Core i5 4690K Overclocking

[gary.hall82]

Hi all,  

 

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but please move it if it is. 

 

Today I changed the stock cooler on my i5 4690K for a Scythe Mugen 5 Rev B. 

 

Before the change I was getting Idle temps of around 30 to 33c, and under Stress I was hitting 82c using Intel Extreme Utility. Prime95 (small FTTs was hitting early 90s before I stopped the test quickly. 

 

After fitting the Mugen 5 Rev B my new temps are below

 

Idle: 19c on the cores , 21c on the package 

 

I decided to use my motherboards built in Ai Tweaker to overclock it. Ai Tweaker. Automatically Overclocked it to 4.49 GHz and Idle temps were still only 29 - 33c. Running Intel Extreme for a couple minutes had it barely touching 60c. 

 

I bumped up the clock speed (BLK had been set to 102) with a multiplier of 44. I changed this to 46. Also it was set on "Sync all Cores". Temps were now high 30s to low 40s regularly staying around the 38c mark. 

 

Intel Extreme running for 2 minutes didnt see the temp go higher than 62c.

 

Playing Battlefield V on Ultra settings for 10 minutes saw the temps hovering around 55c but it didn't touch 60c at all. 

 

I've never manually Overclocked in my life but I'm wondering if these are good temps at 4.69 GHz and if I should try any higher or how I would go about it. 

 

I'm very impressed with the Mugen 5 Rev B. My rig is now silent and runs cooler than I ever expected. 

 

Thanks in advance 

 

Gary 

 

 

My Rig

ASUS Z97 P Motherboard

i5 4690K @ 4.69 GHz

Scythe Mugen 5 Rev B CPU Cooler 

HyperX Savage 8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz 

EVGA GTX 970 SSC

Samsung 860EVO 500GB SSD (OS)

Samsung 850EVO 120 GB SSD (Spare) 

WD Blue 500 GB SSD

Toshiba 3TB 7200rpm HDD

EVGA Supernova GS 650w PSU

 

 

[LogicalDrm]

First of all, idle doesn't mean anything. I also question the 19C temp reading. Your room temp needs to be under 15C to get that low. What software you are using for temps?

 

Secondly, what voltages? Unlike common misconception, clocks don't have that big of an effect to temps. Voltages, however, mean everything.

[gary.hall82]

I was using HWMonitor to monitor temps, and the Idle temp of 19c was read with the side of the case off, after initial install.

 

With everything back on my temps were still only low 20s. This was done in the evening. Ambient temperature was probably close to 15 as I live in the UK and everyday its 3 to 7 degrees outside. 

 

As for voltages I'm not sure what to look for. Everything was done by Ai Tweaker. I only upped the multiplier to 46 from 44. 

 

If anyone can let me know what Reading I should be looking at then I can keep an eye on it. 

 

I'll get all the readings later and post them so you can see. 

 

If there is better software for measuring temps let me know too and I'll give them a try. 

 

Thanks 

 

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, gary.hall82 said:

I was using HWMonitor to monitor temps, and the Idle temp of 19c was read with the side of the case off, after initial install.

 

With everything back on my temps were still only low 20s. This was done in the evening. Ambient temperature was probably close to 15 as I live in the UK and everyday its 3 to 7 degrees outside. 

 

Yeah, that explains low idles, and temps overall.

 

And as side note the poor heating your room has.

 

1 hour ago, gary.hall82 said:

As for voltages I'm not sure what to look for. Everything was done by Ai Tweaker. I only upped the multiplier to 46 from 44. 

 

If anyone can let me know what Reading I should be looking at then I can keep an eye on it. 

 

I'll get all the readings later and post them so you can see. 

 

If there is better software for measuring temps let me know too and I'll give them a try. 

 

Thanks 

 

I think it's labeled Vcore in HWMonitor. You usually want to avoid long term OC with automatic tools as the settings tend to use higher voltages than needed. Also remember to do proper stress testing for stability. Like 2-3h on Aida or OCCT. And ofc the loads you normally run.

 

As for voltages, anything under 1.3V is fine, anything over and you really need to tweak it. Over 1.35V would be too much.

[gary.hall82]

LogicalDrm, 

 

Here is a screenshot of what my readings are on HWMonitor about 5 minutes after boot. 

 

Can you explain, and tell me if its looking OK, or if I need to change my settings to a fully manual overclock. 

 

From what I can tell its running at 1.306v ? Is that correct?

 

Thanks

 

Gary

[gary.hall82]

Quote

39 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

And as side note the poor heating your room has

It may of been higher that 15 degrees, ha, certainly warm enough to stay warm, and not be cold. 

 

[LogicalDrm]

33 minutes ago, gary.hall82 said:

LogicalDrm, 

 

Here is a screenshot of what my readings are on HWMonitor about 5 minutes after boot. 

