Stabalising an OCd i7-4770K

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 18:22

Hello Ian,

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I'm new to overclocking and have done what I can following guides to achieve a 4.5Ghz overclock that can survive 3 back to back runs of the RealBench 2.1 Benchmark test.

I was hoping you could review my settings/information below and advise if they are ok or if there is anything you would change?

Should I take it up to 1.35v and aim for a higher overclock?

Many thanks,

OCInside.

Spec

Mobo - Asus Z87 SABERTOOTH Intel Z87
CPU - Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz
RAM - Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz
Cooler - Corsair Hydro H100i

BIOS Settings

Ai Overclock Tuner [XMP]
CPU Core Ratio [Sync All Cores]
Max. CPU Cache Ratio [40]
Internal PLL Overvoltage [Enabled]
DRAM Frequency [DDR3-1866MHz]
CPU Core Voltage [Manual - 1.295v]
CPU Cache Voltage [Manual - 1.295v]
SVID Control [Disabled]
CPU Input Voltage [1.900v]
DRAM Voltage [1.5000v]
CPU Spread Spectrum [Disabled]
DRAM CAS# Latency [9]
DRAM RAS# to CAS' Delay [10]
DRAM RAS# PRE Time [9]
DRAM RAS# ACT Time [27]
DRAM Command Rate [2]
CPU Load-line Calibration [Level 5 (out of 8)]
CPU Voltage Frequency [Manual - 500KHz]
CPU Current Capability [130%]
CPU C States [Disabled]
Primary Display [PCIE]

Core Temp 1.0 RC6
Idle temps with H100i at full speed = 24-27C across all cores.
Benchmark with H100i at full speed = 62-74C across all coes

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 18:44

Thanks for the welcome and the quick replies.

I shall have a dabble just now following your suggestions and report back.

LLC was at 5 because I heard if set to 100% it can over compensate by quite a bit.

Is it worth setting the following on my BIOS based on 8pack's post on another thread?

SA 1.15 or + 0.15 offset
IOD 1.15 or + 0.2 offset
IOA 1.15 or + 0.2 offset

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 19:14

Thanks for the extra information.

I've left them on auto and dropped the cache ratio to 35 and the cache voltage to 1.15v for now.

I would also like to keep the Vcore at or below 1.3v if possible and so far it seems to be running well at 4.5Ghz / 1.295 volts.

There isn't a specific option to disable on board gfx on my Mobo but you can disable multi monitor support from the CPU and also force it to use PCIE which I believe is as good as it gets with these mobos.

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 19:24

Sounds good. I'll go with bringing down the Vcore as much as possible to help the temps anyway I can.

I take it when it comes to increasing the cache ratio I should just go as high as 1.2v of cache voltage will let me?

Thanks again for the quick replies

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 19:36

Mine will boot in to Windows @4.6/1.295v but as soon as you start a H.264 encoding benchmark it locks up.

I'm not going to go past 1.3v for the sake of 100Mhz

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 19:53

Just dropped Vcore from 1.295 to 1.290 and going to test stability again. Once I find the limit I'll start playing with cache/uncore.

How can I tell what is responsible for the lockups?

RAM is set to XMP and Uncore is currently at 35/1.15v.

Is Vin ok at 1.9v?

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 20:07

RAM is in the first post

Uncore still at 35/1.15v. Lock up only happened when I pushed for 4.6 @ 1.295Vcore.

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 20:24

Jamin280672 said:
Sorry I missed that before, is this the stuff: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-370-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387

It does say in the title that your RAM is also rated upto 1.65v, but I would check this out on the sticker on the RAM itself first as it could be a typo, I set mine to 1.65v and worked backwards with the RAM, reduced the voltage until I hit instability, my RAM is at 1.63 so as you can see I didn't have to work back very far to find the required volts for that.

IF you tested at 4.6ghz whilst the uncore was at x35, then I would say it was the cores causing the problem, your RAM speed/settings should be locked into XMP speeds/settings and your uncore is locked at stock, it might just be that your CPU wont do 4.6ghz.

Yeah that's the ram I've got.

Is there any need to increase the RAM voltage above what XMP set it to?

Yeah there seems to be a big Vcore jump required for a stable 4.6 so I'm just concentrating on getting the Vcore for 4.5 as low as possible. Down to 1.285 just now.

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 20:52

Sounds like a plan.

When upping the uncore, should I leave the Min to "Auto" and just play with the "Max"?

Or leave the min at "35" and up the Max?

OCInside · 5 Mar 2014 at 21:06

Yeah, it isn't like the multiplier where there is just the one setting.

Min Cache and Max Cache setting are available.

OCInside · 18 Mar 2014 at 19:05

8 Pack said:
For me to get better perf you now need to tune ram and push uncore.

Firstly thanks for your reply and sorry for the delay in mine!

My current settings are as follows: -

BIOS Settings

Ai Overclock Tuner [XMP]
CPU Core Ratio [Sync All Cores - 44]
Min. CPU Cache Ratio [42]
Max. CPU Cache Ratio [42]
Internal PLL Overvoltage [Enabled]
DRAM Frequency [DDR3-2133MHz]
CPU Core Voltage [Manual - 1.300v]
CPU Cache Voltage [Manual - 1.300v]
SVID Control [Disabled]
CPU Input Voltage [1.900v]
DRAM Voltage [1.6000]
CPU Spread Spectrum [Disabled]
DRAM CAS# Latency [9]
DRAM RAS# to CAS' Delay [10]
DRAM RAS# PRE Time [9]
DRAM RAS# ACT Time [27]
DRAM Command Rate [2]
CPU Load-line Calibration [Level 5 (out of 8)]
CPU Voltage Frequency [Manual - 500KHz]
CPU Current Capability [140%]
CPU C States [Disabled]
Primary Display [PCIE]

Core Temp 1.0 RC6

Idle temps with H100i in auto = 29-31C across all cores.
RealBench 2.1 Benchmark with H100i in auto = 68-75C across all cores.

Questions

1) The system seems stable, do these settings look ok?

2) For tuning the RAM, I just set the frequency to 2133Mhz and the voltage to 1.600v. The rest is at XMP settings. Is there anything else I should do?

3) Have I missed anything?

*Updated* - 22:30