[skylake] I5 6600k OC advice

Hey overclockers, first time post here, long time creeper, can't find exactly everything I want with searching.

New system just built, upgraded to skylake from an e8400 from 2009~ lol. So it was about time and I figured I may as well jump into ddr4 z170s

Gigabyte z170 gaming 7 mobo
I5 6600k 3.5ghz
2x8gb Corsair Dominator platinum ddr4 3000mhz 15-17-17-35 1.35v
Samsung evo 850 ssd
EVGA 750w g2 PSU
Cooler master Hyper 612 v.2 cpu cooler
Gtx 650ti oc 2gb gpu
(yeah yeah upgrade my gpu)
F6f bios version


Just looking for suggestions for settings for a decent stable OC, rather than just auto auto auto 4.4ghz clock ratio adjustment that I have right now stable as far as I can see.

Custom bios/voltage settings?

Don't need to push this too far just wanting some ideas or recommendations to hit maybe a little higher.

Best programs to stress and bench? I have aida64 prime95 OCCT cinebench etc.

Any ideas welcome!

Thanks for reading.

Quick CPU OC:
- set voltage to 1.3V ( I don't know if your cooling can handle more, you will see )
- raise CPU ratio by 1
- test stability - AIDA64 CPU tests are good enough
Let's say leave it for 20-30 mins. If it passes test then set +1 ratio and test again ... till it fails. When you find a spot when it fails pretty quick then set 1 ratio less and run stability test for 1-2h. Usually after 2h stability test it won't fail in calculations so you can move to mixed tests like 3DMarks/PCMarks or simply play games.
1.3V is usually enough to set 4.5-4.7GHz ( depends from CPU ). Many CPUs will need 1.35-1.37V for 4.7GHz.

If you want to OC memory then set 3200 15-17-17 1.35V. If you make it pass ~1h AIDA64 stability test ( mark only memory+cache test ) then it will be close to stable. AIDA64 is loading memory in ~95%.
If you make it pass at above settings then try 15-16-16. If it won't pass at above settings then try 16-17-17 or 16-16-16. New Corsair kits are almost only on Samsung IC so you may take a look at various tests made on Samsungs ( you can find some on my memory test list - link in my sig ).

At the end you can play with cache frequency. CPU voltage = cache voltage so you don't have to set anything else except cache ratio. Simply set it higher and run memory+cache stability again. Both tests are somehow related so it's good to run them both at the same time.

Thank you for your insight.

couple follow up questions/points;

I should basically keep most other settings at default/Auto? It seems like OC has been streamlined and simplified with Automatic settings, I just wonder if that further bottlenecks me, leaving them as auto? i realize this is a whole other can of worms, yes.

Currently 4.5ghz x45 ratio 1.3v everything auto:
aida is showing me core @ 1.284vmax, while HWMonitor is showing me 1.338vmax. I know that accuracy isn't the best for these apps, do these numbers seem ok? adjustments?

Running aida64 CPU/FPU stress right now on Beta v. 5.50.3600 that supports 1151 skylake etc. so far so good, CPU sitting @ 55c~ will bump up clock 1 by 1 and hope for the best!

Will update later!

All looks fine.
Most settings can stay at auto just because these processors don't need additional adjustments. PCIe bus and other things are separated so CPU overclocking doesn't affect most other components.
Some additional voltages can be helpful above 5GHz but for that is required sub 0 cooling ( dry ice, LN2 etc. ).