4.0 GHz Core i7 on D900F (Sager 9280) .. OC FTW!

hey guys,

sorry I havent been around lately.

been really busy with reviewing and work.

here is a taste of what the Clevo D900F (Sager 9280) can do....

Test setup:
- Notebook: Clevo D900F (aka. Sager 9280) ..... courtesy of XoticPC.com
- CPU: Intel Core i7 975 Extreme LGA 1336 (stock is 3.33GHz)
- RAM: 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3-1333
- HDD: 640GB (2x320) 7200rpm RAID-0
- OS: Vista Ultimate 64-bit
- Cooling: all stock (air), no mods, no notebook cooler

All Stock settings:
@ 133.3 x 25 multiplier = 3333MHz



OVERCLOCKED:

@ 133.3 x 28 multiplier = 3732.4 MHz .... stable



@ 133.3 x 29 multiplier = 3865.7 MHz .... stable



.... and for the doubters..

@ 133.3 x 30 multiplier = ~4000 MHz .... not stable




As you can see the system can handle an OC up to ~4.00 GHz .... but is not really stable... almost instant BSOD's when you try any stress tests.

Under 3.90 GHz seems to be the sweet spot and most stable.

If you are wondering about temps... here is a snap of the HWmonitor after the stress test from pushing the multiplier up 29x.


The temps are stable... but warmer than I would like it.... I will be taking apart the system to see if there can be simple improvements to improve the cooling.

I will get more in-depth with benchmarks and tests in the full review coming out soon.

The world's fastest notebook.... just became faster.... LOL.

Game On People,
-Gophn

UPDATE: If you want to know what I used to overclock the D900F,
go here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=398080&page=14

 

Not too shabby. I was under the impression that the i7 processors couldn't be overclocked. :O Well, up until now.

 

I am using software overclocking utilities (a number of them for desktop Intel X58 motherboards).

some work, some are unstable... still pushing Clevo to release a BIOS update with the options.

 

Holy roasting nutsack, batman!

Gophn... Hope you don't set that baby on your lap..lol

 

Now do a stress test that tests both the RAM and GPU and really see that machine burn.

On a serious note, anything you've seen and/or tested Gophn that would make you wanna save your pennies?

 

run OCCT

It pushed the Asus GPU's to 115c!
and it pushed the M17x through the roof (like 85c)

trust me Gophn if it survives that i will be amazed

 

Nice results Gophn

Would be interested to see what you are using to stress test and when it stops being prime stable! It does show how much better the 975 is than the 965 (and 950 than 940 for that matter) with lower vCore required and thus heat to dissipate.

 

Now OC the 280M and scorch 3dmark06!

 

Agreed
Some benchmarks please! Anything

 

Even though it's not entirely stable at 4GHZ that's still pretty amazing!

Nice job Gophn.

What clocks can you run and have the temps still remain in the 80's?

 

stock lol .... 3.3 when andrew reviewed it were in the 80's

They took down the temp's though for some reason .... probably hurt sales

 

i7 has always been a hot CPU. I've seen the QX9300 hit the 80's in the Whitebook and M17x as well Granted that's overclocked, but what did you expect from a 4ghz i7 in a laptop...

 

Extra attention given to the cooling solution for using an i7 in a laptop.

 

The only way it will get any cooler is by getting the i7 down to 32nm.

 

Here's another way,
His proc was clocked at 3.8657 with a 29 multi. Gophn also said anything below seems to be the sweet spot for stability. There may be a little room to use RMclock to do a small undervolt and still reach 3.8xxx and lower temps a few degrees.

 

Good information, Gophn. More?

 

I can't wait to see some benches and fps from gaming!

The M17x was first to use 280's in SLI and the D900F is the first rig with a desktop i7.

I wish I had one of each of these top tier rigs!

 

What about the 920? Can you software overclock the 920?

 

It is about the extreme edition. He uses software to unlock the multipliers. For the other processors the multipliers are hardware locked.

PL

 

Beautiful, Gophn.

Speaking of Clevo and BIOSes - you have any sense about why they tend to use such a buttoned down BIOS, is it lack of coding skills, too many licensing restrictions from Phoenix, an extremely conservative mindset, a manic need to not lose control over the system, or something else entirely?

 

I would really rather have a BIOS overclock.... since I cannot seem to control the voltage with current software utilities.

I will probably not push the CPU any further until I have a solid solution to undervolt it during the process. (RMclock is too old to do it, CPUGenie is for notebook CPUs, etc.)

The GPU cooling is superb... never floats past 80-85C in my tests... even in FurMark.

