4670K Overclocking

[LEK-89]

Hi all,

I've decided to get into overclocking again with my new rig, having moved from Sandybridge to Haswell I'm a bit of a noob again as Haswell requires a bit more fine tuning in the BIOS to gain a stable overclock as you all will know. Anyway, I'm overclocking with the Gigabyte Z87-D3HP motherboard and my ram is the TeamGroup Vulcan 8GB 2400Mhz version.

Currently I've got the ram set to Profile1 on the XMP which allows it to run at the full 2400mhz @ 1.65V and the auto set RAM timings are 11-13-13-35 (command rate 2T). As expected the system runs fully stable with these settings but do these still look ok to be able to help support a stable CPU overclock?

I've had a little play about the last couple of days and I've also read some of the Haswell overclocking guide over on the overclock.net forum. Anyway, these are the settings that I've adjusted in my BIOS to test a 4.4Ghz overclock on my 4670K:

CPU VRIN Override LLC: Extreme
CPU VRIN Override Voltage: 1.7V
VCore: 1.25V
Ring Voltage: 1.15V
CPU Multiplier: 4400
C1E, C3, C6/C7, and EIST: All disabled

I originally had the Vcore set at the starting 1.24V mark and AIDA64 was runinng fine up until the 13 minute mark when I decided to open up Firefox and then the system BSOD with the 124 error (not enough Vcore by the look of it) and so I upped it to 1.25V before I stopped there to post in here.

How do my posted settings currently look? Do I need to make anymore adjustments in the BIOS to gain stability? Also, I want the CPU to downgrade the clock/voltage during idle and I know that one of those power saving settings need to be re-enabled, but which one is it?

Lastly, while AIDA64 was running on the first test - the CPU maxed out at 81c at some point with it averaging at 75c ish most of the time and I'm using the Prolimatech Panther cooler. Bearing in mind that I've heard that Ivybridge & Haswell's now run much hotter than Sandybridge's but do my temps look normal?

Many thanks

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Any suggestions guys?

Thanks - Liam

 

[LEK-89]

That looks like an ok overclock to me if its stable. I dont think you'll get much higher without a better cooler. To get the power saving features back you will need to re enable the c states and test if it is still stable.

Thanks for your response - I haven't had another chance to test the OC with the 1.25 vcore properly yet but I will give it a shot tonight and report back.

I had a feeling that the cooler may be lacking in some aspect but I will wait and see what the temperatures are like with more testing before I invest in a better one.

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Ewaf - this is the one mate http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide

I've just been doing some testing again just now, with 4.4Ghz set at 1.25v and stressing in AIDA, I was greeted with yet another BSOD after just 11 minutes. Max temp that I saw was 82c

I then decided to bump the vcore up to 1.26v and tested again. I let it ran for 5 minutes before cancelling as at one point the temp spiked up to 84c (though the packet average was jumping between 75-79c in most cases) and I thought I would call it off there just to be on the safe side in case it rose again if I left it running during the night.

A couple more questions, I've read that lowering the CPU VRIN voltage will help lower temps but I am still already at the lowest 1.7v recommended figure?

Lastly, my ram is still set to XMP and is running at the full 2400mhz. Could this possibly be linked to my BSOD's as I've read that if the ram is not set to say 1600mhz to begin with, instability with the overclock can occur

Edit - forgot to mention that during tonight's testing, all power saving features were re-enabled to benefit from lower idle clock later on.

Thanks - Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Your temps were getting a bit on the high side. If you knock your ram back to 2133 or 1866mhz and try and lower the voltage then it might help your cpu temps and might stabilise your overclock a bit. Its mostly just a case of trail and error though. If you catch the bsod error codes and type them into google then you can tell whats causing your bsod and correct your cpu/ram accordingly.

Thanks for the advice

Every BSOD that I have carried the 124 code which I believe is down to not enough vcore or is some what vcore related if I am not mistaken. I think I will notch the ram down to 2133 tonight.

