Overclocking the i7 4770K. Voltage worries

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Chickenator

Chickenator

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First of all, i want to announce that i'm very new to overclocking, as you probably will notice below:

So i wanted to overclock my i7 4770K. To check any problems with the chip beforehand, i ran the aida64 stress test for a while. CPU temps were pretty stable the whole time, ranging from 39C to no more than 41C at stock clocks, however the voltages worries me. Alot.

While testing they lay at steadily at 1.231V. I looked up a guide how to overclock before any of this of course and i ended with Linus tech tips' guide in which he used 1.2V for 4.6GHz.

How am i supposed to overclock it with those voltages at stock clocks (3.9GHz)? Am i completely mistaken?

Any advise would be nice, regarding voltages. And yes i know about the silicon lottery, where i think i have lost.
 
Solution
Dogsnake
When you ran you test, I bet you had everything at default settings. So the system was adjusting parameters as per the "automatic" profiles. Seeing the 1.231V during the test does not mean it would not not have run at a lower voltage. Default is a profile. I suggest you proceed with the O.C. by whatever guide you are comfortable with. Bump things in stages with stress testing at each stage. Do not go for the max as the first step. Truth of it is 4.4-4.5-4.6 not much real world difference in productivity or games. Bragging rights aside, once I see my max stable O.C. I drop it down a notch and settle that as my day to day settings. We still run a 4yr. old i920 stable at 4ghz and it is on 16 hrs a day as the general family system.
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6R1M01R3

6R1M01R3

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How to check if your CPU is a winning chip:
Go to BIOS, disable turbo core, Intel speedstep.
Set multiplier to 45 and vcore to 1.2v
If it passes the POST screen, is good.
If it boots into windows, good.
Run a stress test and check if that is stable. If not, it may not be the best chip so go to bios and increase vcore by a little bit, and repeat the steps.
 
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Alex Kelly

Alex Kelly

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Voltages for every chip is different. As long as your temps are okay, you don't need to worry about the voltage too much.
Just try to use a voltage of 1.2 for an OC of 4.1 to start with, programs like Aida always overvolt the CPU slightly during testing.
Best of luck! let me know how it goes :)
 
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zink1701

zink1701

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When overclocking set the voltage to manual (dont use auto or over voltage can happen), Start overclocking the CPU multiplier first and do small increments then test for stability. I can get my i5 to about 4GHz (give or take) before I had to bump the voltage. I run mine at 4.4Ghz (due to a crap aftermarket cooler) and had to bump the voltage to 1.31 to make it stable (the CPU will go higher at that voltage but the temps are to high).

At stock setting most boards use auto voltage which 9/10 times pumps out more than is needed. I once overclocked and used intel speedstep which I incorrectly configured. I had it on auto voltage and when my CPU (overclocked to 4.2GHz) it was drawing nearly 1.4v.

So use manual settings and overclock from your stock voltage and see how high you can go (more voltage and CPU cycles = more heat so get yourself a good cooler).
 
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Dogsnake

Dogsnake

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When you ran you test, I bet you had everything at default settings. So the system was adjusting parameters as per the "automatic" profiles. Seeing the 1.231V during the test does not mean it would not not have run at a lower voltage. Default is a profile. I suggest you proceed with the O.C. by whatever guide you are comfortable with. Bump things in stages with stress testing at each stage. Do not go for the max as the first step. Truth of it is 4.4-4.5-4.6 not much real world difference in productivity or games. Bragging rights aside, once I see my max stable O.C. I drop it down a notch and settle that as my day to day settings. We still run a 4yr. old i920 stable at 4ghz and it is on 16 hrs a day as the general family system.
 
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Solution
Chickenator

Chickenator

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Thank you for all your answers! They we're all really useful :)

And for "6R1M01R3", i tried what you told me, and it got past POST and booted into windows, but as soon as i logged in (or a bit before my password was written) BSOD struck. But i guess that's pretty alright?

I am currently at 4.2GHz with 1.2V, about to do some stress testing with aida. Again thanks for all your help, i will report back.
 
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Alex Kelly

Alex Kelly

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6R1M01R3 gave you some bad advice. Never a good idea to throw something like that at your CPU. Barely any chips can handle that low of a voltage at that frequency. No offense!

And sounds good! Stress test for as long as you can. Half an hour should be enough. What are your temps like? :)
Use HWmonitor to check them. You should be able to lower your voltage (or up your frequency) depending on what your temps are like. :)
 
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Chickenator

Chickenator

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Ran aida64 for an hour, and temps slowly rised from 40-42C over that time period, so not high temps :) HWmonitor showed 50-56C i think, but Asus' AI Suite 3 AND aida64 showed 40-42C. Nothing seemed out of place or anything so i went well i suppose. Should i increase clockspeed maybe?

 
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6R1M01R3

6R1M01R3

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Hmm, I didnt ask the model of your motherboard. 4.2Ghz with 1.2 vcore is quite average, but as long as it is stable it should be ok :D.
Yes, you could try to increase the clock multiplier to 43 and check if it is stable within that range. If not, you already know that at 4.2Ghz works well.
 
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Dogsnake

Dogsnake

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I use Real Temp and a combo of good ole Prime and Intel Burn Test to check my O.C.'s. Intel Burn can be run for 5 passes to quick test each bump of my setting. When I think I have what I want I run it 10 passes and if I have any doubts Prime for 8hrs or usually overnight. I have never found a setting that if it went 10 passes Intel that was not stable during real world use and games.
 
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Chickenator

Chickenator

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Thanks a lot everyone! :) i think i got it now because of all you advise. I guess Dogsnake had the answer to my original question/worries so best answer goes to you. Will try to run burn tests, and test 4.3GHz at 1.2V soon. Thanks again!
 
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