[Theocnoob]

**Disclaimer: Overvolting/overclocking can/may reduce the life expectancy of a part. Overclocking your CPU technically voids your Intel CPU warranty. If you are concerned by this, purchase the Intel Overclocking Insurance, which will protect an overclocked CPU. And remember, use a quality aftermarket CPU cooler (mentioned in guide).

This guide is a simple guide meant to just get you there. The guide is as concise as possible and the steps as clear as possible for new people. I don't want to overcomplicate the thought process and confuse new people. Please understand it is a simple guide for those wanting a medium overclock. It is not meant to get you much past 4.5Ghz If you have questions, ask in General Hardware "Trying to overclock 2X00K", or ask in Intel CPUs, or ask in this thread. Thanks.

*Important note: This guide was written before the current 3570K and 3770K CPUs. You should buy these instead now, as they replace the 2500 and 2600/700K.
*Update 2: 4670K and 4770K are out now. This guide does not apply to those. Please see the Haswell overclocking guide if you have a 4670K or 4770K.
1:Before we begin:
You have:
*a 2500K, 2600K, 2700K, 3570K, or 3770K CPU

*A Z77, Z68 or P67 chipset motherboard.

*You know your ram timings (look at the box, the ram, or the ad for where you bought them. (Example, 9 9 9 28 1600Mhz 1.5V or 7 7 7 24 1.65V))

*You have an aftermarket cooler. The coolermaster 212+ is sufficient for this overclock across all three K sku 1155 CPUs . The 600 and 700, with more cache, require a higher tier cooler at the voltages needed when going to a higher overclock. If you have a 2500K you will be able to reach for the sky with the 212+. For 2600K or 2700K I recommend something like Thermalright's Archon if you wish to aim for the sky.

*You will need to download stressing and monitoring software mentioned in this article. It is all free and a link to said software is provided to make things easier.


*Please read the entire post to make sure you didn't miss anything

2: 4.5Ghz Guide bios settings :



*Note about some boards. As you can see in this thread http://www.overclockers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=692224 certain boards require that you make changes to the 'max power duration limit' and/or disable max power duration limit to prevent throttling

*Note about different mfgs bios- They are not all the same, for instance, to change the turbo ratio (to 45 to get 4500Mhz) on an ASUS board you go to Ai tuner. Other boards from other mfgs are different

Let's begin:

** Restart/start your computer, Enter the bios, usually by repeatedly pressing Delete. Overclock in your bios. Do not use a windows based overclocker as the results do not tend to be as good.***

1 Set overclock tuner, sometimes called differently, to manual.

2 Set max turbo ratio to 45. Enter your ram section. Enter the timings (your ram timings for the ram you bought. ie, 7 7 7 24 or 9 9 9 28 etc) . Leave the rest of the 'sub timings' on 'auto' Leave the RAM speed at AUTO unless it is miss reading (ie you have 1600 reading as 1333). In that case enter the correct number (ie 1600)

3 Go to the voltage section. Set CPU and RAM to manual. Leave the rest of the voltages AUTO. The RAM should be set to the 'sticker voltage', ie, 1.5v. The CPU, set to 1.35V

4 Find Load Line Calibration, or LLC. Set it to 50%. If it is in levels, 5/10 or 3/5.

5 Go to CPU features turn off C5 C1 and EIST / Speedstep . Some CPUs/boards will still hold this OC with speedstep left on. I suggest you turn it off for now. Also turn off any power saving features. You may also disable virtualization if you will never use it. Note that, SOME CPUS may require CPU PLL overvoltage to be turned on to hit 4.5Ghz. It is unlikely.

6 (optional) Go to onboard devices and shut off anything you arent using (USB3/Firewire controllers, extra LAN controllers, Extra SATA controllers)

Please note:
*Less than 5% of CPUs according to a published test by Asus will need more than 1.35V or refuse 4.5Ghz altogether. 80% need LESS than 1.35.




THAT'S IT!
Save changes. Exit, restart and enter windows and now run stability tests to make sure it went ok.