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Thanks for the link, I ended up following the one I posted (http://www.overclockers.com/3step-guide-to-overclock-intel-haswell)

Apologies if I am thread hijacking abit but makes sense to all discuss here! As the guide outlines I set my voltage to 1.20 and multiplier to 46 for a 4.6ghz overclock to see if it will boot as this gives an idea of the kind of chip I had. To my surprise, it booted fine but got a BSOD while running AIDA.

I bumped the vcore to 1.25v and now it's running stable at 4.6ghz, have run aida, prime 95 and gamed for a couple of hours. Am I insanely lucky with my chip or am I missing something? Are there any more settings I need to tweak? All I have touched is vcore and multiplier, temps are looking great! mid 50's with AIDA running.

Not touched memory though I put XMP on which is 2133 I believe. Very new to overclocking Haswell!

Cheers

No need to apologize at all mate, it's good to see another fellow member on here using the same CPU & board and hearing your overclocking experience, keep it coming

As already mentioned - you've got a cracking chip there to get 4.6Ghz with only 1.25v! I'm still in the testing stages with mine to see if it's stable with 4.4Ghz on 1.26v!

I've decided that this evening I will turn off XMP on the RAM and notch it down to 2133Mhz or 1866Mhz and see if I can get a stable 4.4Ghz overclock on 1.25v again, or failing that - 1.26v. What RAM voltage have you got set on the 2133Mhz mate?

Thanks Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Do I want my cpu running at 4.6 constantly? I think I read there is an option for it to decrease when not gaming etc, is this true?

If you want your clock speed to drop during idle, set all the power saving features i.e. EIST, all the C states back to Auto in the BIOS. This will drop your 4600Mhz clock back down to 900Mhz ish during idle, bear in mind that the vcore will not drop as it's a permanent fixture during overclocking. I've read somewhere too that during overclock testing, it's recommended to leave all the power saving features disabled to get the maximum stability (I had mine turned on last night though, I will probably leave them disabled tonight when I carry out the next test just to be sure).

Also, what is everyone's 4670K's batch numbers?? Mine is 3318B737.

elJarmen - are you using the latest BIOS for your board? If not, it would be worthy up get it updated to the latest one. Lastly - I wouldn't recommend using Prime95 for stress testing anymore as it's not built to cater for the Haswell CPU's, stick to AIDA64 as it's more up to date and better.

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

I see, thanks for the advice. I have left all that stuff as auto in bios but loading up CPU-Z shows that it always seems to be at 4.6? Would just browsing the net etc cause it to drop to the idle state?

It's a possibility. I forgot to mention as well to check the power saving features in Windows as in the processor power management section within power options, the minimum processor state may be set to 100%, knock it down to 0% and this will fix this. I also had this issue with my old Sandybridge build and it took me months to work it out lol!

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Well I'm now into this evening's testing, though as a last minute decision I decided to knock the clock down to 4.3Ghz with the 1.25v vcore. I've left the RAM still set to XMP at the full 2400mhz. All power saving features are turned off this time and AIDA64 is currently 30 minutes in and so far so good, the max temp it's shot to so far is 80c and the packet average is around 70c.

Fingers crossed this time lol. The main reason I decided to knock it back down to 4.3Ghz is because of the heat side of things, and I think at this time with my current CPU cooler - 1.25v vcore is my limit until I invest into something better. I have a strange feeling though that 4.3Ghz is the best I'm going to see out of this chip - just like it was with my old 2500K lol!

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

No worries at all Ewaf

elJarmen - sorry to hear about yours, I hope the next one is better for you!

Well in the end last night I cancelled the AIDA64 test at just under the 2 hour mark (hasn't been ran long enough, I know!), but I think that in the long run it's probably stable and the max temp never exceeded 80c. I'm out early this evening for a few hours so I'm half tempted to give it another shot but this time try 4.4Ghz running at 1.26v properly.

I've been looking into investing into a better cooler too and I've got my eye on the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 2. There's only one concern though, does anyone know if it will fit in my 300R case?

