How to overclock i7 4770k ?

[R1S8K]

Hi,

I've been trying to overclock my CPU, I've followed different guides. Sometimes it worked for some time then when I wake the rig from sleep, it won't boot and the bios crashes and it won't accept that setting and I have to boot from the saved profile which is 3.9GHz.

I want to overclock @4.2GHz as a start.

I tried %20 upgrade which are saved in my Gigabyte G1 sniper Z97 profiles. It set I guess the most necessary settings for that boost, and it pushes the clock to 4.3GHz, and set the required voltages and frequency. This one worked for some time without issues, but it crashed after some days.

I don't know what to do ?

Then are some of my bios pictures:





View attachment 210351

 

[bmwbaxter]

1. Load optimized defaults.

2. Save and Reboot.

3. Raise CPU Clock Ratio until you can no longer boot into windows.

4. Raise Revert to last bootable multiplier.

5. Stress Test with cinebench.

6. Raise vcore until it will pass cinebench. (1.3V is about max 24/7 for me.)

7. Increase Load Line Calibration will help it pass under load.

8. Test stablity with prime 95 see how long it lasts and watch temps. (your cooler is likely going to limit your OC)

9. Raise CPU multiplier until you can't boot into windows (this is likely close to your max overclock)

Repeat 4-8

Quick and dirty OC.

EDIT: Link to more detailed front page article.

 

[R1S8K]

But what about C states ! Which ones should I disable and which ones I should keep enabled ?

 

[bmwbaxter]

Leave them on auto IMO. If you run into problems worry about them then.

 

[R1S8K]

I set the Vcore voltage to 1.25V and ring voltage to 1.1V but system didn't boot.

So I set the Vcore to 1.35V and ring voltage to 1.2V, and it booted right away for 4.2GHz.

Also set the RAM profile to the one saved in the bios to 1600MHz.

I learned that it's not so difficult to overclock the CPU, just raise the Vcore and the Vring but I also had an idea that I have to take a lot of things into consideration.

 

[bmwbaxter]

Make sure you are watching your temperature on 1.35V.

 

[R1S8K]

How about these temps ?



I'm surprised that it's relatively low compared to the previous setting before overclocking.

Am I actually overclocking that CPU ? I have to check the performance compared to turbo boost performance which is without overclocking.

 

[trents]

Those temps are great but it's not clear how you are stress testing for temps and stability. We would recommend something like Prime95 run for 20 minutes to check for temps and tentative stability. Two hours of Prime95 after you get your overclock dialed in to confirm stability.

 

[R1S8K]

I ran Cinnabench and got 1909 and the temps hit at peak from 98 - 99 ! It's pretty hot and I only got the 212 EVO and I didn't hear the fans boosting up ! But that happened at the end of the test and I'm happy my rig is still working

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Now I want to boost the GPU a bit.



But for now I don't know exactly how it's working. And I don't know pretty much how to use the msi afterburner.

I think according to msi afterburner panel, the GPU is working like the CPU without overclocking, which is to run on base clock 139MHz and then hit the boost clock 405MHz.

So is overclocking the GPU like the CPU OC, which is to set the clock a bit higher and the GPU stays at that frequency all the time ? If so then, what are the recommended settings for my GPU ?

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Running a YouTube video crank the base/boost clock to this:

 

[bmwbaxter]

If you are reaching 98-99 you are likely gonna thermal throttle which will decrease performance, also running the risk of degrading your chip with those temperatures. Your cooler is definitely going to hold back your overclock on that CPU.
Maybe settle for a 4.0Ghz OC?

 

[R1S8K]

But those temperatures only happened in Cinnabench test. I think the temps would also reach +95 even when clocking the CPU @4GHZ, would you agree ? Because the temps are really low on normal loads.

I actually didn't check the temps when playing a heavy game, but I'm now working on OCing the GPU so I reach the sweet spot of OCing both CPU/GPU and then I would check the temps for both units.

Here's a quick load setting running borderlands 3 and other programs.



I also have a question, with this OC setting, am I OCing everything in the CPU which are the 4 cores + 8 thread ? Or I'm only OCing the 4 cores ?

 

[bmwbaxter]

overclocking the 4 cores will also overclock the associated threads as long as your have left hyper threading enabled.

 

[trents]

1. Doesn't sound like you are doing valid stability stress testing. CB R20 is way too short a test to provide any confidence you are stable in your overclock.

2. Your temps are out of control. You probably need a better cooler if you want to overclock much. But I would also wonder if your CM Hyper 212 is making proper contact with the CPU top or if the thermal paste isn't spread evenly. I would certainly try repasting and remounting. Clean the two surfaces with a cloth or tissue moistened with isopropyl alcohol and then apply a blob of paste in the center of the CPU lid a little larger than a BB bu smaller than a green pea. Don't try to spread it. Let the clamping pressure of the cooler mount mechanism do that for you. When you are mounting the cooler, twist each screw one or two turns in a "X" pattern to ensure even pressure and even spread of the thermal paste between the heat sink and the CPU lid.

3. I would not expect you need 1.35 volts to boot and run the CPU at 4.2 ghz. Try lowering the voltage some. That will help with temps.


Did you get this CPU new or used? It kind of acts like it's experienced significant degradation already as happens when someone overclocked it too aggressively.

 

[R1S8K]

1. Doesn't sound like you are doing valid stability stress testing. CB R20 is way too short a test to provide any confidence you are stable in your overclock.

3. I would not expect you need 1.35 volts to boot and run the CPU at 4.2 ghz. Try lowering the voltage some. That will help with temps.

Yeah that also depends on the other points you mention in point 3, I think I raised the voltage a bit much.

But at 1.25V as I recall but not sure it didn't boot at that voltage. Maybe 1.3V would be more safer and appropriate.

