Alienware Aurora R4 2012 i7 3820 3.6GHz NOT 4.1GHz :(

The Alienware is factory overclocked. It will only hit the highest speed under certain conditions. Under most conditions it will work at stock speeds.

See: 

Ok digging thru I found this!

I wouldn't call the turbo boost feature overclocking tho, that's kinda lame.

Processors

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3820 CPU @ 3.60GHz (CPU:0)

Name Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3820 CPU @ 3.60GHz

Cores 4

Threads 8

Signature 206D7h

Family 6h

Model 2Dh

Technology 32 nm

Performance  

  Max Qualified Speed 3.60 GHz

  Max Turbo Boost Speed 4.10 GHz

  Current Speed 3.80 GHz

  Multiplier x 38.0 (12 - 36)

  Max Turbo Boost Ratio x 41

  Bus Speed 100.00 MHz

Features MMX, PSE36, EM64T, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, IDA, XD, VMX, AES

Cache Summary  

  L1 Instruction Cache 4 x 32.00 kB

  L1 Data Cache 4 x 32.00 kB

  L2 Cache 4 x 256.00 kB

  L3 Cache 10.00 MB

Download CPU-Z: www.cpuid.com/.../cpu-z.html

Go to Control Panel, Power Options and set it to High Performance.

Next open CPU-Z and check the speed. It should read it at 4.1ghz. If it doesn't I can show you how to overclock it or you can use the link mpo gave you.

If it does read it at 4.1ghz then go back into Power Options and change it back to Balanced. That way it will under clock when not being stressed. That will increase the life of the CPU and reduce power consumption.

OK, that didn't do it. It still shows as 3.6 o system report and CPU-z. I'm ready for the next step :)

OK, that didn't do it. It still shows as 3.6 o system report and CPU-z. I'm ready for the next step :)

Go here and follow step two. Once done do what I said before with High Performance and CPU-Z to confirm the speed increase. http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&docid=457874&doclang=en&l=en&s=gen&cs=

Just an FYI but Windows will never show you the CPU increase.

Alright somehow I missed the post by mpo. I guess that's the answer I'm looking for. It seems my processor i7-3820 is not really overclocked and can't be o/c because it's not unlocked, note that there's no K after the model no. but its more of a feature that's been around for a while. I I know it as turbo boost and that's basically what it is.

hi , i have buy a 4.1 overclock cpu but when i run this test 

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?&docid=535179&~lt=print

He only hit 3.5 .

How can i get the 4.1 i paid for ? 

i use this link

but only one core is overclocked to 4.1 ghz , all other are at 3.8 , why ?

i use this link     but only one core is overclocked to 4.1 ghz , all other are at 3.8 , why ?

There are a few reasons for this.

1) Most apps are single threaded meaning they only use one core on the CPU but apps have been catching up to the tech as time goes by:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_threading

2) When overclocking you can always get a higher single core clock then you can on all cores. Because of #1 this makes it ok so don't be discouraged by it.

This is just the very basics. You are really asking a complicated question and there is more to it then what I explaned. If you really want to learn more then go here, make an account and then start reading and asking questions [:D] The Newbie Guide is really good . http://www.overclock.net/f/2/new-members

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