John York Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I need some advice please. First of all I should emphasize what most of you know already that I'm completely incompetent when dealing with anything to do with engines, machinery and particularly computers! Having said that, although my present I7 920 is working satisfactorily and with the extra fan I had put in when it was installed keeping the working temperatures under control, I do want to overclock it to about 3 - 3.4 GHz and for that I know I need extra or different cooling. When tested under high stress, the temperatures got up to the high 70's. Bearing in mind what I said in the first paragraph, I would appreciate advice firstly on what coolers you fellers with similar cpu's who live in Countries with hot ambient temperatures have to have. And as it seems no-one around me is willing to take on the task, the cooler you found the easiest to install. Bare in mind also that I don't want anything that I will have to refill even if only from time to time. I'm too old and crotchety for that! Secondly, I've Googled for overclocking instructions for the I7 920 and there are lots, some of which purport to give easy to understand step by step instructions on how to do it. I couldn't understand a word! They were, without exception, in an English language with which I am totally and utterly unfamiliar and seemed to me to be written by knowledgeable people out to impress rather than help. At least Australian and American English can be understood! These instructions were written by experts for experts who didn't need them! So, what I'm asking for, and I will accept this may not be possible, but please, is there someone out there who can tell me step by step in words of one syllable and non-technical English how to overclock an I7-920? Many thanks, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Hi John I have been around flights sims and FTX for some time but am new to posting on the forums so hope it works! I have just purchased an i7 and am trying to get the courage to rebuild my pc although I'm waiting for W7 at the moment. Like you I have found understandable advice difficult to find but I did download an article written by someone at Gigabyte I think that takes you through the process in nice easy steps. I'm at work at the moment but will look it up tonight and get back to you (unless one of our FTX friends beats me to it!). On recommendation I have bought a Noctua cooler which is supposed to work really well for an air cooled device. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 Thanks Pete. Your post worked fine. I'll look forward to receiving that. Working at your age? You should be ashamed! Give a young, ingnorant lout your job. The Government will be grateful! All the best John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Unfortunately due to a very expensive divorce settlement, I have to work part time even though I have reached official retirement age ! But I do get 4 day weekends which is pretty good. I have seen your input on many forums over time so its nice to actually become involved with the great bunch of people who enjoy our hobby. I'll be in touch later with (hopefully) some useful info Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Hi John Type this into Google - "Gigabyte i7 920 overclocking tutorial". The first item you see should be a PDF file with that name. open it up and there is what seems to me (haven't tried it yet!!) a pretty straightforward explanation of overclocking. It is written for a Gigabyte board but would probably apply in general terms I would guess Hope this helps pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveyeo Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Hi John, I have just completed building an I7 system for myself and am using a Thermalright EX-120 eXtreme, one of the best coolers on the market. I overclocked it last weekend to 4.0 Ghz no problem. What motherboard & memory are you using? I'm sure I can help you; I'm in Bristol; do you come to the Bristol FlightSim Group meets? Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susto Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Hi John Type this into Google - "Gigabyte i7 920 overclocking tutorial". The first item you see should be a PDF file with that name. open it up and there is what seems to me (haven't tried it yet!!) a pretty straightforward explanation of overclocking. It certainly worked for my Gigabyte motherboard. Recommended! Regards, Juan Andres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Meiklejohn Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 G'day John and Pete, I have built two i7-920 systems in September and overclocked both of them to 4.2gHz. Both systems were almost identical in build specs and were built from the ground up with overclocking (cooling) in mind so things were very easy for me - I specced both machines into full size aluminium cases for max airflow and cooling and planned to use air cooling on both machines. Both used Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 tower coolers with Noctua NFP12 fans http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/product_page/cpu/u120ex/product_cpu_cooler_u120ex_revc.html http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=12&lng=en Overclocking was easy on these machines - both used ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 boards and it was just a single BIOS entry to modify the BCLK frequency. At this time I haven't fiddled with voltages or mem speeds and both machines have been running fine. (Remember that there are other BIOS settings needed to run FSX smoothly on core i7 other than overclock). All temps below are in celsius. Machine 1 clocked to 4.2ghz with idle temps around 50degrees (room ambient temp ~24degrees) so I wound that machine back to 3.8ghz. Machine 2 clocked to 4.2ghz with idle temps around 45degrees (same ambient room temp) so I left it at 4.2 for the time being. I would not want to run these machines with temps in the mid 60's for too long a period. I have my thermal protections set to 70degrees in the BIOS. My ambient room temperature at the moment is 26 degrees and my system is running at 4gHZ with 'coretemp' showing 38-40 degrees. The other day when the ambient room temp was 32degrees Celsius and I was running FSX at 4.2ghz my 'coretemp' were showing 55-63 degrees. I wound the speed back to 4ghz at that time and temps in FSX dropped about 5 degrees. I haven't tried to push these systems faster than 4.2ghz at the moment but may in the future (esp. if I can get my room airconditioned). