6 years old i7 870 OC challenge for GTX970 upgrade need help
6 years old i7 870 OC challenge for GTX970 upgrade need help
Hello first time here, newcomer in OC. I just purchased a Zotac GTX 970 (upgraded from GTX 460). I found some details about my i7 870 at stock speed of 2.93 Ghz might cause a bottleneck with my GTX 970. I tried some recommendations to overclock the i7 870, but got unexpected results.
Reference: Stock speed = BClk 133 X 24 = 3192 Mhz HyperThread (HT) disabled
Case 1: BCLK 190 X 21 = 3990 Mhz HT disabled. IntelBurnTest 10 loop CPU at 97 Degree
Case 2: BCLK 180 X 22 = 3960 Mhz HT disabled. IntelBurnTest 10 loop CPU at 96 Degree
As you can see, the CPU is running too hot. However, if I adjust the BCLK to a lower value and increase the ratio, the CPU temperature drops and it passes the 10 loop IntelSpeedBurn test.
I attached my CPU-Z, could you please confirm that’s acceptable? Usually people stick to a base clock of 200Mhz...
My current settings are 160 X 24 = 3.84Ghz, IntelSPeedBurn test 10 loop max Temp at 87C. All settings are listed in this link. Many thanks!
Also, my 3D Mark FireStrike is 92xx marks—I assume my CPU is still fine for now?
An example of a bottleneck would be running a Core 2 Duo or a Pentium G.
A fresh CPU and its corresponding motherboard can boost FPS, though this depends on the situation.
Witcher 3 handles threads well, so I recommend setting the clock to about 3.5 GHz and turning on Hyper-Threading. Monitor the FPS afterward and let us know if it improves.
A GTX 970 cannot run all games at 1080p, as some titles have excessive anti-aliasing settings.
Check the review at the provided link for more details.
I own a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus from five years ago... don't change it.
Even without overclocking, intelBurnTest reports a 76 degree rating for my CPU.
With my current configuration of 160x24, it reaches a maximum of 87 degree.
Idle temperature stays at 37 degrees.
It's too warm, likely the cooler isn't working properly or it can't handle such high temperatures. In games, how much heat you generate depends on the specific situation.
which case are you referring to when it says it's too hot? with my current configuration (the CPU picture above), IntelBurnTest will reach 87 degrees at maximum, but it's actually putting a lot of stress on the system. For the 3D Mark I, I expect a 5x to 6x increase at 70 degrees during the CPU physics test.
Yes for the Intel burn test that's too hot even at stock speeds. But in actual situations (games rendering, etc.) you'll see a few degrees less, around 5-10°C, so roughly 60-65 in games. And I wouldn't exceed 70 in games, which doesn't really provide much room for overclocking. What about GPU usage during games—what percentage does it reach? Or how can you tell if it's causing a bottleneck?
BTW, raising your Vcore allows you to exceed 4Ghz speeds, though it will produce significantly more heat, so make sure your cooling system is ready.
I don't really understand bottlenecking, but I've looked into it before. Since the i7 870 is quite old, some people suggest overclocking it to around 4Ghz. I found some evidence for this. Source: Bottleneck