2. Your temps are out of control. You probably need a better cooler if you want to overclock much.

Absolutely right ! The evo 212 won't get me much higher frequencies if I want to keep the CPU in a good condition.

But I would also wonder if your CM Hyper 212 is making proper contact with the CPU top or if the thermal paste isn't spread evenly. I would certainly try repasting and remounting. Clean the two surfaces with a cloth or tissue moistened with isopropyl alcohol and then apply a blob of paste in the center of the CPU lid a little larger than a BB bu smaller than a green pea. Don't try to spread it. Let the clamping pressure of the cooler mount mechanism do that for you. When you are mounting the cooler, twist each screw one or two turns in a "X" pattern to ensure even pressure and even spread of the thermal paste between the heat sink and the CPU lid.

I did this not so long, maybe 4-6 months ago. I don't know if I have to re-paste the CPU once a year. But since 2014 when I assembled this rig, I only uninstalled/installed the evo 212 just several times like 3 to 5 times.

But the last time I did the steps of cleaning, putting a small amount without spreading it, and letting the surface pressure do its job of spreading the paste. But I had a bit of trouble mounting those screws, but I tried to be sure that the paste didn't go out of the CPU surface.

Did you get this CPU new or used? It kind of acts like it's experienced significant degradation already as happens when someone overclocked it too aggressively.

I bought it new from computeruniverse.com, and it's clocked to 3.9GHz by default. I don't remember if I ran it at its stock clock which is 3.5GHz but almost all the time it's at 3.9GHz I think it's the optimized settings in my motherboard bios.

Because when something happens and the bios tells me three options which are:
1. Load optimized and reboot
2. Load defaults and reboot or boot don't remeber
3. Enter bios

I choose load optimized and reboot and it's at 3.9GHz already.


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I ran prime95 for several minutes and the temps hit the red area so I stopped it maybe the paste is old, the evo 212 won't help me much or 1.35 is too much.

 

[bmwbaxter]

1.35 is way too much especially for 3.9Ghz.

You should read through the guide I linked in my first post if you don't want to follow my write up. If you don't follow some type of methodical approach you are going to have a hard time and we wont be able to help you out properly.

 

[R1S8K]

1.35 is way too much especially for 3.9Ghz.

No the 1.35V is the last voltage for the 4.2GHz OC.

When I want to run at 3.9GHz I just reset the bios and select the optimized settings and it set everything to proper values.

When I run at 3.9GHz the Vcore is 1.174V and Vring is 1.050V.

For 4.2GHz is sat Vcore to 1.355V and Vring to 1.2V.

You should read through the guide I linked in my first post if you don't want to follow my write up. If you don't follow some type of methodical approach you are going to have a hard time and we wont be able to help you out properly.

I tried to read that post but it's confusing and it relates different things that I maybe don't have to deal with; like, memory voltage.

That's why I said OCing could be simple by just rising the Vcore and Vring, but when other parameters are involved then I need something like a table with a setting to each parameter for a certain OC speed.

Reading through text confused me actually and I also tried to follow YouTube videos and other posts similar to the one you posted and I faced the same problems !

With the current setting my OC is ok, with any load I put. The temps hit the +95 degrees when I used stress programs so I think it's normal to reach those temps because I have put a bit high voltage so I just have tp reboot and change the voltage to 1.3V and I should be good with that.

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I changed the voltages

Vcore = 1.3V
Vring = 1.15V

The system booted ok, I ran prime95 right away.

It's much better, really didn't expect a small change in the voltage would affect the OC temps.



After some minutes, the temps hit the red area so I stopped the prime95.

 

[R1S8K]

This dude OCed his 3570k with the evo 212 @4.5GHz

But he put different voltages + changed the PLL voltage to 1.65V

 

[trents]

1. Your thermal pasted does not need to be changed every year.

2. But if you struggled to mount the cooler originally and it was slipping around on you a lot, the thermal paste may have been displaced. I would certainly redo that. And when you remove the cooler, check the spread pattern. That may give you clues as to why your temps are so high. The fourth generation Intel CPUs were known to run hot but I think your's is running hotter than normal and hotter than it needs to. And when mounting the cooler it might help to take the mohterboard out of the case to provide easier access.

 

[R1S8K]

1. Your thermal pasted does not need to be changed every year.

OK that's good to know ... thanks for the information

2. But if you struggled to mount the cooler originally and it was slipping around on you a lot, the thermal paste may have been displaced. I would certainly redo that. And when you remove the cooler, check the spread pattern.

It didn't slip a lot as I recall, I just had a hard time trying to mount those screws, but it turns out there's a technique to mount them.

I think I tried the X method, but I remember eventually I figured out a way and I checked the paste distribution before the final mount that there's a paste all over the chip.

That may give you clues as to why your temps are so high. The fourth generation Intel CPUs were known to run hot but I think your's is running hotter than normal and hotter than it needs to. And when mounting the cooler it might help to take the mohterboard out of the case to provide easier access.

When I get out of prime95, the temps drops really fast to 60s, isn't that a sign that the cooler is doing its job ?

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Today I booted the rig from a sleep from last night and it got the blue screen. I went back to the bios and changed the voltages.

Vcore = 1.25V and Vring 1.1V

Last voltages where

Vcore = 1.3V and Vring 1.15V and while I was gaming on borderlands 3, there was some stutters here and there. It wasn't like when the Vcore was 1.35V. 1.35V was really good but the members mentioned that it's too high.

Now; Vcore = 1.25V and Vring 1.1V, I would boot borderlands now, and if there's some stutters, then I would OC the GPU, would you agree ?

 

[Tír na nÓg]

LLC is too low. You have to set it higher. Doesn't give enough juice when idling.

Set it to max. You should have no vdroop then.