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Overclocking help and opinions

Tags:
  • Overclocking
  • Asus
  • Sandy Bridge
  • Intel i7
  • CPUs
Last response: in Overclocking
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October 4, 2014 12:11:09 PM

I recently made a thread for help overclocking my i7-2700k. I built my PC almost two years ago (I updated the graphics card twice since then) and never overclocked anything, not any of the various graphics cards I used, or my 2700k. As such, it is staying at 3.5ghz and 3.920 ghz boost. I managed to advance my knowledge about overclocking by a bit, but I'm still nervous and I don't know exactly what could happen as a result. A few days ago, I tried off of insufficient knowledge of OCing and I had to reset my Bios as a result, and this caused some annoying (luckily these were easily fixable) bugs. I don't want that to happen again as a result of my stubborness. Can someone advice me, what should I do with my 2700k and how will I best take advantage of it's overclocking ability. I use CPUID HWmonitor and CPUz to observe voltages and temperatures, and at stock, it looks pretty good to me. A while ago, I was told I should increase the multipliers to 43x without a problem, or even raising voltage. I don't know where to find the multiplier options in my Bios (it is Asus UEFI). I tried researching some of the Overclocking terms, and got somewhere(I guess...). Can someone define the important ones and simplify? I also read some guides. It is really a new experience for me and I don't know where to start...

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a b K Overclocking
a b à CPUs
October 4, 2014 12:35:42 PM

Reasonable OCs are no problem IMO. I have my work/gaming computer (i7-930) OCed at 3.9Ghz since the first week I put it together - over 4 years ago. I have a decent cpu cooler that for everyday work my temps don't go above 65C. The only problem with OC an established PC is there is the chance to corrupt files on your HDD. Do you have another HDD or SDD you can put our OS on and try with a fresh start? This may be a perfect time to pick up another SSD.
-Bruce
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October 4, 2014 4:58:21 PM

dish_moose said:
Reasonable OCs are no problem IMO. I have my work/gaming computer (i7-930) OCed at 3.9Ghz since the first week I put it together - over 4 years ago. I have a decent cpu cooler that for everyday work my temps don't go above 65C. The only problem with OC an established PC is there is the chance to corrupt files on your HDD. Do you have another HDD or SDD you can put our OS on and try with a fresh start? This may be a perfect time to pick up another SSD.
-Bruce
That's interesting. I never heard that before. Thanks for letting me know. I have my OS on my SSD, and I have a decent amount of data backed up on my external, but a lot of it has been changed since then. I looked it up. Apparently this can really only occur because of unstable Overclocks causing crashes and/or lack of voltage to HDD(s)?

Anyway, if I can list my settings and temps, could you or someone suggest something (like a multiplier or voltage)? I know every CPU handles Overclocking differently.

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October 4, 2014 9:18:12 PM

Could I base everything I do off this guide you linked, or should I find more? The readme for Prime95 is kind of vague. Do I have to join GIMPS to test, or could I just run some random benchmarks out of the box?
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a b K Overclocking
a b à CPUs
October 5, 2014 5:07:57 PM

I find OC.net to be a pretty comprehensive site. I have not owned a Sandy cpu so I do not have personal experience. I have used info from OC.net to OC my i7-930 and my i5-4690k. They have not steered me wrong yet.
-Bruce
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October 5, 2014 5:18:15 PM

dish_moose said:
I find OC.net to be a pretty comprehensive site. I have not owned a Sandy cpu so I do not have personal experience. I have used info from OC.net to OC my i7-930 and my i5-4690k. They have not steered me wrong yet.
-Bruce
Ok. When they say I need to run Prime95 for 24 hours, what do they mean? For obvious reasons I can't just sit there for a day and watch it go by. Is it periodical? Anyway, my bios doesn't have anything called a CPU multiplier, but it does have a CPU core ratio or something like that. I assume it's the same thing? Would I have to disabled boost mode? Let's say I was aiming for 4.2ghz as a starter, would it be likely I would have to change the voltages? I've read many cases saying it isn't always necessary at that speed. I used the Bios print screen to get bitmaps of the settings, so that should save me time. I should never touch the BCLK, correct?

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October 6, 2014 11:05:12 AM

dish_moose said:
You should be able to get 4.2GHz with ease - no additional voltage.
Look here:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1100100/info-intel-2500k-260...
See the first screen - 49 sets max clock to 4.9GHz.
Try yours at 4-4.2GHz(40 or 42)
-Bruce
Ahh, thanks. I'll try, although I have to admit I'm nervous. I guess that's normal. If my system won't boot, what should I do? My Sabertooth Z77 doesn't have a reset button, but it does have a small jumper at the bottom of the board. Should that suffice? Using the battery to reset isn't logical considering it is under the thermal armour. I heard that the bios will usually recover itself if it won't boot. What does this mean?

If I list my idle vcore, could that prove useful?

Another thing, I asked someone months ago about CPU Overclocking and they said I would definitely need to disable Turbo. Is this necessary? It makes sense to me but I'm still not positive. For 4.2ghz, I would probably just need to increase the ratio/multiplier to 42x? Would I need to worry about Offset or anything?

If I don't want to run Prime95, could I stress via games and maybe fire up Firestrike or something like that???