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Hi Barry Thanks for the info. I will be putting my new pc together once W7 has arrived, so its pretty imminent! You said there were other BIOS settings to be addressed for running FSX. When you find a few minutes to spare could you outline them for us please. Many thanks Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Meiklejohn Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 G'day Pete, The most important BIOS option for a core i7 is to disable hyperthreading (where the OS thinks there are more cores than those physically present). Whilst hyperthreading works well for some applications FSX is not one of them and HT will cause a lot of stuttering. I also disable Turboboost, which is where the CPU will boost one core when others are dormant. Then there are the more mundane settings for controlling your cooling and powerusage (these are not all that relevant for FSX performance - more for system efficiency). Cheers, Barry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Hi Barry Thanks for the prompt reply. That info is really useful. Can't wait to start the "build" although a little nervous.I have built several PCs but its always nerve tingling when you first switch on. As you might see from another post I intend to install W7 x 64 and have a go at putting FSX onto two velociraptors in RAID 0 configuration! I must be mad!! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Meiklejohn Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Yes Pete, just read that thread. My previous system was a QX9650 with WIN7 64bit and FSX on a pair of RAID0 Velociraptor 150s, with my data/storage residing on a 1tb samsung (actually the data drive is still here in my new system). When I first setup my raptors I did a comparison on my previous setup. Dated but you can find the thread here - http://orbxsystems.com/forums/index.php?topic=11898.msg102367 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Interesting comparison. I'm sure the technology will lead towards SSDs in the future but I'll settle for the Velos at the moment. Thought.......... could sell the Velos (brand new) and invest in SSD!!!! NO.... my dear wife would kill me! Thanks for all your help Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeronauta Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 for the sake of your life and wife...stay with the Velos....2 in raid0 are the best money can buy today. Noctua is the go...I was getting on a normal system with the standard cooler (I7 920) 50 t0 57 deg temp. added the noctua with the 2 fans pushing air up and the same system went to 35 -40 deg. Now oveclocking gently the cpu never goes past 45 (i have a Gigabyte X58 extreme) Multithreading is a two pointed sword...FSX does not need it but the OS may. As the apps we run are not MT the OS being MT still has 3 more CPU's to run on. Outside room temp is vital... remember a system runs cool if the room temp is 18deg...wait for summer 25 + and you'll see... the point is to get fresh air inside the case for the coolers to work. I must investigate how the wine coolers work ...they can keep say 12 bottles at 15deg with very litte power use and fuzz and the cost is small I think....... granted the bottles do not create heat ... but again I drink them often!!!! so the cycle is short... some thoughts.. regards Jorge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Jorge yes I will be staying with Velos. Have to put a stop to the hardware spending sometime! Need to save money for lots of FTX stuff! Thanks for your advice. Will take it all on board when I start to build within the next couple of weeks. Oh and I have a Noctua 12 cooler to go in so temps should be good. All the Best Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 Hi Guys Thanks Pete. Despite what I asked, the fellers have started writing Chinese again so I haven't understood a lot of what's been said in my thread. However, I now have a Noctua 1366 cooler kit on order which I'm hoping I may be able to install myself with Redline looking over my shoulder. I'm also hoping that he'll be able to guide me through the overclocking which I'm aiming to limit to a modest 3.4 GHz. As for temperatures, I live in the fairly mild South West of England but indoors the ambient hovers at around 20. There is a problem in that my whole computer lives in a cabinet in the spare bedroom and the tower, while having space about 1" at one side, 4" above, 3" to the left, open 2" at the top. While in use the front is wide open (except for me) and the back of the cabinet is completely open but with a wall some 3" away from the back of the tower. So all in all air flow can be pretty much restricted. I've been told in no uncertain terms that the spare bedroom is primarily for our visitors and not my toys! I must confess too that I wouldn't much like the idea of visitors although friends and relations taking the opportunity to pry about too much. Especially, when they're sometime children who admittedly would probably know more about computers than I've ever learned! I'm hoping that this cooling and a quite powerful fan on the side of the tower will keep me down to reasonable temperatures despite the space restrictions. While I'm about it, I might as well try to disable the hyperthreading that I know my set-up came with so can You explain how I do that please Barry? My job over the weekend will be to get on to that Google site Pete kindly gave me and try to print out the instructions for the Overclock. ' (Remember that there are other BIOS settings needed to run FSX smoothly on core i7 other than overclock).' - What are these Bazaam? Hi Steve - I know Bristol isn't that many miles away from Minehead but frankly on our roads to Bridgewater and then on up its a real drag, so no, I don't go to the flight sim meetings. Thanks for the offer of help though. If you can contribute some answers to the questions I've posed here though, I will be grateful. All I know is that I've got an I7-920 cpu with an msi X58M motherboard (model number MS-7593) and 6 GB RAM (2x3). Looking forward to some information. All the best to you all. John PS - Well, I've looked all over that site from the link you gave me Pete and I can find nothing even approaching a tutorial. Even though it says it has it, I couldn't b well find it! Blinking nuisance. I wanted to print it off so I could follow it step by step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Hello John I have just typed in the link I gave you and found the tutorial as the very top entry in the Google listing. Remember this is a PDF file which means you need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in order to read it. If you don't have that program you can get it free from the Adobe web site. Sorry if you know all this already! Do try again as its a very easy tutorial to follow. Best wishes Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolter van der Spoel Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 just checked the link Pete and works a treat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Meiklejohn Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 G'day John, While I'm about it, I