Overclocking i7 2600k Help please

Plec · 1 Jul 2011 at 14:04

I'm not familiar with your board/BIOS as i use an MSI and the only other SB flavoured boards i've set up have been Gigabyte. I'll quickly load up your manual...

But from your description i would fix the vCore for now to 1.24V and work form there.

storm45 · 1 Jul 2011 at 14:29

it blue screens with the fixed voltage settings... i tried up 1.27V and blue screened, so now i am testing the offset voltage at -0.10

IPAddis · 1 Jul 2011 at 14:45

Try multiplier 46, voltage offset +0.05. Works 24/7 on mine with everything else on Auto and core voltage is around 1.3V so within accepted limits. You're might be different but worth a try.

bulldog147 · 1 Jul 2011 at 15:14

storm45 said:
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

Your core 0 and core 2 is 2C degree difference. How come the rest of us all had 9C, 10C and 11C degree different between Core 0 and Core 2 ? Look like your silver arrow had a flat surface plate ? Mine 11C different between Core 0 and Core 2!

storm45 · 1 Jul 2011 at 15:44

lol, i don't know, maybe just lucky..

when i set ratio to 44 its only goes up to 4ghz at 100% load with prime95... am i doing something wrong?

Justintime · 1 Jul 2011 at 15:47

bulldog147 said:
Your core 0 and core 2 is 2C degree difference. How come the rest of us all had 9C, 10C and 11C degree different between Core 0 and Core 2 ? Look like your silver arrow had a flat surface plate ? Mine 11C different between Core 0 and Core 2!

I don't much difference, my biggest delta is usually 3-5c between cores... and thats with all my builds.

Plec · 1 Jul 2011 at 16:36

Justintime said:
I don't much difference, my biggest delta is usually 3-5c between cores... and thats with all my builds.

Yeah, i've had the same anomaly/experience with all my other builds too prior to SB and, as you know, it’s nothing unusual.

But I’ve done 4 SB builds and 2 of them have had at least 1 core with a ~10 degree difference.

On the first build I reseated the HS 4 times before I wrote it off as a rogue sensor - with the second I only reseated once.

And it’s definitely a CPU issue as I have the same anomaly an the same core using the SA as I did with the Freedom Tower.

I now adjust the offset in Core Temp...

Justintime · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:07

Odd, have built 23 rigs with 2600ks and not had that issue. How are you spreading TIM? I use MX3 with a blob in the middle and press the sink down and turn it a little side to side to mash it in before i secure the sink. Spread pattern is quite good as well when i remove the heatsink.

Plec · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:20

Justintime said:
How are you spreading TIM? I use MX3 with a blob in the middle and press the sink down and turn it a little side to side to mash it in before i secure the sink. Spread pattern is quite good as well when i remove the heatsink.

I use the rice size blob method - and adjust accordingly with exposed heatpipes.

Although, i didn't use the blob method with the silver arrow (regretted it as soon as i tightened the last screw) - as the instructions were insistent on applying both surfaces with a thin layer. And as the surface of the HS was quite convex i erred on the side of caution. So i tinted both surfaces - and i think i may have used too little - although my temps are great.

Having said that, when i use the blob method i don't twist from side to side. I just plonk the HS on and allow for heat and pressure to spread the gunk - so i may try that when i next refit the SA. If my results are any different (as in the anomaly) i'll post back.

I use whichever paste comes to hand - AS5, MX2/3 or ChillFactor III - TBH, i'm not overly fussy with gunk. I've not noticed any major differences between 'quality' gunks - and if i do i put it down to a better contact between HS and CPU, that time around.

There may be a chance that the 2 SB chips, which had similar anomalies, may have been from the same batch as they were both ordered within the same period, from the same retailer. Plus there were a few threads with simialr issues around the same time - so it may have been a batch issue.

But, you seem to have way more experience when it comes to 'quantity of builds' (even though i've been building rigs since the early 90's for myself/family/friends) so i'll happily take onboard any fitting tips you have as you've probably 'been there and done that' a lot more times than myself.

I do builds in bursts - because i'm a bit like Bagpuss (if you know what that is?) - when i upgrade; suddenly all my friends and family want to upgrade too :/

storm45 · 2 Jul 2011 at 00:31

So after a day of playing around, my final overall clock settings are:

This passed prime95 tests which i ran for a few hours, any lower voltage would fail the test...

Plec · 2 Jul 2011 at 00:38

Looks promising - your using 0.031V less voltage than at auto in the OS - not a massive difference but every little helps (heat and power consuption).

Plus your system looks stable using 1.5V DRAM - which is a real bonus.

Do you plan on leaving it there - or are you going to push for a bigger clock?

storm45 · 2 Jul 2011 at 00:53

For now, i will leave it at 4.4ghz with these settings. I don't see any reason to go futher at the moment.

Last problem i have is i need to loosen the middle bolt on my silver arrow as i think its on tooo tight lol, shouldn't change the temps at all.

And then finally, time for some gaming!

thanks for all the help Plec and everyone else

bulldog147 · 2 Jul 2011 at 01:13

I had order Asus p67 board with i7 2600K (new batch number) and hopefully I can overclocked 5GHz at the lower vcore! Finger cross! As my Gigabyte Z68 board with i7 2600K chip is pretty poor overclocked too high vcore! 4.6GHz need 1.38V at the bios which I ain't happy about it.

storm45 · 2 Jul 2011 at 10:39

wow 5ghz would be cool! i thought going over 1.38v would limit the lifespan of the cpu? and if you go 5ghz you will probably need more?

Bos · 2 Jul 2011 at 10:58

bulldog147 said:
Not really bothered about 5GHz, just be happy what you got 4.6-4.8GHz will be more than enough! Why 5GHz for ?

bulldog147 said:
I had order Asus p67 board with i7 2600K (new batch number) and hopefully I can overclocked 5GHz at the lower vcore! Finger cross! As my Gigabyte Z68 board with i7 2600K chip is pretty poor overclocked too high vcore! 4.6GHz need 1.38V at the bios which I ain't happy about it.

Make your mind up lol

storm45 · 2 Jul 2011 at 11:47

ah cool, i'll leave it then lol.

well i ran small fft test in prime95 for 10 hours and got no errors. But i just started a Prime95 blend test and i got an error in 1 hour :S Does this mean there is something wrong with my RAM settings? (and my CPU settings are fine?)

Plec · 2 Jul 2011 at 11:54

storm45 said:
started a Prime95 blend test and i got an error in 1 hour :S Does this mean there is something wrong with my RAM settings?

Possibly - run memtest.

If you start getting errors bump the DRAM voltage up to 1.52V - then re-test.

Plec · 2 Jul 2011 at 12:11

Could you upload a pic of CPUz - specifically with the memory tab info?

storm45 · 2 Jul 2011 at 12:13

yep, this is at 1.5v

EDIT: damn, time for work, will be back in evening, thanks

bulldog147 · 2 Jul 2011 at 13:13

My ram is the same as you as 9-9-9-24-2T (4 x 2GB - 8GB in total) but I put 1.50V as the ram volt and got stable 4.6GHz after 24 hours blend test a few days ago even thought the bios set at 1.38V (but when it doing blend test under load - it come down to 1.356V) and max temp for 4.6GHz is now 59C with Noctua NH-D14 with 2 x Thermalright 140mm fans. With Chill Factor III thermal paste.