Has anyone overclock the i7 960?

mine was supposed to be o/ced to 3.73 but bios is reporting 3.33 (sigh)

Still looking to see if anyone here has successfully OC the i7 960 on their Alienware? I have 6GB 1600MHz RAM in my setup.

Carl.

ojk0989,
I have not seen any reports of the i7 960 being overclocked.

stonemik,
Only the i7 975 was overclocked to 3.73GHz. Is that what you have?

Did both of you use these instructions?

I'll have to check it out when I get done moving the furniture later tonight but that's what I had ordered - I had contacted customer service about the build they said to talk to tech support which I haven't had time to do yet

Mike

ojk0989, I have not seen any reports of the i7 960 being overclocked.   stonemik, Only the i7 975 was overclocked to 3.73GHz. Is that what you have?   Did both of you use these instructions?

Chris,

Thank you for the reply, especially during your vacation.

I did read those instructions prior to posting this but was not 100% on OC my new PC. The reason is Chris, you wrote:

Possible causes of PC failures due to Overclocking
* Memory ratios set higher than 8 for 1333MHz or 10 for 1600MHz memory
* Adjusting the CPU BClk to values higher than 160MHz will overclock both the memory and the CPU beyond 3.20 GHz
* If the Intel Turbo Mode tech value is set to Enable, it will overclock the CPU beyond 3.20GHz when the CPU BClk value is set to 160MHz.
NOTE: Users will have the option of modifying the above mentioned values at their own discretion but CPU frequencies higher than 3.20 GHz are not recommended since it will dramatically shorten the processor life and could cause system instability, NoPOST, black screen issues, BSOD etc

In case of PC failures due to Overclocking
The Bios will try to recover itself by setting the system to factory defaults, after a third post failure. In case the Bios cannot be recovered, then the CMOS has to be manually reset by moving the CMOS jumper and removing the Coin Cell battery. Once the system is able to complete the post, access the Bios and reset Load Level 1 Settings to load the factory 3.20GHz configuration.

My processor is already 3.2Ghz (non OC) and you say wrote that its not recommended to go past 3.2 GHz.

My post is for anyone who has a 3.2Ghz processor (i7 960) and who has OC that processor successfully with out any issues. I would not want to damage my PC.

PS where did you go on vacation Chris?

Thanks,

Carl  

Yup my  'puter has the correct CPU - an i7 975 - but it's reporting 3.33 and I've tried loading the optimal settings but bios is still reporting 3.33 - Mea Culpa to the other posters of this thread - didn't mean to hijack this one I can start another. 

Mike

I have the i7 975.  How would one overclock it to 3.73GHz (Alienware Aurora)?  The general instructions you graciously posted for the 920 don't work, trust me :).  (BIOS went into recovery mode when I tried.)

i have just built a new gameing high-end system.  i am useing an i7-960  with a v8 cool master   and i have her overclocked to 4 ghz  with no problems at all

now remember its air cooled, if i had good water cooling i bet i could get it up to 5 ghz.  the highest i have seen proof of for an i7-960 OC is  well over 5.8 ghz (need an extreme cooling system for this to happen.. if you are still watching the posts on this and want  to see the proof of my oc  let me know (also have 3dmark vantage score i got over 26000)

p.s. my temp never went above 68c after over 8 hrs extreme stress test so i got really lucky with my chip. I think she is a good one

4Ghz that is sweet!d I still havent OC my 960 yet in my Alineware. what settings did you use to get 4Ghz?

Thanks,

Carl

Carl,

here is a pic of my CPU and its stats. 4 ghz will run way to hot if u have a stock CPU cooler fan.

ferals,

Would you mind editing these instructions to the way you did it for the i7 960?

* Restart the PC
* Press the F2 key to enter the Bios
* Select the Frequency/Voltage Control option and press Enter
* Select the Memory Ration option and press Enter
- choose 8 for 1333MHz memory
- choose 10 for 1600MHz memory
* Select the Overclock Configuration option and press Enter
* Set Adjust CPU BClk to 160
* Set Intel TurboMode tech to Disabled
* Press the ESC key to return to the Frequency/Voltage Control menu
* Select the Overvoltage Configuration option and press Enter
* Set Dynamic CPU Vcore offset to + 20mv
* Press the F10 key to Save the Settings and Exit

The only option I really messed with were the bclk (FSB) from 133 to 160, set the memory divider and bumped the CPU voltage to 1.30.  I left turbo on, to get the extra multiplier (25x instead of 24x) hence 160x25=4000.  If you turn turbo off, the multiplier goes to 24x.

ferals,   Would you mind editing these instructions to the way you did it for the i7 960?   * Restart the PC * Press the F2 key to enter the Bios * Select the Frequency/Voltage Control option and press Enter * Select the Memory Ration option and press Enter - choose 8 for 1333MHz memory - choose 10 for 1600MHz memory * Select the Overclock Configuration option and press Enter * Set Adjust CPU BClk to 160 * Set Intel TurboMode tech to Disabled * Press the ESC key to return to the Frequency/Voltage Control menu * Select the Overvoltage Configuration option and press Enter * Set Dynamic CPU Vcore offset to + 20mv * Press the F10 key to Save the Settings and Exit

what motherboard are you using?    mine is not the same so we  have different Bios, but in the end your instructions are in the same general order as i did my OC.  I didnt turn off the turbo as you have down in your instructions.  there is no %100 right way to OC any Processor as every individual chip is literally different, you will get one chip that will OC  to 4.5 ghz stable (would want water cooling at these speeds) and the next one only be able to  go to 3.33 stable.  best thing to do is start low (play with the cpu BClk first)  you should be able to get to 3.6(estimation as each chip is different) without haveing to turn up the voltage on the cpu.  if you can run stable at 3.6 then think about playing with the other things like voltage.

I am led to believe that the BIOS will report the stock speed for your specific processor only ie (your proc multiplier) x 133Mhz. If you have increased Bclk at all (which all non extreme chip versions have to to overclock) then the bios will misreport the true speed.

If you run something like CPU-Z though you can see the actual value. 

By the way I do not see why a 960 cannot be overclocked with the Dell bios. There will likely be les overhead than with a 920 but should still be able to get some reasonable gains.

I have Aurora (plain vanilla, not ALX) with i7 960. The max stable speed I've achieved is 175x24=4200mhz. By stable I mean 24hr prime95 torture test. However, at this speed, my system has only 20% of chance of successfully achieving POST, go figure. I highly suspend the foxconn mobo is the culprit. Foxconn mobos traditionally have a bad repuatation in the quality department, and the lack of voltage control adds to the problem. So far I'm making do with 165x24=3960mhz which doesn't have any problem with POST. Also I replaced the factory-installed 1067mhz ram with Kingston 2000mhz rated ram, I'm running these speed demons at 165x12=1980mhz, which is blazingly fast, with Sandra benchmark reporting over 34GB/sec in memory bandwidth. As a reference point, 1600mhz DDR3 ram usually only achieves 28GB in the same test.

Note to Dell/Alienware: wouldn't it make sense to spend $50 more to procure a mobo from a more reputable source like Asus instead of Foxconn? After all, you're charging a very hefty premium on Alienware systems. That $50 would more than pay for itself with happier customers and less quality-related tech support expenditures.