SOLVED Why Is My 2600k Not Overclocked/Not Working Properly?

I apologize if these are stupid questions or if I'm missing something obvious; I'm kinda new to the whole enthusiast PC thing.

I have a Core i7 2600k and my motherboard is ASUS P8Z77-V.

This link shows somebody with the same CPU and mobo as I have. The top picture shows the CPU overclocking screen on the motherboard.

In the spoiler tag below you can see my screen (sorry, crappy cell phone shot):


103x43=4429.

But the BIOS says it is only running at 3520:


It gets more confusing. My CPU seems to be able to "boost" itself to 4.4 GHz but this is unreliable and doesn't always work when needed.

In the Hitman Absolution benchmark tool, I get much worse performance than people with similar systems. I get at the very most 50% performance out of each GPU (I have 2 680s) and an average framerate of around 40 FPS.

So then I downloaded a program called HWINFO64 that has a CPU Logger. Look at the "Logging Start" button in the pic below:



OK so if I press "Logging Start" and THEN run the Hitman Absolution benchmark tool, I get up to over 90% usage from both GPUs and average framerate of over 60 FPS!

In other words:
Computer normal...40-50% GPU usage, 40 FPS
Press "Logging Start" to run logger...70-90+% GPU usage, 60+ FPS.

I'm lost. How can I OC this CPU so that it always works?

I don't understand.

first step. turn off the power saving features. all of them.

I would ask the OP to start at the beginning and ask what proper programs he has to monitor and test his set up?? The once we have the answer to that, the next stage is to go thought the Bios and sort out the settings! Then after that we can fine tune his OC and then we should about good to go.

azanimefan said:

first step. turn off the power saving features. all of them.

Click to expand...

Did you mean this screen here?


Because I went there and changed "Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology" to "Disabled" and now it seems to be working!

I just ran the same game benchmark tool and now getting over 70 FPS!

What else needs to be done?

Ajay57 said:

I would ask the OP to start at the beginning and ask what proper programs he has to monitor and test his set up?? The once we have the answer to that, the next stage is to go thought the Bios and sort out the settings! Then after that we can fine tune his OC and then we should about good to go? AJ.

p.s. I LOVE THAT DELL AZI!!!

Click to expand...

I have CPU-Z, Speedfan, HWINFO64, and Prime95. I'll answer any questions to the best of my knowledge.

If you look at the post above this one, I changed what I believe to a power management setting and am now getting very good performance it seems.

I don't know if my OC is stable/safe, or what else needs to be done though.

2+2 <---sorry I had to , Welcome to the forums. You should have a read of this thread.

Mandrake4565 said:

2+2 <---sorry I had to , Welcome to the forums. You should have a read of this thread.

Click to expand...

I have actually been reading that as I've been running tests.

Now that I changed the setting I mentioned up above ^^ and seem to be getting good results, I am not sure what to do.

Since I changed that setting mentioned above, CPU-Z shows a constant 4.4 GHz (can provide a screenshot if needed).

Should I proceed to start over and re-do everything per the guide you linked, or should I begin running stress/temperature tests to see if the OC is stable?

Thanks for any advice, guys!

I would go with MD advice but as a quick heads up just check these out!

1, Bclk 100 ONLY! Important!
2, Disable intel speed step.
3, Disable C,states.
4, Disable CPU Spread Spectrum.
5, Set your Ram voltage Manually I.E. if it say's 1.5 volts on the packet or Ram that's what you put into the Bios section for Ram voltage or 1.65 volts? Check your Ram first!

After all this come back to us here again AJ and MD.

Ajay57 said:

I would go with MD advice but as a quick heads up just check these out!

1, Bclk 100 ONLY! Important!
2, Disable intel speed step.
3, Disable Cstates.
4, Disable CPU Spread Spectrum.
5, Set your Ram voltage Manually I.E. if it say's 1.5 volts on the packet or Ram that's what you put into the Bios for Ram voltage or 1.65 volts? Check your Ram first!

After all this come back to us here again AJ and MD.

Click to expand...

I don't know what you mean by "Bclk 100."

Are all of these things in my BIOS?

Yes they should be standard in all ASUS Boards, they are in my motherboard! If by chance you can not see anything just tell us here? Or post photo's from your Bios using your cellphone? AJ.


