i7 4790k won't go over 4.4Ghz, even when multiplier is greater than 44

[Zhnz]

Hi!

With Cyberpunkt 2077 releasing in a few days I thought it would be a good idea to get every last bit of power out of my 4790k.

The problem I have is that my i7 4790k doesn't want to go to any clock higher than 4.4Ghz. I have an MSI H97 Gaming 3 as motherboard (yes it is an H chipset, yes it could OC). I already overclocked the same CPU on the same board a few years ago just to see how far it could go and I could at least OC it to 4.7Ghz. That OC was stable and also did apply properly. I don't know what changed in the meantime but now I want to OC it again since now I really need the OC and it just doesn't want to boost to the set multiplier anymore as if it is capped at 4.4Ghz. If I reboot into BIOS and check the multiplier again, it is still set at the OC I entered and every tool in Windows also reports that same maximum multipier. I already tried to restore BIOS defaults, reset CMOS, various combinations of OC settings.

I would appreciate every help on how I can get the CPU to go over a multiplier of 44 again
Thank you for every input and please let me know if you need any further information to be able to help me!

Edit: I knew someone would say I need a Z chipset board, but no, some H97 board actually could OC a K CPU including the MSI H97 Gaming 3.

 

[givingtnt]

Most H97 motherboards do not support overclocking, including yours.
You're gonna need a Z87 board with a flashed bios (to support Devil's Canyon) or a Z97 motherboard.


I'm not sure how you got to 4.7Ghz before..

[Zhnz]

1 minute ago, givingtnt said:

H97 motherboards do not support overclocking, you're gonna need a Z87 board with a flashed bios (to support Devil's Canyon) or a Z97 motherboard.


I'm not sure how you got to 4.7Ghz before..

Some manufacturers added OC support to H97 boards back then even though it was not officially supported by Intel. Trust me, it did work before.

[givingtnt]

Just now, Zhnz said:

Some manufacturers added OC support to H97 boards back then even though it was not officially supported by Intel. Trust me, it did work before.

Ah, I guess through a bios update they did it afterwards, but IIRC that board didn't..
Maybe check your bios to update to the latest version ? Or at least one that you know supports OC.

There's pretty much no info on that board and overclocking afaik. Even MSI doesn't mention it.

[Zhnz]

2 minutes ago, givingtnt said:

Ah, I guess through a bios update they did it afterwards, but IIRC that board didn't..
Maybe check your bios to update to the latest version ? Or at least one that you know supports OC.

There's pretty much no info on that board and overclocking afaik. Even MSI doesn't mention it.

I checked if there was a new BIOS version, but there was no update since 2016. I think I did not change the BIOS version since I last OCed with it, but I could try the previous version I guess.

[Jurrunio]

I wonder if it has something to do with patches that supposedly tackle exploits, and Intel "accidentally" take away non Z OC feature. I wont be surprised to see them commit shady practices from what I know about Intel and they did take away Broadwell-E CPU's ability to overclock.

 

To verify this, try install an older version of Windows 10 if not downgrade to 7. You.lose DX12 with Windows 7 however.

[Zhnz]

6 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I wonder if it has something to do with patches that supposedly tackle exploits, and Intel "accidentally" take away non Z OC feature. I wont be surprised to see them commit shady practices from what I know about Intel and they did take away Broadwell-E CPU's ability to overclock.

 

To verify this, try install an older version of Windows 10 if not downgrade to 7. You.lose DX12 with Windows 7 however.

I also thought about this but I don't want to downgrade Windows. Is there any way to downgrade the microcode version somehow? I have revision 27 and AFAIK there is a version 28 so I do not have the most recent microcode update but maybe rev 27 already is too recent

[unclewebb]

The microcode update is stored in,

C:\Windows\System32\mcupdate_GenuineIntel.dll

 

You need to take ownership of this file away from Windows. Then you can delete it. Make a backup copy of this file before deleting it. By searching C:\Windows for mcupdate, you will also be able to find some older versions of this file.

 

When you reboot, the CPU will use whatever microcode that is installed by the BIOS. It should take you back to a microcode before rev 27. After you reboot, see what HWiNFO reports for microcode version.

 

 

[Zhnz]

13 hours ago, unclewebb said:

The microcode update is stored in,

C:\Windows\System32\mcupdate_GenuineIntel.dll

 

You need to take ownership of this file away from Windows. Then you can delete it. Make a backup copy of this file before deleting it. By searching C:\Windows for mcupdate, you will also be able to find some older versions of this file.

 

When you reboot, the CPU will use whatever microcode that is installed by the BIOS. It should take you back to a microcode before rev 27. After you reboot, see what HWiNFO reports for microcode version.

 

 

Thanks for the tip, it worked! I'm now all the way back at rev 7. Now I just have to see if OCing works again.

[unclewebb]

3 hours ago, Zhnz said:

back at rev 7

If this works, do a search for mcupdate in C:\Windows. 

 

Windows saves multiple versions of this file. You might be able to find a microcde file somewhere between 7 and 27. 

[Zhnz]

2 hours ago, unclewebb said:

If this works, do a search for mcupdate in C:\Windows. 

 

Windows saves multiple versions of this file. You might be able to find a microcde file somewhere between 7 and 27. 

I just tried if it works with rev 7 and it still woudn't apply the multiplier. Then I just reflashed literally the same BIOS version and now it works  Thanks for all your help ^^