Intel Haswell 4670k + 4770K Overclocking guide

[Wano97]

Folding is a great way to stress test

Dont update your bios unless your having issues. 

yeah well Folding bluescreens my PC. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes to bluescreen, sometimes 10.  I can perfectly play games though, of course this isn't a valid way of testing the stability

[Wano97]

Folding is a great way to stress test

Dont update your bios unless your having issues.

I'm just gonna go with the fact that my chip is a bad overclocker... I really have no idea what causes such instability on normal voltages... I'm using 1.37v when there's people using 1.2V to 1.25v for 4.4GHz

[ProKoN]

I'm just gonna go with the fact that my chip is a bad overclocker... I really have no idea what causes such instability on normal voltages... I'm using 1.37v when there's people using 1.2V to 1.25v for 4.4GHz

 

your not alone

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjXDCk5eCp1gdEdENjlDYWl6ZnV4OVlNc0lMU1V3c1E&usp=sharing

[Wano97]

your not alone

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjXDCk5eCp1gdEdENjlDYWl6ZnV4OVlNc0lMU1V3c1E&usp=sharing

What is the safest max vcore? Meaning not shortening the lifespan much...

[ProKoN]

What is the safest max vcore? Meaning not shortening the lifespan much...

I recommend 1.4V or less

 

I personally am ok running 1.4-1.5V if I can keep things cool.

 

the people with less experience will tell you 1.3V or lower.

[Wano97]

I recommend 1.4V or less

I personally am ok running 1.4-1.5V if I can keep things cool.

the people with less experience will tell you 1.3V or lower.

Yeah I've been reading that A LOT, people saying stuff like 'keep your voltages below 1.25 or 1.3'. Are you sure it wont reduce the lifespan of my cpu too much if I use voltages like 1.38-1.4?

[ProKoN]

Yeah I've been reading that A LOT, people saying stuff like 'keep your voltages below 1.25 or 1.3'. Are you sure it wont reduce the lifespan of my cpu too much if I use voltages like 1.38-1.4?

 

had my chip @ or over 1.4 for almost a year. it runs better than ever

[ProKoN]

Yeah I've been reading that A LOT, people saying stuff like 'keep your voltages below 1.25 or 1.3'. Are you sure it wont reduce the lifespan of my cpu too much if I use voltages like 1.38-1.4?

 

Performance

 

 Frequency

  

  Advanced cpu core settings

 

    Uncore Ratio

 

 

[Wano97]

had my chip @ or over 1.4 for almost a year. it runs better than ever

Haha yeah well i'd like to keep my cpu for atleat 1,5-2 more years

[Wano97]

What's with the picture btw

[ProKoN]

What's with the picture btw

thats where your uncore ratio should be

[Wano97]

thats where your uncore ratio should be

Yeah I know where the uncore ratio is haha

Wait is this the cpu ring multiplier?

[ProKoN]

Yeah I know where the uncore ratio is haha Wait is this the cpu ring multiplier?

yes same thing

[whoohaaah1]

@ProKoN thank you for this guide. Very thorough and helpful.

I just need have a question and hopefully you (or a fellow member) and can help me out.

Last night i did a stress test

4.3ghz @ 1.2v (everything stock). Woke up and it passed. Yay! So i went back to bios to try and stabilize a cache ratio. However i saw that the ratio was already set to 4300mhz @ Auto voltage and 1.90 input. So i thought to myself "hmm ok i guess it passed a stable 1:1 ratio." but just to make sure i changed the cache ratio voltage to 1.2 (same as vcore). It BSOD in like 10 minutes with error Clock_watchdog_timeout.

What should i try next?

[ProKoN]

@ProKoN thank you for this guide. Very thorough and helpful.

I just need have a question and hopefully you (or a fellow member) and can help me out.

Last night i did a stress test

4.3ghz @ 1.2v (everything stock). Woke up and it passed. Yay! So i went back to bios to try and stabilize a cache ratio. However i saw that the ratio was already set to 4300mhz @ Auto voltage and 1.90 input. So i thought to myself "hmm ok i guess it passed a stable 1:1 ratio." but just to make sure i changed the cache ratio voltage to 1.2 (same as vcore). It BSOD in like 10 minutes with error Clock_watchdog_timeout.

What should i try next?

 

hey welcome to the forum

 

good idea to update your signature with your system specs and location!

 

are you able to determine what the "auto" value applied for voltage. you may be able to see the true ring voltage in the bios or with a multimeter if your board has V check points.

 

try 1.2-1.3V on the ring bus

[whoohaaah1]

When i booted back into bios it was set at 1.24

Vcore was at 1.2 (adaptive +.010)

 

And Thank you i will update soon 

 

EDIT: nevermind i think it had something to do with the cpu core voltage. i tried setting everything back to stock and just changing the multiplier to 43 and vcore to 1.2 and ran IETU. Crashed after 1 hour. guess i'll have to raise it to 1.21 and try again.

