI HD 5850)
RAM: 12 GB DDR3 Kingston 1333 MHz (split up in 8+2+2)
Drives: OS (W7.1 64bit) installed on a Samsung EVO 120GB SSD. FSX and all FS-related installed on a 1TB partition of a Western Digital 3TB Green 5400rpm HDD.

 

So, how should I proceed on overclocking the CPU? If anyone could point me to a very detailed step-by-step guide of some sort, I'd be thankful.

 

I'm running CoreTemp right now and the 4 cores range between 33 to 40ªC on the MAX side, and between 28 to 31ºC on the MIN side, with a current load of 5 to 10%. Ambient temperature in the house should be 20ºC right now.

I live in Spain and in the summer temperature can get to about 35-40 ºC. Should I consider buying a new cooler for the CPU? Which one would be advisable?

 

Thanks guys beforehand for any help issued!

[outofphaze 4]

Do you have an after market cooler?

 

Usually the 1st step is to get a good cooler to keep your temps under control. 

 

Also, I am not familiar with your chip, but perhaps someone who has that chip can comment on weather it is unlocked or not, as you might not be able to oc it to begin with. The same goes for your mobo, it might not have the ability to over clock.

 

I would check into all this 1st.

[PCAviator 37]

Jaime,

 

You could try the info here - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/334537-28-help-noob-fries

 

I managed to overclock my i5 750 CPU (which apparently is locked according to some) but I jumped it up from 2.66Ghz to 3.7Ghz with a basic watercooler and have been running that overclocked for 18 months with no problems. Luckily I found an exact guide on how to do it on a youtube video fro my CPU/Motherboard combination. That made it easy.

 

Just be sure to read up on as much info as possible on overclocking your with your particular CPU/Mobo combo.

[Hirdy2013 104]

Just on this topic.  I am looking to overclock an i7 2700K SB Chip.  If I change bios values etc will this affect FSX as far as needing to reinstall anything?  Reactivate etc?

[outofphaze 4]

 

 

Just on this topic.  I am looking to overclock an i7 2700K SB Chip.  If I change bios values etc will this affect FSX as far as needing to reinstall anything?  Reactivate etc?

 

Nope, if you are just over clocking, FSX will be fine.

[SAAB340 28]

I used to have a i7 860 (well, still do but its boxed up now). Mine is capable of 3.8GHz HT on or 4GHz HT off. A considerable improvement you very much notice in FSX.

 

You will need to replace the cooler though. The stock cooler won't cope with anything near that overclock. It is not a unlocked CPU so you will change the speed of the RAM when you start overclocking. Overclocking the unlocked CPUs of today is very easy while these older variants requires you to read up a lot more but its still possible to reach very nice overclocks.

 

The memory controller in my CPU was causing me a bit of problem. I pretty much had to use the 1066 mem strap at higher bclock. Higher or lower just wouldn't work. Thankfully my 2133 CL9 RAM had no problem running at the 1600MHz speeds that resulted in but I suspect your 1333 unmatched RAM might cause you a bit of a headache.

[Alpha Floor 237]

Guys thank you all for your help!

 

I'll try to learn as much as possible about OC before proceeding, I understand this is "serious" stuff, messing around with voltages I could screw my CPU so I wanna know what I'm doing. The thing is there's so much information on the net I don't know what's trustworthy and what's not.

 

 

I'll be getting a new cooler first (I have the stock one), what do you recommend for a Socket LGA 1156? Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO? Hyper 412S? V8 GTS? 

[Alpha Floor 237]

Ok, just wanted to post my results,

 

First I've replaced the cooler with a Noctua NH-U9B.

 

I've overclocked the CPU to 4.00 GHz using a base clock of 200 MHz and a multiplier of 20 on the BIOS "AI Tweaker" page. Temps with FSX running for a while stay below 85ºC, which I think is okay.

 

I've definitely noticed an improvement. However flying the PMDG 777 I still have the occasional fps drop to 15-20. It normally stays around 25-29 (with 30 being the FPS cap), but sometimes, usually on the worst possible moment which is final approach, FPS drop. So I don't really know what to do anymore. I just wanna be able to fly the 777 with stable FPS between 25 and 30, seems to be impossible with my rig...

 

Should I live with it?

[martin-w 2,326]

Temps with FSX running for a while stay below 85ºC, which I think is okay.

I don't know what TJ max is for your CPU, but that's high. If that were during a stress test it would be okay, but 85 while running FSX is high. I'm in the 50's with an NH-D14. 20 ambient. If you were to run a stress test you would be in trouble.

 

Sort out why your temps are high, and then look at your sliders, and any highly demanding scenery you have.

 

EDIT: Just noticed you are in Spain, however, you say your ambient is 20, no doubt due to aircon, so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

P.S. The Noctua NH-U9B is not the best cooler you could have bought. I wouldn't be surprised if you could nock 10 degrees of that temp with a D14 or equivalent

[Alpha Floor 237]

I don't know what TJ max is for your CPU, but that's high. If that were during a stress test it would be okay, but 85 while running FSX is high. I'm in the 50'swith an NH-D14. If you were to run a stress test you would be in trouble.

