Core i7 920 Hyper-threading VS. Overclocking

[mynameisjacob]

Hello,

I'm a noob who is about to attempt an overclock on my Core i7 920. I understand that before I get started, the Turbo-boost mode and Hyper-threading features must be disabled. I don't care too much about turbo-boost but I do like hyper-threading and the option of having 8 processing threads.

Is having an overlocked i7 running at 3.8 GHz a significant improvement in performance over having a stock 8-threaded core running at 2.6 GHz? Or is there a way I can have an overclocked CPU and have hyper-threading running at the same time?

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Another question that just popped up, when I overclock too hard and I get BSODs, is that in anyway doing harm to my hardware? Or is it safe? Thanks.

 

[overshocked]

Yes turn off turbo and hyper threading. When you get a stable overclock then try experimenting with turning HT on.

 

[mynameisjacob]

Turn off turbo but leave HT on. Overclocking the 920 is as easy as 3 bios changes

I can leave HT on? Are you sure? What speed were you able to obtain?

 

[overshocked]

Speed is much more important than threads. There are not very many programs that will run on 8 threads.

IMHO it would be better to run with out HT on. You will be able to get a higher speed.

 

[cjl]

Speed is much more important than threads. There are not very many programs that will run on 8 threads.

IMHO it would be better to run with out HT on. You will be able to get a higher speed.

That depends on the application. For gaming alone, HT off is a good idea, but for anything like video encoding or any number of professional applications that use additional threads, HT on is a good idea. I have HT on, and I love it.

You absolutely can leave HT on when overclocking though. It will run cooler, and you'll probably have a slightly higher max overclock if you turn it off, but it will still overclock beautifully with HT on.

 

[ubernoobie]

^ agreed, That's why the core i5 is a good gaming proc, high multi and no ht, on the other hand, horrible server chip compared to core i7

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Till recently I was a moderate overclocker mainly cause I didn't have the patience to fiddle with lotsa different BIOS changes and then spend hours testing each one. My son just built a new box and it's been quite a project for us to spend time on together so it's been fun.

Of course, every CPU is different and every CPU / MoBo. Memory, PSU combo is different. But I can say that one can reach 3.7 GHz without disabling any BIOS features such as Turbo or HT. In fact the only thing we have currently chnaged in the BIOS is

Overclock Tuner = Manual
BCLK = 177
CPU Voltage - 1.125
Memory Timings = as per the manufacturers specs (BIOS for whatever reason didn't pick up and had to be set manually)

With HT and Turbo off, we hit 4.3 Ghz ....prolly can go higher but haven't disabled lotta things yet.

This is what I used as a guide

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&id=20081220191040237&board_id=1&model=P6T%20Deluxe&page=1&count=66

 

[cjl]

That's fairly impressive for a C0 920 - for the most part they seem to top out at 3.8 or so with HT on (unlike the D0, which seem to go >4GHz more routinely).

 

[htoonthura]

Speed is much more important than threads. There are not very many programs that will run on 8 threads.

IMHO it would be better to run with out HT on. You will be able to get a higher speed.

if you turn ht off, there is no point getting i920. I have 920 (c0) @ 3.7 with ht on. I can go higher without ht, but it makes no sense to go higher frequency over ht; as my cpu usages rarely go over 30%. Based on my findings and logic, i do not need very high frequency, but i do need HT.

 

[kiko777]

HT is one of the biggest advantages of the new I7 processors. It adds in most cases from 10 to 30 percent increase in performance depending on the application; produses more heath, though, but the income in performance is biggger that the dissadvantage in extra heat and voltage. And , YES - the defference from 2.66 to 3.8Gh is VERY BIG and noticable!
If you have good CPU cooler ( forget about the box cooler ), good air-flow in the case, efficient power spupply from a reputable brand - at least 500W, depending on the videocard you use, X58 motherboard from a decent manifacturer - Asus, GB, Foxconn, Evga, DFI, e.t.c ( you don't need high-class overclocking mobo for up to 4.0Gh) - you can reach 3.8 - 4Gh with HT easly. 1600MHZ RAM is sufficient for that, no need to spend money on high freq RAM. More than 1600 MHz Ram doesn't add to the real life performance also. From 4.0 up is much harder, hotter, noisier, more expensive, e.t.c.