Should/Can I Overclock?

Rowan88

Rowan88

Rowan88

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Hi,

I have never overclocked my PC as I never seen the need to at the time, but now its getting older I feel I could do with giving it that little push to get more performance from newer games.

I had a little look into overclocking my i5-4670K 3.4GHz and from what I seen it can be done providing I have a decent CPU Cooler (BeQuiet SR1 Pro)...

However I only have the stock fan on my GPU so I assume I shouldnt attempt to overclock that.

Based on my parts in my signature would I and should I get away with overclocking both or just the CPU?

Thanks
 
For a simple overclock to 4ghz go into the BIOS and set the multiplier to 40x
Job done.

As for the GPU you have the Powertune with Boost version which has a base clock of 925mhz and under load boosts to 975mhz (might even be more). In basic terms it overclocks itself.

You could try setting the GPU to 1000mhz and see if it copes. You dont need to change the fan. You cant really unless you fitted aftermarket cooling (not as easy as a CPU)
 
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Searching for a gigabyte haswell overclocking guide will give you a ton of resources that teach you how to overclock and what you are doing.
 
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I changed the CPU Multiplier to 4.3GHz then rebooted, when I ran Intel Burn Test it locked the PC. I dropped down to 4.0GHz and it ran it all 10 test no problem. After it passed Burn Test I ran CineBench and it passed that test too.

UPDATE:

The highest multiplier I can get to without it crashing is 4.1GHz... Do I now need to change voltage to make it go higher or should I leave it at that?

UPDATE 2:

Changed multiplier to 4.3GHz and Vcore to 1.24 and Intel Burn Test and CineBench passed successfully... Is this the point you should stop or keep going lol?

UPDATE 3:

I ran Prime 95 on the previous settings and it went for about 5 mins before locking up.. It was around 70 degrees but the max I seen in HWMonitor was 97 degree.
 
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After some tweaking today I got to this point:

4.2GHz @ 1.190v

Passed Intel Burn Test on HIGH showing 109-110 GFlops and roughly 24 seconds.

Also ran Prime95 for 10mins and this was the results:

4_2ghzprime.png


With the tempetures hitting 88 degree should I stop there???
 
I'd proceeded with caution as it's getting pretty warm, but still, prime95 is a harsh stress test, you won't realistically ever see those temps outside of prime. So if it peaks at even 95c in prime its ok but pretty much on the limit, allowing for ambient temperature. Variations, don't forget its winter, so it may run a bit hotter in summer ..
 
So you think im better just leaving it at that, it seems to run ok and not crashing and its not worth risking the extra 0.1Ghz to increase the max temp into the 90s... as you said even if I heavy game it shouldnt hit anywhere like Prime95 does.

Only thing that worries me is because ive got it clocked so high, does that mean its prone to break soon?
 
I'd maybe leave it as is unless you improve cooling.. higher volts cause heat, and ultimately it's heat that will cause damage.

So if your heat is under control it's fine. Plus the tiny gain you'd get pushing it further is probably completely unnoticeable in day to day performance/gaming, so no need to run it that hot.
 
Thanks,

I know your saying if I increase the volts it causes more heat, is it the same as increasing the multiplier? Just incase I could increase that without the volts, would the temperture stay the same regarding it passes Prime95?

Also, should I try reducing the vcore by like 0.05 at a time to see if I can get the same result but less heat?
 
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Generally, you can increase multiplier as much as you want, too much and the system will just crash.
No big deal, just reset the bios if it doesn't do so automatically.

More volts will possibly let you push a bit more on the multiplier.
But more volts will run hotter. Too hot is bad.

That's just a general rule though.
 
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Was farting about there and this is what I got:

4.2GHz
1.190v - 89 degree
1.180v - 89 degree
1.177v - 86 degree
1.170v - FROZE

4.2GHz
1.190v - FROZE
1.197v - 92 degree (THEN I STOPPED IT)


Based on that I can assume I cannot go any higher than 4.2GHz until I get some extra/better cooling? I should just stick at 4.2 w/ 1.177v?

I actually noticed some instability in games (Dropping frames, lagging) so I rebooted and when I tried to enter BIOS it took ages and was as if it was loading the bios as a picture on dial up lol.. Eventually it came up and I changed back to 1.190v and all is back to normal.. Weird :S
 
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I don't know of it's still the case, but you used to get voltage 'holes' where certain voltages just wouldn't work, but .1 higher or lower would..

Assuming you're running votages that are considered safe, and temps are not too hot, you could try bumping it up a tiny bit more.
But im NOT that familiar with modern hardware so maybe someone else can advise on that.
 
I think i'll just leave it at 4.2GHz and 1.190v just now. The test showed it didnt go past 90 degree after 10min of Prime95 so hopefully thats a good sign.. I will even leave Prime95 on for a couple of hours later to make sure it doesnt hit into the mid 90s.
 
Keep an eye on temps while gaming also, some games can be demanding on CPU and GPU and the extra heat from the GPU can cause your CPU to get even toastier.
 
I ran Prime95 for an hour on 4.2 (1.190v), here are the results:

test.jpg


What do you guys think, is this too risky, should I be reducing the overclock? It didn't crash but as you can see it's idle in 40s which is fine, but hit as high as 93 degree at full load on prime???
 
Hi

Do yourself a favour and disable FMA3 using CpuSupportsFMA3=0 in local.txt in your prime 95 folder.

You don't need it, avx testing is enough and it doesn't cook your cpu half as much

What are your oc settings at the moment?

Giz
 
I decided to start a fresh so I took my CPU apart and re-pasted it, I cleaned the BeQuiet Cooler and then reset my OC to default and left computer on for a while to let the paste settle... at idle I am about 30 degree.

Tomorrow I will start a fresh on OC.

The only settings I have been changing are the multiplier and the vcore.

Right now I will run Prime with that added setting you told me about on default multiplier and see what the temps come in at.. To be honest I build the PC about 4 year ago and don't think ive ever changed the paste... (kill me)
 
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re-doing the paste and cleaning the heatsink should help. you're doing fine for a mild overclock and even though temps are just hitting as high as youd want them to, when not stress testing they will be totally fine. if you want even lower temperatures.. de-lidding the cpu would let you use a lot more voltage and ofc get higher speeds.
 
With fma3 off you should be able to move past 42 multiplyer . At this point you'll have to manually set your input voltage as well 1.9v should be good.

What is your cache running at?

Giz
 
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