 

Sort out why your temps are high, and then look at your sliders, and any highly demanding scenery you have.

 

Tj max is 99ºC

 

I'm not using any demanding scenery, in fact, I'm not using scenery at all.

 

I did a stress test with Prime95 and it went okay (I guess, the PC didn't crash or anything).

[martin-w 2,326]

Are you sure that temp is correct then in FSX? Because if it were, Prime would have been VERY high.

 

It's possible that your dips in frame rate is the CPU throttling back.

 

I would run some tests, in FSX, and carefully monitor the temp with real temp. Tell us the temp for the cores, and also the ambient temp in your room during the tests.

 

Double check the temp results with something like core temp.

 

Make sure real temp is set with the correct TJ max... if it's not, your temp reporting may be in error.

[Alpha Floor 237]

Are you sure that temp is correct then in FSX? Because if it were, Prime would have been VERY high.

 

It's possible that your dips in frame rate is the CPU throttling back.

 

I would run some tests, in FSX, and carefully monitor the temp with real temp. Tell us the temp for the cores, and also the ambient temp in your room during the tests.

 

Double check the temp results with something like core temp.

 

Make sure real temp is set with the correct TJ max... if it's not, your temp reporting may be in error.

 

First of all, many thanks for your help Martin

 

Let's see, you're right in that Prime was very high, in fact, it crashed the PC. I did the stress test first on 4GHz with a blue screen of death, and then on 3.80 GHz and that seems to work just fine. Sorry for me not being accurate.

 

Right now I've been running Prime95 for about 2 hours and this is what I see, I think an image is more descriptive. I will download Real Temp also as suggested.

 

I've reduced the OC to 3.80GHz because of the 4GHz crashing the PC under Prime95. However, the PC crashed with the stress test, but not with FSX, so if my use will only be FSX I don't know if I should leave it at 4 or at 3.8.

 

Also, you were right about the CPU throttling back. I noticed that at times it did throttle back to 1.80 GHz (200x9) and then back to 4.00, resulting in a massive frame drop (to 10-15 fps). How do I prevent the CPU from throttling back, or at least, why does it go down so low and not to 3.00 or something more reasonable? I'll be doing tests, the thing is it's a pain because I run FSX in fullscreen mode and can't monitor temps or CPU speed, I have to go to windowed mode which in turn gives a worse performance... 

 

One thing is for sure, FSX is driving me crazy. I'm seeing a shrink already...

 

 

 

PS: I confirm it's throttling back. While running Prime95 I started my music player, foobar2000, and RealTemp showed the CPU went back to 1800 (200x9), once foobar2000 had opened, the CPU went back to 3.80GHz. Why does this happen? I'm asking because:

a) Load is about 60%

B) Temps are around 60-70ºC

c) Distance to TJ Max is 30-40ºC.

 

Why doesn't the CPU let the temps increase momentarily instead of throttling back? Say going from 60% to 90% and heating up to 90ºC, then once the "stress" has passed, load reduces and temps cool down, right?

[martin-w 2,326]

Also, you were right about the CPU throttling back. I noticed that at times it did throttle back to 1.80 GHz (200x9) and then back to 4.00, resulting in a massive frame drop (to 10-15 fps). How do I prevent the CPU from throttling back, or at least, why does it go down so low and not to 3.00 or something more reasonable?

This is the way CPU's are designed to function. As they approach a pre defined temperature that Intel deem is excessive, they will reduce their frequency.

 

Are you sure it's throttling back, the temps with Prime you have shown me aren't that high?

 

Throttling back shouldn't occur until the CPU is 90 plus degrees.

 

Anything hotter than that an the CPU will shut down completely.

 

This is not good for your CPU, and  will cause CPU degradation. You are in essense, activating an emergency safeguard built into the CPU. This is not something that you should allow to happen frequently.

 

If the CPU is throttling back, it's very important that you determine why it's doing so, and stop it from continuing.

 

Do NOT overclock.

 

Are you sure you mounted your CPU properly, with the thermal interface paste properly applied?

 

Which TIM did you use, and what method of application?

 

Are all the fans working correctly and ramping up to the correct RPM when required? Or is the issue the fans, not increasing their RPM?

 

Don't forget... CPU's do lower their frequency, and sometimes voltage, when at idle or near idle. So to determine temp under load, you must be doing something significant, like FSX or a stress test.

 

 

 

PS: I confirm it's throttling back. While running Prime95 I started my music player, foobar2000, and RealTemp showed the CPU went back to 1800 (200x9), once foobar2000 had opened, the CPU went back to 3.80GHz.

 

 

Only stress test with one application at a time. Just Prime.

[westman 234]

The throttling back Its normal.

Change setting in win and some in bios it , and more vcore you hit easy +4.2ghz.

Google you find the Windows and bios changes needed.

[martin-w 2,326]

Westman... his CPU is throttling back due to excessive temperature... and you tell him to "increase" V-core!

 

He even had FSX running at an extremely high 85C.

 

I would be interested in your reasoning in regard to this?