Overclocking i7 2600k Help please

storm45

storm45

storm45

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Hi, i have never overclocked anything but i keep hearing that its very easy with the Sandybridge CPUs.

I have the Asrock z68 Extreme 4 motherboard. In the BIOS i found optimized settings for 4.4Ghz which is what i want, i selected it and then restarted my PC.

So i am now running prime95, only for 5-10mins to check temps, do you guys think this is ok for 24/7 clock?



thanks

EDIT: temps are at 60C now
 
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We have different mobos but heres my settings.

set ram to xmp

bclk 100

turbo by core 45

pll overvolt enabled

load line calibration extreme

cpu volts 1.365

ram 1.5 but xmp should set it at that

everything else on auto.

For 5 gig and higher

as above and change cpu pll to 1.8025

vccsa 0.96875

cpu 1.40 or higher depending on clock speed but dont use more than 1.38 for 24/7 use.
 
Lol i'm not sure about those settings as i am a beginner.. i just selected a preset of 4.4ghz from the BIOS and the results are in the screenshot. Do you reckon its fine for 24/7?
 
Yeah that's actually pretty decent, nice low volts and average temps, will be perfect for 24/7.

Edit: wait 60C with a Silver Arrow at a voltage under 1.3? Something sounds wrong there. What are your load temps at stock?
 
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Wait see my edit.

There's not a problem with running it like that and those temps are perfectly safe but I would expect the Silver Arrow to perform a lot better than that to be honest.
 
sk82jack said:
Wait see my edit.

There's not a problem with running it like that and those temps are perfectly safe but I would expect the Silver Arrow to perform a lot better than that to be honest.
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Exactly how low do you want it to be? Those temps are fine. His ambient temp and case cooling are a factor as well. I've played with Silver arrows and a bunch of Noctuas and haven't seen any that can keep a 4.4Ghz OC under 60C fully loaded, vcore might be low but its still a 4.4Ghz clockspeed and probably like 130w tdp.. core voltage might not be accurate as well from cpu-z.
 
sk82jack said:
OK fair enough, I thought vcore was directly related to heat output, apparently not then :) lol
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If only that were so - i've got a 4.4GHz clock using 1.19V and my SA still reaches ~58 degrees at full load (small fft) and ~30 degrees idle.

Voltages do have a large impact - but combined with tdp.

EDIT: Although i think i can better load results with a refit...
 
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After 8 hours of Prime95 blend test:



seems alright... how much longer do you think i should run prime95 for before i can conclude that the CPU is stable at 4.4Ghz?
 
With a modest clock of 4.4GHz using 1.296V your system should be stable.

You could run small fft for 4hrs and then a blend run for a similar amount of time (normally i would suggest 8 hrs but you have a relatively minor clock with what should be ample voltage).

Have you considered upping the multiplier manually and experimenting with a reduced vCore of 1.25V or lower?

I would start at 1.22V as a starting point at 4.4Ghz and work my way up or down depending on results.
 
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Edit: see above post first.

Also you need to set you memory voltage manually as the XMP will set it at 1.65V - see the DRAM voltage in your screenshot.

Ideally it should be running under 1.58V - if you have XMS3 it should run at 1.5V quite happily.
 
ah cool thanks. When i changed the ratio manually to 44, i then ran prime95 but in cpu-z the speed was only going to 4ghz :S not 4.4ghz...

and what settings do you recommend for the vcore? right now its on auto, but i can change them to fixed or offset. I heard that offset would be better than fixed because it will undervolt the cpu when its not being fully used, and fixed stays at a constant voltage.

If i select offset, what setting should i choose? there are lots of options like +0.05, +0.10, -0.15 etc...

