Overclocking i5 4690k confusion

ThencredibleKid · Dec 2, 2015

I recently picked up a new liquid cooler for my i5 4690k. I decided to try overclocking, and I've ran into a bind. My mobo is a msi B85-G41 PC Mate. When I go into bios to start tweaking, everything is "greyed" out. My multiplier is locked and I don't have much control over overclocking. The reason I am confused is because this mobo supports OC, has a tab in bios just for OC'ing. Any suggestions? Thank you!

firo40 · Dec 2, 2015

The motherboard you got is a buisness class chipset it does not support overclocking. There is alot more to overclocking then just buying a cheap mobo and changing a bios setting. You want to make sure that the chipset supports it for your cpu that would be any Z97 or Z87 with a flashed bios. The secound thing to look for is how many power phase's does the motherboard have and how good the VRM (voltage regulation module). These things will greately improve stability and longevity of your hardware. Sorry on the purchase

Luminary · Dec 2, 2015

The issue is your motherboard. The BIOS might have a panel that says overclocking, but that is because the same BIOS is used on other MSI boards that actually CAN overclock.

You'll want a Z97 chipset motherboard to overclock the i5-4690k.

One of the best overclocking boards you can buy in the LGA 1150 socket range:

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($202.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $202.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 17:05 EST-0500

A more budget-friendly board that is still a very good overclocker:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $92.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 17:06 EST-0500

ThencredibleKid · Dec 2, 2015

firo40 :

Oh, okay. Well thank you! It looks like its time for a new mobo!

Luminary · Dec 2, 2015

Yep, either of the ones I linked above would be very solid choices.

ThencredibleKid · Dec 2, 2015

Luminary :

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! It makes sense, about the mobo. Ill be looking into one soon!

Luminary · Dec 2, 2015

You're most welcome.

synphul · Dec 2, 2015

I would tend to suggest a board somewhere between those two extremes, the z97x sli is more suited to overclocking things like the pentium g. A $200 board is overkill unless you need all the bells and whistles. A gigabyte z97x gaming 5 is around $130 and has 8 true digital power phases vs 4 analog hybrid phases like the sli for a few dollars more. One of the cheapest boards with that many power phases. An asrock extreme 6 isn't a bad board either for around $120.

Some b85's did support overclocking though required a bios update. There's also the issue of windows updates on win7/8 and with win10 including a cpu microcode update from intel disabling overclocking on non z motherboards (they were never intended for overclocking to begin with). Even folks with the g3258 which is only a dual core were having issues with non z boards and win10 (or those who had downloaded the ms update through win7/8) where they could either have both cores active or enable overclocking and it disabled 1 of 2 cores. There was a work around for that particular scenario some people had success with.

Usually it's best to just stick to the z series for overclocking rather than fight the headaches.

Search

Overclocking i5 4690k confusion

ThencredibleKid

Distinguished

Luminary

firo40

Splendid

Luminary

Admirable

ThencredibleKid

Distinguished

Luminary

Admirable

ThencredibleKid

Distinguished

Luminary

Admirable

synphul

Champion

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page