Intel Haswell 4670k + 4770K Overclocking guide

[Mjolkspam]

you have got to have the worst luck overclocking!

 

keep your current settings but instead of 44x on the cpu try 43x or 42x or 41x.........

Okey, I did not start with 43x now though. Stupid as I am..

 

(1)

I used:

 

44x  1.27V  (Override Mode)

38x  Auto    (Auto)

VCCIN         2.0V

1333Mhz     1.5V

 

With this I did 10h 24m with XTU. Was going to make a printscreen for it, when I opened Paint, I got my x124 BSOD..  Stable for 10h+ in XTU but BSOD when using Paint.

10h+ at those voltages is rather good if it wouldnt BSOD at that point.

I'm going to continue with this, I will manage a good OC!

(2)

I wanted to ask something also.   When stress testing with XTU, should cpu load be 100% at all time or like my cpu?    

It's going in the range of 95% to 98% usage?  I can't remember if it was like this before I flashed to latest bios.

 

edit**    I have been running 42x  1.27V,  Ring @ Auto(34x) with Auto voltage, VCCIN 2.0V for 12-14h gaming all day long..  No BSOD at all!  Just running like smooth butter.

To me, this is awesome news. But what do I know Sending this might BSOD me.. (This is the one I'm using on a normal day as of now. Until I get a better one.)

 

edit**(2)    I had XTU running the other night for 8h+, with above settings. Works like a charm. Still running without restart, played BF4 like a crazy man.  http://linustechtips.com/main/gallery/image/16115-34ghz-127v-stable-xtu-oc/

Going for 43x tonight, lets hope I don't get x124..   Where to start if I get x124 BSOD again? Increasing vcore to 1.28V or ring voltage to something?

 

edit**(3)  43x did 8h+ without crash. Now I'm up against using it all day and playing some. + Crashed during the day while playing BF4. x124 bsod again.

 

I'm not realy sure where to continue now. Thinking of trying 43x but with 1.28V instead of 1.27V (Ring 34x(auto voltage), vccin  2.0,  1333Mhz  1.5V.

edit**(4)  This has been game stable for 12-14h + 10h XTU stable.

[gap30]

Hi first time poster

 

I have read over this guide and am a complete noob

 

Tried some quick over clocks

 

Does this guide work with the 4690k before we proceed

 

OP btw bloody brilliant this thread you deserve a medal

 

Edit: have added system specs in sig

[gap30]

no system specs

[gap30]

• CPU
  i5 4690k

• Motherboard
  msi z97-g45

RAM

gskill ripjaws x series 8gb (2 x 4gb)

GPU

msi gtx970 gaming 4gb (@ 1542mhz)

Case

Fractal design R4 black pearl

Storage

Samsung 256gb SSD

PSU

XFX 650w fully modular

Display(s)

BENQ RL2455

Cooling

Hyper Evo 212

Keyboard

Corsair K90

Mouse

Anker 8200dpi gaming

 

Operating System

Windows 8.1 64bit

[AngryGoldfish]

Hi first time poster

 

I have read over this guide and am a complete noob

 

Tried some quick over clocks

 

Does this guide work with the 4690k before we proceed

 

OP btw bloody brilliant this thread you deserve a medal

 

Edit: have added system specs in sig

 

It should work basically the same, but your temperatures might be different as Intel improved the thermal interface on Devil's Canyon. Essentially the 4690K is just a refresh of Haswell and is essentially the same architecture so it should work the same, but I could be wrong there so if anyone wants to correct me, go ahead.

[gap30]

It should work basically the same, but your temperatures might be different as Intel improved the thermal interface on Devil's Canyon. Essentially the 4690K is just a refresh of Haswell and is essentially the same architecture so it should work the same, but I could be wrong there so if anyone wants to correct me, go ahead.

 

Hi mate we have spoke before you advised me on overclocking my msi gtx 970 last week on the other forum anyway its running at 1542 Mhz now!!

 

Back on topic atm i have changed settings as follows:

 

Multiplier: 44

cpu voltage: 1.26 (it would fail stress test at 1.25 instantly)

Dram frequency: 1333

Dram voltage: 1.50

Vccin: 2.00

 

Will run test for 8 hours tonight is this correct

 

My idle temps are in the mid 30's this worries me a little

[AngryGoldfish]

Hi mate we have spoke before you advised me on overclocking my msi gtx 970 last week on the other forum anyway its running at 1542 Mhz now!!

