Overclocking Question

[TeknicalXtacy]

Been overclocking a new build - my first time.  I have been running Prime95 and it does not show any errors.  Ran two long sessions - one for 8 hours and one for twelve hours.  In neither case did I get an error in Prime 95.  However I did get some type of error message in the lower right corner of the screen.  From memory it was some kind of Vcore messahe with voltage numers like 3.3 and .0489 or something like that.

 

My system is an

 

i5 2500k over clocking was at 4.8 Ghz (temps at this level were about 77-80 celsius

H100i water cooler

8 gig of RAM - Corsair Vengance

ASUS STX Essence sound car

Seasonic 660w power supply

ASUS P8Z77 V Pro mobo

Obsidian 650D case

 

I have since backed it off a bit to 4.6 ghz and I am going to see what it does.

 

Lastly the overclock was done using ASUS Ai Suite II

 

Any thoughts woould be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

john

 

[Godlygamer23]

AI Suite II is buggy.

[TeknicalXtacy]

So, should I uninstall and try a manual OC?

[Godlygamer23]

First, have you seen those messages since lowering your overclock? And would you mind grabbing HW Monitor by CPU-Z? This will allow you to watch your voltages - specifically the 3.3 volts.

[TeknicalXtacy]

I am running tonigh.  I figure I will sleep and see what's up in the morning.  I have CPU-Z installed.  Should I not run it and just run itomorrow while monitoring the voltage?

 

Is the warning becuase voltage is too low or too high?

[Godlygamer23]

The warning could be coming from AI Suite II misreading the voltages. It's also best to overclock within the BIOS.

[TeknicalXtacy]

You are right on the money - I was writing as you posted!

 

Interesting - I went back and check the system.  Warnings are coming from ASUS Ai2.  Error message i just got - "CPU at minus 60 degrees celsius".  Ya,

 

I think the erros are errors.

 

If I uninstall the software I guess I will have to do a manual OC?

[Godlygamer23]

Ignore the reading. It's impossible for the CPU to be that cold with current cooling. As to your question about your overclock, I don't know. I'm not sure if AI Suite II writes directly to the BIOS.

[ProKoN]

77-80c is fine for a 4.8GHz OC

 

thats the one I would shot for

 

my old 2500k did 4.8GHz @ 1.475V ( similar temps)and was able to go past 5ghz with over 1.5V

 

manual overclocking is way to go!

[TeknicalXtacy]

OK.  Well I guess that will be my next project - figuring out my settings.  Prime really pushes the CPU and I have not been getting any errors there, even at 4.8 Ghz.

[TheDigitalRealm]

I really wouldn't recommend Prime95 for stability testing any more, it's not that relevant nowadays. 

[Godlygamer23]

I really wouldn't recommend Prime95 for stability testing any more, it's not that relevant nowadays.

Yes it is.

[TheDigitalRealm]

Yes it is.

 

Nope, the way it put's load on the CPU is designed specifically to create high temperatures, which you'd never get in any real-life workload. The load it puts on the CPU isn't realistic, just heat inducing. I for one would rather not risk shortening the lifespan of my cpu.

[Leonard]

So, should I uninstall and try a manual OC?

No. Use the overclock that AI Suite II gave you and fine tune it( use your offset voltage and adjust your CPU phase control and what ever else you will need to adjust) from there. I can tell you that 4.8 with 77-80C is really good though. Also try and make a few profiles like a 4.3ghz, and a 4.5ghz to prolong the life of the CPU.

[RadSalacan]

Nope, the way it put's load on the CPU is designed specifically to create high temperatures, which you'd never get in any real-life workload. The load it puts on the CPU isn't realistic, just heat inducing. I for one would rather not risk shortening the lifespan of my cpu.

It's perfectly relevant.  People use it for exactly those reasons.  if it's not stable under totally unrealistic situations, it won't be stable under regular load.  As far as shortening the life of a part due to heat...that's a factor but the major factor that causes lifespan shortening is voltage.  As long as the part remains under the temp threshold it's totally safe. 

[Godlygamer23]

Nope, the way it put's load on the CPU is designed specifically to create high temperatures, which you'd never get in any real-life workload. The load it puts on the CPU isn't realistic, just heat inducing. I for one would rather not risk shortening the lifespan of my cpu.

Silicon starts to degrade faster once it hits 80 degrees C. The whole point of a stability test is to make sure it's stable under every load you put it under. If you were to test an Intel CPU with Prime95 using the stock cooler, you'll probably stop at about 70 degrees C. Stability tests are not supposed to be realistic. Also, any kind of voltage increase shortens the lifespan of the CPU - if that's your big concern, do not increase voltage on your CPU.

[TeknicalXtacy]

Just want to say thank you to everyone who has posted.

 

Been busy.

 

So I loaded the latest driver for my motherboard off the ASUS website, with added side benefit that it reset everything to default settings.  The used a tutorial on Youtube to overclock at 4.7 Ghz with core temperatures running between 67 and 73 degrees Celsius with a few a couple peaks at 75 Celsius, but it didn't stay there.

 

Running Prime 95 right now along with CPU Z and Hardware Monitor and everything looks great - running smooth as a baby's bottom.

 

Now I will have to see how the games run.  I did notice that the auto overclock performed by AiII Suite raised my base clock to 103 - reset it to 100 as everything i have heard is that changing your base clock on Sandy and Ivy Bridge boards is a no no.

 

Again thank you everyone for your help.  Hopefully I don't have any in game issues but all the diagnostics look great.

 

Take care.