Note: (If your PC will not boot now, remove the motherboard battery for a minute to clear CMOS and restore stock settings. Or press the clear CMOS button if your motherboard has one. On some boards the MemOK button doubles as this check your manual.
If it will boot but not enter windows, restore optimal defaults in bios, make a post in Intel CPU to ask what
is wrong. This happens. 5% of CPUs will not take 4.5Ghz according to ASUS' in house testing. All is not lost and yours may take 4.4)

3:Test for Stability:



First we want to run P95 BLEND.
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=205 <Download the 64 bit version of Prime 95.
If you have a 32 bit Win 7 then install the 32 bit version. Run 'blend mode'.
Feel free to do other meanial tasks while it runs. A solid overclock ought to allow this. Listen to music or read and write in forums. Do not play games, render video, fold, or anything intensive though.
Prime 95 should be run for about 3 hours. 6 would be ideal though. I feel 12 is unnecessary. At this point, you're pretty well guaranteed a stable system.

Use the following monitoring software to keep an eye on your CPU temperatures while you run your stress test (blend)
Coretemp
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

CPUID HWMon
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

HWMon will monitor your CPU voltage. Make sure your voltage is holding around 1.35 or you may need to reset load line calibration to a higher or lower number depending on your brand and board.

Post about your results with screenshots so we can tell you everything is ok.


To be extra certain of stability
Run Intel Burn Test http://downloads.guru3d.com/IntelBur...load-2047.html DL link is at bottom. Not side.
5 passes. Just set to maximum, let it run and do its thing, and if it finishes 5 passes, your OC is in all likelihood a very stable one.

Know what your temperatures are and what's safe.
A cold cpu is a happy one. Monitor your CPU temperatures. We always take the hottest 'core' as your max core temp. Never the lowest.
in my opinion, as well as that of the HWmon software, and Intel specs, these are the ranges for sandybridge.
Green is perfectly safe. Yellow is a little warm but ok. Red is too hot. purple is dangerous. The cpu will throttle and prevent itself from dying from overheating, but you still must keep a good temperature.

0-70 Safe
70-80 Safe. Attempt to lower the temperature
80-90 Approaching unsafe levels
90-100 Dangerously hot

If your CPU ever gets into the 80s, IMO, it's getting too warm. It is ok to allow 80-82 for the 15 minutes IBT takes to run. As a general temperature for any period of time, however, it is overly high. The idea is to have a Sandybridge system which rarely if ever exceeds 70 in normal use. It shouldn't exceed 80 in normal use. If you EVER hit 90, stop whatever you're doing and let the cpu cool to idle IMMEDIATELY. You should not allow the CPU to exceed 85 IMO.

I always try to stay under 70 max (use, ie gaming, etc) temp when overclocked. Please note that your actual use temps (ie, playing a game) will be about 5 degrees less than prime95 and 10-15 degrees less than Intel Burn Test. For example, I get about 55-65 gaming, 70-75 in prime, and 80 in IBT. Leave CPUID HWMon open while you game for an hour. Then go see what your max temps were. Good way to find out. Tells you your max GPU temps too.


Here's what I got after playing Rise of Flight for about 1/2 hour. See my max CPU core temperature was 55C.
As you can see, even though my system hits 80 in Intel Burn Test, an average stress game doesn't even hit 60. Some more intensive games give me
a load of 65 but I never hit 70 gaming.

Now you're good to go. Congratulations Go compute !

In closing:
You should now have a stable 4500Mhz cpu. If you want to tweak more and you wish to stay at 4.5Ghz, you can likely run 4.5ghz at less than 1.35v. Keep lowering the voltage (1.345, 1.34, 1.33) untill it will not blend. Then bump it back up 1. While binning I met a 2600K that would take 4500Mhz at a mere 1.3V. Others have reported success at even at 1.27! This is rare. This is called a 'good bin chip'. Not all CPUs are identical in how they will overclock. A good bin chip will go higher on less voltage. As they are not all identical in their ability to take overclocks it is not possible to guarantee what you're going to get until you test for yourself.
Run the lowest voltage your desired OC will operate at (ie, 4.5Ghz) The lowest possible voltage = the lowest possible CPU temp for this specific speed.