Also is it necessary to change the volts for the RAM? what benefit would it give?

these are the options i can change:



what settings do you reckon i should change?

thanks for the help Plec, really appreciate it.
 
storm45 said:
and what settings do you recommend for the vcore? right now its on auto, but i can change them to fixed or offset. I heard that offset would be better than fixed because it will undervolt the cpu when its not being fully used, and fixed stays at a constant voltage.
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Yes, it is best to use offset but as you're setting up a new clock i would leave it as it is for now until youv'e established that your clock stable (if you plan on doing things manually?)

I would start off with 1.23V for 4.4GHz - if it boots stress test as required and consider testing a lower voltage if you want to.

If it fails to poss first time or is unstable in the OS then up it to 1.24V and so on and so on until stable.

Once you've established your minimum stable voltage - you can then adjsut the offset in relation to your final vCore.

storm45 said:
Also is it necessary to change the volts for the RAM? what benefit would it give?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's very necessary as you can cause damage to components running DRAM over 1.58V when clocking with the SB.

If you have XMS3 memory it will usually happily run at 1.5V with no problems - definitelty under 1.58V (OcUK have had XMS3 running at 1.35V).

AGain, as it's only a moderate clock you can pretty much leave the other settings as they are - but make sure you don't up the BCLK as it's not advised (a few members have used this method but only on boards that can't overclock in the typical manner).

Below is a write up by OcUK - outlining safe voltages/settings.

OcUK said:
Sandybridge maximum safe voltages

Core Voltage - Not recommended too exceed 1.38v, doing so could kill the CPU, we therefor recommend a range of 1.325-1.350v if overclocking.
Memory Voltage - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means upto 1.58v is the safe recommended limit. In our testing we have found 1.65v has caused no issues.
BCLK Base Clock - This is strictly a NO, anyone using base clock overclocking could/will cause damange to CPU/Mainboard. (Set manually to 100)
PLL Voltage - Do not exceed 1.9v!!



Processor - Basically we recommend customers not to exceed 1.35v to play it safe, all our bundles are set at 1.3250v or lower, any competitors offering bundles above 4.6GHz you should be enquiring as to what voltage they are using as we believe anything over 1.38v will limit CPU lifespan and anything over 1.42v will likely kill the CPU or severely limit its lifespan.

Memory - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means 1.60v is the ideal safe maximum, but we have found in our testing all 1.65v memory is fine. We have also found most new 1.65v like Corsair XMS3 will run at its rated timings with just 1.50-1.55v which is well within Intel specifications. So people upgrading to Sandybridge you can still use your old DDR3, but we do recommend you run it at 1.60v or less. We are shipping most of our bundles which feature Corsair XMS at 1.50v-1.55v at rated timings. We've also discussed with Asus and MSI regarding voltages for memory and they also confirm in their testing 1.65v caused no issues with reliability.

Base Clock - To put it simple if you value the life of your components, do not overclock using base clock!

PLL Voltage - Again do not exceed 1.9v!


These are just guidelines we recommend you follow, if you want to push more voltage through your CPU's then just be aware they could die on you. Your warranty is un-affected and we will honor any CPU's that die, we just won't ask questions as to how you killed them. ;)

Not all CPU's are as fragile as others, we have experimented upto 1.50v Vcore and 1.70v memory and had zero issues with reliability, so it seems some of fine when pushing hard. :)
Click to expand...

EDIT: Excuse the edits i'm doing 2 things at once (well actually 3 if you include eating lunch...)
 
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storm45 said:
thankss, do i need to change any timings for the RAM?
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TBH, i would manually input the frequency, voltage and the timings.

If it is XMS3 it's the following:

  • Frequency - 1600Mhz
  • CL - 9
  • tRCD - 9
  • tRP - 9
  • tRAS - 24
  • DRAM - 1.5V
  • Command Rate - 2T
 
ok, all of that has been set.

the vcore voltage for the CPU is confusing to set. Shall i select fixed and then do 1.23V?

OR: if i want to set the offset at 1.23V how would i do that because all i can select is + and - figures :S what is the base voltage its plusing and minusing from?
 
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