 

Back on topic atm i have changed settings as follows:

 

Multiplier: 44

cpu voltage: 1.26 (it would fail stress test at 1.25 instantly)

Dram frequency: 1333

Dram voltage: 1.50

Vccin: 2.00

 

Will run test for 8 hours tonight is this correct

 

My idle temps are in the mid 30's this worries me a little

 

Oh, nice! My G1 970 reached 1550Mhz yesterday, but the memory won't go beyond 7700Mhz even with the max amount of voltage. Stellar card apart from that.

 

Idle temps will not be much lower than 30°C when 1.26V is added using a Hyper 212. You'd need better cooling for that. Also, idle temps aren't always an accurate reflection on how overclock temperatures are going to be and that's where it matters. 30°C 24/7 will not degrade or harm your chip, so don't worry.

 

Make sure you keep an eye on the temperatures for the first hour before you go to bed. Although it will increase more throughout the night, make sure you're not pushing past 85°C in that first hour as your CPU will probably throttle and you won't be stable many hours later into the test. In fact, if you can, I might recommend doing the test while you're awake, or setting intervals to wake up at and checking your temps. Few overclocks are worth pushing past your own educated comfort zone.

[gap30]

Oh, nice! My G1 970 reached 1550Mhz yesterday, but the memory won't go beyond 7700Mhz even with the max amount of voltage. Stellar card apart from that.

 

Idle temps will not be much lower than 30°C when 1.26V is added using a Hyper 212. You'd need better cooling for that. Also, idle temps aren't always an accurate reflection on how overclock temperatures are going to be and that's where it matters. 30°C 24/7 will not degrade or harm your chip, so don't worry.

 

Make sure you keep an eye on the temperatures for the first hour before you go to bed. Although it will increase more throughout the night, make sure you're not pushing past 85°C in that first hour as your CPU will probably throttle and you won't be stable many hours later into the test. In fact, if you can, I might recommend doing the test while you're awake, or setting intervals to wake up at and checking your temps. Few overclocks are worth pushing past your own educated comfort zone.

 

Thanks for the info

 

I have ordered a noctua nh-d15 from Amazon which is due on the 5th January so i am hoping that will drops my temps some

 

This is all new to me and i am still a little apprehensive even with all of the help provided in this thread

 

I am going to play a few rounds of bf4 now and see if i get any bsod wish me luck

[AngryGoldfish]

That cooler will net you stellar results on a Devil's Canyon chip. Hopefully you'll be able to clock 4.5Ghz without going crazy on voltage. All the best, mate!

[vSyNd1c4t3]

for windows users also make sure you set your minimum processor state to 5%

 

 

Windows7

 

->Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings

 

-->Change Advanced Power settings

 

--->Processor Power Management

 

---->Minimmum Processor state

 

-on battery 5%

 

-plugged in 5%

 

 

 

If your not having any luck with my guide, an alternative guide can be found here.

 

http://www.overclock...with-statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

Should I be doing this before or after I enable all the Haswell Low Power Modes?

[ProKoN]

Should I be doing this before or after I enable all the Haswell Low Power Modes?

 

doesnt matter

 

windows should be configured like this by default, if its not, you now know what to change

[AngryGoldfish]

Quick question: Is Ring Ratio the same as Ring Bus and Cache Ratio?

[ProKoN]

Quick question: Is Ring Ratio the same as Ring Bus and Cache Ratio?

 

yes they all they same thing. also referred to as "uncore" as well

[AngryGoldfish]

Cheers.

[Master Disaster]

Can I ask a question please.

I got my 4770K stable at 4.5Ghz (can't remember settings but will post them later). I used OCCT Linpak for 8 hours to verify stability. Memory I just use XMP as I'm not really interested in OCing it.

Almost everything is great however when I run demanding games I experience stuttering but not like GPU stuttering, the whole game will freeze for 10 to 20 seconds (mouse and keyboard actually freeze to) before carrying on, it does this at least once every 10 minutes. If I remove the OC the freezing disappears.

I have no OC on my GPUs at all and have tried Xfire off and on, no difference.

Any ideas?

[appleball]

Wondering about temps and more specifically if the thermal paste was applied correctly. When i tried to get a stable 4.5 GHZ (4670K) with vcore:1.32 vrin:1.9 the temps started reaching 80C. My cooler is the alphacool 360ddc/xt kit. Does this sound reasonable that the temp is reaching max usable with those volts? Or is it possible i applied the thermal paste badly? Figured it was easier to ask on forums during work time and get paid than start removing the cpu block ( I hate fiddling with parts with these sausage fingers).

