Intel's Core i7: Blazing Fast, But Crippled O/C

[cangelini]

Thank you to those who contributed constructive feedback on this one. I've been working the past two days to generate meaningful results for an update to this piece and will be around to answer any more questions.

 

[Zorg]

Then just leave this one up in it's current form and I'll come back every time I see a post like the one above and set them straight for you.

 

[Zorg]

Oh wait, did I miss the changes earlier?

Good job, you have restored my faith.

 

[Zorg]

It certainly looks like an auto OC nightmare. I'll be looking forward to more mobo specific information as time goes on.

Kudos on the update and apologies for not being patient and giving you so much grief.

 

[cangelini]

Hope you found it informative!

 

[liemfukliang]

Please when creating thumnail, make it readable. When I click the thumbnail I want to see the detail, but I hope your thumbnail is bigger because many of them is unreadable. I am talking about print version. After I print it on the paper, how can I read the thumbnail? Click on the paper link? You may also use Microsoft Vista UI Guideline to improve your article. Thx.

 

[cangelini]

If you click the item in the picture gallery, it will blow up to full size. Best,

Chris

 

[Shadow703793]

Quick question: What are the max voltages for the new Core i7? (Not the VID range, I mean the max voltage, for example the safe max for 65nm is 1.55v)

 

[chris0101]

The consequences of a slow AMD [sigh] ...

Ultimately for hobbyists like you and me, our thrill is to build a rig, and see how fast we can OC the CPU, RAM, and GPU. By doing this, Intel has created a lot of apathy and in a recession, people will be less willing to buy the more pricey 940.

I do hope that AMD will "K8" Intel once again. Intel is becoming like Microsoft in its practices right now ...

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]Shadow703793[/nom]Quick question: What are the max voltages for the new Core i7? (Not the VID range, I mean the max voltage, for example the safe max for 65nm is 1.55v)[/citation]

I've done 1.525V without frying the chip on air cooling and

 

[Shadow703793]

So the max safe has been increased? If I remember correctly for 45nm it was 1.45 or 1.5v?

 

[Guest]

In a couple of places in the article I see references to 100A. If I'm not mistaken, this means 100 amps, but I can't believe it. 100 amps it a lot. It means more than 7.5 high powered microwaves (1000W, each drawing close to 13amps). I can't imagine the wiring that would need to supply 100 amps to the cpu, not to mention the PSU and the in-house wiring on a circuit capable of that...
Maybe it should be 100mA (0.1A)?

 

[modtech]

Thanks for the update on overclocking. Keep up the good work!

 

[Shadow703793]

Maybe it should be 100mA (0.1A)

Yup.

 

[jaragon13]

"100 amps it a lot"

Nah,1.2 kilo-watts ain't nuthing.

 

[Guest]

Watts = Volts x amps
Microwave 1000 watts = 240 volts x 4.2 amps
CPU 130 watts = 1.3V x 100 amps

 

[Guest]

On page 36 you are suggesting building a new Core i7 machine using "4 GB of dual-channel memory". Shouldn't that be 6 GB of triple-channel DDR3 memory.

 

[hannibal]

On page 36 you are suggesting building a new Core i7 machine using "4 GB of dual-channel memory". Shouldn't that be 6 GB of triple-channel DDR3 memory.

Well they found out that the difference between dual and triple channel is not so big, that it may be better to start with dual channel and then increase it to triple channel, when you need that extra memory.

 

[ubuntun00b]

[citation][nom]fender22[/nom]My thoughts exactly... I wonder if there will be some sort of resistance to this sort of thing... It's like buying a car, you can do whatever you want to it (within the limits of the law) to make it as fast as you want. Sure, you may void your factory warranty, but it's your deal. You don't see car companies making it impossible for you to do what you want to their cars so you have to buy their expensive high end just to get your kicks... (not a perfect comparison, but it works)I dunno, it's just pretty weak. And they are just taking advantage of the situation...[/citation]

Yes, I do see car companys making it very impossible. And they lie to you straight to your face without blinking an eye. On my 2007 toyota avalon. You MUST go to the dealer to get your Tire Pressure Sensors "reset". There is NOONE capable of manipulating this tire system, so, unless you buy the programmer for it you will have a blinking light on your dash forever. They wanted 150 bucks to reset it, I told them its broke and they fixed under warranty. BS.

And they give you GPS, but like a carrot on a stick, they dont let you enter an address when youre driving, unless you input the secret commands upon startup.

Ever try to program a keyless remote to a 2007 avalon? HA! I did it successfully. you should google the directions to it holy cow.

And also, GM, in the chevrolet impala, they LOCK the cd player/radio to your VIN. so you MUST use them to get a new radio working. Pay them 100 bucks for nothing and they will reprogram the flash memory to give you tunes again.

I call BS on these car companys locking me out. "sorry end rant"

I still think q6600 > q6700 > e8400.

 

[Guest]

wow this is awesome! I cant believe I did not find out earlier. Im usually on top of whats going on CPU tech.


Damn AMD......64% better than their flagship....thats poor XD

Oh well, Intel keeps dominating and with good reason !

 

[Guest]

I do wish you would include in the benchmarks some other processors overclocked to get a true comparison between an overclocked i7 and an overclocked core 2 duo or quad. The newer core 2's will clock higher than what you have listed for the i7, making them a cheaper and faster choice, but your benchmarks do not show that.

 

[leo2kp]

I was just wondering, how did they fit the Zalman on the new Intel board? Did they obtain a converter from them?

 

[natesuniverse]

Whats up with all the cheesy whiny overclockers??? Must be those ones who just like to move the multi????? Never even owned and Intel except a 486 but I've overclocked one on forums when the OP couldn't get OC to stick. Hit it first try!!!! Not sure why exactly the adjustable FSB came out but most likely for overclocking when cpu's were locked. Yeh the Core I7's will be different to overclock but you can bet if Intel locks them down the board makers will unlock them for you. And if you search around as others have said they are overclockable.

Yeh I was kind of wondering why you guys didn't put that black edition to work at 3.2ghz or even 3.0ghz as I am sure it will hit either. Will use tons of power though. At least the last review I saw it in on this site had DDR1066 to give it the memory bandwidth it should get. The Phenom would still get trounced but wouldn't look half as bad and would be clock for clock.

Yeh I hope AMD slips a nice one in there. Really only need graphics upgrade at the moment but a Deneb might be nice for next Christmas gift to myself. Some 45nm dankness.

Intel want too much of my money always for any kind of performance. They do have some good pricing going on now though actually. Though with their move to 45nm they should anyways.

 

[Guest]

Man, I wish I beg to the god to have any money to spend on a new system my rig right now is a pentium 4 processor 3ghz, x1300 ati,2 gigs of ram, OLD Mobo. Oh how I say "YES" when new technology comes out and then cry at not getting it. I've pretty much skipped the whole lga775 dual and quad core generation lol...

 

[V3NOM]

"The limits hard-wired into the core are 100 A and 130 watts" HOLY CRAP 100 AMPS! can a power supply even deliver that kind of power? 12v rails of like 18v are common...