i5 4690K, first time OCing... don't really know what I'm doing.

[Bandit1379]

Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this. System-wise, I have an i5 4690K cooled by a Swiftech H220 on an ASRock Extreme4 mobo. I've watched guides on overclocking, read what I could find about OCing the i54690K and using the ASRock UEFI & A-Tuning software, but I just don't feel confident enough about what I'm doing. Would anyone be able to help me understand what settings I need to change, what to leave alone, what to be aware of, etc.? Once again, thanks for any help!

[Jodomcfrodo]

Plug in 1.25v and try 47 as the CPU multiplier. Seems like a good place to start. Check temps if it works . If it under 80c try 1.285. Keep upping the core voltage and cup multiplier until it isn't stable, is too hot or you're going over 1.35 v.

[Wano97]

Use 1.3vcore to begin with, set multiplier to the one you wish to acquire, test if stable, reduce voltage and keep running stability tests until it becomes unstable

If you can't reach the multiplier you want, just add voltage to it, but don't go over 1.4

 

Just a heads up, not every chip overclocks the same and your results may be really bad.

[SeanBond]

Plug in 1.25v and try 47 as the CPU multiplier. Seems like a good place to start. Check temps if it works . If it under 80c try 1.285. Keep upping the core voltage and cup multiplier until it isn't stable, is too hot or you're going over 1.35 v.

basically this. But start at 45. If it works first try on a 20min intel burn test then bump it up 10 at a time. If it does not work bump voltage up .02 until it does. 47 is a little hopeful.

[Bandit1379]

basically this. But start at 45. If it works first try on a 20min intel burn test then bump it up 10 at a time. If it does not work bump voltage up .02 until it does. 47 is a little hopeful.

 

So, I'm doing my changes through the software right now, not the UEFI, here's a screenshot. I changed CPU Ratio and CPU Cache Ratio to 45, CPU Vcore Voltage Mode to Override, Vcore Adaptive Voltage to 1.250V, is that correct? Do I need to change CPU Cache Voltage Mode to Override and put the CPU Cache Adaptive Voltage to 1.250V as well?

[MC_loud]

Don't use software to OC a CPU. BIOS is much MUCH more easier

[SeanBond]

So, I'm doing my changes through the software right now, not the UEFI, here's a screenshot. I changed CPU Ratio and CPU Cache Ratio to 45, CPU Vcore Voltage Mode to Override, Vcore Adaptive Voltage to 1.250V, is that correct? Do I need to change CPU Cache Voltage Mode to Override and put the CPU Cache Adaptive Voltage to 1.250V as well?

I have never seen a bios like that, what board are you using? But you shouldn't have to change anything except adaptive voltage. Because cache is something separate. I should also ask what cooler do you have? And did you download intel extreme tuning utility. 

[Bandit1379]

I have never seen a bios like that, what board are you using? But you shouldn't have to change anything except adaptive voltage. Because cache is something separate. I should also ask what cooler do you have? And did you download intel extreme tuning utility. 

 

It's not BIOS, it's ASRock A-Tuning's EZ-OC tool, it came with the mobo, and my board is UEFI not BIOS. As said in my OP, I have a Swiftech H220 cooling my CPU. I'll look into doing the OC through my UEFI though as suggested above.

[Bandit1379]

So, I'm doing my changes through the software right now, not the UEFI, here's a screenshot. I changed CPU Ratio and CPU Cache Ratio to 45, CPU Vcore Voltage Mode to Override, Vcore Adaptive Voltage to 1.250V, is that correct? Do I need to change CPU Cache Voltage Mode to Override and put the CPU Cache Adaptive Voltage to 1.250V as well?

Alright, so I tried doing the above, including changing the CPU Cache Voltage to Override and 1.250V, did it in the UEFI not the ASRock software, and, assuming I did it right and it is acually overclocked, I'm able to boot, but when I try to start an AIDA64 System Stability Test it freezes my PC almost immediately. I was able to run Valley though.

[Growlith1223]

a quick note. if you're using an Asrock motherboard, your bios should have an EZ-OC tool bar in the OC Tweaker tab. should come up with 3.9GHz, 4.0GHz, 4.1GHz, 4.2GHz, 4.3GHz, 4.4GHz and 4.5GHz.

 

now, 4.5GHz, on the 4690k does unfortunately require 1.32v. you can get it down to 1.25v but it WILL crash over time, try going up from 1.25v bit by bit and see if you can get a better stability. but if i am correct, it will only work, STABLE, with 1.32v lol

 

Hope this helps!

 

- Growlith1223

[Bandit1379]

a quick note. if you're using an Asrock motherboard, your bios should have an EZ-OC tool bar in the OC Tweaker tab. should come up with 3.9GHz, 4.0GHz, 4.1GHz, 4.2GHz, 4.3GHz, 4.4GHz and 4.5GHz.

