Finding it hard to go over 4.5ghz...

[chrisoverson]

Okay, so I've got my 3770K on 4.5ghz at the moment using 1.275 vcore. It seems perfectly fine and stable there, and will play games all day long no trouble.

I'm getting around 70 degrees out of it under Prime95, but no matter what I've done so far I'm really struggling to get more than 4.5ghz out of it without crashing or BSOD'ing.

I've tried incrementally playing with the vcore, PLL and VCCSA voltages, but no luck yet. I've been going up by increments of 0.005v per time on the vcore, all the way upto 1.4. It will run 4.7ghz at 1.44 volts if I set LLC to extreme, but surely this is too high?

One thing I have noticed is that I don't have an XMP option, which is what I've seen a lot of people using. Could it be my memory causing the problem?

I'd appreciate any help you can give Thanks in advance!

 

[chrisoverson]

So you think it's likely that my limit on this chip will be 4.5ghz?

I'll have a try with 101.1 blk now then Thanks 8 Pack. Do you believe I could get more maybe with better cooling? I was hoping I could push the chip a bit further since I've replaced the intel IHS TIM with liquid pro.

 

[chrisoverson]

Better cooling always helps you get more yes. I think with this one the silicon is telling you it likes 4.5.

If your a gamer etc most reviewers don't believe there is much benefit over 4.4 anyway.

If you have the money for a new cooler you could certainly try that. Are your temps limiting though do you think???

I'm not sure, I don't think I can do much better on air though. I've been looking at the Noctua DH-14 but I'm not sure I'll see more than maybe 4-5 degree drop.

After de-lidding I only see 85-90 degrees max under intel burn test when I go as high as 1.44v. so does it sound like my temps are the limiting factor?

I was thinking about lapping the heatsink and IHS, seen as the IHS is now easily removable, do you think that'd be worth a try?

If 4.5ghz is all I can get then I suppose I'll have to live with it, it's still a very fast chip and I'm happy. If I'm honest, I wanted to try and beat my friend who has 4.8ghz out of his sandybridge. He needs to pump 1.46v through it though!

Thanks for your help 8 Pack!

 

[chrisoverson]

Okay, I fiddled some more and I got it stable again, 4.7ghz at 1.4v. Max vcore under stress is about 1.418. I took it back to 4.5 because I thought that was a bit high, but my temps are only 85 max. I guess I shouldn't be running that kind of voltage all day? Computer is used for gaming mainly, no real stressful CPU tasks.

If I were to get this under water, and bring the temps down, would this be safe to run 24/7 ? I want this to last for 2-3 years at least really . Thanks!