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My i7 4770k overclock isn't stable

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September 19, 2014 12:28:57 PM

Hey guys,

I'm new here so apologies if I'm not very in-depth with what I say. I recently purchased a computer system from an reputable online computer building company (specs listed below). However upon receiving my overlocked system I noticed within the first hour that the system would crash and reboot to the message "Your previous overclock settings have failed..." which I interpreted to mean the overclocking profile was not set-up to support the 4.2ghz overclock. So this is where you guys come in, I have sent it back once already to find the issue was never truly resolved. Can anyone help me out?

My main PC specs are:


    Corsair Hydro H100i Watercooling Performance Closed-Loop CPU Cooler
    Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel
    750W Corsair Builder Series CX750M 80PLUS Bronze Modular Power Supply
    Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor overclocked CPU to 4.20GHz
    MSI Z87M Gaming motherboard



The overclocking profile is: (sorry if they are not in order but that's everything)



Can anyone help get this overclock stable/resolved? As I have checked other resolved threads but I still don't feel 100% confident that's it just one thing.

Thanks,

More about : 4770k overclock stable

a b K Overclocking
September 19, 2014 12:53:18 PM

Hello, I think part of your problem is the "Adjust Ring Ration" that you can see in the first BIOS picture you posted. This is the speed at which the cache connection to the CPU parts runs at, and should generally be kept at about the same speed as the CPU multiplier. If you can adjust it, the cache should be adjustable also in much the same way. I know it was on the Gigabyte Z97 board I have at home. If these parts are lagging behind the rest of CPU its normal it would cause instability.

Make sure you don't take voltage any higher than 1.3.
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a c 169 K Overclocking
September 19, 2014 1:31:30 PM

By default the cache ration is 39 ..... performance wise, you want that within 3 of CPU multiplier as some applications are affected if it's lower (i.e image editing). However if ya aren't stable with cache at 39, you certainly won't be stable at 42. Most peeps looking to get their names near the top of overclocking rankings have cache set at 39 or below. I had planned to do one of these for MSI some time back, but my users never seem to leave the machines here long enuff for me to invest the time.

I will put my Asus overclocking guide in the next post ... shouldn't be to hard for OP can use it to find corresponding values for the MSI board

I wouldn't go higher than 1.250 volts with an AIO..... 1.275 with an extreme speed one 92500+ rpm)

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a c 169 K Overclocking
September 19, 2014 1:32:02 PM

This is my personal "Minimalists Guide to Haswell Overclocking on Asus Boards". I don't have the patience to invest 100 of hours but I admire those who do. Using this method, most can knock it off in a weekend.

1. Stop using AIDA, Prime 95 or anything else like that. Download RoG Real Bench, HWiNFO64 and Intel ETU.

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?43233-Realbenc...
http://www.hwinfo.com/download.php
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/des...


Usage of testing and monitoring programs:

When you open Real Bench, move both windows to left side of screen. Open HWiNFO64, run "sensors only", you will get a pop up asking whether to disable reading the Asus EC chip, click "Disable this sensor". Move the HWiNFO64 window to upper right hand corner of screen. Stretch bottom of window to full screen height. Make the following changes:

-Right Click on "System" right at the top, select hide.
-In the next section, hide the last 4 lines starting "Core CPU Thermal Throttling" (if you watch temps, this is useless)
-Skip over the next section and Hide the section after that (section includes CPU Package thru DRAM Power)
-Now the whole reasons we did that was so you could see everything you wanna see at same time. You should be able to see Vcore 0, 1 and 2 at -the bottom of the window. If not hide a few more lines. Save and Quit will save your edits.


2. I am going to assume that you want your PC to power down and reduce voltages when not needed so for this we'll use Adaptive settings. Adaptive will throw an extra 0.10 to 0.13 volts at your CPU. Again, I would NOT use P95 or AIDA on this setting without constant attention.