Edit: hmm...judging by the thread's 4.9ghz settings, the "By all Cores" setting is the multiplier?

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a b K Overclocking
a b à CPUs
October 6, 2014 5:10:15 PM

You can disable turbo while you're "playing" around trying to get a stable OC. Enable it after so your cpu isn't going full tilt when it's not needed. You want all core set to the same clock. It's possible to have cores going at different speeds - just go for the highest you're comfortable with on all cores tied to the same clock.
-Bruce
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October 6, 2014 7:05:02 PM

dish_moose said:
You can disable turbo while you're "playing" around trying to get a stable OC. Enable it after so your cpu isn't going full tilt when it's not needed. You want all core set to the same clock. It's possible to have cores going at different speeds - just go for the highest you're comfortable with on all cores tied to the same clock.
-Bruce
So disabling Turbo isn't really needed? What will it do then, will it boost from the overclock I'm at? So I should disable it as I'm stress testing, and re-enabling after? Ok. What about if my PC doesn't boot, that is critical. I need to make sure that won't be a problem. I don't know if you have much experience with this, but would a normal onboard MB jumper revive my PC if it doesn't boot?

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a b K Overclocking
a b à CPUs
October 7, 2014 2:29:04 AM

Yes resetting the bios should get the computer to boot again. Take small steps - you will be fine. Also, make sure your BIOS is up to date.
-Bruce
Asus BIOS will usually after a unsuccessful boot attempt revert back to default settings.
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October 7, 2014 5:23:03 PM

dish_moose said:
Yes resetting the bios should get the computer to boot again. Take small steps - you will be fine. Also, make sure your BIOS is up to date.
-Bruce
Asus BIOS will usually after a unsuccessful boot attempt revert back to default settings.
I took my chances and set Ai Overclock Tuner from Auto to Manual, then I set the Turbo Ratio (By all cores) to 42, and then set the CPU ratio to 42 as well. It seemed to have no effects on benchmarks or anything, and it still appeared as 3.5ghz. When I went back into the Bios, all these settings were reset back to Auto. Any reason why? I think those are the proper settings. I kept voltage the same. In the Bios, it stays around 1.118-1.120 usually. The thread says to use all but 1.5gb of Ram for the Prime95 torture test(s). That seems a lot to me. That means I would be putting 14.5gb into it. Could that cause any issues? That means I barely have any left for Windows and any background apps that may be running.

This guide is a bit different than the one you linked: http://www.overclock.net/t/910467/the-ultimate-sandy-br.... It recommends disabling turbo. Which is the multiplier? (Asus Uefi doesn't have a multiplier in that exact wording). Is it CPU Ratio or Turbo Ratio?? Do I need to make a profile? Idk anything about XMP. My ram is 1600mhz. Would that be of any relevance?

My Bios is pretty old, but I really don't want to risk flashing it. I don't think Uefi bios have a backup, so if something happens, my PC is as good as dead (or at least Motherboard).

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October 8, 2014 3:38:29 PM

dish_moose said:
There are several ways to update your BIOS - EZ Flash is very easy to use.
Page 3-35 of the manual.
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/SABERTOOTH_...
-Bruce
BTW even if the flash fails - not dead - it can be recovered.

Is it really needed? Anyway, I managed to overclock via Turbo to 42x. I tried doing it the standard way, but the CPU ratio when set to 42x would automatically re-enable Turbo, even though I set it off before. The clock still appeared as 3.5ghz but the Boost was indeed 4.2ghz. How could I get it so the Turbo is disabled and the clock is 4.2ghz without this happening? My vcore was around 1.145.

Oddly enough, the option to set Turbo Ratio as Manual is absent. The only available ones are Per Core and All Cores. I'm currently running Prime95 according to the guide you linked. I'm getting in the late 60s to mid 70s usually. Maximum is 79c. This is as of now 20 minutes or so of running it. My Voltage is set to auto, which could explain it. Are these temps necessarily high for 4.2ghz (Turbo)? My Vcore seems to at 1.288 the majority of the time according to CPU-z. Could I lower this if I disabled Auto voltage?? I don't know much about Offset. Overall, am I looking okay? I assume it's stable because I having no issues and am running well over 20 mins as of now.

Apparently Prime95 is known for pushing the CPU incredibly hard, so I doubt those temperatures will ever get that high in reality.

I'm hoping I could change the voltage to manual and get away with 1.130v, I just don't know how to do the offset.

The thing is...my default value is offset mode on auto. This is good for stock, but when I OC to 4.2ghz, it gets much hotter. Should I just set a fixed voltage? I think 1.228 (via CPUz) is way too high for 4.2, but what do I know?? Doesn't Auto voltage overestimate the voltage needed a lot of times?
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a b K Overclocking
a b à CPUs
October 9, 2014 9:41:32 PM

Auto voltage almost always sets voltages higher than needed - made to work with a wide variation in "quality" of cpus - some are golden - some are not. I've been pretty busy lately(house reno), but I'll see if I can find some simple OC steps for you to follow.
-Bruce
Edit: http://www.overclock.net/t/1251285/oc-sabertooth-z77-wi...
2600K & 2700K virtually identical
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