50x Core i7 3770K OC test (5G air + LN2)

[Massman]

I see many people testing a shitload of CPUs, but so very little binning data is being shared in the forums. To me, it's a bit funny that someone who can test over 100 samples in a very methodological way would not share the information with the rest of the community ... but I guess that's how things go nowadays.

Anyway ...

So, alright, a second thread with results from the SF3D OC Gathering binning event. Why? Well, it's a different type of OC test and the sample size is a little higher. Also, the testing methodology was a bit less accurate than the IMC test, so ... well these are two different tests.

So, as you should already know by now, we had 50 retail 3770K CPUs at the event.

The batches were:

- L202B763 x2 (Malay)
- 3217B605 x18 (Costa Rica)
- L223B630 x10 (Malay)
- L220B232 x20 (Malay)

The following mainboards were used for testing:

- MSI Z77-GD65
- GIGABYTE Z77X-UD3H
- Maximus V Gene
- Maximus V Extreme (not actually used - one sample died, the other failed to boot)
- Maximus V Formula
- One AMD Llano setup

The binning part was split up into two parts:

- Lowest possible voltage for 5G 2C2T 32M
- LN2 testing

Disclaimer:

Please note that the even though the testing procedure was roughly the same for all event participants, given that the testing has been done on different platforms (board/cooler) and by different people, the results should be taken with a grain of salt. Due to time restrictions, we did not thoroughly test and re-test all the CPUs to verify that the initial reported lowest voltage is indeed the lowest possible or that the reported LN2 frequency is indeed the highest. Overall, we did see a correlation between the lowest voltage needed to run 32M at 5G on air and the maximum frequency on LN2, but it's not an exact science.

In fact, we also learned that unlike with Sandy Bridge, every Ivy Bridge needs to be tested under LN2 to know for sure that it's capable of a certain frequency. One of our most promising CPUs had spectacular cold issues and did not surpass 6.4G stable where we expected it to pass 6.7G easily. You can use the air binning method to filter out those that are probably really bad, so you can save LN2.

One last thing. I didn't see any correlation between my IMC test and CPU quality. So, a bad CPU can have a good IMC and a good CPU can have a bad IMC.

Anyway, I really hope that in the future it will be possible to repeat this kind of event and focus on more accurate testing methodology and reporting in order to extract more reliable information. We only had 2 days to bench and obviously most people were focused on getting good benchmark results rather than spend time to document the behavior of the shit CPUs . I think I was the only one brave enough to test one of the 10 really shit air CPUs Intel send us, only to find out it's also really shit on LN2!

The chart:



One more picture:

[[K]vlolv]

Wow! Such a big gap between Malay and Costarica. Btw where's Llano? LOL

[Hampti]

Wow the 6.8gig cpu is awesome. not only high cpu freq also an really good imc. nice work.

[[DRACO]]

Thanks massman and sf3d by this information,

But the Costa Rica up more? are best made​​?

better material? regards

[[K]vlolv]

Originally Posted by [DRACO]

Thanks massman and sf3d by this information,

But the Costa Rica up more? are best made​​?

better material? regards

fact or rumor?

same question here

[knopflerbruce]

Finally!

I've been saying this since the SB charts were made, and people used to say "it's all about luck" when it clearly isn't C's were better than A's and B's for SB, and Costa Rica > Malay - on average. In your face, bunnyes

I just wish I had binned more in the SB days, found 56x chips left and right... could've made a fortune

[slaske6]

nice work

[I.M.O.G.]

Thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by knopflerbruce

In your face, bunnyes

pwned by swear filter, bunnyes! lol

[Massman]

Originally Posted by knopflerbruce

Finally!

I've been saying this since the SB charts were made, and people used to say "it's all about luck" when it clearly isn't C's were better than A's and B's for SB, and Costa Rica > Malay - on average. In your face, bunnyes

I just wish I had binned more in the SB days, found 56x chips left and right... could've made a fortune

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers

It is all about luck. Even within good batches there are super crappy samples. Buy one sample and you'll need luck to get a great one!

[Sam OCX]

fyi, law of large numbers does not work for CPU binning as you're looking for the best sample rather than the average.
Either way, since we (=mortals) are working with a small sample size, no decent statistical analysis can ever be possible.