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[O/C]3 Step Guide to Overclock Your Core i3, i5, or i7

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Hello, I'm new here and it is my first overclock attempt since celeron days (I think i had a celeron 500 running @ 800 mhz for years... not sure if I remember correctly). Thanks for your guide. It was much more helpfull than every other one I saw.

So I recently bought an asrock p55 extreme with i7 860 and a noctua cooler and I'm aiming for 3.8 Ghz and trying to keep the voltages as low as possible... But I wanted to see where my rig's limit was first so I got it to 4.1 Ghz stable, albeit hot thanks to your guide.

So here's my question: while determining the max bclock I realised that I can get it stable enough @200mhz to sustain 15 minutes of Prime95 with VTT voltage slightly above stock setting (1.23). But as soon as I hit 201Mhz (or more) the mobo refuses to POST and no amount of VTT voltage increase helps and I tried to raise it up to 1.5v (stock setting 1.21v ) + 0.3v like you said?? Is it normal or did I miss something ?
(maybe a cryptic bios safeguard option enabled? but then why allow me to break the 200 Mhz barrier in the first place?)

I am now running @ 182x21 with 1.225 vcore and all the other voltages at stock levels... and it looks stable though I'm still in the early stages of stress testing. Load temperatures do not go over low 70's. Thanks again for the guide. It's the best out there.
 
Try raising the PCH Voltage from the default of 1.066V to ~1.15-1.20V for BCLKs >200, this w/ VTT Offset Voltage at ~1.25-1.35V
 
another newbie guide

I just used the Miahallen guide to overclock my i3 530 with an asus p7h55-m pro motherboard and kingston valueram. The guide was very informative and covered all the pertinent issues very well. I'm currently oced to 3.5 and I'm going to go up to 3.8 or higher once I replace the stock cooler.

My one complaint is that the guide could have been organized better. It seems like it is always leaping back and forth between instructions and explanations. I found this guide a bit more clear and concise and it offers virtually the same advice: http://lifehacker.com/5580998/a-beginners-guide-to-overclocking-your-intel-processor

I would recommend reading both guides. I believe the Miahallen guide provides more information but, for me, the lifehacker guide makes the actual procedure you are going to execute a bit clearer.
 
Hello, I'm new here and it is my first overclock attempt since celeron days (I think i had a celeron 500 running @ 800 mhz for years... not sure if I remember correctly). Thanks for your guide. It was much more helpfull than every other one I saw.

So I recently bought an asrock p55 extreme with i7 860 and a noctua cooler and I'm aiming for 3.8 Ghz and trying to keep the voltages as low as possible... But I wanted to see where my rig's limit was first so I got it to 4.1 Ghz stable, albeit hot thanks to your guide.

So here's my question: while determining the max bclock I realised that I can get it stable enough @200mhz to sustain 15 minutes of Prime95 with VTT voltage slightly above stock setting (1.23). But as soon as I hit 201Mhz (or more) the mobo refuses to POST and no amount of VTT voltage increase helps and I tried to raise it up to 1.5v (stock setting 1.21v ) + 0.3v like you said?? Is it normal or did I miss something ?
(maybe a cryptic bios safeguard option enabled? but then why allow me to break the 200 Mhz barrier in the first place?)

I am now running @ 182x21 with 1.225 vcore and all the other voltages at stock levels... and it looks stable though I'm still in the early stages of stress testing. Load temperatures do not go over low 70's. Thanks again for the guide. It's the best out there.
THanks for the feedback!
Interesting bclock wall you're running into...try raising the PCIe link speed to 105MHz and see if that changes anything :)

I just used the Miahallen guide to overclock my i3 530 with an asus p7h55-m pro motherboard and kingston valueram. The guide was very informative and covered all the pertinent issues very well. I'm currently oced to 3.5 and I'm going to go up to 3.8 or higher once I replace the stock cooler.

My one complaint is that the guide could have been organized better. It seems like it is always leaping back and forth between instructions and explanations. I found this guide a bit more clear and concise and it offers virtually the same advice: http://lifehacker.com/5580998/a-beginners-guide-to-overclocking-your-intel-processor

I would recommend reading both guides. I believe the Miahallen guide provides more information but, for me, the lifehacker guide makes the actual procedure you are going to execute a bit clearer.
Thanks for the feedback, and the link. I'dd consider the info in the other guide when it's time to do the next update.
 
This is a fantasic tutorial on overclocking.. Can't wait to try this later with my new hyper 212 plus cpu cooler.

I havn't overcloced a cpu since the old Athlon days.
 
Yes, yes. This tutorial was a great help. I've been out of the overclocking game for a while, and this tutorial got me up to speed.

Now my i7-930 is chugging along at a nice 4GHz :thup:
 
Mia just wanna say you rock, bro. I got friends who are using this guide on their first Intel chip. You're making their life very easy!
 
Yes, yes. This tutorial was a great help. I've been out of the overclocking game for a while, and this tutorial got me up to speed.

Now my i7-930 is chugging along at a nice 4GHz :thup:

Mia just wanna say you rock, bro. I got friends who are using this guide on their first Intel chip. You're making their life very easy!

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm glad it's helpful :thup:
 
i tryed following this guide but when ever i make the first changes to the voltage and cpu and memory Multiplier it wont boot
im using an i5-661 on a GA-P55-UD3 motherboard
reseting the bios works but it fails when ever i change it
please help
 
wait dont worry, i fixed it, updated the BOIS
also, do i need to worry bout the iGPU if my motherboard doesnt support it?
thanks :)
 
wait dont worry, i fixed it, updated the BOIS
also, do i need to worry bout the iGPU if my motherboard doesnt support it?
thanks :)

Sorry, I missed your first question....glad you figured it out :thup:
No, if you've got a P55 mobo, you don't need to worry about the iGPU, it's automatically disabled ;)
 
Hey Miahallen, great article. It sounds even more appropriate to someone like me who just started overclocking, without a lot of knowledge, on the terms, etc.
Today, I'm sitting @ a stable 4Ghz system, but, I am planning to again start from basics, based on your article.
I have a i3 530 on an ASUS P7H55-M board, with 4GB Corsair XMS3 1600Mhz RAM. I am relying on the iGPU as I'n not a keen gamer, and budget's constrained ;)

One question: Was 26th Feb the last update to your article, as I did see a lot of further questions / answers? And there was an update coming out... :)

I will let you know how the OC goes.
 
Yes, I started working on Rev 3.0 today....should be a week or two :thup:

Start a thread and let us know how it goes with that i3...great chip and most are good for 4.4GHz or more ;)
 
Cool... Looking forward to rev 3.0 :)
For my current OC exercise, i've taken a print of your article with all comments / questions / answers, as there's plenty of information there, especially for my H55 board (ASUS P7H55-M)
Will start a thread soon .... and update progress ...
 
Hey Miah,
Sorry, have been a bit busy off late, but I can definately say that the Rev 3.0is a much refined upadte, as I used it to overclock my i3 530, right upto 4.24Ghz. I still have the potential to go higher, but, I've just taken a break.
But, this is for anyone starting fresh, like me, this guide is a dream ..
Continue the great work, Miah !!!
 
Help

Hi Dude,

I have a PC with i5 650 , gigabyte HPM-USB3 model nd 4 GB Transend DDr-3 1333. Now Will overclocking work properly on my pc and how can I attain the maximum frequency of my RAM. Im very new to all these overclocking concepts. Please help.
 
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