[Tim Drake]

Why should I overclock my ring ratio?

[AngryGoldfish]

Wondering about temps and more specifically if the thermal paste was applied correctly. When i tried to get a stable 4.5 GHZ (4670K) with vcore:1.32 vrin:1.9 the temps started reaching 80C. My cooler is the alphacool 360ddc/xt kit. Does this sound reasonable that the temp is reaching max usable with those volts? Or is it possible i applied the thermal paste badly? Figured it was easier to ask on forums during work time and get paid than start removing the cpu block ( I hate fiddling with parts with these sausage fingers).

 

Those temperatures don't look right, no. It should be around 10°C lower, from my guesstimate. First try resetting the motherboard to default and reapplying the overclock, making sure every setting is correct, and recheck the temperatures. Are you using Prime95 or IETU? Certain stress tests generate more heat than others, just in case that wasn't something you were aware of.

 

If this is all done and you're still hitting 80°C—which is not a dangerous temperature or anything, but is not what you should be expecting—then I would look into making sure your block is not faulty and/or is seated properly. You will have to reapply the thermal paste when you check the block anyway. For a 4670K, the grain of rice method is perfectly adequate. Also, check to make sure your pump is working properly. I'm not sure how you can do this. Alphacool's website doesn't state what RPM it runs at when under the full 12V so you can't cross-reference it with your BIOS readings.

 

 

 

Why should I overclock my ring ratio?

 

Because under certain work loads, there are benefits. Otherwise, if you're not that fussed about benchmarking then don't bother. It's just an extra week (or sometimes more) of tedious testing.

 

[appleball]

 

For a 4670K, the grain of rice method is perfectly adequate. Also, check to make sure your pump is working properly. I'm not sure how you can do this. Alphacool's website doesn't state what RPM it runs at when under the full 12V so you can't cross-reference it with your BIOS readings.

 

I used IETU, i guess i'm gonna try to check the thermal compound and go buy some mx-2 which can be applied with the pea method. The one that came with the kit appearantly has a viscosity of 300 compared to 2800 of mx-2 ( http://www.aquatuning.fi/laempoetahnat/thermal-compound/1464/alphacool-silver-grease-0-5g?c=4062). So I applied it by spreading it out, thought I did good but maybe there was some air bubble somewhere.

[AngryGoldfish]

I used IETU, i guess i'm gonna try to check the thermal compound and go buy some mx-2 which can be applied with the pea method. The one that came with the kit appearantly has a viscosity of 300 compared to 2800 of mx-2 ( http://www.aquatuning.fi/laempoetahnat/thermal-compound/1464/alphacool-silver-grease-0-5g?c=4062). So I applied it by spreading it out, thought I did good but maybe there was some air bubble somewhere.

 

Spreading out is effective, but not necessary with a small chip like the 4670K. Let the copper plate spread the TIM naturally. Again, make sure the rest of the loop is working properly as well as reapplying the TIM.

 

[appleball]

Follow up question. I have cheap kingston 1333mhz ram (don't remember the timings). Is there any reason to assume that I would get higher frequency on my 4670k if I upgraded to some 1866mhz ram or is the higher ram speed just a downside to oc'ing the processor? Or if i lower the 1866mhz speed to work at 1600mhz/1333mhz could that possible give me better results with the processor than using the original 1333mhz ram?

 

 

 

Spreading out is effective, but not necessary with a small chip like the 4670K. Let the copper plate spread the TIM naturally. Again, make sure the rest of the loop is working properly as well as reapplying the TIM.
 

 

 

 

The pump reported around 3.8k rpm in bios when i connected the 3pin cable to my cpu fan slot, with a quick google that seemed in the right direction, and no airbubbles going through the tubing, no idea how check if there's any in the cpu block or radiator. I guess the radiator would start getting warmer if it wasn't passing heat effectively?

[AngryGoldfish]

Follow up question. I have cheap kingston 1333mhz ram (don't remember the timings). Is there any reason to assume that I would get higher frequency on my 4670k if I upgraded to some 1866mhz ram or is the higher ram speed just a downside to oc'ing the processor? Or if i lower the 1866mhz speed to work at 1600mhz/1333mhz could that possible give me better results with the processor than using the original 1333mhz ram?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pump reported around 3.8k rpm in bios when i connected the 3pin cable to my cpu fan slot, with a quick google that seemed in the right direction, and no airbubbles going through the tubing, no idea how check if there's any in the cpu block or radiator. I guess the radiator would start getting warmer if it wasn't passing heat effectively?

