Help with overclocking - FIRST TIME! (GPU and CPU!)

[Quinquangular]

Hey!

I just joined the forums.

 

My rig is:

Asus Sabertooth Z87

2x GTX 770 (EVGA Superclocked) in SLI

i7 4770k

Corsair 32GB RAM @ 1866mhz.

 

Other information will be provided if asked! :)

 

 

So, I went into my UEFI and went to the advanced mode..

I changed one of the settings to X.M.P. so I can overclock my RAM, and the profile automatically was up and it overclocked my RAM correctly to 1866. Easy. I think I did it right.

 

For my CPU--

I changed the voltage to 1.2 and then I changed the multiplier to 42, so I can get a 4.2mhz overclock.

I'm running Realtemp and using Prime95 for a stress test. 10 or so minutes in so far, nothing crashing, highest temp is 71c.

 

I'll run it for another couple of hours and see what happens.

If it stays under 75c, should I raise the stuff up? What should I raise up (the voltage and/or the multiplier), and by how much?

 

 

And how do I use EVGA Precision X or MSI Afterburner to overclock my CPU? I have all the drivers installed and everything. I just don't know how to use it. What do I raise? I just want a decent overclock so I can get some better performance.

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

[Lauen]

just a little info: The XMP is a profile, stored for the RAM you're using, by the manufacterer, and once you turn it on, you're guaranteed to get good performance from it ;) 

CPU overclock: Raise multiplier to the speed you want, I'd say about 4.5 is nice, and then you try to get it running on the lowest possible volt, for less power draw and less heat output. 

GPU overclock: With Kepler and GPU Boost 2.0, Install Afterburner or Precision X, I prefer Afterburner btw, just set the max temperature to what seems good for you, I'd set it to 85, then it'll automatically boost up when graphics horsepower is needed. 

 

(I'm not good at overclocking btw, this is the general idea I have picked up from forums) 

[Quinquangular]

just a little info: The XMP is a profile, stored for the RAM you're using, by the manufacterer, and once you turn it on, you're guaranteed to get good performance from it ;) 

CPU overclock: Raise multiplier to the speed you want, I'd say about 4.5 is nice, and then you try to get it running on the lowest possible volt, for less power draw and less heat output. 

GPU overclock: With Kepler and GPU Boost 2.0, Install Afterburner or Precision X, I prefer Afterburner btw, just set the max temperature to what seems good for you, I'd set it to 85, then it'll automatically boost up when graphics horsepower is needed. 

 

(I'm not good at overclocking btw, this is the general idea I have picked up from forums) 

Oh! Thanks for explaining. Good thing it was that easy! Just turn it on and it set it all up lol.

 

So go to my multiplyer and try to do it to 45? okay.

85 temp for GPU? Okay. I think I'll set it at 83 max, more comfortable for me. :P

 

Thanks! I didn't know it was that easy! I just change like 2 settings in my UEFI and test it out, and it's overclocked haha.

[Lauen]

Yeah, overclocking has gotten easier, but I am using an Athlon X4, which has a locked multiplier, so I use FSB overclocking, which leads to less stabile boards, as pretty much everything gets changed.. and the CPU just won't accept volts that are not stock. 

 

and the 660Ti I've got, I just set the max power limit to 115 and use the slider (clocks in signature) 

[Quinquangular]

Yeah, overclocking has gotten easier, but I am using an Athlon X4, which has a locked multiplier, so I use FSB overclocking, which leads to less stabile boards, as pretty much everything gets changed.. and the CPU just won't accept volts that are not stock. 

What is a good voltage for Haswell (I heard it doesn't do well with high voltages since it burns up real quick!)

Do I keep it at 1.2? Raise it up or down?

[Lauen]

as I said in my first post, you want to keep it as low as possible. after you set the multiplier, start windows, if windows doesn't start, raise it a little bit. then try again, if Windows doesn't start, raise it a little. then, when Windows does start, do a quick stress test with Prime95, small FFT. if it doesn't crash or throttle (lower the speed on it's own, keep CPU-Z open to check that), you can try lowering the volts again. if you lower it a bit, and windows doesn't start, repeat what's above here. if it does start, try lowering it again. 

then, if you can run stress test with Prime95, small FFT for about an hour, (if you wanna test it quite thoroughly, you can keep it running for 24 hours) if it doesn't crash, it's stabile enough.

