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I5-2550k Overclocking Questions - OCCT Errors

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Hi everyone. This is my first build and my first overclock. I read everything I could before OCing to make sure I know what I'm doing, but I'm running into a problem I haven't been able to find a solution for. I have my i5 OCed to 4.4 GHz (vCore is set to Auto), which I think is a modest OC. If I go any higher, I get errors in OCCT. I feel like I should be able to go to about 4.8 GHz or so with my setup.

Today I tried the OCCT Linpack test for the first time and it errored after 30 minutes. I have never received errors at this clock speed.

So my question is what can I do to achieve higher clocks? I think I should be able to go higher with this setup. Am I wrong?

Here is my setup. If there is any additional info I should provide, let me know.

Intel i5-2550k
MSI Z68A-G45 (B3) Motherboard
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler
Ultra LSP550 Power Supply (I kind of cheaped out here, could that be a contributor to my problems?)

Sorry if this has already been covered here, but I haven't been able to find any info specific to what might be keeping me from going above 4.4 GHz.
Thanks in advance! Any help would be appreciated.

More about : 2550k overclocking questions occt errors

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CPUs Master
Overclocking Authority

First, your power supply is somewhere between crap and dangerous.

Second, a Hyper 212+ is a great BUDGET cooler. Generally it is safe for UP TO 4.5Ghz with a Sandy Bridge system. It is NOT a cooler for higher overclocks.

Third, always set the voltage manually. Going over 1.4v can seriously reduce the lifespan of your CPU and is a very bad idea unless you have a custom water cooling setup. Keep the voltage as close to 1.3v as you can. That will probably limit your overclock to 4.5Ghz but since you don't have a 3 way GTX 680 Sli setup ( not with that POS power supply ) you don't need speeds like that anyway.
CPUs Master
Overclocking Authority

While Ultra power supplies have a very bad reputation in general I doubt that is limiting your overclock. In fact with a Hyper 212+ that is about an average overclock.


Try manually setting the voltage just keep it as close to 1.3v as you can. Make sure you are running 1.5v RAM and keep the CPU temps in the low 70s C max when running Prime 95.


Keep in mind not all chips are equal. Also keep in mind that 4.5Ghz is the sweet spot for a Sandy Bridge chip. Going over that yields few gains in any real world situations. Going over that also generally requires a better cooler than your Hyper 212+. All in all 4.4Ghz is a very good overclock and just about average.


Now about the power supply. What graphics card are you using? Since you have a 550w power supply I assume you are only running a single graphics card. A quality 550w power supply will handle any single graphics card including a GTX 580/680.

Any of these are much better than what you have and better than that Rosewill.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submi...

I haven't seen anything near 70s. I max out at 55 C running OCCT for hours at 4.4 GHz. That is why I was so surprised that 4.5 GHz was erroring. I will definitely set the vCore manually and see where that gets me.

I'm running a XFX Radeon HD 6790. This one, to be exact.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Again I wanted to keep costs low for right now, and I will only be playing Diablo 3 for quite a while. This card is enough to run it on High settings, supposedly. The option to upgrade to a better card later without having to replace the power supply would be nice.

I might go with that OCZ, since its not too high in price.

Thanks for your help.


EDIT: I have to wonder if the power supply is responsible for another issue I'm experiencing. I posted it in the homebuilt system section, but no responses yet.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/345726-31-fans-power-...
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