G3258 Overclocking with ASRock BTC pro 2

cawoodm

Prominent
Nov 23, 2017
9
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510
Just getting back into PC Building (after 20years) and into overclocking. Got me a Pentium G3258 for 70 bucks and OC'ed it up to 4.1Ghz no problem just by increasing the multiplier in the BIOS.

I thought I'd start this thread to document my progress, ask questions, and maybe it might help not just myself but people with similar setup and problems.

Setup:

  • CPU: Pentium G3258 (stock cooler)
    MB: AsRock H81 PRO BTC R2 (Bios 1.20)
    RAM: Kingston 1x8Gb DDR3-1600 CL11
    PSU: Corsair VS650
Cinebench Stats

  • 3.2Ghz 235 standard max 43°
    3.6Ghz 262 +11% max 48°)
    4.0Ghz 289 +23 max 52)
    4.2Ghz 307 +30% max 61°
So many questions...

1) Is Intel SpeedStep recommended? Sounds good that the PC manage it's own speed downwards when idle. Actually my PC crashed with whea_uncorrectable_error at 4.2Ghz when SpeedStep was enabled :(

2) Voltage: I understand I need to increase the CPU voltage:
2a) Which voltage exactly? HW Monitor shows VID - is that VCore?
2b) Is there not a BIOS option to automatically manage the Volatge for me?

3) Mainboard:
3a) Is my MB a bottle-neck in any way - a ceiling for overclocking?
3b) Should I update my BIOS firmware?
3c) Can I somehow backup/version my BIOS settings?

4) Temperature
4a) Which temp should I be watching (package or core in HW monitor)
4b) Will my CPU protect it'self if it get's too hot
4c) Who manages fan speed?

5) Can I increase OC outside of the BIOS i.e. tune without rebooting?

 

cawoodm

Prominent
Nov 23, 2017
9
0
510
Intel's XTU isn't letting me change the CPU multipliers. Why not?
Can I update something to allow this?
Should I update drivers for my MB chipset? Currently Intel Haswell rev06
 

cawoodm

Prominent
Nov 23, 2017
9
0
510
Upped the ante to 4.4Ghz and crashed (whea) at 1.3v. Same with 4.3Ghz. Upped voltage to 1.35v and was able to boot and run Cinebench Benchmark:

4.4Ghz 1.35v: 322cb/18fps +37% (69°)

Unfortunately the XTU benchmark crashed as well. Upping to 1.36v did not help.

I'm a little worried my voltages are too high - this guy had 1.152 at 4.3Ghz on the same CPU:
https://www.reviewstudio.net/1877-intel-pentium-g3258-anniversary-edition-review-the-cheapest-overclocking/overclocking

As the CTU benchmark runs (@1.37v) the Core 0 temp keeps creeping up to 72° and then being throttled down.