 

BTW i did a quick and dirty OC of the cpu and gpu and memory and have been playing games nonstop (straight 8 hours this past saturday). but it is not validated nor has it passed stability:

CPU: 4.4ghz @1.3v (+0.02 adaptive)

GPU: 1250/8000(cpu-z lists 4000)

Ram: 2133 11-11-11-27 @ 1.5v

passes benchmarks and am able to run itunes, several tabs of chrome, and/or play games (titanfall, southpark, thief, skyrim) for 3+hours (temps max at 80) but DOES NOT pass IETU or Realbench2.0 stress tests

* @ProKoN, should i work and stabilize this OC or you think its fine to just leave it, i havent had 1 issue so far, but it just doesnt pass stress tests.

[ProKoN]

When i booted back into bios it was set at 1.24

Vcore was at 1.2 (adaptive +.010)

 

And Thank you i will update soon 

 

EDIT: nevermind i think it had something to do with the cpu core voltage. i tried setting everything back to stock and just changing the multiplier to 43 and vcore to 1.2 and ran IETU. Crashed after 1 hour. guess i'll have to raise it to 1.21 and try again.

 

BTW i did a quick and dirty OC of the cpu and gpu and memory and have been playing games nonstop (straight 8 hours this past saturday). but it is not validated nor has it passed stability:

CPU: 4.4ghz @1.3v (+0.02 adaptive)

GPU: 1250/8000(cpu-z lists 4000)

Ram: 2133 11-11-11-27 @ 1.5v

passes benchmarks and am able to run itunes, several tabs of chrome, and/or play games (titanfall, southpark, thief, skyrim) for 3+hours (temps max at 80) but DOES NOT pass IETU or Realbench2.0 stress tests

* @ProKoN, should i work and stabilize this OC or you think its fine to just leave it, i havent had 1 issue so far, but it just doesnt pass stress tests.

 

 

I promote stability. if you cant benchmark your far from stable.  CPU utilization in BF4 on a 64 slot server is appx  60-70%. I briefly played titanfall beta but never logged any stats, cpu usage etc. the point is that your games are most likely Not using the cpu 100%

 

In my opinion a good overclock can pass stability tests, benchmark all day regardless of ambient temps and just plain be stable

 

8 hours simulates "a full work day" the most stress your system will ever encounter

 

although, Its kinda intriguing you can play titanfall 3+ hours. and not pass a stability test lol

 

at the end of the day you decide whats best for you. I personally would like everyone who uses the guide to submit a 8 hour + proper screenshot into @meltymoons database. That would really make my cake

 

Id rather see you rock solid stable at 4.3 than an iffy 4.4.

 

 

The settings I hove posted in my sig are my 24\7 settings. stable for 18 hours (minus the ram timings...still tweaking )

 

[whoohaaah1]

yeah i can actually run cinebench r15 5+ times without crashing, same with 3dmark and performancetests. 

i can pass realbench2.0 for about 3+ hours then fail. but never more than 30 minutes on IETU.

 

but yeah youre absolutely right. i would rather have a stable 4.3 (lower voltage and lower temps) then unstable 4.4

I will save the 4.4 settings though =) just in case i want to fiddle with it later on in the winter when ambients are a little cooler, its just wayyyy to hot here in LA and esp in this apartment.

 

 

 

btw will running IETU or any real world stress test ok for the cpus (other components) lifespan?

[ProKoN]

yeah i can actually run cinebench r15 5+ times without crashing, same with 3dmark and performancetests. 

i can pass realbench2.0 for about 3+ hours then fail. but never more than 30 minutes on IETU.

 

but yeah youre absolutely right. i would rather have a stable 4.3 (lower voltage and lower temps) then unstable 4.4

I will save the 4.4 settings though =) just in case i want to fiddle with it later on in the winter when ambients are a little cooler, its just wayyyy to hot here in LA and esp in this apartment.

 

 

 

btw will running IETU or any real world stress test ok for the cpus (other components) lifespan?

 

only if you decide to run them @ 1.5V or higher

[whoohaaah1]

@ProKoN 95% of bsods are x124 (hal.dll)

any idea what the root is? i heard could be faulty drive or bad OC?

[ProKoN]

@ProKoN 95% of bsods are x124 (hal.dll)

any idea what the root is? i heard could be faulty drive or bad OC?

x124 is typically ring related.

 

increase ring voltage or drop ring multi.

[KTM]

@ProKoN

First of all, I want to thank you for your guide.

I was never into OCing, but after I bought a whole new PC I tought why not.

You can find my PC specs in my signature.

The only thing I did so far is playing with the multiplier and vcore.

Since Nov 2013 I got a stable PC (12h IETU cpu stress test) with the following results:

4.6GHz @ 1.27v vcore

A couple of months ago, when I started playing BF4, I got several BSOD (hal.dll & ntoskrnl.exe).

It only happened 4 times. Yesterday after the 4th BSOD, I decided to raise vcore to 1.28v.

8h stress test passed.

