i7 940 - Breaking The 4Ghz Barrier

Discussion in 'Processors and motherboards Intel' started by Punisher64, May 7, 2013.

  1. CrazY_Milojko

    CrazY_Milojko Ancient Guru

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    To the OP... From my experience with many i7-920 C0 and i7-930 C0 I think you have a good chance to hit 3.6GHz with yours i7-940 C0/C1 with little add to the Vcore no matter how good or bad that CPU is. But for above 3.4GHz if I was on your place I would use some better CPU cooler than stock Intel BOX cooler for LGA1366. Above 3.6GHz is realy a matter of how good that CPU is for OC, just take it easy and do a lot of tests and experiments with Vcore with every 100MHz you manage to squeeze from that CPU. Also maintain good airflow in the case and try to maintain CPU temperature below 75 Celsius when it is full stressed, use Prime95 with HT enabled, I preferr to keep mine i7-920 C0 under 65C when it full stressed when HT is enabled @ 4.01GHz. If you don't care about HT turn it off in BIOS and you can get lower stabile Vcore and probably 100MHz to 150MHz more to the final OC speed.
    Here are few links that can be helpful to you to get some facts about i7-9xx overclock, they were very helpful for me backthen few years ago when I started to OC first samples of i7-920 C0 for some customers and few months ago when I OC'ed that i7-920 C0 for the rig of my kid:

    http://www.overclock.net/t/538439/guide-to-overclocking-the-core-i7-920-or-930-to-4-0ghz

    http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_i7_920_overclocking

    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-920-overclocking_11.html

    http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/252517-29-overclock-degrees

    ...and search for GigaByte's: Core i7 920 oc 4G 2008.12.12_(ENG).pdf ...somewhere on the internet.

    Good luck with OC ;)
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2013
  2. CrazY_Milojko

    CrazY_Milojko Ancient Guru

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    There are three of us out there with i7-920 C0 @ 4GHz ;)
    http://star.ap.teacup.com/pii-no-pc/178.html (bottom of the page, NAME: JOKER)
    I'm still at work so I'm not 100% sure but if I remember well mine i7-920 C0 is the same batch (3838A672) like that i7-920 from that guy JOKER on link above and he is also using 1.375V for Vcore (but I will check Vcore of mine i7-920 C0 when I get back from work just to be 100% sure). Coincidence or just pure luck, who knows...
    Backthen I've found a lot of guys with C0 i7-920/930/940 running them over 4GHz but almost all of them were using huge aftermarket coolers or liquid cooling and many of these guys were using Vcore in range from 1.39xxV to 1.4xxV.
     
  3. Punisher64

    Punisher64 Guest

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    Thank you for your help! I actually just ordered a new cooler (stock temps are good, just warmer than I like ~40C) Here is what I ordered...any thoughts?

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154011

    Also, as for the whole 'good airflow' issue...I'm using an Antec Lanboy Air with 120mm Coolermaster Sickleflow Fans. 4 on the side panel and the 3 verticle, with 2 in the front and 1 in the back...got the airflow covered you think? :banana:
     
  4. Veteran

    Veteran Ancient Guru

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    Yeah its still a great deal what you got. I think now that you have got it you just need to oc it to where it is stable. If you go SLI in the future anything under 3.8-4ghz may bottleneck your 2nd card alittle.

    Just something to be aware about.:)
     

  5. Punisher64

    Punisher64 Guest

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    Yea I don't plan on it...right now I can get very high FPS on max settings on anything I play (DotA II, BL2, Bioshock, etc) so I'm not too worried. Just want to get that thing as high as I can to get as much as possible. What do you think about that cooler I am thinking about ordering?

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154011
     
  6. CrazY_Milojko

    CrazY_Milojko Ancient Guru

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    I've never tried that cooler but when I'm reading this review: http://www . overclockersclub . com/reviews/tuniq_tower_120_extreme/ (remove spaces) ...I think it will do the job for the OC'ed i7-940 C0/C1 up to 3.6-3.7GHz in good ventilated case. If that cooller is mine I will definitely do some mod on it to mount one more (or even two) additional 120x120x25mm 12V fans for push-pull and after that I'm sure that cooler willl be capable to cool that CPU properly up to 3.9GHz, maybe even 4GHz (again, in good ventilated case). One more thing to mention: do some lapping of the copper heatpipe contact surface on that cooler, till this day I've never seen perfect contact surface on any CPU cooler I had in my hands, properly lapped contact surface (paired with some good thermal compound) can lower CPU temp for few Celsius degrees.


