I5 2500K Overclocking Suggestion

[silent54]

New to cpu overclocking. When overclocking, I started out at 4.0 and worked my way up to my current overclock of 4.6. When I started with my turbo set at 46, I started with a voltage of 1.40 and worked my way down. I finally received my first blue screen at 1.325 during stress tests. I then upped my voltage to 1.345 assuming that it would be my stable voltage for 4.6. However, I've received system freeze on two occasions, which I assume meant I need to up my voltage a notch? I did that the first time but after upping the voltage it happened again. I'm receiving system freezes at voltages that successfully passed during stress testing. Am I missing something? Could my RAM settings be causing this instability? During my overclocking, my RAM was set below its default setting as several tutorial suggest until system stability. I have DDR3-1866 cas 9-10-9-28 with a default voltage of 1.5. During cpu overclocking it is set at 1600 with cas at default and the same with voltage of default 1.5v.

Here are screens of my current Ai Tweaker:

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

You likely need to increase voltage further to get 4.6GHz stable. The average Sandy Bridge CPU needs 1.3-1.35v for 4.5GHz, so you will likely need a bit higher than that.

Your other settings look good. I would increase the DRAM Voltage setting, so the actual voltage reads 1.50v or slightly over.

And as for the RAM speed while overclocking, you can actually put the RAM at the speed it's supposed to be at. It won't affect your overclock.

 

[silent54]

I've seen some post that they've achieved 4.7 at voltages below what I have at 4.6. One poster on another site i believe stated that he achieved 4.7 at 1.31v with the same MB and cpu. That's why I question having to increase my voltage any further. As for my RAM, the voltage is set at 1.50v which is default according to specs. Should I increase it as well?

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

The voltage you need for any overclock is all dependent on how lucky you are in the CPU lottery. You can have the exact same hardware and software as someone else and achieve wildly different results when overclocking. Obviously you weren't as lucky as those one or two others on the Web, as evidenced by your system freezing up. We have a couple of people on our forums that cannot go above 4.2GHz on their Sandy Bridge systems, so count yourself lucky that you didn't end up like them.

One other thing you can try -- I seem to remember from an ASUS guide on the Web that a VRM Frequency of 350 should be applied when overclocking. If that doesn't work, then increasing the voltage is your only other option.

You see in your screens (the bottom screenshot) where the actual voltage of the RAM is 1.490v? That extra 0.010v may make a difference. Raise your DRAM Voltage setting one notch so the actual voltage reads 1.500v or very slightly higher.

 

[silent54]

Yea, I've seen the same posts on getting luck on Sandy Bridge overclocking. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't a setting I needed to change before moving on to my RAM. Also, my bad on your response about my RAM voltage. I see what you are saying about the difference between actual and what's entered. I increased the DRAM voltage. I also increased the VRM Freq after posting. I'll do some stress tests and see if I can lower my OC voltage and see if was the DRAM voltage causing the problems. Thanks

 

[silent54]

Best answer selected by silent54.