I am about to take it apart to see if I can improve the temps with something simple like re-application of thermal compound.... AS5, MX-2, or OCZ.

 

Thanks again for the info.

When you get a chance it would be cool to see what kind of gaming performance you get. I'm sure it will be very capable so say the least.

 

Gophn run it with OCCT

PLease?

 

4 GHz on a laptop with a core i7 is insane.You have to be in the world record books fastest overclock ever done in history of laptop computers.You must have the fastest laptop CPU wise in the world right now even at 3.9 GHz.

 

If it has a laptop CPU yes ... Comparing desktop CPU with laptop CPU is pretty meh...

BTW An OCCT run would be pretty interesting, i7's run really hot.

 

Your point makes it even more impressive... Cooling a DESKTOP i7 at 4.0GHz is even more impressive than a laptop at 4.0GHz...

 

if there is not safety it will burn a hole in the notebook. i don't think it will pass. i never passed 65 on my cpu but occt made it go up to 73(tjmax) then it downclocked. i would like to how hot it would of gotten also.
yes it is impressive to cool a monster like that.


nice job by the way. i'm glad the you can can overclock with no boundaires.

also rob41. it wouldn't make any sense to undervolt it if the voltage is holding it back(which it doesn't seem) but there is no hurt in trying it.

 

Those are pretty impressive numbers that you have put up Gophn. I'll definitely be trying the x28/x29 Multipliers when I get mine.

 

Do you think these results could be reproduced with in other D900F with the extreme processor?

PL

 

depending in the environment gophn is in.(cooler, room temps etc) if normal then yes!

gophn disable hypertheading and i'm sure you can get better results.

 

Very nice. What utility specifically allows multiplier manipulation since it is missing from the bios? I'll give it a whirl on my rig in the sig.

 

did you recieve it yet?

 

Yep, I went complete, sealed barebones and put it together Wednesday. I'll have a barebones write up when I can.

 

No temps for a D900F overclocking thread is a sin... Really, you should post some temps...

If this thing had sli it would be one mean machine, not that it isn't already...

 

you are kidding me right ?

Seriously ....

 

Sorry, just realized temps

EDIT: You could have said it nicer... Your comments are harsh. He also doesn't say how the i7 was set referring to clock speed when he gives temps... And if I'm wrong, Explain NICELY...

 

I am impressed.

 

I said that those temps (HWmonitor) are what was the result of an OC to 29x multiplier.... and doing a wPrime 1024M stress test.

do the math (133.3 x 29) ... I am too lazy.

 

I will run more tests... but I have the system dismantled now... going to re-do some thermal compounds.

 

thanks alot for letting us know. can you disable HT and overclock it again?

 

Ok thanks.

 

I was harsh because it was obvious

 

I am using some utilities that were really meant for desktop X58 motherboards.... most of which are very sensitive and unstable.

At the very least, I would really want to be able to control the voltage for cooling and for OC'ing purposes.

Clevo really has a desktop killing beast on their hands if they enable these features in the BIOS.

 

What's the likelihood that they will enable them in the BIOS?

 

I agree that at stock, the i7 Extreme 3.33ghz runs very, very well. The fans only kick up to the lowest, next setting for WoW even when the power consumption shoots up to ~143.75W for over an hour while I did my daily quests.

GPU maxed out at 59c while out in the GPU taxing areas which is excellent. I'll run some GPU stress tests to see where it goes, but those initial temps were amazing compared to previous temps on laptops while running Northrend.

 

Well thats the question, isn't it...

I am really pushing for BIOS options for the CPU, if not for overclock... for undervolting.

 

My 9262 is unhappy now.
Can those high clock rates(<=3.9 Ghz) be sustained for months to years without having some premature hardware burnouts?

 

*rubs his crystal ball and peers deeply into its dark depths*

No.

If you over clock anything, odds are it will burnout sooner than it would have if you did not over clock it. If I had to bet on something though, I would put money on a hard drive or fan failing before the CPU or motherboard burning up.

I wonder where Dexgo is. I have not seen him on the forums in a bit. I am thinking he would love to get his hands on this for some OC madness.

 

What power supply are these things using ? i think i would be just as concerned about it exploding as any other thing on the laptop . Those are some amazing Overclocks though Gophn congrats on that end.

My i7 in my desktop for example @3.7ghz gets to about 74 degrees with all 4 cores blasted to 100% and 8threads running . So for a laptop thats some amazing stuff indeed.

 

wow the i7 really runs that hot under load? I just thought it was the Clevo's cooling system...