Pushing an i7 920xm to new levels by increasing the CPU core voltage

[svl7 5640]

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/ff474/marcwwaters86/unlocked bios pics/bios features pics/25flex098voltsor14962.png

25flex vid stock bios limits

what is that in pll... vss etc etc?

Your CPU voltage seems to get reported as 1.4962V, which can't be at stock... and I don't know what exactly "cpu overclocking voltage" is supposed to be, sorry. Maybe as Mumak what exactly the reported values are.

[DR650SE 347]

Actually think it may be my benching drive. Going to reimage.

Edited September 18, 2011 by DR650SE

[DR650SE 347]

Well, other cpu's work, the 540M is giving me BSOD.

[DR650SE 347]

Well, back in the game, 540M is up and running, and I'm running it at 1.4v. Only VID5->VSS. Scoring global boints on dice. Choped some time off mt 32M and 1024M. Now running 1024 at 4117 MHz. Should be good for some globals. Also going to switch to team T|I before I submit miy scores

[mw86 1362]

Your CPU voltage seems to get reported as 1.4962V, which can't be at stock... and I don't know what exactly "cpu overclocking voltage" is supposed to be, sorry. Maybe as Mumak what exactly the reported values are.

@Mumak maybe you can ellaborate @DR650SE if you can help me too. Stock volt is 0flex the above pic was 25flex. Here is 99flex I guess its showing a 387mv increase? Just trying to understand if anyone can help. I'm trying to see how things behave at various levels and would like to know how far beyond that 1.6v you mentioned SVL7 at max value this unlocked bios allows 99 flex .387Volts

I never see over 1.5012 vid in apps even though this reading goes up in normal increments as I raise the flex... so it seems its actually adding the voltage.. is the a limitation of software reading over 1.5012 vid in apps on Sandy-bridge?

Edited September 19, 2011 by mw86

[Mumak 654]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose this feature in detail and don't know if it's fully public.

But the Overclocking Extra Voltage is a feature that allows to add an offset to the VID for each operating point. That means, this offset is applied to all VR requests.

[mw86 1362]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose this feature in detail and don't know if it's fully public.

But the Overclocking Extra Voltage is a feature that allows to add an offset to the VID for each operating point. That means, this offset is applied to all VR requests.

Thanks Mumak for letting me know what you were able. So it seems in the unlocked bios the 99flex setting does actually fully add .300mv and more in voltage... thanks so much Mumak. Can you tell me why as I increase voltage your software and throttle stop and cpuz and everything out there seems to not show anything over 1.5~vid as the current operating voltage? Like I can set 25flex which is about 1.49~vid max and as I go up eventually it never shows over 1.52~vid but "overvoltage" reading stays accurate and says the voltage increase as you said. Thanks again Mumak it's just confusing seeing differing readings. I thought I would see 1.6~vid around 99flex. Either way you've already been a great help.

[Mumak 654]

I don't know why that happens. It might be a BIOS limitation or internal CPU Operating Point Protection. Probably the only way to determine this would be to measure it using a multimeter directly...

[mw86 1362]

I don't know why that happens. It might be a BIOS limitation or internal CPU Operating Point Protection. Probably the only way to determine this would be to measure it using a multimeter directly...

Thanks yeah maybe the most software can report on Sandybridge is the 1.5-1.52vid since it seems when I go beyond that it is actually taking effect since on some over clocks I have gained stability by adding even more volts with that method... thanks Mumak... it just doesn't get reported over the 1.5ish range

[evgasr2 22]

can I overclock my i7 740qm ?

never overclocked an mobile processor before.

[HOPELESSLYFAITHFUL 18]

you can't overclock the 740qm with multipliers and only FSB...you can only get a few FSB higher...it is a limited CPU.

I got the 920xm ES but I can't get higher then 26 26 25 25 with my G51J. Anything higher it gives me a BSOD. Is this CPU unstable or is that the limit? I can get 85TDP/TDC and if I inscrease to 100 and try going higher it BSOD. Is it a voltage issue or a flaky chip?

