Quote:
Originally Posted by Infinitegrim 
Top of the line or not, I havent met a singe X3440 owner who cannot get it over 4ghz easily.
Infact I dont really know how to overclock an i7. All I did was raise the voltage, multiplier and fsb(whatever its now called). So I bet you could do better then I have with it.
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I just have a different perspective. When I overclock, I try to push my entire system. This means finding the perfect bus speed paired with the perfect multipliers across all components. Giving more available multipliers on the chip mean I have more freedom with the base clock (BCLK) while retaining my CPU frequency.
Normally, pushing your BCLK means pushing other components as well as they are all related to it.
For instance, with my W3520, I'm sitting at 4.2GHz.
I have my multipliers set up as follows:
BCLK: 200
CPU Multiplier: 21x (4200MHz)
Memory Multiplier: 10x (2000MHz)
Uncore multiplier: 20x (4200MHz)
If I did not have the 21x multi, I would have to push 210 BCLK which would mean I'd have to be using one of the following two options:
Option 1:
BCLK: 210
CPU Multiplier: 20x (4200MHz)
Memory multiplier: 10x (2100MHz)
Uncore Multiplier: 20x (4200MHz)
Option 2:
BCLK: 210
Memory Multiplier: 8x (1680MHz)
Uncore Multiplier: 16x (3360MHz)
With Option 1, I might have difficulty getting my memory to 2100 (I personally wouldn't because my RAM is epic, but most memory won't go that high with decent latencies). I also would probably have difficulty running my Uncore at the minimum of 4.2GHz as that would take a lot of voltage.
With Option 2, my system wouldn't be pushed nearly as hard as it could go. The lower strap just seems lackluster.
So basically, if you plan to do a total system OC, more options are your best friend. 4GHz is easy for most (as you said), but there's a lot more beyond that which can be done as well.
I also am concerned with max overclocks. With a 20x multi, you'd have to push the board much harder to reach absolute maximum clocks (for extreme overclocking). For instance, to reach 5.6GHz on my W3520 (21x multi, just like the 920), I have to push
266 BCLK. Very few boards can do this (which is why my CPU-Z shot is the highest recorded with that processor).
I looked at grabbing a Xeon E5620 (32nm quad core 1366 chip) but it had a max multiplier of 19x. To push speeds that the chip would easily be capable of, I'd have to push the board much too hard. 4GHz would require 210 BCLK. 4.2 would require 221, a limit which many people have difficulty pushing boards past.
But yeah, long-winded reply basically saying why I personally would choose the 870 over the X3440.
