I7 3770K overclocking issues. Please help me out!

kobe8x3

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Aug 9, 2013
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I have a new build that I just built. Luckily, everything went fairly smoothly. I wasn't planning on OC'ing this system, but of course once you build it, you get greedy. haha Also, I'm fairly new to overclocking, so anything noobish I say, please excuse me.

I have a question as I feel like the chip I got isn't the best. I've tried many of the advise on this board and others but I can't seem to get this right. I'm even reading about it at work! ouch!

My problem is I would like to run my 3770k at 4.4 but I can't seem to get to the right voltage. I tried running it at 1.20v - 1.24v so far but prime 95 gives me the "stopped working error" around the 1 hour mark. I will try to up the voltage slowly to see when when it will stop giving this error on Prime 95, but was hoping to get it to work under 1.24v. The temps stay at max 72C at 1.24v. Should I try the offset route? Is that more stable? The system doesn't bsod or lock up, so does that mean it might be ok? I have already downloaded a second prime 95 to make sure the software wasn't corrupt. What is the highest voltage I should be going with 4.4?

So many questions, but any help would be great. Here are my specs:

cpu: I7 3770k
motherboard: Asus Maximus Formula V
psu: Corsair AX760
ram: Gskill Ripjaw 1600 @ 1.5v
gpu: gtx 660
hd: Samsung SSD 120gb & Seagate 1tb
 
Solution
First make sure you have the latest BIOS, then try under XMP, if no joy there then for 4.4 try raising the CPUVTT (MC (memory controller)) voltage to 1.12 witht he DRAM at 1600

spawnkiller

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Jan 23, 2013
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Ocing isn't an exact thing, your I7 is different than any other one, mine is different than any other one, all OC differently, some don't get 4.6, other get 5+ghz so i can't really specify a voltage for your chip...

For 4.4, i'm almost on stock voltage (1.1750V) but for 4.83ghz, i'm at 1.35V and 5.1ghz at 1.45V (that is extreme, never go in that range)

For 24/7 1.35V is the max i suggest and make sure you don't pass 80 Celsius for 24/7 (absolute max is 105C)

I would suggest to start at 1.3V to see if that's stable, if yes then work your way down until it's no more stable and goes up by 1 notch at that voltage... If 1.3V still not stable, you can have a really bad chip or something interfer with the OC, ram not stable, too high speed ram, etc...

PS: Disable any power saving features and Spread Spectrum to ensure stability, make sure to run XMP profile for your ram, sometimes overclocking reduce the ram speed limit due to the integrated memory controller making more cycles (some are really slow so 1600CL9 will fail at 4.5-4.6ghz unless you tweak all the settings or turn the ram at 1333mhz... and other will run 3000+mhz ram at 4.8Ghz...)

FYI: mine does 2133CL10 at 4.7ghz and 4.8ghz at 1600CL9. i need to raise the base clock to 105 using 46 ratio for 4.83ghz and 2240mhz ram
 

kobe8x3

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Aug 9, 2013
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Thanks for the detailed answer. I will try your suggestions. I really didn't think about the ram but I think I'll definitely try it at 1333mhz. I'll report back tonight!
 

kobe8x3

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Aug 9, 2013
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Okay, finally got it to work. Before I tried anything, I decided to try one more up on the voltage to 1.245. Everything seems stable and have ran prime 95 for 12 hours without errors. My cpu cooler is the PHANTEKS PH-TC14PE and the max temp was 75c over night. I think all is well. Thanks for the help. Guess my chip is just an average chip!
 

spawnkiller

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Jan 23, 2013
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Nice to hear that you're now stable !!
 

aps_88f3

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Nov 9, 2012
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Hey I have a 3770k and have just overclocked to 4.5 Ghz at 1.240V. I got the same Prime95 has stopped working error at 1.220V after about 5 minutes. Now at 1.240V I ran it for about 20 minutes and it seems fine. Max temperature was 77 degrees Celsius. Like said above, the chips vary on an individual basis, mine requires a little more than most others but is still in the safe zone to run 24/7. Btw i got h100i cooler with push/pull and the fan speeds are low <1000rpm

:)