Ever want to go faster?
If you ever want to go faster, make a post and ask us in the Intel CPU section. This was a 4.5 thread and I wanted it short and simple for beginners.
Many of us run 4.9 or 5.2 but that requires much more work. And degrades the CPU faster as well. You will have a shorter
lifespan at the voltage you'd likely need to do 5Ghz vs the very long one at lower voltage for 4.5Ghz. It is heat and voltage, not speed, which 'age' a CPU. That's why we advise a good cooler and aiming for the lowest temps and voltage your CPU/heatsink will give you.


For those with a few minutes, have a read through the whole thread if you like. Some people have had defective motherboards and interesting ideas and there are tips and warnings to be found among them. It is an open convo and interesting things, which may apply to you without you even having to go ask a question, may be here.



2/21/12 **Thread is now sticky!** Make sure you wash your hands after handling.

[Janus67]

Not too shabby of a guide.

A couple tips: the blue is extremely hard to read on the dark view of the forums.


May want to edit the RAM timings section and just replace your 9-9-9-28 with <enter your RAM timings here as specified on the sticker/package>

I believe for the power savings features it is generally C1E and EIST (speedstep), not sure about C5


It's also important to note that the voltage required does range, and some chips (unfortunately enough) will require more than 1.35v and even more unfortunately CPUPLL Overvoltage to be turned on, thus breaking the ability to go to sleep.

[Theocnoob]

Originally Posted by Janus67

Not too shabby of a guide.

A couple tips: the blue is extremely hard to read on the dark view of the forums.


May want to edit the RAM timings section and just replace your 9-9-9-28 with <enter your RAM timings here as specified on the sticker/package>

I believe for the power savings features it is generally C1E and EIST (speedstep), not sure about C5


It's also important to note that the voltage required does range, and some chips (unfortunately enough) will require more than 1.35v and even more unfortunately CPUPLL Overvoltage to be turned on, thus breaking the ability to go to sleep.

I put 'ie 9 9 9 28' but your timings could be 7 7 7 24 I think that part explained itself. As for PLL over voltage I have yet to meet one that wanted/needed it at 4.5. I have however made the changes you suggested to make it easier to understand.

[MagisDragonis]

New guy here and gotta say this is exactly what I was looking for. Just bought a z68, 2600k, 212+ rig and was curious about temps etc. This is... well, perfect. Thanks!

[turbohans]

Nice post dude! Not that I am noob or anything but I am sure somebody would find this useful!

[MagisDragonis]

Originally Posted by turbohans

Nice post dude! Not that I am noob or anything but I am sure somebody would find this useful!

allow me to return to my complete n00b status - how does one leave a "thanks"? I cannot find the button.

[Janus67]

you may need to have more posts to do it, when you would see it, the button is at the bottom right of the post

[MagisDragonis]

Aha. Yep, looks like I need more posts. Guess I'll have to try to be a regular then.

[57udl3y]

New here, thanks for the guide.

[Theocnoob]

Originally Posted by turbohans

Nice post dude! Not that I am noob or anything but I am sure somebody would find this useful!

Cheers

Originally Posted by MagisDragonis

New guy here and gotta say this is exactly what I was looking for. Just bought a z68, 2600k, 212+ rig and was curious about temps etc. This is... well, perfect. Thanks!

You're welcome bro

Originally Posted by 57udl3y

New here, thanks for the guide.

You are extremely welcome.

Originally Posted by MagisDragonis

allow me to return to my complete n00b status - how does one leave a "thanks"? I cannot find the button.

Bottom right corner under the post you wish to thank, and thanks back to you.

For those of you who used the guide:
Would any changes make it easier for you to have understood? Easier to get the required programs? Easier any other way? I will make them.

[Brolloks]

Pretty decent guide, I would add a disclaimer which include..."Overclocking your CPU reduces the life expectancy of your CPU. This is a guide and does not gurantee any overclocking results.
A good aftermarket air or water cooler is required to reach the CPU speed, a stock cooler will not be effective enough."

[cpyfx]

Thanks for the guide, I just purchased the 2500k, z68 and ram for my upgrade that I will be doing Christmas. It's been 3-4 years since my last one and have not kept up with changes in equipment.