Thanks - Liam

 

[LEK-89]

I have a kit of the TeamGroup Vulcan RAM which is low profile and therefore clearance won't be an issue with the Dark Rock Pro 2 On my old rig I ran a a pair of Kingston HyperX's that were sat right underneath my old Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced lol.

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

I have the Matterhorn Pure:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-037-AL

Can't fault it, temps seem awesome at 4.6ghz! Was fiddly to fit though and if you have high profile RAM then you wont get away with it.

I forgot to mention that my 300R is the windowed version, and I've read that the Window itself sacrifices about 2mm of the CPU cooler clearance.

I was very close to ordering the Dark Rock Pro 2 today but I'm not finding any info elseware online that confirms if it will fit the 300R Windowed version or not

I was also half tempted to go for the H80i but I've also read that it doesn't perform all that great with overclocked Haswell's...

Anyway, I'm about to perform this evenings 4.4Ghz overclock on 1.26v vcore

Edit - 23:16, AIDA64 has been running for just under 4 hours so far and all is well I think I will leave it on overnight to see what the outcome is. The temp has only spiked once to 83c and the package average is around 70c. Also even though the voltage is currently set to 1.26v, AIDA's CPUID reports that it keeps bouncing from 1.26v down to 1.258v so I think I am maybe very close to the sweet spot.

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

4.4Ghz at 1.26v is stable! I left AIDA64 running overnight and I've just finished it at the 12 hour mark. The packet average temp was still around 70c and the max was still 83c at one point as originally reported.

I'm now half tempted to try out 4.5Ghz, I wonder what voltage would be required for it to be stable - maybe something around the 1.28v mark as 4.5Ghz is renowned for requiring much more voltage isn't it?

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Nice work!

Out of interest what are all the settings you've changed to get that? chips do vary massively but at least having a few settings from a working 4.4 might go some way for me to progress.

On mine for a stable 4.2 I changed, if it helps anyone with a dud like me.

Clock Multiplier x42 (kept Uncore multiplier stock)
CPU VRIN Loadline Calibration - Turbo
CPU VRIN External Overide - 1.800v
CPU Vcore - 1.270v
CPU Ring - 1.150v
Memory Profile - XMP

Will keep you all updated guys

These are practically the only settings that I've adjusted, except with mine the multiplier is x44, vcore is 1.26v, CPU VRIN is set to 1.7v and VRIN LLC is set to Extreme. CPU RING & Memory profile is the same as yours. All of my power saving features (EIST, C states etc.) are all turned off too so that I can maintain maximum stability - these are the only settings that I've adjusted

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

I've just decided to attempt 4.5Ghz @ 1.27v and was greeted with a BSOD within a minute or so of AIDA64 running. I then bumped the vcore up to 1.28v and the same happened again within a minute hhmmmm. It's strange though as when it was set to 1.27v, AIDA's CPUID reported that the vcore was sitting at 1.268v while under load most of the time? Despite this though from what I could see on the temp side of things, it maxed out at 80c so it wasn't a significant increase when compared to testing last night at 4.4Ghz.

It looks like that for me to possibly get to 4.5Ghz stable I will need at least a 1.29v or even a greater vcore which in some way I have been expecting. I may carry out another test overnight tonight with the 1.29v vcore to see how far it goes

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

I was going to mention that yeah, every guide I've read has said set LLC to 'Extreme' but mine only goes up to 'Turbo' and i haven't seen anything mention about others doing that. Mine is a Gigabyte Z87-HD3, maybe the higher priced Gigabyte Z87 boards have it.. I'll have another look in a bit and check.

I know the bios i'm on is the latest on the Gigabyte site, which is F6, I got a Beta bios F7 off tweaktown but that had the same options so I went back to F6.

If I'm not mistaken the Gigabyte Z87-HD3 is the entry level Z87 board which would explain why the overclocking capabilities with it are somewhat limited. Still, I thought that having even having Turbo set as the LLC would still be adequate?