 

Can you explain, and tell me if its looking OK, or if I need to change my settings to a fully manual overclock. 

 

From what I can tell its running at 1.306v ? Is that correct?

 

Thanks

 

Gary

CPU Vcore is 0.9V in that. Though you need to run stress test to see how high it goes when needed. Devils Canyon uses adaptive voltage so you don't see anything dramatic running idle or low usage tasks like browsing.

[gary.hall82]

I've gone back to stock, and put a manual overclock of 4.2 GHz, just adjusting the core multiplier. No voltages changed.

 

Running OCCT for 5 minutes with High to see what the volltages went upto and its maximum is 0.912v on the CPU VCORE. 

 

Hotest CPU temp was 48 degrees. 

 

Do I just adjust the core by 1 and retest until it becomes unstable, then add +0.5v to the offset in the BIOS?

 

 

[gary.hall82]

Testing 4.4 GHz with a 0.150 offset. 

 

Completed with temps staying below 60c

 

Am I reading it right that the Vcore is 1.22v in OCCT ?

 

Thanks

 

 

[gary.hall82]

Hi, 

 

Ran OCCT for 1 hour at 4.6 GHz with voltages in OCCT jumping between 1.22v and 1.24v

 

CPU voltage ofset set to 0.160 in BIOS, with variable setting selected. 

 

Temps at full load are staying around 53 degrees. 

 

Is this a safe voltage? Am I reading correctly in OCCT 

 

Could I try to go higher? 

 

Thanks 

[WoodenMarker]

3 hours ago, gary.hall82 said:

Is this a safe voltage? Am I reading correctly in OCCT 

Could I try to go higher? 

Yes, yes, and yes. 

You're generally fine up to 1.3v but it's not a hard number. Results will vary. 

Make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

[gary.hall82]

Quote

48 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Yes, yes, and yes. 

You're generally fine up to 1.3v but it's not a hard number. Results will vary. 

Make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

 

Thanks for the reply. 

 

I may try 4.7 and 4.8 GHz tomorrow at 1.25 to 1.30 depending on temps.

 

I would like to keep temps on full load in the early to mid 60s so if it got upto 70c I would drop it down. 

[LogicalDrm]

13 hours ago, gary.hall82 said:

Thanks for the reply. 

 

I may try 4.7 and 4.8 GHz tomorrow at 1.25 to 1.30 depending on temps.

 

I would like to keep temps on full load in the early to mid 60s so if it got upto 70c I would drop it down. 

You should run bit longer with OCCT. 10-15mins will get you some idea of how temps actually are as it takes software some time to get full stress running.

 

One setting you should look at in BIOS is Load Line Calibration. Now, I don't know enough about it to tell everything its supposed to effect, but setting it to high should remove or limit voltage jumping during stress testing. Offset value is more about voltages dropping when system isn't stressed to full.

[gary.hall82]

8 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

You should run bit longer with OCCT. 10-15mins will get you some idea of how temps actually are as it takes software some time to get full stress running.

 

One setting you should look at in BIOS is Load Line Calibration. Now, I don't know enough about it to tell everything its supposed to effect, but setting it to high should remove or limit voltage jumping during stress testing. Offset value is more about voltages dropping when system isn't stressed to full.

Hi LogicalDrm, 

 

I tried overclocking to 4.7 and 4.8 GHz with a voltage offset of 0.170 which was stable for 4.7 GHz, showing 1.25v in OCCT running for 1 hour. However 4.8 GHz gave me blue screens in Win 10 even upto a voltage of 1.28v. Didn't want to push it any higher and am very happy with 4.7 GHz at 1.25v.

 

Need to do further testing but so far so good. Temps after a hour stress test saw highest temp in HWMonitor to be 63 but in OCCT it was showing 53c all the time as a naximum. 

 

Never seen that setting in my bios but never needed to look before so will have a look for that. 

 

Am I doing the iverclock safely then by doing the offset voltage and not setting the voltage to 1.25 somewhere else?

 

Have already noticing a difference when playing games, temps are staying in the mid to high 50s where on the stock cooler temps were getting close to 80c 

 

Thanks for all your help in advance 

 

Gary

 

[LogicalDrm]

27 minutes ago, gary.hall82 said:

Am I doing the iverclock safely then by doing the offset voltage and not setting the voltage to 1.25 somewhere else?

 

Have already noticing a difference when playing games, temps are staying in the mid to high 50s where on the stock cooler temps were getting close to 80c 

 

Thanks for all your help in advance 

 

Gary

 

Yeah, seems all good there. It depends on each CPU how high you can get, and for Devils Canyon 4.7GHz seems to be average. I don't remember seeing many of those going to 4.8GHz or 4.9GHz and you would need angel chip to crack 5GHz.