Overclocking for a total noob?

[JT!]

Where do I start?

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/jonathantrillo/saved/27sB

Looking to get as much out of it as I can, also since installing, I've never ran the CPU at full load or anything more than 50c.

[NaturalViolence]

JT! Wrote:Where do I start?

Google.

I know I must sound like an ass saying that. But none of the answers you will receive here could come close to the level of detail that the countless haswell overclocking guides across the web already have.

The gist of it is:
1. Turn off turboboost
2. Set voltages to manual
3. Raise the core multiplier to get the core clock rate to 4.2GHz or 4.3GHz
4. Look up safe voltages to use on the web and set them
5. Test temperatures
6. Do stress testing

The first 4 steps are done through the UEFI setup.

[JT!]

Looks like I've got some reading to do...

[CryZENx]

@natural
nice list

(08-17-2013, 06:51 PM)JT! Wrote: Looks like I've got some reading to do...

get this here for stress testing

http://www.chip.de/downloads/Prime95_15729123.html

prime95 one of the best for stress testing

and this here for the temps:

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

[JT!]

First thing I did was hit the OC genie button, that automatically put my clock speed to 4.0GHz with no problems.

So I went back and turned that off and from what I read I set the voltage to 1.2 and the multiplier to 46 to see if it would even boot. It didn't. In fact, I could barely get back into the bios to turn it back to normal. Most of the attempts I got stuck at clicking on the OC tab in the bios, it would load two lines then freeze up. Luckily I thought about clicking on the OC genie button, which worked and set everything back to a bootable state.

So then I tried 4.4ghz and that didn't work either.

What should I try next? Upping the voltage to 1.25... or setting the voltage to auto/1.2 and try 4.2ghz?

[NaturalViolence]

1.2 volts core voltage? Where on earth did you get that number from?

Like I said look up and follow a guide. None of the guides I have seen from doing a quick google search have recommended a voltage that low for a clock rate that high. Depending on how good your chip is if you're lucky you can get away with 1.25v or even 1.225v if you're really lucky. Some users have needed 1.275v or higher to hit 4.4GHz stable. 4.4GHz on air cooling (without deliding) is tough but do-able if you have a good enough cooler. Just know that you're basically pushing up against the upper limit here. Most users can't get much higher than that without exotic cooling methods. And depending on the quality of your chip you can usually hit 4.4-4.6GHz with reasonably safe voltages. Don't count on being able to hit 4.6GHz though. Many users cannot without unsafe temperatures or voltages.

Here is a good guide I dug up on google quickly:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide

[JT!]

Thanks! The guides seems to be pretty inconsistent. I guess I'll try it at 1.25v and 4.2ghz and see if that works.

Edit: 4.2Ghz @ 1.25v @ full load is at 78c max.

Edit: 4.3Ghz worked fine too under full load. 4.4Ghz restarted my computer twice, once under full load, once when starting windows.

Last Edit for the night. Upped the voltage to 1.27 at 4.3Ghz. Computer froze. Was this a coincidence, or did I set the voltage too high and it became unstable? Brought the voltage down to 1.26, seemed fine. Upped to 4.4Ghz still at 1.26 and under stress test it restarted.

[masterotaku]

(08-28-2013, 01:53 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: 1.2 volts core voltage? Where on earth did you get that number from?

In tomshardware people usually say "if you can boot to Windows at 4.6GHz and 1.2v, you have a lucky CPU". Mine didn't boot. I'm currently running at 4.1GHz and 1.192v, but for 4.2GHz I need 1.23v, too much for my stock HSF (it makes the CPU almost throttle in Prime95, with temps around 95-97ºC).

(08-28-2013, 02:52 PM)JT! Wrote: Thanks! The guides seems to be pretty inconsistent. I guess I'll try it at 1.25v and 4.2ghz and see if that works.

Edit: 4.2Ghz @ 1.25v @ full load is at 78c max.

Edit: 4.3Ghz worked fine too under full load. 4.4Ghz restarted my computer twice, once under full load, once when starting windows.

Last Edit for the night. Upped the voltage to 1.27 at 4.3Ghz. Computer froze. Was this a coincidence, or did I set the voltage too high and it became unstable? Brought the voltage down to 1.26, seemed fine. Upped to 4.4Ghz still at 1.26 and under stress test it restarted.

Those are good temps, now I feel the need of a new HSF . Testing an overclocked CPU is a pain in the ass. It can be stable in Prime95 for a long time and then randomly a BSOD happens when playing a game.

[NaturalViolence]

@JT!
If you don't know what you're doing, which I'm sorry to say that you don't. Then read the guide first! It is not inconsistent. It tells you exactly what you need to do.

Increasing voltage does not lower stability (rather it raises it). But it does increase temperature. And if the temperature gets too high (which is why you need to monitor it) the system can become unstable.

Generally if the system is unstable either the temperature is too high or the voltage is too low. You would know that if you read the guide.

[JT!]

I wasn't saying that that one guide is inconsistent (hence "guides"). I'm saying that there doesn't appear to be one right way to do it, I've read up on OCing from a bunch of different sources. I understand that raising the makes it more stable, which is why I was confused when I raised it keeping the multiplier static, my pc crashed... maybe a coincidence. Certainly didn't over heat.