Core i7 Overclocking Guide

Guide to overclocking the i7.

THIS IS NOT FOR THE i7 975!!!
Not every cpu will overclock the same


THIS GUIDE HAS SCREENSHOTS OF DIFFERENT BIOS'S , THEY MAY NOT LOOK THE SAME FOR YOU

Warning: Overclocking DOES void the manufacturer's warranty. Please read intels data sheet concerning voltage regulations before proceeding. Neither Tom's hardware or myself take any responsobility in damaged or broken parts.

The i7 is intels relatively new chip and to overclock it is a new task for even some of the most often overclockers.


So dont feel bad if you have never overclocked before, this is an excellent chip to start on.

However if you are a semi expierienced user then please scroll down to the bottom to find my simple instructions.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 SIMPLE STEPS


Overclocking the i7 can be outlined in 7 relatively simple steps...


1.) Change the memory mhz to the lowest posible ratio.

2.) Change the "QPI link speed" to the lowest possible setting

3.) Change the uncore multiplier to the lowest setting

4.) Start increasing your reference clock in 10mhz increments

5.) Increase the voltage.

6.) Continue increasing the voltage.


I will go into more detail about these later....


Here is a picture to help you, revert to this if you dont know what a setting is.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

COOLING THE I7


The i7 is known for producing a large amount of heat, much more than the core 2 line, so sufficient cooling is needed.

This just means dont expect to get to get a rediculus overclock on the stock heatsink.

The i7 requires some more heavy duty cooling.

When at a full load the core i7 should not exceed 75c, 80c MAX.

Among my favorite coolers are:




Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer--
-this is by far my favorite cooler of all time. But remember you will have to buy a separate retention bracket to fit the i7.





Rosewill FORT120--





XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V--





Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme --




Scythe Mugen 2



____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step One
Change the memory mhz to the lowest posible ratio

This is a fairly simple step but I will break it down for you.

1. Enter the bios.

2. Go to the overclocking options screen

3. Somewhere it should say memory options (if yours doesnt have this proceed to number 4)

4. There will be a field that will say something like "memory speed" and there will be a ratio. The default ratio is 2:8

5. You will want to change the ratio from 2:8 to the lowest possible ratio it will allow.

6. Restart

This way when you overclock you know its not the memory making you unstable because it's speed is well within specs when you do this.




______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step Two
Chang the "QPI link speed" to the lowest possible setting

This step is not required but will help you achieve a higher clock.
Some cpu's/motherboards dont like this setting, so if it doesnt work give it up and continue to the next step.

1. Enter the bios.

2. Go to the overclocking options screen

3. Find where it says "QPI link speed" it may be reffered to as the "QPI multiplier"

4. Set it to its lowest possible setting, in most cases this will be X36

5. Restart.




This will ensure that it is not the memory controller holding you back

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Step Three
Change the uncore multiplier to the lowest setting.

This step is not required but will help you achieve a higher clock.
Some cpu's/motherboards dont like this setting, so if it doesnt work give it up and continue to the next step.


1. Enter the bios.

2. Go to the overclocking options screen

3. Find where it says "uncore multiplier"

4. Set it to its lowest possible setting, in mos.... eh you get the idea...




_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step Four
Start increasing your reference clock

This is where it get fun....now your really overclocking (=

1. Find your refference clock in the bios (it may be reffered to as base clock or b-clock.)

2. Start increasing it in low intervals...(something like 10mhz)

3.Save the bios and restart your computer. If it all works out fine then you should be able to boot into windows and log in...

If it all works fine and you dont get a blue screen then you can go into the bios and raise the refference clock another 10mhz.




IF YOU DO GET A BLUE SCREEN GO TO THE NEXT STEP






IT IS CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST!!
IT IS CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST!!
IT IS CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST!!
IT IS CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST!!

Reserved

LOL thanks.

copletely forgot about the scythe...ill add it

i changed the CCF and the xig pic

Very nice and easy to understand, +5 for this one.....

the only problem I see is that if you leave your memory subsystem with those settings it will be a slight handicap.

^Ok, i added a section about memory tuning.

Good guide overshocked!

Typo :

COOLING THE I7


The i7 is know <====="known"<============for producing a large amount of heat, much more than the core 2 line, so sufficient cooling is needed.

@overshocked

Not bad dude!

If members using your guide give a thumbs up on it, it may be sticky worthy. Ryan

Great, thamks man...

i figured someone had to do it because all we had was the c2d/c2q guide

Now we just need a Phenom guide.

sweet guide overshocked.....some HAS to sticky this... so much simply than the other guides, but if u wanted it even better, maybe some small (medium pics) of BIOS to help with steps 3-6...could take a fair bit of time tho

MICK

Yea, there is already a thread (used by thousands) that has to do with AMD overclocking.... but if another one is needed then count me in....


http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2161.html

I will have to sqeeze that in my schedule, but yes it can be done....

Of course it will not be as LONG as the one above, but it can point out the most important aspects of overclocking and we can add the 550,945,955 and the new 965 to it....

A sticky would be nice for an amd guide

Looks good! Just a comment, it would be nice if you could explain what each setting does in relation to OCing, such as what I did here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] w=0&nojs=0

^ yeah, i l ike what you did on your post.

I did actaully hit that char limit. *sigh*

Maybe i could get AKM880 to delete his fist post so i could continue it even further.

I know.. I HATE THAT!

yes, i am well aware that this exceeds the limitations of aircooling but lets not forget the noobs that have water cooled i7's (=

On step 4, adjusting the UnCore frequency, my i7 on a gigabyte ex58-ud5 keeps failing to complete the POST on the first try, then restarts with success but tells me there are booting failures. Any help would be appreciated.

*Waves wand*

You now have post #3, and if it wasn't for the fact that it says I've edited 3 of the posts you'd hardly even know one was missing

This guide is starting to get very interesting

Sounds all Good man. I had mine at 3.6ghz at 1.325v. But It became unstable after a few days for some reason. I was wondering what kind of temperatures on idle and on load your getting? So many people talk about overclocking but ner say very much about the temps they are getting. I have a scythe mugen 2 in an antec 902 mid tower. at 3.6ghz im idling around 32C, at 2.66 im idling at 29C.

Yea, true that... 4.53Ghz is redonculous.....

naa.... there is NO game out there that will see a difference past 4Ghz...trust me i have played more than 25 Top rated games and the i7 is just to fast for them @ 4Ghz or below......

bahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!