 

1600Mhz is what Intel recommends. They wouldn't recommend it for K processors unless they were 99% sure that for most overclocks (no higher than, say, 4.8Ghz) it would function fine and offer the best performance for the time spent perfecting the frequencies. Someone with more experience can confirm this or correct me if I'm a little off. Generally, anything above 1600Mhz is gravy. Your benchmark scores do increase, but even less than overclocking your Cache ratio. DDR4 at 3000Mhz can net a substantial gain over DDR3 at 1600Mhz, even during gaming, but that's a very wide margin and a niche product. 1866-2133Mhz is the sweet spot. If you have well-matched memory and good silicon, plus the time, this is what I would be aiming for if you wanted to overclock your memory. My Fury kit is at 1866Mhz, its stock speeds, and I have no intention of overclocking it. However, if I was on an X99 system, I could see it being a fun experience that would be worth adventuring down, simply for the experience gained.

 

3800RPM sounds about right, yes, but I'm pretty sure other pumps can go higher. Air bubbles can cause a decrease in temperatures, but they'd have to be quite bad to cause such a dramatic drop. You'd probably be able to see and hear them if they were that bad. The radiator might be a little warmer if there were bubbles in the loop, yes, but I do not know by how much.

 

How fast are the fans spinning? Can you feel the air being pushed through the fins properly? I don't want to making a fool of myself or you, but the air should be warm during a stress test and you should be able to feel it quite strongly escaping the case. If you don't, the air may not be penetrating the fins. Are the fins clean? Any dust build-up?

[appleball]

The question about the rams wasnt overclocking the ram itself and their speeds. But rather if overclocking the cpu would be easier with newer ram (if i were to lower the ram speed from say 1833 to 1600). This question is something i'm interested about. I kind of want to get new ram but its 85e over here and 85e with my wages means a lot of hours. Don't want to spend that if the cpu overclocking effect is about 0.

 

edit: reinstalled cpu block using mx-2. Looks like my first attempt was bad. temps dropped 10degrees when raising frequency to 4.3 from 4.2 . Volts stayed the same at vcore: 1.25 vrin: 1.9 . A bad thermal paste doesnt affect that much so it was just a user error. temps now bounce betwen 53-58 with 4.3 in IETU stress test.

[AngryGoldfish]

The question about the rams wasnt overclocking the ram itself and their speeds. But rather if overclocking the cpu would be easier with newer ram (if i were to lower the ram speed from say 1833 to 1600). This question is something i'm interested about. I kind of want to get new ram but its 85e over here and 85e with my wages means a lot of hours. Don't want to spend that if the cpu overclocking effect is about 0.

 

edit: reinstalled cpu block using mx-2. Looks like my first attempt was bad. temps dropped 10degrees when raising frequency to 4.3 from 4.2 . Volts stayed the same at vcore: 1.25 vrin: 1.9 . A bad thermal paste doesnt affect that much so it was just a user error. temps now bounce betwen 53-58 with 4.3 in IETU stress test.

 

Sweet. Glad to hear you got it sorted.

 

1866Mhz RAM should not severely affect your CPU overclocking. If you want to reach 5Ghz or more on your CPU, that is when RAM timings and frequencies can play a part—but even then, with the right board it shouldn't matter too much. The reason why, as far as I see it, users recommend reducing your RAM frequency whilst overclocking your CPU is so it removes it as a POTENTIAL failing, not necessarily as a DEFINITE failing. 1866Mhz should be perfectly fine, but it cannot be guaranteed if it is 1333Mhz memory by default. Try 1600Mhz. Your scores will only increase slightly, but it'll be more stable (theoretically) than 1866Mhz.

[SnakeEyes]

thanks for guide and videos!

 

i'm having trouble getting to 4.4ghz. i have taken VCore all the way up to 1.32 and still crash as windows loads up or just a few seconds after the logon screen appears. i get the same results with Ring Bus on auto (38), 35, and 30. i have also tried VCCIN at 1.9 and 2.0. Ram is set to 1333 and 1.5v. i assume i just have a poor overclocking cpu. 

 

i5 4670k

MSI Gaming GD65

16gb Viper III 2133

GTX 670 FTW's SLi

Win 8.1 (installed on SSD)

Hyper 212 Evo 

 

all drivers/bios updated