Starting to think that I just have a junk chip.

I see alot of people's stable i5-2500k's at certain vcores that blows my mind compared to my chip. I see alot of people at 5ghz with 1.45vcore where for me to get just 4.8ghz stable I need 1.47vcore. Seems the "average" vcore needed for 4.8ghz is around 1.38-1.40 vcore. I understand the whole golden chip thing but I feel like I got a turd of a chip. Thoughts?

im betting those people who get the 1.45 VCore are using Cpu load line calibration... I5-2500k aint no turd of a chip

oh, these people have prime95'd or somthing equivalent right? coz i can acheive 4GHz easily, maintaining it under full load is another story

then i would probaly blame your setup, some are just better overclockers than others, i will direct you at a video, bear in mind it is about fx...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u7MIwphuoE

Exactly. That also means that 5ghz will be no problem for you on an accetpable vcore. This is what I would expect from my chip and why it angers me.

Personal gratification and the learning experience. I don't like being limited by the hardware instead of my ability.

Noctua NH-D14. My temps at 4.8ghz are only 61 degrees so I know that heat wont be a problem, but all I see is to never go over 1.52vcore etc.

A little confused about your reply. I stated that 1.47vcore is the minimum voltage I can ran or 4.8ghz will BSOD. So Im not really sure what you are suggesting. Thanks.

Remember that people usually won't post their overclocks unless they've gone well; the people that get the 5.0 GHz "golden chips" are the ones who will post about it when they OC. It may be that your chip just isn't perfect (although 4.8 GHz is nothing to sniff at); it may be that your motherboard isn't great for overclocking, which could be due to low power phase count (more power phases usually means less fluctuation in voltage to the CPU, which helps) and/or poor northbridge cooling. What motherboard are you using?

Also, in the mean time don't run it at 1.47V 24/7 (although I'm assuming you aren't), as it's not good for the chip. Also, I'm not a skilled overclocker per se (I dabble), and I know there are some more obscure voltages you can tweak to improve the stability of your overclock; you may want to look for some advanced overclocking guides; this one isn't necessarily too complex, but notice that they change the CPU PLL, VCCSA, and VCCIO to improve the stability of their overclock. Try changing those a bit, they ought to improve stability