 

now, 4.5GHz, on the 4690k does unfortunately require 1.32v. you can get it down to 1.25v but it WILL crash over time, try going up from 1.25v bit by bit and see if you can get a better stability. but if i am correct, it will only work, STABLE, with 1.32v lol

 

Hope this helps!

 

- Growlith1223

Yea, I am, and I tried that tool earlier. Here are the ones I have available, for some reason I only have 4 choices. I also have Advanced Turbo 20 and 30 available, whatever those are for, and 1400, 1500, and 1600MHz GPU OC.

[Growlith1223]

yea i couldn't exactly remember the options for the clock speeds, i just knew it was between 4GHz and 4.5Ghz lol.

Advanced turbo im not exactly sure what that is for, i think that might be for like, a better version of the default intel turbo stuffs. gpu oc, i wouldn't worry about, especially if you already have a dedicated graphics card

 

4.5GHz should give you 1.32v

4.4GHz should give you 1.25 if i remember correctly

 

and yes, i have tried, you can technically get 4.6GHz on 1.32v but it's extremely hot, even at 4.5GHz, im running it with a water cooler btw, and im still getting 80c on FULL load(prime95) but you should be good with 4.5GHz, really nothing is ever going to pull a prime95 and make unreal environments lol

[Bandit1379]

Alright, so I tried doing the above, including changing the CPU Cache Voltage to Override and 1.250V, did it in the UEFI not the ASRock software, and, assuming I did it right and it is acually overclocked, I'm able to boot, but when I try to start an AIDA64 System Stability Test it freezes my PC almost immediately. I was able to run Valley though.

Bump. This is the last I've attempted, since I couldn't get AIDA64 to do the test without crashing I took the OC off.

[runit3]

Stop using that auto-tune crap and set all voltage settings to manual, plug in these specs:

Core mult = x42
Uncore mult= x42
CPU Ratio Mode = Set all cores = (NOT dynamic)
Core V = 1.25
Uncore V = 1.21
VCCIN = 1.83v
CPU Core Voltage Offset Mode = manual (may also say +/-, choose +)
CPU Core Voltage Offset = 0v (may auto set to +.001)
^^Same for Ring
Double check your RAM's recommended voltage, also check to make sure that the correct XMP timings are enabled.
Set LLC to level 4 or 5

 

If you pass AIDA64 for 10-20min with those settings and temps under 80C on core, go back into the BIOS and change both the multipliers (core/uncore) to x43, repeat this process -moving up x1 multiplier- until you hit a BSOD. When you hit a BSOD take note of the 0x000*** code, if the ending 3 numbers are 124 or 101 bump up the voltage by .01-.02v on both the core, uncore (sometimes called cache or ring voltage depending on the MOBO), and VCCIN. Your max safety zone for core/cache voltage is 1.3v, VCCIN 1.9v. I wouldn't let the temps get above 85C for longer than a few seconds during any benchmark (just my personal thing).

 

Once you hit a max 1:1 core:uncore multiplier ratio you will have to downclock your uncore multiplier to get stability, very few chips can run a max OC in 1:1. Ending result should look something like x47 core x45/43 uncore if you're extremely lucky on the chip draw. Some chips will max at x45/x43, all luck of the draw. If you're really trying to max out your OC and still have thermal headroom (probably not going to happen, but it could) you can lower the manual voltages and throw in an offset voltage to compensate, for example if you're at 1.28v core, 1.26v uncore, 1.85v VCCIN reduce all by .025 volts and put in an offset of +.025v for all of the offset settings. It's a stretch to gain some stability but sometimes it works out well.

 

Once you have a completely stable OC (I would call stable a 12 hour AIDA64 pass, really personal preference) go back into the BIOS and set the main voltage setting to adaptive, and never ever run a benchmark unless your voltage settings are on manual.

[Bandit1379]

Stop using that auto-tune crap and set all voltage settings to manual, plug in these specs:

Core mult = x42

Uncore mult= x42

CPU Ratio Mode = Set all cores = (NOT dynamic)

Core V = 1.25

Uncore V = 1.21

VCCIN = 1.83v

CPU Core Voltage Offset Mode = manual (may also say +/-, choose +)

CPU Core Voltage Offset = 0v (may auto set to +.001)

^^Same for Ring

Double check your RAM's recommended voltage, also check to make sure that the correct XMP timings are enabled.

