How good is my 4770k? Should I go higher

Kageromero · Oct 21, 2014

First time overclocker here, just spent a while overclocking my 4770k, at 4.5ghz, 1.25v made me log in, but quickly blue screened when running a stress test, at 1.3v, I capped out around 82c and was perfectly stable, currently running at 1.275v, perfectly stable, temps went up to 80 just a few times during the stress test (I can probably apply the thermal paste better...not too well done >_>)

So how lucky did I get with this chip? bad? Good? Do you think I should push higher? Try 4.7ghz at 1.3v since I handled those temps fine? I want to try to have this cpu last around 15 more months (been using for 6 so far without overclocking), if I use it for gaming a few hours a day at 1.3v will its lifespan last that long?

i7Baby · Oct 21, 2014

Did you test it with Prime95? That's to make sure it IS stable - won't BSoD when playing heavy games or video editing etc.

I think it wouldn't survive. Usually 1.25V is about the cap.

anbello262 · Oct 21, 2014

I believe you woudln't have any problem with longevity as long as your voltage is below 1.3v. That would be my maximum voltage for a 24/7 usage, while keeping temps down. I really don't think there would be a problem with longevity with 1.275v, or even 1.3v. I don't really like it higher than that.
I believe that 4.5GHz is already a very good overclock for a 4770k. You could try going a bit higher, but try to keep voltages at 1.3 or lower. First try 4.6, before 4.7. I heard many chips have a "wall" after 4.5.
Don't just trust the voltage you input in the BIOS, use some software to measure the real voltage. I believe HWmonitor would be the best choice.

About the thermal paste, what paste are you using? What is your cooler? Do you use the small-pea method, or which one? I find that one to be the easiest and best performing method.
I wouldn't be worried about those temps if you stress it with Prime. That test tends to be REALLY hot, and the fact that it's a 4770k with hyperthreading makes it hotter than the equivalent i5. Those seem like good temps (if you're using Prime or a similarly hot test)

What method do you use to stress test?
Most people use Prime 95. Personally I don't really like it (too stressful and hot), i prefer other methods, but I have to agree that Prime is one of the fastest and most certain ways to check stability.

I would always prefer to have my chip at 4.5GHz @ 1.275V rather than 4.7 GHz @ 1.325V (for example). After all, there is a very small difference between 4.5 and 4.7 in performance terms, but quite a big difference in voltages.

Kageromero · Oct 21, 2014

I'm using AIDA64 to stability test, voltages are as listed

And yeah from what I've read I would never want to go above 1.3. Guess I'll go try 1.28 and 4.6

Planning to upgrade to a 1440p monitor tomorrow, and since I'm just running a single 4gb 770 for now, I'm trying to squeeze in all the performance I can get until I can afford to sell it and upgrade to a 980 or 980 ti when it comes out.

I'm just using some thermal paste I borrowed from a friend, are there large differences between different brands? Any you suggest? I used the small pea method and I'm using a kraken x60 for cooling.

Edit: Yeah...just tried 4.6 at 1.29, sadly that just made it go back to feeling as laggy and slow as it did before my overclock. Overall still pretty happy and had a ton of fun trying overclocking for the first time

When I first upgraded to this 4770 from my old 950, my computer felt so slow and laggy I thought it was a defective cpu, but since it played games fine didn't bother replacing it, now that I'm at 4.5 it feels as fast and smooth as I hoped it would be

anbello262 · Oct 22, 2014

You're not gonna need more overclock for games, from your CPU.
If it's running at 4.5 it's already a very respectable overclock for that chip!
And performance-wise, there would be almost no difference between 4.5 and 4.6/4.7. Also, for gaming it's a lot more than enough, even with the best graphics card.

There are almost no differences between brands of thermal pastes, as long as it's not a generic one, or too old. Even though, as it tends to be very cheap, it's usually recommended to get a good one, since every degree can be useful sometimes.
But your friend's thermal paste is probably good enough, do you know the brand?

Is your 770 overclocked? Maybe you can squeeze a bit more performance there

Does your PC have an SSD? That's the best fix against any kind of slowness (although it doesn't affect gaming, just overall performance).

Kageromero · Oct 22, 2014

Yeah I used to be on a ssd but ended up installing windows onto a sshd, big mistake but been too lazy to reinstall and need to get a new ssd or I wont have space for my games.

One more question, how important for lifespan is being on adaptive > Manual. Been monitoring my voltages all day today, and for some reason the maximum is at 1.38...not sure when it happened, but obviously it ever going that high is very bad. The guy in the asus video said to switch it to adaptive...but I don't like it going that high

anbello262 · Oct 22, 2014

No, don't EVER switch to adaptive when overclocking D:
That makes the system more unstable actually, and makes the voltage go really high, therefore damaging your processor's lifespan and creating higher temps.
Always use Manual, and deactivate all power saving features and turbo boos and any ther AUTO thing you might find there.

Kageromero · Oct 23, 2014

He said that used to be the case, but now you could have those on while still overclocking with haswell, but thank you and I will go disable them now D:

anbello262 · Oct 23, 2014

Yes, that used to be a lot more serious back then, but even now it's a lot better to use Manual.

Some power saving features can be enables with haswell even when overclocking, but sometimes may cause issues, so it's better to leave them disabled.

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