i7 4770k unstable at 4.2GHz, need help

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NateJayy

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Mar 4, 2014
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I am very new to overclocking but have read a lot/messed with everything a lot and still can't seem to get it to be stable. I just want to OC to 4.2 (or 4.5, wasn't sure if my cooler could handle 4.5 though) at least to get some better performance out of the expensive chip I bought for this exact reason. I have followed every guide, every tip, every video I have found to try and fix it. My PC specs are as follows:

MSI GD-65
i7 4770k @ 3.5 currently
CM 212 EVO CPU cooler
16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro RAM @ 1866
GeForce GTX 780
2x Samsung 840 EVO SSD
650W PSU

MSI has "OC Genie" which I see mixed reviews on but I used to try and get a simple start on my OC. Not even OC genie is stable in either Gear 1 or Gear 2. Prime95 instantly crashes on both settings. AIDA64 won't start EVER. No matter the settings in my BIOS, AIDA64 says the test started and instantly fails. Only after AIDA64 didn't work on about 10 different BIOS settings is when I switched to P95 (don't prefer P95 really). The only time I got P95 to not instantly crash my CPU temps skyrocketed to 90+ so I had to shut down my PC as to not damage my CPU.

I have my CPU multiplier at 42, fixed core mode (have also tried adaptive, not much difference), ring multiplier at 41, CPU core voltage between 1.1 and 1.2, sometimes as high as 1.25 but I don't prefer to go that high if I don't need to, and CPU ring voltage just under whatever I set the CPU voltage to.

As I said, I have followed many guides some of which had same mobo & CPU as I do and still had no good results. I understand all chips are different but I used those as a base start and adjusted slowly to what mine may need and either got BSOD instantly, or P95 crashes PC instantly. I am just completely lost. I have tried so many settings and tried every tip I found to get no results. Just getting frustrating after trying for hours and nothing works. I spent a decent amount of time learning/reading/watching tutorials before just jumping in to this and still have no idea. Any tips would help!
 
Solution
Dragos Manea
Because at taht voltage the motherboard consider that the cpu is stable, you can tinker a bit and set manual voltage to 1.29 if you see it is stable then go for 1.28 and so on untill it is unstable. Honestly i dont think you can go more then 4.2 at 1.28V but you can try and be 100% sure that it cant do more. My advice keep it at 4.2 and slowly decrease the voltage to see its limits at that frequency, start going down from 1.3V.
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N3rdR4ge

N3rdR4ge

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1. start by resetting your bios to factory.
2. dont use adaptive voltage or oc genie, ever. adaptive can cause voltages higher than 1.3v recommended limit.
3. start with 4.4ghz at 1.2v core, fixed. bump the ghz up or down by accordingly until you fail. dont mess with ring voltage.
4. make sure you are using p95 v26.6 small fft to test. http://www.bestdownload.com/view.php?detail=1587
5. monitor your temps with hwinfo. http://www.hwinfo.com/
6. make sure your cooling is adequate. stay under 80c core on load and watch it closely. quick spikes are ok.
7. if you still have issues, stress testing your cpu will always stress test your ram more or less. you may be experiencing blue screens from improperly seated or failing ram. ram issues can hide pretty well until stress is put on the module. windows has a built in memory test called "Windows Memory Diagnostic" which you can find from a windows search.

i have my 4790k very stable 4.7ghz@1.25v
 
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NateJayy

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It's not a fun boat, I feel like it's just a raft with a hole in it:p best of luck to you though, I know I am getting pretty frustrated here.
 
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NateJayy

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Thank you, I will give that a shot right now. Have reset it many times and have also quit using the genie, as I knew it was shotty to begin with and would provide a crappy overclock. I'll update in a bit.

 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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With the 4770k, 4.2GHz is easy. Reset the bios to defaults, leave everything on auto and manually adjust the multiplier to 42. Intel assigns enough stock voltage to accomplish this without changing any other settings. It's only when trying for 4.3is or faster that you'll really need to start tinkering with llc or other voltage/amperage settings.

If you think your temps are too high still, then start dropping the vcore slowly, by 0.08v . My 3570k is cpu lottery locked to a max of 4.3GHz, but runs at 1.08v, my 3770k I've had to 4.9GHz at 1.32v although the batch has seen 5.1GHz at less than 1.4v. Currently sitting at 4.6GHz 1.208v with only a small bump in llc + 10% amperage.

Google some OC results, most theories will apply , but names of stuff will change between board brands and bios. There's plenty out there for Intel OC
 
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NateJayy

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well I did what you said and got an instant BSOD machine check error and now when I restart my PC it freezes before anything loads. If it doesn't freeze long enough to get into my BIOS, it freezes shortly after.
 
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Dragos Manea

Dragos Manea

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Well i could but at 1.38V xD. The most safe oc setting for me is 4.4 at 1.26V if i want to go at 4.5 i need 1.33V so that is a big no for me.
 
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NateJayy

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I did exactly this, didn't change anything other than the multiplier. At idle, my temps were the lowest they've been so far between 30-38. About 5 seconds in to a Small FFT test on prime my temps skyrocketed to between 87-100. I don't get it? That is such a simple OC and I have a decent air cooler, why would my temps go THAT HIGH over such a small OC.. only thing I can see is prime bumped my max voltage to 1.3 to test which I saw complaints online about that and how it'd draw out extra and run hot.. but the auto voltage set my intel is 1.184..
 
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NateJayy

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why is it that p95 is drawing out 1.3v instead of the 1.185? I saw a few things online saying p95 tests could be bad and draw out more than they are supposed to like that.
 
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Dragos Manea

Dragos Manea

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Because at taht voltage the motherboard consider that the cpu is stable, you can tinker a bit and set manual voltage to 1.29 if you see it is stable then go for 1.28 and so on untill it is unstable. Honestly i dont think you can go more then 4.2 at 1.28V but you can try and be 100% sure that it cant do more. My advice keep it at 4.2 and slowly decrease the voltage to see its limits at that frequency, start going down from 1.3V.
 
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Solution
Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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My 3570k with just a multiplier bump to 4.3 runs 30-31 at idle and 67-70 at p95 26.6 on a corsair h55 (same basically as a hyper212 Evo ), you'll just need to drop your voltages and there's a couple of things that could be disabled depending on what bios you have.
 
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Dragos Manea

Dragos Manea

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Every cpu is different, dont compare your cpu to others, i see cpus like mine getting to 4.7 ghz with 1.25V and mine cannot reach 4.4 at that voltage. Even it is same model or generation or series, two cpus will always be different.
 
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