I5-2500k/GTX 460 Overclock

[alkajak]

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost)
Mobo: ASUS P8P67 LE
CPU Cooler: H50
Graphics: GTX 460 Cyclone
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
PSU: 700W
HDD: OCZ Agility 3 SSD
Additional Fan: 120mm Cooler Master fan on the side of the case

What kind of stable overclock could I get with this kind of system for my i5-2500k?

Same question for my GTX 460 Cyclone.

Thanks.

 

[Rustyy117]

Most 2500K's will reach 4.5Ghz without to much issue, try and keep the temps under load below 75C and I'd recommend to stay below 1.42V for 24/7 use.

Not sure about the GTX460, I've heard they overclock quite well although I've never used one.
Try upping the Core frequency by 15Mhz with MSI afterburner, then test for stability with a benchmark or a game, if its stable up the frequency again, if it isn't stable either increase the voltage or lower the overclock.
You can repeat this process for the memory frequency aswell. Try and keep the graphics cards temps below 90C, you'll have to research what voltage is safe for the GTX 460

 

[alkajak]

What program do you use to benchmark and how exactly do you know if it's stable? I used MSI Kombustor for testing my graphics and I don't know if that's the most efficient way to check if the graphics are stable.

How high could you get with 1.42V on this setup? I use my computer for heavy gaming and programming, so I don't want to push it unnecessarily. Should 4.5Ghz be enough of a boost?

 

[Rustyy117]

I use Unigine heaven 2.5 to test GPU stability as I've found it pushes the GPU harder than most games or other benchmarks. http://unigine.com/products/heaven/download/

You'll know if its unstable as your PC may restart, your monitor may loose signal, you may notice artifacts or the display driver may stop responding... what ever happens you'll know about it.

No one could tell you exactly how high your CPU will overclock with 1.42V, every CPU is different, so although other people with 2500K's may be able to get to 5Ghz with 1.42V your CPU may not. I would guess (bases on my own experience and seeing other peoples overclocks) that 1.42V should get you to roughly 4.5 - 4.8Ghz

Depends what programs and games you use as to how much the CPU overclock will effect performance.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

You should NOT need 1.42v for 4.5Ghz, in fact it should be more like 1.32v for 4.5GHz. Anything over 1.4v can shorten the life of your CPU to a matter of months. I personally keep my 2600K under 1.35v. An H50 is not a real good cooler. It really does worse than a Hyper 212 so heat might be an issue for you. Use Prime 95 to check your CPU overclock. I would run it 4 or 5 hours at least and 8 to 10 is recommended. Also use Coretemp or Realtemp to monitor your CPU. Anything over 70C and I would start reducing voltage and clockspeed. I would guess you will get in the 4.1-4.3Ghz range with that cooler but you might get a "good" chip that runs cool and hit 4.5Ghz.


I run my GTX 460 at 820-1640-2000. I use Furmark to test stability and temps. That is on stock voltage. As stated above keep it under 90C and you will be fine.

 

[Rustyy117]

You should NOT need 1.42v for 4.5Ghz, in fact it should be more like 1.32v for 4.5GHz. Anything over 1.4v can shorten the life of your CPU to a matter of months. I personally keep my 2600K under 1.35v. An H50 is not a real good cooler. It really does worse than a Hyper 212 so heat might be an issue for you. Use Prime 95 to check your CPU overclock. I would run it 4 or 5 hours at least and 8 to 10 is recommended. Also use Coretemp or Realtemp to monitor your CPU. Anything over 70C and I would start reducing voltage and clockspeed. I would guess you will get in the 4.1-4.3Ghz range with that cooler but you might get a "good" chip that runs cool and hit 4.5Ghz.


I run my GTX 460 at 820-1640-2000. I use Furmark to test stability and temps. That is on stock voltage. As stated above keep it under 90C and you will be fine.

I wasn't saying that the OP would need 1.42V, I was just stating that as an absolute max (regardless of frequency)

I ran my 2600K @ 5Ghz with 1.51V for 5 months and noticed no degradiation, every chip is different

 

[alkajak]

I overclocked my CPU through BIOS and AI Suite II and set the CPU Voltage to 1.35, but when I run Prime95 and stresstest it, CPUZ shows my voltage going up to 1.45. This is beyond the limit that you guys recommended, and more importantly, beyond the voltage I have set. Is this supposed to be happening?

 

[Rustyy117]

No certainly not suppose to be happening, close down AI Suite.. just use the BIOS

Set the voltage to 1.35V and set Load-line Calibration (LLC) to high

 

[alkajak]

For some reason, I can't change my voltage in the BIOS. That's why I use AI Suite.

Furthermore, I realized that when it goes +3.3V, it automatically resets itself to a x33 multiplier so it isn't even staying overclocked. Do I need to update my BIOS? Ever since I built this computer, CPU Voltage has not been an option under my BIOS. I can change the voltage offset but not the voltage itself.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

GTX 460's factory clocked @763/950/1526 to 840/1000/1680 no voltage increase. Increased FPS in Unigine Heaven 2.5 from 29.1 to 35.8 FPS.

 

[Rustyy117]

For some reason, I can't change my voltage in the BIOS. That's why I use AI Suite.

