Introduction
So many users are searching around the net these days looking for advice on how to overclock their new systems but don’t know where to start. To help everyone out, I decided a how-to guide was in order. Searching around forums can be confusing and intimidating. There are so many people willing to give advice, but who can you trust? It’s hard to know, and I’ve seen many users sent on wild goose chases because they are following advice that doesn’t solve or even address their specific problem. I’ve also seen too much trial and error overclocking, unless you get lucky it tends to be far too time consuming a frustrating. What I’ve attempted to do is create a very simple three step guide for overclocking Bloomfield and Gulftown based CPUs. If you want to continue searching out other opinions, please consider each suggestion with caution. Some will undoubtedly be great, some will not.
Disclaimer
I am not responsible for any bad things that happen to you or your computer as a result of you following this guide, nor is techreaction.net. My goal is for this guide to be a safe overclocking guideline, but the burden for damaged hardware lies on the user performing the overclock! Overclocking can damage hardware and in most cases will void your warranties.
Prerequisites
In an earlier version of this guide, I requested that you have some basic knowledge of your motherboards BIOS. While I have not addressed every motherboard on the market, I have included details for the top enthusiast brands. But as before, please do not be afraid to get into your BIOS and have a look around, if you are ever concerned that you may have changed a setting erroneously, you can always load defaults, and start over. Most boards have a CMOS reset button on them now-a-days, if not check your user manual for the location of the CMOS reset jumper…please ensure you know the location before getting started.
This guide is independent of your cooling system. Whether you are using the stock Intel cooler or if you’re pushing to the extreme with phase change cooling, the basic steps remain the same. One thing that is far too common are mistakes mounting your cooling system, specifically the application of the thermal interface material (TIM). If you don’t have much experience mounting cooling apparatus, please refer to this excellent guide from Arctic Silver.
Methodology
Determining methods for finding a stable overclock are highly controversial, everyone has their own definition of a stable system, but when I refer to “stable” in this guide, I am referring to the stability of your selected “stability test.” So for a power user or gamer who wants a reliable system that won’t ever crash due to an overclock pushed too far, you’d need to test with a program that will load all of the cores and threads applicable to your CPU, OCCT and IntelBurnTest are two popular choices. OCCT uses the same algorithm as Prime95 but has a more friendly interface. IntelBurnTest uses the Intel linpak binaries to stress the system and also has an easy to use interface. In this guide I may use testing this is insufficient in your opinion. It is only a guidline and if you feel more testing is necessary for your system, by all means feel free.
So with that in mind, we will attempt to isolate each portion of the system and overclock one step at a time. This may seem time consuming at first glance, but rest assured this will potentially save you hours of troubleshooting and frustration. So go slow, and follow each step very carefully.
BIOS familiarization
If you’ve found my guide online, my guess is you’re looking for more than a basic overclock. If you’re not, and all you’d like is something simple, please redirect your attention to your motherboard manufacturer’s website and download the latest overclocking utility. For basic 10-20% overclocking, they work pretty well. There is “Gigabyte EasyTune6“, “Asus TurboV EVO“, “MSI Control Center“, and “eVGA eleet“. This guide is written to take it to the next level, for THAT we need to do the overclocking from the BIOS.
Speaking of which, before we begin, please check your motherboard manufacturer’s website for the latest version of your BIOS. Usually enthusiast level boards will have BIOS engineers tweaking them for months or years to improve overclocking support. Unless you have a reason to stay with your current BIOS, I’d update to the newest version.
If you don’t know how to access the BIOS, please refer to your motherboard’s owner’s manual for instruction. While you’re there, find out how to “clear CMOS”. As I mentioned in the introduction to this guide, it’s important you know how to properly “clear CMOS” before we begin.
Secondly, the first thing to do after powering up the new system is to enter the BIOS and find the “hardware monitor” area and verify the CPU temperature is reasonable based on your cooling. If not, please power down the system and verify the mounting of your cooling apparatus (refer to the guide linked in the “prerequisites” section above).
106 Comments
[...] are good temps? I get max temp of 80 at 4.2, I would worry about low 70's. Check out this link: http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ __________________ 4.2ghzBuy My P55 FTW!!P32,684**-~ i7 950 Overclockers Club [...]
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[...] oc af mit system. Og er ret ny hvad det angår. Jeg har fulgt denne guide fra techreaction.net: 3 Step Overclocking Guide – Bloomfield and Gulftown | TechREACTION Forlanger ikke det vilde af mit system da jeg for det meste kun spiller og jeg er ikke ude efter [...]