 

and if when stress testing, it reaches 85 celsius (or centigrade, whatever it's really called in english), I'd lower the clocks and volts abit, as it would shut down when it reaches 90-95. 

[Quinquangular]

as I said in my first post, you want to keep it as low as possible. after you set the multiplier, start windows, if windows doesn't start, raise it a little bit. then try again, if Windows doesn't start, raise it a little. then, when Windows does start, do a quick stress test with Prime95, small FFT. if it doesn't crash or throttle (lower the speed on it's own, keep CPU-Z open to check that), you can try lowering the volts again. if you lower it a bit, and windows doesn't start, repeat what's above here. if it does start, try lowering it again. 

then, if you can run stress test with Prime95, small FFT for about an hour, (if you wanna test it quite thoroughly, you can keep it running for 24 hours) if it doesn't crash, it's stabile enough.

 

and if when stress testing, it reaches 85 celsius (or centigrade, whatever it's really called in english), I'd lower the clocks and volts abit, as it would shut down when it reaches 90-95. 

Thanks! I'll keep it under 85 for sure!

I will keep experiementing on lowering the voltage and raising the clock speed!

I will also raise the temp target on EVGA Precision so it'll automatically overclock the cards!

 

 

THANKS SO MUCH! I will post updates on my final specs :D

[Lauen]

Thanks! I'll keep it under 85 for sure!

I will keep experiementing on lowering the voltage and raising the clock speed!

I will also raise the temp target on EVGA Precision so it'll automatically overclock the cards!

 

 

THANKS SO MUCH! I will post updates on my final specs :D

That's what overclocking is in my mind, trying to get everything out of.. well everything :D

 

No problem, We're all here to help (at least that's what I think, lol) 

[MegaDave91]

You can get much more performance out of your graphics cards if you overclock them and not just rely on GPU Boost 2.0. Raise the core clock by 10Mhz and see how far you can go before it crashes, then back it off 10Mhz. Then do memory clock; raise it by 20 Mhz until you see artifacts, then back it off 20Mhz (or until artifacts are gone). Then finally, combine both together and see if it's stable. 

 

Set power to max and temperature to max. Make yourself a fan curve (ideally try to stay under 80 degrees, otherwise the card with throttle thus decreasing core clock which equals decreased performance).

[Quinquangular]

Something is dead..

System isn't posting on my monitor. Nothing works to fix it, tried to clearcmos, removed battery, tried bios flashback...

Nothing.

 

Now got to RMA board. Maybe the processor isn't good either now.. We'll see...

 

I didn't even harm anything. Restarted PC, went to the UEFI, and changed the multiplier and the voltage just a little bit and it rebooted and showed a black screen, and I tried everything after calling multiple support companies.

[Lauen]

Something is dead..

System isn't posting on my monitor. Nothing works to fix it, tried to clearcmos, removed battery, tried bios flashback...

Nothing.

 

Now got to RMA board. Maybe the processor isn't good either now.. We'll see...

 

I didn't even harm anything. Restarted PC, went to the UEFI, and changed the multiplier and the voltage just a little bit and it rebooted and showed a black screen, and I tried everything after calling multiple support companies.

Now that is just horrible...

[Quinquangular]

Now that is just horrible...

Yep. Need to pay them $120 to replace it.

 

Do I RMA my processor? Would I have to pay money to replace it? Ugh....

[d33g33]

When you say you increased the multiplier and voltage up a little bit what did you actually raise it to?

Did you do anything inside the case? Make sure all jumper pins are in the right locations, manually switch BIOS if you have to. CPU power plug on top of mobo is ok and all the others. Try power drain the PC by unplugging it at the wall and pressing power for 10secs then replugging and power it on again.