    That case is more than enough ventilated but I don't quite understand that "3 verticle" that you've mentioned...
    Mount 2 fans at the top to blow hot air out from the case. Leave that rear 120 mm TwoCool™ blue LED fan at the back to blow hot air out and leave those 2 fans at the front to blow in fresh/cold air inside ithe case. After this how many spare fans you have?
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2013
  7. CrazY_Milojko

    CrazY_Milojko Ancient Guru

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    OK, now I understand that "3 verticle" fans, it's obvious that my brain in not functional enough after almost 12 hours of work... :( "3 verticle" stands for: 1 fan at the back and 2 at the front...
    About those 4 fans at the (left, I guess) side panel: let bottom-side 2 fans blow fresh/cold air inside the case, and top-side 2 fans to blow hot air outside the case.
     
  8. Punisher64

    Punisher64 Guest

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    Haha no not quite even yet. Look at the image:

    http://blog.antec.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_4066.jpg

    I have all those fans on the side, plus the 2 in front, and the 1 in back. However, Antec recommends that all fans are intakes to build up static pressure, keeping dust out and to allow the hot air to flow out the cracks.
     
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  10. CrazY_Milojko

    CrazY_Milojko Ancient Guru

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    One way or another dust from the air is something you have to deal with in classic air/fan cooling sistems (despite case dust filters) no matter what Antec or other manufacturers are recommending so forget about static pressure and other nonsenses. Noise from the fans is second "problem" but on every gaming rig I had/have so far I'm using big 2.1 sound sistem or headsets while gaming and fan noise is gone. When I'm watching movies or surfing I reduce voltage on all case fans from 12V to 7V, 6V or 5V and noise from the fans is barely audible. For those who don't like dust in their cases (and have enough money) total liquid cooling system is the way to go, noise is barely hearable (pump) or there is no noise at all, but because of quality liquid cooling system content in the wallet could be also barely visible... :)
    From my experience when I'm building rigs for gaming I like to use at least the same number of fans blowing in and out (e.g. 3x fans blowing in + 3x fans blowing out) or if it is possible (cases with a lot of fan mounting points) to use one or two more fans more for blowing out (e.g. 3x fans blowing in + 4x or 5x fans blowing out). Also all fans that are blowing hot air out from the case must be mounted at the top or back-top end of the case (hot air is going up naturally). With that fan setup I've got lowest temperatures for CPU and GPU, dust inside the case is necessity but for me it's not hard to spend a few minutes every few weeks to open and clean the dust from the cases with air compressor. One good thing about all these fans inside my rigs is that because of them PC cases are acting like an air filters in room where they are located. :)
    So my advice is to do some experiments with different fan setups, worm up that rig with Prime95 (small FFT's test) and Furmark and measure the tems of CPU and GPU to find out what fan setup is the best in your case.
     

  11. CrazY_Milojko

    CrazY_Milojko Ancient Guru

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    Guess I'm an old school geek, I love to hear the "sound of the engine", in case of the my gaming rigs I just love to hear some dirty fan noise inside the case, there is no pleasure for me driving a Ferrari and listening to the car audio if I can't hear car engine, car audio can go to hell and I don't need it (for that I'll go to some concert), I just want to hear an engine. OK, I don't have a Ferrari, but my chip tuned Opel Astra is quite nice replacement, while I'm driving it I never ever listen to the car audio, car engine is music to my ears, that's why when I'm driving someone (especially my mother-in-law) my wife is complaining that she cant hear any sound from the car audio. I just press the throttle down to get 5000, 6000rpm and my mother-in-low talk inside the car is instantly neutralised, but that is another story... :)
     
  12. CrazY_Milojko

    CrazY_Milojko Ancient Guru

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    ^^^ and there is no money on the world that could buy me a pleasure like that expression on my mother-in low face when I pass 210Km/h with 7000+ rpm, nothing can beat that :devil::devil:
     

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