First time CPU overclocking. 2500k

CrysisComa

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Just got my new specs

Intel i5 2500k
CM Hyper 212+
8gb ddr3 Corsair vengeance Ram
ASROCK z68 Extrene3 Gen3 motherboard


Ran Prime 95 and the highest temp is 41C

On a side not is it normal for one core to be about 3-4c higher than the rest?
Im thinking maybe i didnt apply the thermal paste well. but not sure

In any case this motherboard has a great Bios for overclocking, so i would like to overclock my i5. Can someone explain it?

I did some GPU overclocking, raise speed by 10mhz, then stress test, raise another 10, then stress test, then slowly bring the voltage up as i get higher clocks, is it similar to that?
 

CrysisComa

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i just read a toms article on it, so i just increase the multiplier (33 i believe) to 34, then test (prime95) then raise to 35, then test. Once i hit instability i start on the voltage increase? does this sound right?
 

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also in terms of all the extra settings. pll overvoltage, spread spectrum, etc. should i just leave at default or change them?

If anyone's interested. Im at 4.3ghz. 10 minutes into Prime95 and it hasnt gone over 52c.... :)

a little graphical glitches when windows started up....but everything seems solid...
 

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aside from a lower life expectancy, what is the reasoning behind not clocking high. I have always thought the life expectancy of these chips was enough that by the time they die, they would be ancient anyway.

Not sure if i want to sit around for an hour waiting for Prime. Any ideas on a good game to stress it? Whatever games i play it never seems like they stress it as much as prime95 does.

Im thinking either Starcraft 2 or Battlefield 3....
 

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I havent touched any of the other settings, i guess C1E is enabled because before i run prime95 it runs at 1500mhz

and yea i have just turned up the multi. At 45 right now. Iv heard you cant get much higher without extra V.

 
Auto usually overvolts, sometimes it's fine. You shouldn't need to change any other settings except multi and vcore at that speed. Just keep the vcore below 1.4v and temps below 80 in prime, 72 in normal usage. The 212+ should get you around 4.7 depending on roomtemp before temps become a bit too high. I would still recommend stress testing in prime as a game just won't stress it enough to really test stability.
 

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Amd unit is sitting on my desk, gonna sell it hopefully.

I think i hit a wall. Stable at 4.5. Temps at 56 peak. But when i tried to boot up at 4.7 i got a BSOD. So i upped the Vcore (usually hovered around 1.28/1.30)

I tried putting it up to 1.325. BSOD. 1.4. BSOD. Temps are fine, so im not sure whats up. Ill recheck all the settings to make sure everything is as it should be. Maybe try upping to 1.375 VCore


edit: ram is set to XMP
 

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something isnt kicking in. I set the VCore to 1.365 and multi to 46. Running Prime right now, but the Vcore isnt kicking in. its still at 1.280.

just so i make sure everything is right.

Internal PLL overvoltage-Enabled
Intel speedstep technology-Enabled
Turbo Boost power limit-Auto
Additional turbo voltage-Auto
Core Current limit-150
Spread Spectrum-Auto

edit: not sure how i got it to boot up before at that setting, but it seems like any setting with extra Vcore or above 45 multi crashes.

any ideas?

LCC is set to Level 5, VCore setting should be at Fixed right? not offset? And do you think any of the other Voltages are causing instability
 
I use offset or else speedstep isn't really doing anything. What is your roomtemp? What are you using to check vcore and temps? What is the bios saying the vcore is when you set it to 1.365? It may just be vdroop, adjust the llc if it is saying 1.28.
 

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room temp is pretty cold, 50 maybe.

using hwmonitor to monitor temps

Cpu-z to monitor vcore.

when i set the vcore to 1.365 it doesnt go up in the bios, i assumed this was because the CPU is not under stress.

So are you saying instead of changing Auto Vcore to Fixed, i should change it to offset? whats the difference between the two?

Core Current limit at 150 isnt stopping it is it?

Also iv heard some people getting better results with LCC at 1, not sure though

edit: well tried just as a test to see if vcore would go up. its stable at stock Vcore and multi 45. So i kept it at 45 and put vcore up to 1.35. it still wont go up. I tried prime95 and it still wont go above 1.28
 
In bios the cpu is in full load state at all times, it cannot change state. The vcore issue appears to be vdroop, adjust the llc.

Offset allows the vcore to lower when idling, stock is ~.95 at idle, 1.2-1.25 in turbo. Auto is not stock, it will change vcore and often overvolts when ocing.

You can change these if you'd like but they probably won't make a difference,
Internal PLL Overvoltage: Enable
Turbo Boost Power Limit: Manual
Set Short Duration Power Limit: 200
Set Long Duration Power Limit: 200
Set Long Duration Maintain: 56
Core Current Limit: 200
Spread Spectrum: Disable
 

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plugged in the settings you had, vcore is at 1.4

4.6= no good
4.7= no good
4.8 i actually made it to prime95. no crash, temps are sitting at 59 and climbing. how would it make any sense that 4.6 wouldnt work and 4.8 would?

I have heard this board has weird problems like that...

edit:10 minutes into prime....temps have stopped at 60C. Vcore is around 1.4 - 1.41

Whats the highest reasonable Vcore for 24/7 use? I want this chip to last at least a few years...
 
Not the first time I've seen this but it wasn't the extreme3. I never really looked into the solution though. Truthfully there's really no point in having it run that high for 24/7 use. I keep mine stock for gaming, still plenty of power that my 560ti is still the weakest link. ~1.4v is as high as you want to go. ~4.5ghz is really more than any game/gaming setup needs.
 

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Its a sweet board. Just had a weird issue that I could get the CPU stable at 4.5ghz, and 4.8ghz. 4.6 and 4.7 didnt work. Not a big deal as i dont intend to run that high anyway.