1, http://www.overclock.net/t/1339454/i7-2600k-asus-p8z77-v-deluxe-overclocking-optimization


Just found this overclocking guide which you can study as a way to set your Bios up, but i must stress this is only a guide as everyone's CPU and motherboard runs different!

Definitely best to follow the advice here and use that guide; under the way I had it going, CPU temps went up to 91 in like 30 minutes!

I am gonna take a shower, drive to work, and print out both that guide and this thread (no printer at home).

Some questions before I start.

* What does "Bclk 100 ONLY! Important!" mean?
* Is my RAM 9-9-9-24? (see pic below)
* Is my RAM voltage 1.5 or 1.2? (see pic below)



Thanks for all the help!

If its DDR3 1600MHZ @ 1.5 VOLTS that's what you set in the Ram section of the Bios OK! Next yes be very careful of those temps try to get it stable under 80c or as near to it right. The higher you go the more voltage on the chip the more heat you have to watch out!!! So see you later, golden rule take your time don't rush and always right down what you change. Why if you have a problem you can go back and change it! AJ.

i dont see anywhere where you listed your CPU cooler. if on the stock heatsink from intel, then your 90c temps are great for a 4.4ghz. what cooler are you using? case?

beyond that, to truly see the current overclock you should post a screenshot of CPUz CPU/Memory tabs (and maybe SPD once so we can see the ram settings. You should also run a prime95 or similar program for 20 and include a screenshot of hwmonitor.

i'd guess now that you've disabled the power saving features, you can backoff the volts to the cpu and that will save you some HEAT. hard to say without all the details.

Correct DT will find out tomorrow now thanks! AJ.

dtrunk said:

beyond that, to truly see the current overclock you should post a screenshot of CPUz CPU/Memory tabs (and maybe SPD once so we can see the ram settings.

Click to expand...

Are these what you want to see?

dtrunk said:

i dont see anywhere where you listed your CPU cooler. if on the stock heatsink from intel, then your 90c temps are great for a 4.4ghz. what cooler are you using? case?

Click to expand...

Case is Cooler Master HAF RC-912-KKN1 ATX

Not sure what cooler this is, but I'm pretty sure it is not the stock:

You have a Hyper 212 EVO.

2+2 If it was my pc, with the temps you said you were getting, 91c. I would do the following. Set everything back to default settings. Then re clock it with the guide I posted above. Not all chips are the same, so you may be an unlucky one, but you shouldn't have a problem getting that chip to 4.4. I have an I5 2500k with a the same hyper 212 cooler and was able to get it to 4.6ghz with temps maxing out around 80c, using that guide.

On them Hyper 212 Evo can you put a second fan on the other side? AJ.

I notice from your screenshots that you used the auto overclocking button in bios?
Better set bios to optimized settings and begin all over again.
Bclk should be at 100 now so leave it at that.

On the ramsticks is a sticker with the proper timings and required voltage, so set those for your ram in bios.
If you want to overclock then you need to up the multiplier and adjust vcore.
Turbo must be on so your cpu can scale up and down when running a program or doing simple tasks. If it doesn't do that and stays at the default clocks you need to set C-states accordingly.
Now you can start in getting 4.0Ghz. and see if it is stable with the vcore you set it at.
Well, use the guide to get where you want.

Your 212evo should do a better job at 4,4Ghz or 4,5. So maybe it's not mounted correctly, maybe the base isn't touching all of your cpu due to the cpu bracket? Have you applied the correct amount of thermal paste? Have you secured the cooling device screws properly?
Adding a second fan to the coolermaster usually only takes 1°C away.
Case airflow is also important.
You could try the cm blademaster 2000rpm which came with the hyper 212+, the evo has a lower rpm fan although that shouldn't have to make it worse.

OK, guys, I opened up the case, wrote down my RAM specs, and made sure the CPU cooler and everything looked correct. It looked fine to me.

So then I went into BIOS and reset to default, then started from the guide posted here. Except, to be safe, I started with 1.325 volts and 4.2 GHz.

However, I think I did something wrong. CPU-Z and Core Temp show different voltages...and neither of them is 1.325, which is what I entered in the BIOS!



Then, all of the sudden, I got an error message that said "Warning! Motherboard Temperature is -60!" The minus sign is not an error, that is what it said.

So I rebooted it.

I am running Prime95 again. Core Temp shows 1.3911v and CPU-Z shows 1.280, even though 1.325 is what I entered into BIOS.

I can take pictures of anything needed. Thanks in advance.