EDIT: If i did this do you think I could maintain 4GHz 24/7 if i have proper cooling? right now i can only maintain 3,332.5 stable and cooling is at 80C if room is cool but i can come up with some more mods to get this to work

Edited June 10, 2012 by HOPELESSLYFAITHFUL

[mw86 1362]

Balancing heat, speed, and amp limits with watt limits will land you where you want. Most cases bsod 00000x124 is the need to add more volts at the given speed, temp, power drawn(amps watts). You need to add more volts in most cases but stock volts should get in 3.5ghz.

[HOPELESSLYFAITHFUL 18]

so this mod is how i add more voltage?

[mw86 1362]

Well adding more than normal. Alienware M17x R2 has bios to add 75mv and 150mv but SVL7's pin mod works for systems all the same and is useful for those who don't have voltage adjustments in the bios or who want to go higher than the bios allowed. It depends what bsod you get sometimes to determne what component may have been giving trouble.

[HOPELESSLYFAITHFUL 18]

ok i'll remake the BSOD when i got some time. I got a g51j and it has no BIOS options

[HOPELESSLYFAITHFUL 18]

hey boss i am ready to finally do this to my G51j and try to push 1.4v ^^ only thing i am totally lost on is how do you test the CPU voltage? where do you plug the volt meter in and how do you do this while it is on and not short or fry it?

[svl7 5640]

The best would be VSS_Sense and VCC_Sense, but that's a bit difficult. VSS_sense and VCC will do as well. Just make sure you measure the voltage and not the resistance, or you'll most likely kill your system or the cpu.

[HOPELESSLYFAITHFUL 18]

which leads do i connect to? Also my max stable stock clock is 3.2GHz which nets me 80-90 TDP. I can get 3.333 in F@H but in prime 95 i get 3.2 becuase prime 95 requires more juice.

edit: Also your picture only shows part of the pin layout. Do you have a picture of the full thing?

[svl7 5640]

Well, as I just said... VSS_sense (AJ35) and VCC (for example AG35), check the Intel datasheet if the pics on the first page aren't enough. As for the voltage, that's up to you, it's all described in the first post, including all necessary pics.

[King of Interns 13]

Thanks for writing up this thread SVL 7! I know it has been some time but hey I will carry out the mod very soon.

Cheers for all the advice and help here!

edit: tried +100mv with no success. +200mv tomorrow.

[MZWiZard 10]

Thank you so much for this unique info! I am gonna try this myself - going straight for +200mV

[King of Interns 13]

Have you prepared your cooling? It gets hot! I have my entire CPU heat spreader and fan module littered with decent mini heatsinks and have added 2x 50cfm 80mmx80mm fans to blow directly onto those areas whenever I use it.

On the go from my iPod touch

[miR156 10]

Just bought an used 920xm for some extra fun with my old laptop and then I found this thread. Seems that I need to do a lot of cooling mods before overclocking this beast. Even my 840qm is running at ~85C when stressed.

[RMSMajestic 10]

Thank you slv7!!!!!

I can finally see a way of pushing my i7 920xm further on my W701.

But before I actually do the crazy things, I have a few questions:

1. How much better is the CPU cooling on Alienware M15x than a thinkpad W701? What's your CPU temperature on stock without any overclocking?

2. Were you able to run 26x on ALL CPU cores without any throttling in Fritz Chess Benchmark? And what was your TDP/TDC setting?

3. Will jumping voltage do a lot of harm to CPU and motherboard, even if the voltage is in the safe range?

4. Could you please help me with the voltage feedback circuit tweak on Thinkpad W701 in order to increase the voltage proportionally?

Also would you be able to help me with my thinkpad T61? After the Quad Core mod, the laptop seems to have been resticted by a total power limit which is causing random restarts, frozen screen and etc. etc.

[miR156 10]

Can this be applied to 2920xm or 3940xm on the qm67, qm77 motherboards? I guess, since the multiplier is locked by the BIOS, we can't even use this method?