Furthermore, I realized that when it goes +3.3V, it automatically resets itself to a x33 multiplier so it isn't even staying overclocked. Do I need to update my BIOS? Ever since I built this computer, CPU Voltage has not been an option under my BIOS. I can change the voltage offset but not the voltage itself.

What do you mean by "when it goes to +3.3V"? +3.3V is just an output on your PSU...

You should be able to change the voltage mode (from offset to manual or fixed). You may want to flash it if your still having trouble but just be careful, flashing can be dangerous

 

[alkajak]

By +3.3V, I meant if it goes 3.3V higher than what I've set it to. ie. I set it to 1.35V so it would go to 1.68V and it would underclock itself.

"Offset" cannot be changed. I can only change it between + or -. There is no actual CPU Voltage that I can change. :/

How do you flash? I'd imagine if I don't know how to do that, it would be very dangerous to even try.

Has no one had this problem with the P8P67 LE?

 

[Rustyy117]

Wow... yeah damn straight it should be reseting your settings if the voltage goes that high, 1.68V could kill your CPU!

You'll need to go to ASUS's website, look for your motherboard and download the latest BIOS, then put the BIOS on a memory stick, reboot, go to BIOS and there should be an option for EZ Flash, use EZ Flash to flash the BIOS.

Seems like other people are having similar issue's to you.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2138081

 

[alkajak]

BIOS Version 1104 which is the most recent. Successfully flashed.

This is my entire AI Tweaker page. Am I completely blind, or do I really have no option to change my actual voltage.

Edit: This is after I reset to default. No point in overclocking right now if I can't change my CPU Voltage.

Also, I can't change LLC to high. It's either Auto, Enabled or Disabled. I'm guessing Enabled is what you meant.

 

[Rustyy117]

Where it says "CPU Offset Voltage" in the last screenshot, can you change that to manual, or a value like 1.35V ?

And yes enabled is fine, its different on most motherboards.

If you cannot change the voltage then contact ASUS as it'll be a BIOS issue.

 

[alkajak]

I can change the offset, yes. I'll try that.

I used Unigine Heaven and these were my scores with 4x AA and 16x Anisotropy.

820/1640/2000:

FPS:
43.4
Scores:
1094
Min FPS:
10.8
Max FPS:
135.4

900/1800/2200:

FPS:
30.8
Scores:
775
Min FPS:
18.9
Max FPS:
66.4

I get no artifacts and no crashing. My temps don't go above 52C, but my FPS and score dropped dramatically. Isn't my FPS supposed to go up when overclocked?

 

[Rustyy117]

Yeah its likely not a stable overclock, are you overclocking the core and mem at the same time?

If you run the benchmark again at 830/1640/2000 to you get a slightly higher score?

 

[alkajak]

I've come up with a temporary solution. I changed the offset to the minimum amount (0.005) and now it is stable at 4.5ghz using 1.36-1.38V (no more than that). It isn't the ideal fix, but it seems to be the only for this motherboard at the moment. Temps are below 60C and stress test seems stable.

Is that a reasonable voltage?


FPS:
28.4
Scores:
715
Min FPS:
15.8
Max FPS:
61.5

This is the new benchmark score on the settings you said.

 

[Rustyy117]

Yeah your voltage is fine, i'd still contact ASUS though as that isnt acceptable in my opinion (its a pretty important option!)

Are you running the benchmark whilst stress testing the CPU? your frame rate makes no sense compared to your stock score...

 

[alkajak]

I am not. And I just retook the 820/1640/2000 benchmark and it came out as:

FPS:
28.2
Scores:
709
Min FPS:
19.9
Max FPS:
61.8

It dropped a good 300 points since last time. This is just frustrating. My CPU Usage is at 30% right now, while the test is going so I'm positive that I'm not stress testing. 15% while idle.

 

[Rustyy117]

Try running Futuremarks 3DMark11 benchmark as you can compare your score against similar systems.

I'm really not sure what's going on with Unigine Heaven.

15% whilst idle is quite high, should be closer to 1%

 

[alkajak]

Just contacted ASUS customer service and the guy fully told me that he is not able to give me ANY information on how I can change my CPU Voltage as he suspects that I am trying to overclock which will a) void warranty and b) possibly damage my motherboard. I told him I just want to know how to change my CPU Voltage through the BIOS and he said no. I hung up on him.

820/1640/2000:
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2558648

The FPS seems pretty low. Doesn't look like there's much room for an overclock unless I'm looking at it wrong.

 

[Rustyy117]

wow what a prick, a quick google shows that other people are having the same issue so I would imagine its a BIOS issue, whether or not ASUS is going to do anything about it is another matter.

Cant believe there response... they make the BIOS easily accessible, generally user friendly (except Vcore option) and yet if you touch it your warranty is gone

Your 3dMark11 score is slightly better than average, try increasing the overclock slightly and re-run the benchmark.

 

[Rustyy117]

Not sure why he said he can't tell you as it'll imply you may overclock...

You can still overclock with offset...

 

[alkajak]

Considering I have the latest BIOS, I doubt they'll be able to do anything about it anyway. I could continue to use AI Suite to change the Voltage myself.

As for the 3DMark11, do I keep running the test until I see the latest score drop from the previous score? I don't want to keep pestering you with little increments.