Overclocking an i7-2600k with an Asrock Extreme3 Gen3 within the BIOS

[HeatM1ser2k4]

I am having such a hard time overclocking this in the bios. If I turn on the automated overclock, it boots just fine at 4.8Ghz. Then I can use their software in Wondows to get to about 5.1Ghz...but the computer freezes after that.

I dont know what to do. I bought these component to benchmark with, but I feel like I am either doing something wrong, or one of my parts is a dud.

I was able to run an i5-2500k using the BIOS automated overclocker and the Windows software, but having trouble with the i7-2600k(which I would expect to be even better than the 2500k)

Can anyone with this board tell me what to change in the BIOS to push this at least to 5.3Ghz so I can see if it will go that far?

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

BTW...I've gone by 2 guide I found on these forums....but I think its the voltages that I dont understand

 

[Theocnoob]

I am having such a hard time overclocking this in the bios. If I turn on the automated overclock, it boots just fine at 4.8Ghz. Then I can use their software in Wondows to get to about 5.1Ghz...but the computer freezes after that.

Well that's your problem. You're using Wondows. Everybody's on Windows now. Sandybridge is easier to overclock than a clock. You're going to have to use the bios. I've never met a Windows based overclocker for a motherboard that didn't suck. It's all pretty straight forward. If I didn't understand what was going on I sure wouldn't aim past 4.5Ghz and/or about 1.35V though. And if you exceed the 'safe' voltage limit you need to be aware of the risks involved in lifespan degradation and what have you.

Not sure what it is you don't understand about the voltages. Faster = more voltage and more current delivered more precisely across more VRM phases required. You have to set to compensate. If the board doesn't have manual voltage 'ie type in 1.40' then you use offset voltage which that board definitely has. You'll also want to disable the max current limit/time limit and many other things. If you don't understand the basics though of screwing with the voltages on that board though there's no point going any further until you get over that hill first.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

+1 to what he said. If you bought this for benchmarking, you'd better be ready to overclock from the bios.

Set the core count and whether our not you want hyper threading. Then raise the multiplier until it doesn't boot into windows. In that case, raise the vcore and retry. Weigh in the max amount of voltage you want to run. Also temps will get in the way with HT on. I would suggest trying 2c2t and go from there. That will help you find the max multiplier on your chip.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Not sure what it is you don't understand about the voltages. Faster = more voltage and more current delivered more precisely across more VRM phases required. You have to set to compensate. If the board doesn't have manual voltage 'ie type in 1.40' then you use offset voltage which that board definitely has. You'll also want to disable the max current limit/time limit and many other things. If you don't understand the basics though of screwing with the voltages on that board though there's no point going any further until you get over that hill first.

I dont know what voltages to increase, and which ones I shouldn't---or which voltages I can increase more than others.

Like I dont know what the CPU voltage offset should be if I want to try to push my CPU to 5.5Ghz, or the VCH voltage, or VTT, or CPU PLL voltage, and whats IGPU voltage offset? I;ve only overclocked AMD CPU's, and they had set multipliers and FSB's. Now it seems like I set things, but they underclock until needed---then they overclock when needed with Intel CPUs

 

[ChanceCoats123]

I dont know what voltages to increase, and which ones I shouldn't---or which voltages I can increase more than others.

Like I dont know what the CPU voltage offset should be if I want to try to push my CPU to 5.5Ghz, or the VCH voltage, or VTT, or CPU PLL voltage, and whats IGPU voltage offset? I;ve only overclocked AMD CPU's, and they had set multipliers and FSB's. Now it seems like I set things, but they underclock until needed---then they overclock when needed with Intel CPUs

Change it from offset to manual and you won't need to know. For your current purposes, you only need to change vcore. Then go into the cpu config and set the multi to 50 since that should work on nearly every chip, then work up as I mentored previously.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Change it from offset to manual and you won't need to know. For your current purposes, you only need to change vcore. Then go into the cpu config and set the multi to 50 since that should work on nearly every chip, then work up as I mentored previously.

Are there any other options that should be enabled/disabled...for example CPU throttling or something?

Also, what is a good vcore voltage to set for 5Ghz?

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

anyone?

Also, what is a good vcore voltage to set for 5Ghz?

 

[Janus67]

Try 1.4v, make sure CPU PLL Overvoltage is set to 'Enabled/On'.

You may need a bit more than 1.4v, it just depends on your system. Are you using your watercooling setup with the 2600k?

Theocnoob's 4.5ghz guide should be a good start though to get you to 4.5 then just move up from there. But as I said, you will likely need to turn on CPU PLL Overvoltage at a certain multi or else it won't boot.

If you want to find your maximum multiplier you will need to turn off/disable Intel Speed Step (sometimes called EIST) and the various C-states (C1E/C3/C5/C6) which are your power savings features.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Yes, its watercooled. Would it help to use the automated overclocker within the BIOS to get to 4.8Ghz, then post screenshots of the voltages from Windows at 4.8Ghz?

Also...Newegg is MUCH more expensive than the i7-2600k's at Microcenter...is that because certain batches are sent to Newegg that tend to be better overclockers?

 

[Janus67]

I just think MC just has better deals, not sure why Newegg and most other E-retailers are so much more expensive (beyond the fact that they just can be).

I still would say to not use the automatic overclocker and do it manually. Set your vcore to 1.35v and set the multiplier to 45. That should boot for 95% of people with no problems.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Is my Asrock Extreme3 Gen3 defective?

