EVGA x58 with Intel i7 920 Overclocking

EVGA x58 with Intel i7 920 Overclocking
Since some of you are just now receiving your boards, I figured now would be a good time for a quick and easy overclocking guide. Make sure to click on any image for a larger version.

Make sure to grab SZ1C BIOS and EVGA E-LEET 1.02.8 first!

Note: Just because these settings work in my case, they may not in all cases depending on the components, it is best to use this as a base or a guide and tweak from there.

Also, this guide will use an Intel 920 as an example, if you have an Intel 965, it will be a different experience since you will have an unlocked multiplier, you will not need to rely on adjusting the QPI frequency.

So lets talk about our goal, our goal is as follows:
Using an Intel 920, overclock to at least 4.2GHz on air.
Run DDR3 memory in Triple Channel at 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24.
Run a QPI frequency of 200MHz or higher.

1. So the first thing we want to do is go into the BIOS, and press “Load Defaults”, save and exit and go back into the BIOS and navigate to “Frequency/Voltage Control”

2. Next we will adjust the following options:
CPU Clock Ratio to 20x.
CPU Host Frequency (AKA QPI/BClock) to 200MHz.
CPU Uncore Frequency to exactly double my memory multiplier, in this case 16x.
This will give me exactly 4GHz (20×200), but we want 4.2GHz or more so keep reading…

3. Next we will go under “Memory Feature” and adjust my memory to it’s specifications. In my case, I am running 1600MHz memory so I will make the following adjustments:
Memory Frequency to 2:8.
Memory timings adjusted properly per memory specifications.
This will give me 1600MHz memory. (200×8)
Set the tRFC Setting to 74

4. Next, and probably most importantly, we will need to adjust the voltages. Under the “Voltage Control” I made the following adjustments, and please note, you may need to tweak this further for better stability, and/or better temps.
EVGA VDroop Control – Without VDroop
CPU VCore – 1.47500V (note, this is just an example)

CPU VTT – +300mV
CPU PLL – Auto
DIMM Voltage – 1.65V
DIMM DQ Vref – +0mV
QPI PLL VCore – 1.400V
IOH VCore – 1.400V
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage 1.650V
ICH VCore – 1.250V
PWM Frequency – 1067 KHz

5. Finally, on the “CPU Feature” page, we will make the following critical changes:
Disable all of the Intel Power saving features.
Enable “Turbo Mode Function” (this will give me a 21x multiplier in some cases!)
Change my QPI Frequency Selection to “4.800 GT/s.

6. Oh yea, we will increase the fanspeeds:

7. Now, in Windows with EVGA E-LEET we are at 4.2GHz! But we’re not done yet!

8. On the memory tab we can see our memory is running at 1600MHz (800×2) Just like we wanted.

9. So now lets push it some more, using EVGA E-LEET, we will go to the overclocking tab, and are going to try increasing the QPI Frequency to 205MHz. This puts me at 4300MHz… still ok…

10. Lets keep going! Up to 215MHz! That is over 4.5GHz on air!

11. Next I will save a validation file in EVGA E-Leet and upload it for bragging rights

VDroop set to disabled allows for higher stability when OC’ing (less voltage droop under load)
VCore would be CPU voltage
VDIMM is memory voltage
VTT is the termination voltage, you need this for higher QPI speeds.
IOH would be northbridge voltage.
ICH would be southbridge voltage.
PWM is the adjustable mosfet frequency. (higher is cleaner power, but runs hotter)