3. After setting BIOS to defaults, Input the following settings and then right click on them to add them to your favorites page. This will allow you to access all the settings you need to without bouncing all over the BIOS:

AI Overclock Tuner = Auto
1-Core Ratio Limit = 42 (all others should automatically change with Sync all cores selected above)
Max. CPU Cache Ratio = Auto
Min. CPU Cache Ratio = Auto
Fully Manual Mode = Disabled
Core Voltage = Adaptive
Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage = 1.200
Core Cache Voltage = Adaptive
Additional Turbo Mode CPU Cache Voltage = Auto
Eventual CPU Input Voltage = 1.90
DRAM Voltage = Auto

I'd suggest taking a screen shot (F12) of the favorites page when ya have successfully passed the stress tests.

4. Open Real Bench, select Benchmark Tab Check only the last box. Open HWiNFO64, run "sensors only" as described above. Start Real Bench and don't touch mouse till finished. Observe voltages and temps. If you can get thru these 2 minutes, your close.

5. Then try checking all 4 boxes and run again NOTE: During the 3rd test Open CL will send AVX instructions to CPU; pay close attention to Vcores as they will spike as described above. If passes.....

6. Switch to the Stress Test Tab and select the amount of RAM you have in your system and 2 hours..... (Note: If you plan on raising cache and / or RAM after a run, I will usually save the two hours and skip this step until I have Multiplier / Cache and RAM speed at my targets.

7. If at any point you fail, up Core Voltage to 1.225 (+0.025)...Always watch temps and stop tests if you reach temperatures of concern (> 85C in my book). Record the following:

42/A/A/Auto - Shorthand for 42 Multiplier / Auto Max. Cache / Auto Min, Cache / Auto DRAM setting
Actual RAM Speed - i.e. 1600
Ambient = Room Temperature
Coolant Temp at Idle = Requires a sensor
Idle Core Temps Before Test on Each Core = i.e. 25, 26, 24, 22
Average Core Temps for Each Core During Test = i.e. 59.6, 58.2, 52.7, 49.4
Max Core Temps During Test on Each Core = i.e. 65, 62, 59, 54
Settings you input in BIOS for VCore, VCC Ring (Cache), VCCIN (Eventual), DRAM i.e. 1.2000, Auto, 1.900, Auto
Actual Readings in BIOS for VCore, VCC Ring, VCCIN, DRAM i.e. 1.040, 1.122, NA, 1.671
Actual Readings in HWiNFO64 for VCore, VCC Ring, VCCIN, DRAM i.e. 1.296, NA, 1.920, 1.681
Highest Voltage Reading on any Core During each of the 4 Benchmarks, i.e. Image Ed. 1.200 / Encoding 1.216 / Open CL 1.296 / Multitask 1.248

7. If at any point you fail, up Core Voltage to 1.250 (+0.025). If ya fail again, go another notch (1.275) but I'd stop there.

8. Once you pass, it's time to consider cache voltage. Some are content to leave at Auto (39) as it affects very, very few applications (skip to step 9 if this is you), others try and get as close as they can to the CPU Multiplier. If you want cache up, go to 42/42/42/Auto. If ya fail, bring up cache voltage in same 0.025 increments.

Settings will look like this when starting:

Max. CPU Cache Ratio = 42
Min. CPU Cache Ratio = 42
Additional Turbo Mode CPU Cache Voltage = 1.200

9. Once stable, it's now time to get ya RAM up to its rated 2133, 2400 or whatever. Change 1st setting above to XMP

AI Overclock Tuner = XMP

Referring back to step 6, this is the point I normally do the 2 hour test when I am "done" with a given multiplier. So run the 2 hour test here, followed by an 8 hour test w/ Intel ETU.

10. If ya fail.... up ya voltages as per above..... as long as things don't get too hot.....see limits below. If ya pass, it's time to see if we can lower temps and voltages. I dunno if it matters what order ya do it in but I did VCCIN 1st till I failed then bumped up till I got lowest stable setting. Then did VCCring (Cache Voltage Setting in BIOS) till I got lowest stable setting....and finally VID (BIOS CPU Voltage setting) last. I leaped in "half" amounts.

