Overclocking 3570k A few questions about temps, voltages, and stress testing

[MakoShark]

Right, I've been trying to tune my 3570k overclock and have been getting a bit frustrated with differing advice on temps, voltages, and how to stress test.

• 3570K
• ASRock Extreme 4
• Thermalright True Spirit 120
• 8GB Corsair Vengeance CML8GX3M2A1600C9B

I have been running a 4.2GHz overclock for a while and decided to try and tune it a bit yesterday. I was doing an offset overclock with

• VCore: +0.005V
• Turbo: +0.004V
• LLC 3/5

This results in a load voltage of 1.3V which seems excessive for 4.2GHz. Max temp running Prime 95 was 85C.

In trying to tune it, I lowered the VCore to -0.005V (resulting in 1.296V load) and tested 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5GHz. 4.3 and 4.4GHz passed 15 mins of Prime95 and 4.5GHz crashed to BSOD with 0x1A.

As this was a memory error, might it suggest that I should lower my RAM speed to 1333 (it's rated 1600) for higher overclocks? Obviously it is rated as being stable at 1600 for stock clocks, but how likely is it to become unstable at 1600 when running on a larger overclock?

I am now back at stock clocks and want to check how good my temps are, what voltages I should be aiming for, and what is the best way of stress testing before I go any further.

So stock speed with all defaults in the BIOS:

• Idle Voltage: 1.032V
• Load Voltage: 1.160V
• Max Temp in OCCT Linpack: 70C
• Max Temp in Prime 95: 67C

My cooler is a Thermalright True Spirit 120 which is supposed to be just slightly better than a Hyper 212 evo. I'm using Arctic Silver 5.

Are my stock temps a bit high or are they ok? If they're a bit high, should I try reseating my cooler?

With my cooler (or a 212 evo) what is the generally considered maximum overclock? Is 4.5GHz considered doable or just the lower 4GHz range? I know every chip is different but I'm trying to gauge if my temps are higher than general or ok, and thus if I should bother reseating the cooler.

What voltage should I be aiming for for 4.0 - 4.2GHz? What voltage should I be aiming for for about 4.5GHz?

With a 24/7 overclock for general usage (gaming etc.), what is the maximum safe considered temp whilst running Prime95?

Last question, what is the best and most time efficient way of stress testing an overclock? I was thinking of running OCCT Linpack to test max temps, and then prime 95 for 10 mins, whilst tuning. Then after I am happy with my settings, testing 8-10 hours of Prime95 to make sure it is stable. Is this the best method?

Thanks in advance for any assistance anyone is able to offer.

 

[Darknecron]

85C at 4.2

[My Hardware]
i5 3570k
Asus P8Z77-M Motherboard
16 gb G.Skill Ripjaws
Noctua NH-D14 with Arctic Silver 5 & Upgraded fans

[OC Results]
My core voltage sits at 1.200v with prime 95
Max temp is 63C
Core clock is at 4.5 ghz (45 multiplier x 100mhz bus speed)




I'd say that your stock temps are waaaaaaaaaaaay too high.

IMO, the max safe temp for 24/7 is 90C, but prefer to keep it under 85C.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Before I swapped boards I had the Asrock, I overclocked the same way as the video below. using only the offset voltage, same way the guy does in the video, even the same settings. I have been able to run 4.8 from day one. Of course now I run different settings with the MSI board. I don't remember my temps since I have also gone to liquid cooling over my 212 EVO.

85c is perfectly safe since 105c is TJ max. If you want lower temps, its up to you to decide if you want to change your cooling. I also dont just consider Prime or any other program the end all of being stable. I dont build Prime rigs, I build gaming rigs. What good does it do to be stable in a bench test or stress test but crash in games.

As for your memory, its pretty simple now a days, you set it to the speed and timings its rated to and that's that. They should run at 1600 etc since bumping the multi doesn't change how the memory runs.

I have bench tested my CPU at 5.0, it passed Prime even though it was only a 5 min run. Temps on the other hand were at 89c max, too high for my taste, but still would be safe for a 200mhz increase, to me it wasn't worth it. Right now using 1.30v in the bios, my voltage drops to 1.28 under load with vdroop and is 100% stable.

My temps are around high 20's at idle depending on the ambient, can run in the low to mid 30's when it warms up a bit. Load temps from Prime can be in the low to mid 70's, once again depending on my ambient. Once again these are well within safe temps, people love to go nuts over getting the lowest temps. Even I suffer from that recently. I am still thinking about getting even better cooling even though I don't need it. My EVO would do around 80c under Prime, so I got about 4-6 better using liquid.

So in closing, don't just rely on Prime or anything else for stability. Use the PC for what you are building it for, AKA REAL world usage. Prime can pass but games can and will crash. Bioshock and Crysis 3 both crashed my system when I tried to lower the voltage. Going back to 1.30, fixed those crashes instantly. Just keep trying things, once you have it stable, then decide if you are a have to have the lowest temps kinda person.

 

[MakoShark]

Slightly forgot about this thread. Thanks for the help.

I am now running at 4.00GHz with 1.184V using an offset of -0.075 with LLC on level 5. I hit a maximum temp of about 72C on the hottest core whilst stress testing. Stable with about 7 hours of Prime and gaming.

I'll probably go up to 4.2GHz at some point but I don't see the need at the moment.