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This has happened several times....I keep getting error 0x000124. I used the automated overclockeer within the BIOS last night to OC @ 4.8Ghz, yet this morning I woke up to that BSOD.

Sometimes it happens when I leave the computer on overnight, sometimes it doesn't. Other times it gives me that BSOD when trying to boot.

Another thins is that, when I hit the power button, the computer lights up...but doesnt boot up. I have to turn it on and off 3 times, and on the 4th try it will boot with default stock speeds.

Do I have a bad board? This is the 2nd chip that this has happened with(other being an i5-2500k). I would imagine that the automated overclocking feature within the BIOS wouldn't push the CPU or voltages beyond what they are capable of.

I still would say to not use the automatic overclocker and do it manually. Set your vcore to 1.35v and set the multiplier to 45. That should boot for 95% of people with no problems.

I wanted to be a bigger part of the benchmarking team, and 4.5Ghz won't cut it. I'll need to get to at least 5.3Ghz or more, and I see others who get to 5.5Ghz on H2O. Even when I used the automated overclocker in the BIOS and the Windows OC software that came with the mobo to get to 5.4Ghz, I made it into the top 20 on these forums for 1M SuperPi----but that wasn't even good enough to earn the team any points....so I want to push this as far as I possibly can....any suggestions? I could buy a different mobo if that would help, or different RAM than what I have

 

[Janus67]

You won't need a different mobo or different RAM really.

I was referring to starting at 4.5ghz to get used to using the BIOS to overclock manually. The stepping up one multi at a time until it isn't stable*. You will want to follow the directions and stop using the automatic overclock as it won't use an appropriate amount of voltage (sometimes too much sometimes too litte). Also, I wouldn't bother using the Windows-based overclocking software either as 9/10 it is bunk and just puts more load on your CPU than necessary to hinder your scores. You should be able to boot at your maximum multiplier (which I lined out above).

If you want to find your maximum multiplier:
In your BIOS/UEFI:
Turn on CPU Pll Overvoltage
Set your vcore to 1.55-1.6v
Turn off the power savings features (Speedstep/EIST, C1E, C2,C3,C6, anything that is a C-state)
Set your CPU Pll voltage to ~1.775v (more or less depending on your motherboard that value may not be one that you can type in, but one notch above or below will be fine)

Increase your multiplier one notch at a time until you get a blinking cursor after the POST screen. If you see a blinking cursor you have reached your maximum multiplier (basically a brick wall where no more voltage will help - mine is unfortunately a 52x chip, for example where 53 gives me a blinking cursor, some people are lucky enough to get 54/55/56/57/58/59(!)x chips, I wasn't, and the higher they are the more rare they are). If you can get into Windows (or at least see the Windows logo start animating) it means that the multiplier works and may just need more vcore to be stable. Of course watching your temperatures, especially during heavy threaded 2D benchmarks (Wprime1024 is a monster for putting out heat, especially with 4c/8t enabled)


A piece of advice - low/mid-range SB chips are still excellent for 3d clocking even if you can't get excellent scores via 2d (which require very very good chips for sandy bridge or a hell of a lot of tweaking). Also, a piece of advice, run most of the 2D benchmarks in XP (especiallly superpi) and most of the older 3D benchmarks (although some of the older ones like Vista, it depends on the card).






* stable referring to stable enough to run a benchmark (CPU-Z validation, SuperPi1M, SuperPi32M, WPrime32, WPrime1024, Pifast, PCMark05, and the various 3d benchmarks), not Prime95/IntelBurn test stable

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Ok..thanks for the advice...I'm excited to get home and test it out....overclocking Intels is a whole new game to me...used to be an AMD fanboy

 

[Janus67]

Once you see, SB is a completely different [and unexciting] ball game! Although you will be able to get into messing with Bclk a little bit, but keep it at 100 until you learn the maximum multiplier.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

ok..I did everything you said to do. Turned off everything you told me to, except i couldn't find anything that said C2 in my BIOS

Set the vcore to 1.6v
and the CPU PLL to 1.791v

I hit 5Ghz with those settings, but when I went to 5.1Ghz I got a blinking cursor followed by a black screen

So, I went in and turned the CPU PLL voltage down to 1.750 and it let me boot at 5.2Ghz

No matter what I did, I couldnt get above 5.2Ghz

The weird thing is that when I was booting up at those speeds, even though I set the multiplier in the BIOS to 52, CPUID was saying my CPU was running at about 800Mhz

Is there anything I can do to see if I can get a higher multiplier than just 52? I increased the vcore to 1.65 and I got past the blinking cursor to the windows logo screen...but it froze.

PS---I am now running at 4.5Ghz...but the system is running REALLY slow. I opened SuperPI and ran a 1M calc test and it took over 25 seconds, and the entire time I had CPUID up. The multiplier kept bouncing up and down between 8 and the highest I saw was 23.....why was it running so slowly?

Any suggestions?

 

[manu2b]

Cursor black screen means you've reached the max multi.
1.6v is much too high.
Don't go above 1.45v on load, you might fry the cpu.

 

[manu2b]

Your cpu is throtling. In the bios, you have a power setting, actually you have 3 on Asrock boards.
Set short and long duration power limit to 250/300 and cpu power limit to 250/300 as well.
Hope it helps.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

So, what do I do now that I found my max multiplier to get my CPU to run at max speeds? When I hit 5.2Ghz the system was running slow in Windows. SuperPI 1M came in at 23 seconds

 

[manu2b]

Check my second post: it has to do with cpu throttling.

EDIT: don't run your cpu at 1.6v, or it's going to be history before Easter.