For example.... Default VCCIn is reportedly less than 1.8 .... so if 1.9 worked, i went "half way" to 1.85 .... if 1.85 failed, I went halfway between known good and bad to 1.875 ....same deal with VID and VCCring.

11. With the 42 series if tests complete, "rinse and repeat" with steps 3 thru 10 after moving up to CPU Multiplier to 43, then 44 or as high as you are willing to go. At 46 multiplier I found 1.9 VCCIN to be inadequate.... this is the one voltage I found that going too high or too low is problematic (other than heat and maximum upset voltage limits of course). I went to 1.98 (last yellow setting) and it was too low..... 2.08 was too high. 2.04 worked for me w/ 46 multiplier,

12. These are my settings to give ya an idea of luck I had .... your mileage will vary. Asterisked ones are those I didn't go back and try and get better temps / voltages.

42/42/42/XMP (2400) *
VCore 1.200
VCC Ring 1.200
VCCIN (Ev) 1.880
DRAM 1.700
Avg Max Core Temp = 59.0C (28.0C Ambient)

43/43/43/XMP (2400) *
VCore 1.225
VCC Ring 1.225
VCCIN (Ev) 1.880
DRAM 1.700
Avg Max Core Temp = 56.5C (27.4C Ambient)

44/44/44/XMP (2400) *
VCore 1.260
VCC Ring 1.260
VCCIN (Ev) 1.880
DRAM 1.700
Avg Max Core Temp = 59.0C (24.5C Ambient)

45/45/45/XMP (2400)
VCore 1.325
VCC Ring 1.325
VCCIN (Ev) 1.880
DRAM 1.700 *
Avg Max Core Temp = 63.0C (22.9C Ambient)


46/43/43/XMP (2400)
VCore 1.385
VCC Ring 1.385
VCCIN (Ev) 2.020
DRAM 1.700
Avg Max Core Temp = 69.0C (23.0C Ambient)

46/46/46/XMP (2400)
VCore 1.385
VCC Ring 1.410
VCCIN (Ev) 2.040
DRAM 1.70
Avg Max Core Temp = 72.0C (24.4C Ambient)


13. As for cooling / heat / voltage concerns

Here's Asus recommendations:

Quote:
A very good air cooler is required for voltage levels above 1.15V.
1.20V-1.23V requires use of closed loop water coolers.
At 1.24V-1.275V dual or triple radiator water cooling solutions are advised.


My thinking is:

Up to 1.200v = Very Good Air Cooler (Hyper 212)
Up to 1.250v = Best Air Coolers (Phanteks PH-TC14-PE, Silver Arrow or Noctua DH14) ....... Dual 140mm CLC / AIO Cooler w/ 1500 rpm fans (Corsair H110)
Up to 1.275v = Extreme Speed Dual Fan CLC / AIO w/ 2700 rpm fans (too noisy for most folks)
Up to 1.325v = Custom Loop w/ 15C Delta T (3 x 120mm / 140mm) *
Up to 1.400 = Custom Loop w/ 10C Delta T (5 x 140mm or 6 x 120mm) *

* At this level having the GPU(s) also under water is assumed

Also, if you are not running AVX, you can add as much as 0.10 to all those voltages.

14. NEVER WALK AWAY from your machine while stress testing until you are sure that temps have stabilized.
Be AWARE if test uses multiple instruction sets like Real Bench who throws out its hardest load voltage wise with the 3rd test in the Benchmark but the 4th test results in higher temps.

Remember some AVX instructions are present during RoG Real Bench type loads which will raise VCores by 0.10 to 0.13 for short periods.
I would not suggest running Prime 95 w/ AVX under adaptive under above conditions.

15. Having 4 sticks of memory will hinder ya OCs a bit.

16. If ya want the best OCs ya machine can get, this is not the guide to use. If ya wanna get it done over the weekend in between taking work home, course work, Honey-Do Lists, Daddy Taxi and other life demands, this may get it done in a weekend :)  .

