[English] Review – Intel Core i7 980X

Overclocking

As mentioned before, Core i7 980X, like all its “Extreme Edition” siblings, has an unlocked multiplier. This makes overclocking fairly easier to do since the clock speed may be increased with more flexibility without affecting other peripherals within the system.

We carried out our overclocking effort using three different methods. First, we increased only the memory clock and voltage to see how the system would behave if our tuning were limited to the memory alone. Then, we increased both the processor’s and the memory’s clock speed without changing the processor’s voltage setting (we added some voltage to the memory to keep the system stable enough). Lastly, we increased the clock speed as high as the cooling system would allow us to. The cooling system consisted of a heatsink coupled with a 12 cm 1500 RPM fan. The results are as follows