[...] så småt begyndt at lege med min I7 920'er. Har fulgt en fulgt en 3 step guide som jeg fandt her: 3 Step Overclocking Guide – Bloomfield and Gulftown | TechREACTION Ville så lige hører hvad effekt en formatering og ny installation af windows kan have på de [...]
[...] you some beginner info) Voltage Guide for Core i7(Useful Info to Know when OCing) Bloomfield and Gulftown 3 Step Overclocking Guide(I by far found this one the most useful, and is probably more like what you were looking for) [...]
[...] [...]
[...] [...]
[...] about a week. I've got lots of tech background as well. I've been following miahallen's excellent 3-step guide, but alas, I'm stuck at "step 1: maximizing bclock and uncore freq". The only way I can [...]
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[...] the qpi? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk I followed this guide this time around, http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…nd-gulftown/3/ Reason I mention the above guide is because in regards to QPI, I haven't had to raise mine passed [...]
[...] streamlined guide to get this sucker going at 4Ghz? Maybe break some of this down for me? I'm using This Guide right now, but still finding myself saying ***. I am using my sig rig for this attempted OC and [...]
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[...] seems awfully high, what is your vcore at at 3.6? If you haven't already take the time and read this At first I tried the quick and dirty method, but wasn't that happy with my voltage and temps so I [...]
Thanks again for all the positive feedback guys/gals
@ Oliver, the X58A-UD3R is an excellent budget board and will get you 95% and more
I’ve searched high and low and this is totally the holy grail of i7 overclocking guides.
miahallen: I’m gonna snag a Core i7 950 for a Cinema 4D render box. What X58 Gigabyte motherboard should I get if I want to get that %95 out of this tutorial.
Note: my other requirements are fairly low. I just know I’ll regret it if I have the specs to properly heat up some silicon
[...] Also I've recently been through the "3 Steps To Overclocking i7's" and now am running OC settings: 3 Step Overclocking Guide – Bloomfield and Gulftown | TechREACTION I'm at work at the moment but I can post up my FULL bios settings from every page if that would [...]
THANX for the Guide…
This is the BEST tool out there…Very clear and easy to understand…
I have my i7 950 running at 191×21 giving me a 4.01 which is more than plenty for me…
I only had to set vCore to 1.275 and UnCore to 1.25 and then of course DRAM to 1.60 and I left everything else on Auto…
No Errors!!!
Thanx =)
This guide is awesome!, the clearest one i have seen so far, and i will defiantly try it with my new system…. however it seems that I7 930′s are getting a better OC than the I7 950′s or am i just miss reading? XD
[...] most informative while doing my research before attempting this overclock! I also used this guide: http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ Those two guides helped me the most, along with random tidbits I gained from forum posts here and [...]
Thanks Steve….you are correct
Thank you for a well written article!
I have an Asus Rampage III Formula and I was able to follow the direction in this article and translate the setting names from Gigabyte to Asus. But I don’t know what to do for the section:
“Isolate the bclock from the memory”
“Sample #1, #2, and #3 – set the memory to 6”
Does this mean so I should set 6 in the System Memory Multiplier or in the case of the Asus board: set 800 in the DRAM Frequency because 133 x 6 = 798?
[...] stability? How did you reach that QPI/VTT voltage. I know the interweb is full of guides but this one is great. FWIW – My meh overclocking C0 920 does 4.0 on a bit less than 1.35v [...]
[...] like you're not alone. Also, here's a pretty good overclocking guide, definitely worth the read: http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ [...]
[...] 120BLZ….4blz 3 Step Overclocking Guide – Bloomfield and Gulftown | TechREACTION Ik zou zeggen volg die guide, in het kort; programmas: LinX/Intelburntest/OCCT , realtemp, cpu-z [...]
[...] so I am following the popular "3 Steps to overclocking guide" My steps I took are this (from the 3-step guide): – I determined I would like to get to 4.2ghz…4.0 is acceptable too 1) QPI/VTT voltage to 1.2V [...]
[...] – different approaches, I've done both: http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overc…beginners.html http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ The first is easiest to get a nice overclock with very little effort. I'd never overclocked, and [...]
[...] found this guide very helpful. http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ __________________ 4 GHz Overclock Club Core i7 4GHz+ [...]
[...] the 4MHz setting. But I'm wanting to learn more about the settings, and overclocking. I've read this guide, which is interesting, and goes with the idea of finding one limit at a time. Planned [...]