WORD OF WARNING: Some of us are having problems with the BIOS clock freezing and a suspected cause is the use the saving, loading and backing up of OC profiles in the Tools section of the BIOS. I would avoid use of that feature until such time as the cause is confirmed or a fix is available.

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a b K Overclocking
September 19, 2014 3:15:27 PM

JackNaylorPE said:
By default the cache ration is 39 ..... performance wise, you want that within 3 of CPU multiplier as some applications are affected if it's lower (i.e image editing). However if ya aren't stable with cache at 39, you certainly won't be stable at 42. Most peeps looking to get their names near the top of overclocking rankings have cache set at 39 or below. I had planned to do one of these for MSI some time back, but my users never seem to leave the machines here long enuff for me to invest the time.

I will put my Asus overclocking guide in the next post ... shouldn't be to hard for OP can use it to find corresponding values for the MSI board

I wouldn't go higher than 1.250 volts with an AIO..... 1.275 with an extreme speed one 92500+ rpm)



Yea but his Bus speed is set to 34, hence why I think things are crashing when the CPU is running at 42. The Gigabyte board I have recommends setting cache to the same speed as the CPU or faster. Granted his cache may not work at 42 either, but it might help to up to to 39.
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a c 169 K Overclocking
September 19, 2014 3:59:42 PM

I think you mean cache ratio not Bus Speed or BCLK.

As can be seen in the guide above, cache ratio does not make an OC unstable. Any guide on OC'ing will tell you to ignore cache until you zero in cache multiplier .... once that is set, then start playing with cache. many peeps pop it down to 33-34 to 'get it outta the way" so to speak. I don't really see any reason to change it from default.
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a b K Overclocking
September 19, 2014 4:23:41 PM

JackNaylorPE said:
I think you mean cache ratio not Bus Speed or BCLK.

As can be seen in the guide above, cache ratio does not make an OC unstable. Any guide on OC'ing will tell you to ignore cache until you zero in cache multiplier .... once that is set, then start playing with cache. many peeps pop it down to 33-34 to 'get it outta the way" so to speak. I don't really see any reason to change it from default.


Yes the Cache Bus Ratio. However if you think it wno't cause any issues then okay.
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September 19, 2014 6:45:43 PM

Sorry guys but I'm a total noob to overclocking, mainly the reason I got someone else to overclock my system. Your advice is great but can someone provide a tl;dr answer for me to use to change my overclocking profile to ensure that my i7 4770k runs at 4.2ghz without receiving the OP error (previous overclock settings failed).
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a c 169 K Overclocking
September 19, 2014 6:59:04 PM

There is no one size fits all answer.... every chip is different. You have three options:

1. Auto OC

Go into BIOS and set all BIOS settings to default.
Open the Manual and follow instructi0ns for OC Genie and hope you get a nice OC.

2. Using a laptop, watch the videos I linked to which take you step by step thru the process.

3. Use the step by step guide I pasted above, or one like it, taking the slow and steady approach. For 42, from my post above, these are **my settings**

42/42/42/XMP (2400) *, these are 42 CPU Multiplier, 42 min cache setting, 42 max cache ratio, XMP memory setting which was 2400 on my box.

So, base =d upon what I indicated in the "step by step" above..... you'd set

CPU Multiplier = 42 on all cores
Min Cache Ratio = Auto
Max Cache Ratio = Auto
max VCore (or VID - CPU Volatge) = 1.200
max VCC Ring (or cache voltage) = 1.200
VCCIN (Eventual CPU Input Voltage) = 1.880
Leave XMP off foir now

If you cab run stable under stress tests, then step up to

Min Cache Ratio = Auto
Max Cache Ratio = Auto

If you cab run stable under stress tests, then step up to XMP

There are no shortcuts ,.... investing the time and moving up step by step will save you loads of headaches down the line.
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