[Quinquangular]

When you say you increased the multiplier and voltage up a little bit what did you actually raise it to?

Did you do anything inside the case? Make sure all jumper pins are in the right locations, manually switch BIOS if you have to. CPU power plug on top of mobo is ok and all the others. Try power drain the PC by unplugging it at the wall and pressing power for 10secs then replugging and power it on again.

I think I raised it at at most like 1.22... Or something. I didn't go high at all. It kept saying "voltage overload", even though it was a low voltage, and kept dropping it from like 1.22 to like 1.2, then like 1.19, 1.18, then it crashed and didn't post at all.

Idk. The mobo will be replaced.. at the cost of $120, and I'll see what can happen with the CPU.. Hopefully I won't be charged..'

 

Edit: I doubt overclocking killed it? If it did, can Intel even know. If I send them a dead chip and it did somehow die from a slight overclock, would they know and deny a RMA? Or would they just send me a new one?

[d33g33]

something doesn't sound right... :( I know when I increase the voltage on my z77 sabertooth it would go from green, to yellow, to pink to red.

 

It was saying 'voltage overload' there must be something incorrectly entered, sucks that you have to spend money but certainly seems like something hasn't been keyed in correctly and cooked. Hopefully its just your motherboard and that's all...

[Quinquangular]

something doesn't sound right... :( I know when I increase the voltage on my z77 sabertooth it would go from green, to yellow, to pink to red.

 

It was saying 'voltage overload' there must be something incorrectly entered, sucks that you have to spend money but certainly seems like something hasn't been keyed in correctly and cooked. Hopefully its just your motherboard and that's all...

I know I typed it right, I double checked, and when I accepted the settings it showed the changes and I saw it for sure.

Anyways, I'll RMA the processor just in case. I doubt it got cooked, and if it did.. Intel can't really magically tell. I'm 100% sure it was the Mobo, and maybe the Mobo even killed my CPU.. I "underclocked" my CPU when it was saying voltage overload and it kept saying it, so I just set it to like automatic and set the cores to automatic instead of sync all, then it didn't post.

Either way, I'm RMAing both of them.

[d33g33]

Best of luck, that really sucks.

[Quinquangular]

Best of luck, that really sucks.

Yeah, it really does..

I looked up online.. Intel can't tell if you fried your CPU, right? They can't tell if your CPU died from overclocking or a motherboard failure? Will they deny my RMA or just send me a replacement? The CPU looks perfectly fine, no burn marks, the bottom of it looks fine.

 

Either way from what happened, I'm extremely positive that I did not mess up the overclock, I was very careful and I guess my motherboard was just bad.

[Godlygamer23]

How did you overclock your CPU? Did you actually go from X speed(stock for instance) all the way up to something like 4.4-4.5? And what did you set your voltage to?

[Quinquangular]

How did you overclock your CPU? Did you actually go from X speed(stock for instance) all the way up to something like 4.4-4.5? And what did you set your voltage to?

I went to like 4.3 I think or 4.4-- Just set the multiplier to I think 43... So 4.3

.

Voltage was under 1.2 I believe, like 1.18.

Anyways.... I think my mobo killed my CPU somehow. Since the CPU continued to say "overvoltage error" after setting it all to stock, and after I restarted it just turned black and didn't post. I'd rather just RMA both the board and CPU to make sure that everything will work.

[MPX309]

are you even able to RMA something you've overclocked? I thought you void warranty?

[Quinquangular]

are you even able to RMA something you've overclocked? I thought you void warranty?

I read online it doesn't really matter.

It didn't really die from an overclock, it was my mobo. I don't think it will be a huge issue.

[Godlygamer23]

are you even able to RMA something you've overclocked? I thought you void warranty?

Do they test components that are claimed to be dead or malfunctioning? 

[Quinquangular]

Do they test components that are claimed to be dead or malfunctioning? 

I read online that they can't tell if it's from overclocking unless they spend a lot of time and money figuring out.

They're a rich company, I'm sure they just send you a new one from what I read online.

[ProKoN]

Your cpu is most likely NOT dead.

 

Is your system installed in a case?