[...] thats when the BSOD codes can really help get you over the line. here is some good reading to… http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ __________________ Core i7 4GHz+ ClubThe Core i7 100% Stability Club5800 Ownerz Club [...]
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Thank you Sparks….you are correct….I’ve fixed it
Really good guide thanks. Just a question – you mention CPU / VTT in sections 1 & 2. I’ve assumed you meant QPI VTT – is this correct?
Thanks again!
Just want to say thank you!
More than happy to help, and glad it may have cleared up some confusion. Again, this guide is a lot of great work, and I hope to put it to good use. Thanks much for the effort.
Thanks for the comments Mike….you are absolutely correct….something got mixed up with my math I guess….this has probably been confusing a lot of people, but your the first one to point it out to me, so that you. I’ve edited the guide appropriately….thanks.
Excuse my while I go fire my proofreader
I really appreciate all the work that went into this! As a newbie to overclocking, I have a question. Step 1 sets the CPU clock ratio to x15. Then later, bclock is adjusted from 133 to 150. The CPU frequencies expected in CPU-Z are listed, but I must be missing something in my calculations. Should not all frequencies be 2250 (CPU clock ratio 15 x bclock 150MHz)? Sorry if this question is really elementary, and I’m missing something simple.
[...] be different. Here is a good guide to use, along with the guides in the Intel Essentials thread. http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ As far as PSU is concerned, a lot of that is going to have to do with which graphics cards and the [...]
This guide is just excellent! Thank you.
I followed your guide and achieved a stable OC in my Intel DX58SO mobo with i7 920 @ 3.7GHz, I ran mem-test for 8Hrs and OCCT Linpack has been running for 18+ hours max temp according to real temp is 79°C.
Clock Frequency: 185 MHz
Turbo boost: Disable
multilplier: 20
Speed: 3.70GHz
Memory Multiplier 8
Mem speed 1482 MHz
QPI Strap 4.8 GT/s
Qpi data rate: 6.7 GT/s
Voltages
Processor Core 1.3375v
memory: 1.65v
QPI/Processor uncore: 1.20v
IOH Core: 1.15v
Processor Overrides:
Static CPU voltage override 1.3375v
Dynamic CPU Voltage Offset 0 mv
CPU Vreg Droop Control Low Vdroop
Max non turbo Multiplier 20
CPU Idle state: High power
Turbo Boost Technology Disable
CPU VR Current Limit override Disable
[...] that link was for Lynnfield CPU's, here's the one for Bloomfield (which is what you have) [...]
Thanks for the tip Jeffrey….I was only able to reference one board from each manufacturer for the terminology table I created. It’s pretty sad IMO that manufacturers can’t even commit to using the same terminology accross their own line-up, I’ve been advised that Asus’s normal boards don’t appear to match their ROG series boards either…..too bad, it makes things pretty confusing at times.
Best of luck with your OC, if you have any questions, feel free to post in our forum and I’ll try to help.
Thanks so much for writing this. I’m going through the document now on my MSI X58 Pro-E. One tip for your readers. On this particular board MSI calls the IHO Voltage “NB Voltage”. Took me a while to figure that out.
[...] this step by step guide a try…u should easily be able to reach 4.0 stabily depending on ur RAM http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ also u can try this template…hopefully u have capable ram (ddr3 1600) [...]
[...] redoing my OC to achieve lower voltages. Here is a good guide I'm following somewhat. http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ [...]
[...] around, I liked this guide for a real thorough way to find out the right voltages and frequencies http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ I've also read that some CPU's don't like even multipliers, but I'm not sure about 930's. [...]
Glad I could help guys….keep it up!
I’ve just completed this guide. Stable 3.8GHz overclock on a i7 930. Phenomenal work, thank you so much.
Thanks for the time in doing this for people like myself who may need some help, i understand alot more now, however my system is struggling with the settings, i dont know if im doing something wrong? i am getting to the point where im uping the bclk by ten and i can get up to 170 with it but the vtt needs to be right up @ 1.3v to do it, i tolk your suggestion of it maybe being a black hole in the bclk but uping any further and it doesnt help, if you can suggest anything it would be greatly appreciated, i only wanna achive a oc of 4ghz stable, i have a i7 930 gigabyte x58a-ud3r mobo, Many thanks…
[...] guide below by miahallen at the fantastic techreactions forums, is the clearest and most logical sounding [...]
Thanks for taking the time to write this up. I greatly appreciate it.
[...] I've run through these two guides: http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/…920-930-a.html http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/…-and-gulftown/ I've tried both upping and lowering the QPI to every notch between 1.25 and 1.4v, have not been [...]
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