Set LLC to level 4 or 5

 

If you pass AIDA64 for 10-20min with those settings and temps under 80C on core, go back into the BIOS and change both the multipliers (core/uncore) to x43, repeat this process -moving up x1 multiplier- until you hit a BSOD. When you hit a BSOD take note of the 0x000*** code, if the ending 3 numbers are 124 or 101 bump up the voltage by .01-.02v on both the core, uncore (sometimes called cache or ring voltage depending on the MOBO), and VCCIN. Your max safety zone for core/cache voltage is 1.3v, VCCIN 1.9v. I wouldn't let the temps get above 85C for longer than a few seconds during any benchmark (just my personal thing).

 

Once you hit a max 1:1 core:uncore multiplier ratio you will have to downclock your uncore multiplier to get stability, very few chips can run a max OC in 1:1. Ending result should look something like x47 core x45/43 uncore if you're extremely lucky on the chip draw. Some chips will max at x45/x43, all luck of the draw. If you're really trying to max out your OC and still have thermal headroom (probably not going to happen, but it could) you can lower the manual voltages and throw in an offset voltage to compensate, for example if you're at 1.28v core, 1.26v uncore, 1.85v VCCIN reduce all by .025 volts and put in an offset of +.025v for all of the offset settings. It's a stretch to gain some stability but sometimes it works out well.

 

Once you have a completely stable OC (I would call stable a 12 hour AIDA64 pass, really personal preference) go back into the BIOS and set the main voltage setting to adaptive, and never ever run a benchmark unless your voltage settings are on manual.

Alright, I'm going to try to do this tonight after I get back from work if I get the time.

 

When I'm doing the AIDA64 stability testing, is it alright if I, for example, leave it running through the night while I sleep? Or do I need to be paying some attention to it in case of BSOD or other complications? I work 5-6 days a week and don't really have a good 12 hour stretch where I could run the test until my day or two off on the weekend, and it'd be nice to not have to tie up my PC with stability testing when I'd like to be using it on my day off. I'm willing to do it that way if I have to, of course, it'd just be nice to do it tonight instead of waiting till the weekend (or whenever I have 2 days in a row off again, which would be the best option...)

[TWCsucks]

I pretty much have the same setup, 4690k w/ the z97 extreme 4 board. 

 

Currently I have mines at 4.5g@ 1.275v and it ran AIDA64 for 1:12mins w/ a max temp of 75C.

 

The temps fluctuates around 70C but doesnt go higher then 75C.

 

 

Like others have said, try the voltage at 1.25 if it doesnt boot up bump it up slowly by .025 at a time. 

 

 

BTW I'm on the Corsair H100i and not the H220

[runit3]

Alright, I'm going to try to do this tonight after I get back from work if I get the time.

 

When I'm doing the AIDA64 stability testing, is it alright if I, for example, leave it running through the night while I sleep? Or do I need to be paying some attention to it in case of BSOD or other complications? I work 5-6 days a week and don't really have a good 12 hour stretch where I could run the test until my day or two off on the weekend, and it'd be nice to not have to tie up my PC with stability testing when I'd like to be using it on my day off. I'm willing to do it that way if I have to, of course, it'd just be nice to do it tonight instead of waiting till the weekend (or whenever I have 2 days in a row off again, which would be the best option...)

I've done that for every benchmark on any system I've built. The only exception to that would be if I was nearing 80C or I had a custom water loop that had only seen ~12 hours of flow w/out component power (I tend to run a loop for 48-72 w/out component power). Absolute worst case situation is that the CPU hits a thermal maximum and the system shuts itself down.

 

If the bench fails and throws a BSOD you'll wake up in the morning to a computer that has turned itself off, just go into the windows event viewer and check what happened. I wouldn't worry about leaving anything overnight if your temps are reasonable, and they should be more than reasonable at that voltage -I would guess somewhere between 60-70C.

[Bandit1379]

I've done that for every benchmark on any system I've built. The only exception to that would be if I was nearing 80C or I had a custom water loop that had only seen ~12 hours of flow w/out component power (I tend to run a loop for 48-72 w/out component power). Absolute worst case situation is that the CPU hits a thermal maximum and the system shuts itself down.

 

If the bench fails and throws a BSOD you'll wake up in the morning to a computer that has turned itself off, just go into the windows event viewer and check what happened. I wouldn't worry about leaving anything overnight if your temps are reasonable, and they should be more than reasonable at that voltage -I would guess somewhere between 60-70C.

Awesome, I'm gonna go grab a beer and give it a shot!

[runit3]

Awesome, I'm gonna go grab a beer and give it a shot!

good luck! I would just watch it for 10-15min and note the max temp it gets to, it'll jump around a bit during testing but settle in to a T max av once everything gets nice and warmed up.

[Bandit1379]

good luck! I would just watch it for 10-15min and note the max temp it gets to, it'll jump around a bit during testing but settle in to a T max av once everything gets nice and warmed up.