Today I decided to finish the whole OCing. But I'm a bit stuck.

First take a look at my current stats:

First thing I want to ask:

I set the Vcore to 1.28v and VCCIN/VRIN to 1.9v.

In IETU the values are correct, but in the BIOS it's showing this:

Vcore: 1.296v

VCCIN/VRIN: 1.872v

Why is this?

Second thing is that I want to OC the CPU Ring Bus.

But I can't find the right things in the BIOS.

I found the Ring Bus/cpu cache under Advanced CPU Core Settings as Uncore ratio.

Is this the right place? I can adjust the ratio. I tought starting at 44.

But where can I find the voltages to adjust?

Some other information:

Thanks in advance.

[whoohaaah1]

@KTM i believe the reason for vcore showing higher than 1.28 is due to LLC (load line calibration)

looking at your bios it is set to Auto which in turn probably sets it to the highest LLC, causing the rise in vcore voltage

 

@ProKoN correct me if im wrong.

[ProKoN]

@ProKoN

First of all, I want to thank you for your guide.

I was never into OCing, but after I bought a whole new PC I tought why not.

You can find my PC specs in my signature.

The only thing I did so far is playing with the multiplier and vcore.

Since Nov 2013 I got a stable PC (12h IETU cpu stress test) with the following results:

4.6GHz @ 1.27v vcore

A couple of months ago, when I started playing BF4, I got several BSOD (hal.dll & ntoskrnl.exe).

It only happened 4 times. Yesterday after the 4th BSOD, I decided to raise vcore to 1.28v.

8h stress test passed.

Today I decided to finish the whole OCing. But I'm a bit stuck.

First take a look at my current stats:

First thing I want to ask:

I set the Vcore to 1.28v and VCCIN/VRIN to 1.9v.

In IETU the values are correct, but in the BIOS it's showing this:

Vcore: 1.296v

VCCIN/VRIN: 1.872v

Why is this?

Second thing is that I want to OC the CPU Ring Bus.

But I can't find the right things in the BIOS.

I found the Ring Bus/cpu cache under Advanced CPU Core Settings as Uncore ratio.

Is this the right place? I can adjust the ratio. I tought starting at 44.

But where can I find the voltages to adjust?

Some other information:

Thanks in advance.

 Honestly I dont know  why the bios monitoring values are what they are. I dont always trust my bios for statistics I rely on software and my trusty multimeter I take any stat from the bios with a grain of salt. I focus strictly on my temps \ Voltages in the  operating system environment.

 

Reading voltages with a multimeter is your best bet. I recently discovered my system idles at .148V when XTU and cpuz all show my idle at .700V.

 

Anyways dont worry about it rely on software since you dont have V checkpoints.

 

Yes the" uncore ratio" is where you select the ring multiplier

 

Look at the last picture you posted.  CPU RING Voltage is where you adjust the ring voltage.

 

If you want to use adaptive voltage you select "normal"  and adjust the Ring Voltage offset . Gigabyte boards do NOT throttle down the cpu ring voltage when idle so its useless to use a voltage off set for the ring voltage.

 

 

 

@whoohaah1 its tough to say why the bios readings are what they are but you could very well be right!. Im not sure lol. gigabytes LLC settings do not affect core voltage at all in the OS environment

 

[KTM]

Thanks guys!

I dont have a lot of luck with the ring freq like the cpu freq

Like I said, my system is stable at 4.6 ghz @ 1.28 vcore and vccin 1.9v. Max temp at 8h stress test was 78 C. I'm good with these settings.

I don't think that my pc will get any faster with higher cpu freq. Also I had to increase to 1.3v+ for a stable 4.7 ghz. So, I'll take the 4.6 @ 1.28v.

I've set ring freq to 46 and ring voltage to 1.28v => my pc didnt even start. After a couple of times on and off, I managed to get into the bios. I saw that the system had set it to the original values (35 multi etc).

1st try: 46 ring, 1.28 ring voltage, vccin 1.9 => ^

2nd try: 42 ring, 1.27 ring voltage, vccin 1.9 => passed, no stress test, but it was working

3rd try: 46 ring, 1.28 ring voltage, vccin 2.0 => bsod

4th try: 45 ring 1.28 ring voltage, vccin 2.0 => bsod

5th try: 44 ring, 1.28 ring voltage, vccin 2.0 => bsod

6th try: 42 ring, 1.28 ring voltage, vccin 2.0 => bsod, now wtf? At the 2nd try, it worked. This time with even higher ring voltage and higher vccin I got bsod.

Now I've set it back to the standard settings: 34 ring, 1.050v (auto), vccin 1.9

In IETU it says that the ring/cache freq is 40/4.0 ghz. Is this because the voltage is set to auto? Does it also increase the ring multi?

I can't find any stability with the ring freq. What do you recommend?

What if I can't find stability, only with crazy voltages, do I have a big disadvantage with the standard ring settings? (3.4 ghz bios and 4.0 ghz IETU, don't know which one is the right one).