I7 3770K Overclocking

[dragonborn1337]

What is the maximum stable GHz speed that I can overclock an Intel Core i7 3770K LGA 1155 Socket? I will be using a Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler.



Intel Core i7 3770K: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388575

Noctua NH-C14: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608020&Tpk=noctua%20nh-c14

 

[nna2]

depends on your chip, some will struggle and require more voltage than others, but i think you could get in the area of 4.2-4.5GHz

 

[dragonborn1337]

depends on your chip, some will struggle and require more voltage than others, but i think you could get in the area of 4.2-4.5GHz

Thanks. Also, when overclocking my CPU how do I know when it is stable between power and voltage?

 

[nna2]

prime 95 test (small FTT) and a temp monitor such as speedfan, if it's stable and not much above 70C, try lowering the voltage until you hit instability

 

[dragonborn1337]

Thanks

 

[dragonborn1337]

depends on your chip, some will struggle and require more voltage than others, but i think you could get in the area of 4.2-4.5GHz

What kind of numbers can I get by using this cooling system instead? (Corsair Hydro Series H100)

http://www.corsair.com/cpu-cooling-kits/hydro-series-water-cooling-cpu-cooler/hydro-series-h100-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler.html/

 

[dragonborn1337]

Best answer selected by dragonborn1337.

 

[dansgas1000]

You'd get around 4.4GHz.

 

[nna2]

You'd get around 4.4GHz.

it's impossible to be sure of that, he could end up at 4.1... and he could end up at 4.6

 

[redeemer]

Forget that cooler get a H100 grab some AP-15 fans 4 of them for push pull. For compound get the Indigo Extreme. Go into your bios set that mulitplier @ 48X voltage to 1.275.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Forget that cooler get a H100 grab some AP-15 fans 4 of them for push pull. For compound get the Indigo Extreme. Go into your bios set that mulitplier @ 48X voltage to 1.275.

Whatever you do...dont do what this. Keep the Noctua NH-C14. If you want to go higher than what this can sustain you will need to build a custom water cooling system that will probably cost $400-$500 USD. Closed loop water coolers will only give you about 4c cooler temps than air, and 4c is not going to make or break your system.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2665&page=7

If you look at the charts here and other benchmarks on frostytech you will see that closed loop coolers are not that great, and when the radiator or pump go bad, your CPU just sang its swan song. You should stick with a goal of 4.2-4.5, anything high than that should be producing too much heat and to many volts unless you have a sweet bin chip. If I were you, or if I had your CPU instead of my 2500K, I would shoot for 4.4. Since you have an i7 you will run hotter than the i5 thanks to hyper threading. Adjust your voltage accordingly, and if your comfortable with your numbers then try and bump it up, very slowly, always slowly.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1079493/corsair-h100-pics-review-benchmark

Push/Pull Conclusion:

I am very disappointed to say the least. I spent an extra $30 on fans to complete this Push/Pull setup and the results are none to MAYBE 1c better. I don't understand why or how it could be that 4 x 94cfm 120mm fans perform at the same level as 2 x 62 cfm 120mm fans. More testing and tweaking needs to be done. As always, I will keep OCN posted!

The temps i get from my Hyper 212+ @ 4.7ghz are 2c higher than the average person here is testing.

 

[nna2]

Whatever you do...dont do what this. Keep the Noctua NH-C14. If you want to go higher than what this can sustain you will need to build a custom water cooling system that will probably cost $400-$500 USD. Closed loop water coolers will only give you about 4c cooler temps than air, and 4c is not going to make or break your system.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2665&page=7

If you look at the charts here and other benchmarks on frostytech you will see that closed loop coolers are not that great, and when the radiator or pump go bad, your CPU just sang its swan song. You should stick with a goal of 4.2-4.5, anything high than that should be producing too much heat and to many volts unless you have a sweet bin chip. If I were you, or if I had your CPU instead of my 2500K, I would shoot for 4.4. Since you have an i7 you will run hotter than the i5 thanks to hyper threading. Adjust your voltage accordingly, and if your comfortable with your numbers then try and bump it up, very slowly, always slowly.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1079493/corsair-h100-pics-review-benchmark

Push/Pull Conclusion:

I am very disappointed to say the least. I spent an extra $30 on fans to complete this Push/Pull setup and the results are none to MAYBE 1c better. I don't understand why or how it could be that 4 x 94cfm 120mm fans perform at the same level as 2 x 62 cfm 120mm fans. More testing and tweaking needs to be done. As always, I will keep OCN posted!

The temps i get from my Hyper 212+ @ 4.7ghz are 2c higher than the average person here is testing.

not 100% true
a custom watercooling loop will preform better than air cooling, and when i assembled my parts, i was looking around $200 for a GPU loop 120mm rad (240 is a few bucks more)

 

[dragonborn1337]

The thing is on eBay the H100 is cheap than the C14

 

[nna2]

it's not the end of the world, their still both great performers

 

[DarkOutlaw]

not 100% true
a custom watercooling loop will preform better than air cooling, and when i assembled my parts, i was looking around $200 for a GPU loop 120mm rad (240 is a few bucks more)

Correct. I would call this a real 'water cooling system'. The H100 and such shouldnt really be classified as water cooling...My main point was that its expensive, and should be researched a great deal if he is wanting to attempt it. I think for what he is trying to accomplish here the Noctua NH-C14 is a perfect fit, and I think that doing something like set this this this to exactly this and go is a blown CPU just waiting to happen.

 

[dragonborn1337]

Correct. I would call this a real 'water cooling system'. The H100 and such shouldnt really be classified as water cooling...My main point was that its expensive, and should be researched a great deal if he is wanting to attempt it. I think for what he is trying to accomplish here the Noctua NH-C14 is a perfect fit, and I think that doing something like set this this this to exactly this and go is a blown CPU just waiting to happen.

Well I'm getting the H100 for 50 bucks from ebay, so it seems like a good deal to me.

 

[nna2]

Well I'm getting the H100 for 50 bucks from ebay, so it seems like a good deal to me.

thats an excellent deal, is it new?

 

[dragonborn1337]

thats an excellent deal, is it new?

yes

 

[nna2]

yes

very great deal then, congratz

 

[dansgas1000]

it's impossible to be sure of that, he could end up at 4.1... and he could end up at 4.6

I said he could get AROUND that clock speed so that could mean 4.2-4.6 for example.

 

[dansgas1000]

it's impossible to be sure of that, he could end up at 4.1... and he could end up at 4.6

I said he could get AROUND that clock speed so that could mean 4.2-4.6 for example.

 

[zissou3770k]

I'm running 4.4 easily. 4.5 Wouldn't be too hard but you'll start percolating heat from there. If you read reviews you'll see you hit a wall at about 4.6ghz. I'm using a fan for cooling with gaming temps of 42~45c while in virtualization with my HD4000 graphics & GPU.
Not bad I'd say.
Cooler-->
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118074&name=CPU-Fans-Heatsinks

 

[dsub1994]

o guy, if i got a h100 and this i7 on an asrock professional M mobo, d'you think i can get 4.5 GHZ stable? If so, what voltage etc.
basically, what do i need to change to get it to this point...

 

[badcarma]

prime 95 test (small FTT) and a temp monitor such as speedfan, if it's stable and not much above 70C, try lowering the voltage until you hit instability

I was told by ASUS that Prime 95 should be used on a I7 3770k. They said to use a program called AIDA64, has anyone else heard that?