So, I started to change the settings, but a few of mine are named differently, and I'm not certain which ones I should be changing; I don't want to change the wrong ones and mess something up.

 

Here are 4 pictures of what I have on my UEFI under the OC Tweaker. Mind telling me more specific to my system which choices are the ones I need to change?

[runit3]

Every BIOS is a little different but I'll take a crack at it.

CPU Ratio = x42 (may have to set to manual, then a box will pop up below it, enter x42 there)

CPU Cache Ratio = x42

BCLK Freq. = Auto or 100

BCLK/PCIE Ratio = Auto

CPU OC Fixed Mode = OFF

Intel SpeedStep Technology = Enabled (this is a personal preference, just one less thing you have to go back and re-enable after the OC and it shouldn't affect the OC at all, some people disable but this should not have stability implications on Haswell)

Intel Turbo Boost Technology = This one is also arguable, some boards handle it differently. On all the ASUS boards I've used I've turned it off since the ending OC is over any turbo speed.

Every setting below ^^^ = Auto

 

Odd that they put the main voltage settings on another page, but my previous post contains all the relevant voltages.

[Bandit1379]

Odd that they put the main voltage settings on another page, but my previous post contains all the relevant voltages.

Thanks for the help, but uh... the voltage options were the ones I was especially confused about. The following settings you listed I'm not sure where exactly to apply in my UEFI.

 

Core V = 1.25

Uncore V = 1.21

VCCIN = 1.83v

CPU Core Voltage Offset Mode = manual (may also say +/-, choose +)

CPU Core Voltage Offset = 0v (may auto set to +.001)

^^Same for Ring

Double check your RAM's recommended voltage, also check to make sure that the correct XMP timings are enabled.

Set LLC to level 4 or 5

 

As for my RAM timing it's 9-10-9-27 and 1.5V

[runit3]

Thanks for the help, but uh... the voltage options were the ones I was especially confused about. The following settings you listed I'm not sure where exactly to apply in my UEFI.

 

Core V = 1.25

Uncore V = 1.21

VCCIN = 1.83v

CPU Core Voltage Offset Mode = manual (may also say +/-, choose +)

CPU Core Voltage Offset = 0v (may auto set to +.001)

^^Same for Ring

Double check your RAM's recommended voltage, also check to make sure that the correct XMP timings are enabled.

Set LLC to level 4 or 5

 

As for my RAM timing it's 9-10-9-27 and 1.5V

The screen grab you posted were only the multiplier and various ratio/PLL options.

 

The voltage settings must be on another page within the UEFI. I'm not familiar with ASRock BIOS's but all of the voltage settings should be roughly labeled the same.

There may be some variation in the nomenclature:

•  Cache, uncore, and ring are all the same -it varies depending on who made the board.
• VCCIN may also be called VRIN or CPU Input Voltage. You'll know this setting when you see it as the stock voltage is probably ~1.65v, it's the highest voltage setting stock related to the core settings area.
• LLC may  have non-numbered settings like off/normal/turbo/extreme, if that is the case choose normal or turbo, extreme should be unnecessary.
• Voltage Offsets should always be labeled "Offset", with the prefix applying the same general naming as above (cache/uncore/ring, etc.)

[Bandit1379]

 

The screen grab you posted were only the multiplier and various ratio/PLL options.

 

The voltage settings must be on another page within the UEFI. I'm not familiar with ASRock BIOS's but all of the voltage settings should be roughly labeled the same.

There may be some variation in the nomenclature:

•  Cache, uncore, and ring are all the same -it varies depending on who made the board.
• VCCIN may also be called VRIN or CPU Input Voltage. You'll know this setting when you see it as the stock voltage is probably ~1.65v, it's the highest voltage setting stock related to the core settings area.
• LLC may  have non-numbered settings like off/normal/turbo/extreme, if that is the case choose normal or turbo, extreme should be unnecessary.
• Voltage Offsets should always be labeled "Offset", with the prefix applying the same general naming as above (cache/uncore/ring, etc.)

 

OK, I think I got the settings in correctly, I've restarted and I believe the OC is at least functioning properly so far. I'm going to hold off on continuing any further (assuming this stability test works out) until I get back from work tonight.

 

Edit: 35 minute AIDA64 at 4.2, will step it up to 4.3 tonight and continue stability testing and updates here.

[runit3]

OK, I think I got the settings in correctly, I've restarted and I believe the OC is at least functioning properly so far. I'm going to hold off on continuing any further (assuming this stability test works out) until I get back from work tonight.

 

Edit: 35 minute AIDA64 at 4.2, will step it up to 4.3 tonight and continue stability testing and updates here.

Looks great! and you have a ton of thermal headroom.