Should I overclock more?

[crazysteve240]

I have a i7 2600K overclocked to 4.6GHz, and my games are getting more laggy as this chip ages. I can take it up to 4.9-5GHz, I usually use Offset Mode for voltage and left most of the other settings (e.g., load-line calibration) to their default. Right now, with a 4.6GHz overclock it usually stays between 1.3-1.4V, and at 4.9GHz before I observed upwards of 1.5V. The cooler I am using is a Hyper 212, and haven't observed the temperatures getting too high (around 70-80C).

 

Should I be able to overclock more? Is it worth it, will it make much of a difference? The main things I'm worried about is wear on the CPU, and wear on the Power Supply.

 

Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7‑2600K

MOBO: Asus P8P67 Deluxe
RAM: HyperX 16GB DDR3 1600
GPU: Sapphire Tri-X R9 290

PSU: Corsair GS600

CPU COOLER: Hyper 212 LED

[Levent]

I would not recommend offset mode on Sandy Bridge. If you are able to cool it down, go as high as it is can get. I would stay below 1.5v though.

[crazysteve240]

6 minutes ago, Levent said:

I would not recommend offset mode on Sandy Bridge. If you are able to cool it down, go as high as it is can get. I would stay below 1.5v though.

It's usually more stable on offset mode though, it bluescreens rarely. When I tried manual voltage it bluescreened all the time.

[Levent]

Just now, crazysteve240 said:

It's usually more stable on offset mode though, it bluescreens rarely. When I tried manual voltage it bluescreened all the time.

Your issue might be "vdroop", it was also a massive pain in the butt with my 3570K. Offset mode on my Z77-GD65 and Z77X-UD5H were too unpredictable for my taste, I just used static voltage and set LLC properly. Sandy Bridge is a treat to overclock.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1.55v according to intel spec but i dont reccomend over 1.5v unless you can keep the thing under 75c, though at this point you are yeeting efficiency outright, maybe aim for 4.8g instead, though if you happen to be able to run 1.5v then 5.1+

 

Ram overclock may help abit so i suggest having a look at thaiphoon burner for ics, looking at the ics themselves is prefferable but thats only if your heatsink happens to be removable, safe volt depends on ram ic so no concrete safe volt, 1.8v as a guideline as some ics dont scale or just dont work above 1.8v (example my 1gbit psc series x)

[heatonpkmassive]

For the fun of overclocking, sure. For a noticeable performance increase, no.

[Neggy-Z]

10 hours ago, crazysteve240 said:

It's usually more stable on offset mode though, it bluescreens rarely. When I tried manual voltage it bluescreened all the time.

If it's bluescreening at all then it's not stable.

One of the reasons offset might appear more stable then manual is probably due to high voltage spikes that aren't picked up via software.

As others have mentioned, use a manual voltage and mess around with LLC.