[[SaS]hornet]

nice! got a 2500k/p67/coolermaster v8 coming tomorrow. will give this a whirl

[EarthDog]

Glad this common knowledge finally made it in to a thread of its own.

You may want to clarify a little more in the ram area... to actually say 'set whatever the timings on your ram are' instead of "(xx/xx/x/x/)" This is for new people and some have no clue what that would mean.

LLC is technically optional and is not required for overclocking at all. Depending on the manufacturer (Asus to name one), says to leave all the power saving features on...

[dealmaster]

EarthDog, do you know if Asus' recommendation extends to AsRock as well? I am having issues getting my 2500k stable at 4.5GHz (it even throttles itself down to 4.2-4.4GHz during OCCT stressing for some reason), it errored out of OCCT after about 20 minutes with LLC set to level 1. I had insane vdroop with it at level 5.

[EarthDog]

If its throttling, you either have temp issues or the power thresholds have not been increased and its hitting that.

Its generic. In the past, the reason behind disabling it is to make sure those options are not the cause of instability in your overclock. The same holds true now really, but Asus said it doesnt matter. What I would do is go ahead and disable them until you find your stable overclock, then go ahead and enable them after.

Also I just noticed #5 seems incomplete...

Also disable virtualization unless you need it. If you just said what?, disable virtualization.

Seems like there should be more there. With that said however, why are we disabling virtualization? I dont use it, and never disabled it that I recal.

[Theocnoob]

Originally Posted by EarthDog

If its throttling, you either have temp issues or the power thresholds have not been increased and its hitting that.

Its generic. In the past, the reason behind disabling it is to make sure those options are not the cause of instability in your overclock. The same holds true now really, but Asus said it doesnt matter. What I would do is go ahead and disable them until you find your stable overclock, then go ahead and enable them after.

Also I just noticed #5 seems incomplete... Seems like there should be more there. With that said however, why are we disabling virtualization? I dont use it, and never disabled it that I recal.

I simply disable virtualization because almost nobody runs virtual machines. I turn off whatever I don't need.
Please expand on what you mean by should be more there.

Originally Posted by EarthDog

You may want to clarify a little more in the ram area... to actually say 'set whatever the timings on your ram are' instead of "(xx/xx/x/x/)" This is for new people and some have no clue what that would mean.

LLC is technically optional and is not required for overclocking at all. Depending on the manufacturer (Asus to name one), says to leave all the power saving features on...

LOL Someone else told me to change it to (x xx xx) because if someone had 1866 9 11 9 28 and not 1600 7 8 7 24 this would confuse them.

Originally Posted by EarthDog

LLC is technically optional and is not required for overclocking at all. Depending on the manufacturer (Asus to name one), says to leave all the power saving features on...

I wanted to make a short, simple guide to just 'get you there' in keeping with SB's easy OCing style. Sure, Asus says leave all power saving features on, and you may not need LLC, but IME, doing it the way I wrote is more likely to guarantee first try success. My goal is to get a new user to 4.5 without confusion.

[dealmaster]

Originally Posted by EarthDog

If its throttling, you either have temp issues or the power thresholds have not been increased and its hitting that.

The highest temperature any core hit was 72C, would that be high enough to trigger throttling?

[Theocnoob]

Originally Posted by dealmaster

The highest temperature any core hit was 72C, would that be high enough to trigger throttling?

Throttling occurs close to 100c so nope. 70-80 is in the 'reasonable' zone. Yellow just means be aware that red is coming. In itself, yellow is still safe. Please see post 1 with the colored number safety for temps.

[EarthDog]

Originally Posted by Theocnoob

I simply disable virtualization because almost nobody runs virtual machines. I turn off whatever I don't need.
Please expand on what you mean by should be more there.

What I quoted is an incomplete thought...

LOL Someone else told me to change it to (x xx xx) because if someone had 1866 9 11 9 28 and not 1600 7 8 7 24 this would confuse them.

As far as this goes, that person was right, dont use specifics, but then you are too generic. Just a statement along the lines of 'set the 4 major memory timings and voltage manually, such as 9-9-9-24 1.5v (must set to your memories specifications).