Even with my Z87-D3HP, it's still classed as the "mid-range" board and I now reckon that if I went for a higher end one such as the Z87X-UD3H/Z87X-OC version then I would be able to squeeze more out of my 4760K or have more stability with overclocking at slightly lower voltages/temperatures.

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Then again, my 4670k is at 4.6ghz with 1.25 voltage and I have the Z87-D3HP, it's a great board. I think it comes down to the chip itself and the luck of the draw. I reckon I could knock the voltage down even more but haven't had a chance this week

You're right there, with the overclocking capabilities on this board I have to say so far that I am very impressed.

However, with my old Sandybridge build I was originally using the MSI P67-GD53 board and at the time I think it was only classed as an entry level/mid-range board and on my 2500K running on that no matter how hard I tried, I was limited to 4.2Ghz @1.325v when it came to overclocking. A few months later down the line I decided to upgrade to the MSI M-Power Z77 and I managed to squeeze 4.3Ghz out of my 2500K and on a lower voltage too (1.31v). 4.4Ghz was capable but I was pushing boundaries with it as it required 1.36v for it to be stable and the temps sky rocketed and I called it a day then with the overclocking on the 2500K and settled with 4.3Ghz. I still feel though that the board upgrade was worth it in terms in overclocking ...not that this has made me consider a better board to upgrade to in the future with my current Haswell build lol!

Ewaf - I've just noticed that you're running your rig in a CM690-II case. That was the same one that I had in my original Sandybridge build! Great case

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Yeah I think you're right it must be the board. I remember looking at the specs and their didn't seem much on the higher priced Gigabyte boards that really warranted the price, maybe there was some power management thing I missed.

After the computer ****ing me about not wanting to power on and even post i've gone back to 40x with a really low vcore and leave it. I think it was 1.185v, i'll enjoy the power savings instead!

Coming from my Q6600 with 4GB DDR2 to this with 16GB DDR3 and an SSD is such an improvement I don't think I'd notice the 200-400Mhz!

I know how you feel mate.

I think I may just stick with 4.4Ghz, even though there is possibly potential for me to go higher I think that I will be pushing it taking into consideration how much more vcore is required and how much the temps will increase. As you say, 200Mhz won't probably be that noticeable. At the same time though, I'm still tempted to go higher just to see what my chip is capable of lol

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

Yup! Love it, got the white one!

P.s. How did you know?

Well it was a bit of a random coincidence really, I was thoroughly searching through Google the other night on CPU cooler measurements for the Dark Rock Pro 2 for my case and other related cases that fell within the same category and my searches linked me to one of your previous threads posted not long ago and that's how I found out lol.

Liam

 

[LEK-89]

I'm getting 4.2ghz @ 1.16v and currently have 24/7 OC of 4.3ghz @ 1.185v. I'm using H100i and temps for 4.3ghz max out at 70c with avx on OCCT, 65c with AIDA and barely scraping the 60's while video editing or gaming for hours.

What I have found, is that it needs quite a jump in volts for 4.4ghz, it seems to be a bit of a threshold. Last time I had it at 4.4ghz temps spiked over 80c so I went back to 4.3ghz.

Once I get my custom water loop up and running I might have another look at pushing it, but for now I'll settle for 4.3ghz

That is quite impressive to get to 4.3Ghz stable @ 1.85v!!! What voltage was required to get it stable at 4.4Ghz?

Going back to what I was discussing about if a Dark Rock Pro 2 would fit in my Carbide 300R the other day, earlier on I decided to remove my Prolimatech Panther cooler so I could sit my old Dark Rock Advanced cooler (exact same height as the Dark Rock Pro 2) on the CPU to see how high it would sit. I then proceeded to put the case side panel back on expecting the cooler to be to tall for it to go on, only to find that it only just fits! There is basically like a 1.5mm gap between the cooler and the side panel, if you press the side panel in ever so slightly it will touch the cooler but still - it looks like that I may be able to go ahead and fit the Dark Rock Pro 2 after all!

Liam