How do I overclock my CPU

[Felps]

I’ve got a 4690k. Want to overclock it. Any precautions I should take? 

[Cyberman3245]

first, you have to make sure you have an x-series motherboard, otherwise you will not be able to overclock

[Levent]

Just now, Cyberman3245 said:

first, you have to make sure you have an x-series motherboard, otherwise you will not be able to overclock

*Z series.

[Cyberman3245]

oh yeah that's right. X is for AM4/TR4

[mxk]

Make sure you have a Z type motherboard (Z87, Z97, etc) for your CPU. If you don't, then I guess you can't overclock.

[Felps]

1 hour ago, mxk. said:

Make sure you have a Z type motherboard (Z87, Z97, etc) for your CPU. If you don't, then I guess you can't overclock.

I do, MSI Z97A Gaming 7. Anything else I should be worried about?

[mxk]

41 minutes ago, Felps said:

I do, MSI Z97A Gaming 7. Anything else I should be worried about?

Ideally, you want a good cooler and some basic knowledge. If you want to take it the long way, you can undervolt your CPU first. Pretty much you just take little bits of voltage away from the CPU and then do a stress test like AIDA 64 (trial version) to see if the undervolt is stable. If it is, keep undervolting and stress testing until you're at the point where you're giving the CPU all the power it needs, instead of extra power (which will increase temps). Once you've done that, you can then overclock by increasing voltage and the frequency multiplier in the BIOS, then doing a stress test to see if the overclock is stable. Your cooler and the quality of your CPU will determine how far you can overclock.