might as well try to disable the hyperthreading that I know my set-up came with so can You explain how I do that please Barry? Regarding hyperthreading (often referred to by manufacturers as HT), you will need to enter your BIOS. You do not say what type of motherboard your system has so it is hard to offer more specific advise on how to disable HT. Most manufacturers use different types of BIOS and even entering the BIOS can be different from system to sytem - suffice to say you should see a notice come up when your computer first starts up saying something like "Press DEL to enter BIOS". Sometimes it might be F1 or F3 etc. When you enter the BIOS you will think you are in a different universe as there will be a lot of pages, menus and options. These should all be detailed in the little manual that came with your motherboard/computer. If you don't have a manual you can download these badly written gems of information from the manufacturers web sites. You will need to identify your exact motherboard type if unknown - often written on the motherboard itself. When in the BIOS you will need to find the option to disable HT. In the case of my P6T board it is under the 'ADVANCED' tab - 'intel HT technology'. Not sure about Gigabyte or other brands but obviously it will be there somewhere. ' (Remember that there are other BIOS settings needed to run FSX smoothly on core i7 other than overclock).' - What are these Bazaam? The other steps are not as important as HT, I mentioned them in the post above. The most important BIOS option for a core i7 is to disable hyperthreading (where the OS thinks there are more cores than those physically present). Whilst hyperthreading works well for some applications FSX is not one of them and HT will cause a lot of stuttering. I also disable Turboboost, which is where the CPU will boost one core when others are dormant. Then there are the more mundane settings for controlling your cooling and powerusage (these are not all that relevant for FSX performance - more for system efficiency). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotspot Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 G'day JohnY, When in the Bios mate, the ol' mouse takes a holiday so to move around your tools are the keyboard arrows, the enter button etc, which is as far as I know explained at the bottom of each screen. Don't hesitate to change things as you can always 'exit without saving' when you hit the escape button - but I'm sure your mate will talk you through this. BTW one of my touristy friends just back from London talked about T shirts and shorts @ 27C, so your focus on temps seems timely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgruschow Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 G'day John and Pete, I have built two i7-920 systems in September and overclocked both of them to 4.2gHz. Both systems were almost identical in build specs and were built from the ground up with overclocking (cooling) in mind so things were very easy for me - I specced both machines into full size aluminium cases for max airflow and cooling and planned to use air cooling on both machines. Both used Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 tower coolers with Noctua NFP12 fans Very interesting Barry.It was good to read something from someone who knows what he is doing and who's results I can believe. I had a new computer built for me recently.A 975 cpu in an Asus Rampage motherboard. Running Win 7 RC 64 bit. at the moment. By coincerdence I have the same cooler and fan as you. It is overclocked to 4.1 at the moment and I have much the same core temps as you.I have had it running at just over 4.3,but the temps rise well into the 70's.So I will leave it where it is. At last a computer that runs FSX properly 'Jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Hall Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 which motherboard is recomended for best overclocking, Ive heard good things about the gigabyte x58 extreme, cheers Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Routley Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Ken .. yes I'd go that way ... but maybe consider the eVGA X58 board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Careful with the Classified. There are several PSUs which don't work with that mobo. Including my Tagan 1100... That's why i ordered the Foxconn Bloodrage. Btw, did you know that Foxconn makes most of the boards you buy under a different brand ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hi fellers, I've got rid of Hyperthreading. Finding how to save and exit took more time than actually disenabling the HT! I've received my new Noctua cooler and downloaded and printed the instructions. Hopefully, that will be installed next week when the guy who's coming round to help me recovers from a bout of 'flu. Not the swine kind I'm glad to say! I've yet to get the instructions for overclocking Pete. That'll be the next job after we've solved the water leak in our flat that did considerable damage to our neighbours in the two flats below us but nothing at all to ours. \I dread to think of the bill as I've yet to agree with the building insurance people what part of the cost is theirs and which mine! At the same time as the burst pipe, our central heating boiler packed up and today we've got the men here to put a new expansion vessel into the boiler. Luckily, we've got that insured. I'll keep you all informed. Busy, busy!!! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Meiklejohn Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Sorry to hear about those real life probs John - good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehowell57 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Hi John Wondered why we hadn't heard from you for a little while. All those problems put overclocking into perspective! Still when its sorted at least you know you have the wonderful FSX with FTX to look forward to and provide some light relief Best wishes Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Thanks for the best wishes fellers. Insurance surveyor coming today to assess the damage. At least we're up and running. While here the Boiler engineers found 4, yes bloody 4 more leakes in the pipes to and from the boiler! They were'rt noticeble because when the boiler was on it dried them up! This building is only 6 years old and the plumber that was employed during the build whould lose his licence, or whatever it is they have. The men who did all the repairs said it was some of the shoddiest work they'd ever seen! Anyway, hopefully its all resolved except for a bit of redecorating and sorting the money out. Any of you good for a sub? Will let you know about the cooler and possible overclocking in a week or two. All the best John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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