Intel Haswell 4670k + 4770K Overclocking guide

[LemonJoy]

1- your voltages are very acceptable well done.

 

2.  safe vCore 1.5V or lower

    

     safe cache voltage 1.45V or lower

 

3. cache speed does impact performance. your always best off if you can run at a 1:1 ratio and you will maximize your performance\watt but dont obsess over a 1:1 ratio. cpu frequency is still king

thank you, i`m really happy with x44 and 1:1 ratio, don`t think i`ll need more.

even at default 4670k is great processor for gaming

[LemonJoy]

i did set it manually to 1.5v and 1333 mhz.

is there some special way to do it that i'm unaware of?

the drop down menu with the different mhz settings isn't considered manual?

in bios when u click with mouse on auto table of mhz`s appears, select 1333, 

i tried set clock from auto to link ans made it 9-9-9-24 (by manufacturer)

then changed volts to 1.5 in bios it posted as 1.505

 

vvcin auto

 

core 44x

core volts 1.250

 

that how it worked for me first time, 10h in intel extreme tuning utility for a night

 

maybe u need to increase a little vvcin? what was your default? mine 1.780, try set manually to 1.880 maybe 

[tth]

Hi Prokon,

 

First off, thank you very much for this guide, it helped me a lot with OC'ing my new rig.  My previous gaming pc was an i7 920, so I was completely lost with regards to which settings to adjust.

 

The Gigabyte motherboard I got comes with software that sets a 4.4GHz OC (cpu:ring 1:1) which I will probably go with because I'm having problems achieving 100% stability with manual OC above that anyway.

 

Currently I'm at (everything else at default):

   vCore: 1.485V

   vCache/Ring: 1.485V

   vCCIN: 2.2V

   Core multi: 47

   Cache/Ring multi: 30

   Temps max/average: 85C / 75C

 

Windows is stable, no lock ups or reboots.  XTU runs just fine to begin with, but I'm getting this message at random intervals (usually after 2+ hours):

 

 

After which XTU closes down, and I have to manually start it up again.  Is this a sign of instability or a sign of software bugs; have I somehow broken windows/XTU by the many crashes and BSoDs?  Should I reinstall XTU, or windows? Please don't make me reinstall windows, lol.   I suppose I could reset cmos to default and see if it also happens then, if it does that must mean it's not related to OC'ing...

 

Incidentally, OCCT (which I know you say not to use) causes spontaneous reboot at the settings above after a few minutes.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide :-)

 

Edit: Forgot to add temps.

[legopc]

Hi Prokon,

 

First off, thank you very much for this guide, it helped me a lot with OC'ing my new rig.  My previous gaming pc was an i7 920, so I was completely lost with regards to which settings to adjust.

 

The Gigabyte motherboard I got comes with software that sets a 4.4GHz OC (cpu:ring 1:1) which I will probably go with because I'm having problems achieving 100% stability with manual OC above that anyway.

 

Currently I'm at (everything else at default):

   vCore: 1.485V

   vCache/Ring: 1.485V

   vCCIN: 2.2V

   Core multi: 47

   Cache/Ring multi: 30

   Temps max/average: 85C / 75C

 

Windows is stable, no lock ups or reboots.  XTU runs just fine to begin with, but I'm getting this message at random intervals (usually after 2+ hours):

 

 

After which XTU closes down, and I have to manually start it up again.  Is this a sign of instability or a sign of software bugs; have I somehow broken windows/XTU by the many crashes and BSoDs?  Should I reinstall XTU, or windows? Please don't make me reinstall windows, lol.   I suppose I could reset cmos to default and see if it also happens then, if it does that must mean it's not related to OC'ing...

 

Incidentally, OCCT (which I know you say not to use) causes spontaneous reboot at the settings above after a few minutes.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide :-)

 

Edit: Forgot to add temps.

from what applicatoin is that error but i would definetly reinstall xtu and mabey you could try looking in the win error log see if that can help you (oh and please make a thread on the troubleshooting section)

[nielsiecnos]

Thanks Prokon for this guide!

 

This was the only guide that made sense and gives good starting points!

 

Im now at 4400 stable, with 1.26V, Uncore at 4200 and memory on XMP, im cooling with a custom waterloop. Temps are low so can go for more, but what I learned so far, there is no shortcut for getting stable with Haswell.

 

But really rewarding when you get a stable overclock!

 

Greets from Holland

[nielsiecnos]

i tried doing everything @ stock settings overnight. it was stable.

i'm not really sure if that's important to know but yeah. i did it with 2 sticks of ram.

 

i just tried to let a test run while i was out doing something

 

cpu clock @ 44

cpu voltage @ 1.3v

vccin @ 1.9v (i believe in asus uefi this is eventual input voltage?)

set ram to 1333 mhz @ 1.5v

ring bus @ 44 @ 1.3v

2 sticks of ram

 

pc froze in a 30m of burn time.

i hope this is just something i'm doing wrong like an idiot and not a gutter cpu.

Did you follow the guide? Does your cpu need 1.3V for 4400? with the rest on auto (Uncore @3900 and memory 1333)? If it does, thats a lot. I dont think you will get a 1:1 uncore. Try to set your uncore at 4300 or 4200

[LemonJoy]

again me, posting further results.

4670k and msi z87 g45

will try to lower volts, my temps about 70c~ in stress test

also OCed my ram (xmp profile let chose only 1600, i have those to work at 1866)

(hmm can`t upload any image in gallery.. any1 know why?)

core 4600mhz - 1.330v

cache 4400mhz - 1.310v

vvcin - 1.900v

 

btw at cache 4200mhz can keep it at 1.210v and core 1.220v at 4400mhz, tems 60c~ 
dunno if 200mhz worth it

[kaneandtaker]

I would like to ask 1 question here:

 

I know that you pretty much cannot overclock Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge via BCLK. The maximum you can go is probably 105 BCLK, more if you're very lucky.

 

What about Haswell? What's the maximum BCLK an average Haswell CPU can go?

[ProKoN]

I would like to ask 1 question here:

 

I know that you pretty much cannot overclock Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge via BCLK. The maximum you can go is probably 105 BCLK, more if you're very lucky.

 

What about Haswell? What's the maximum BCLK an average Haswell CPU can go?

 

Your Question has been answered to the best of my ability on page 4 of this thread.

[kaneandtaker]

Your Question has been answered to the best of my ability on page 4 of this thread.

Noted and sorry I totally forgot that I had asked this question before.

[Sandcracka]

Thought I could shed some insight based off of my experience overclocking the Intel 4770K. I will add literature as I go.

I have based the guide off a simple 4.4GHz Overclock. Your results will Vary

Begin By updating your bios and downloading and installing the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/desktop-boards-software-extreme-tuning-utility.html

Guides will include

- System Overview

-Overclocking your cpu and finding stability

-finding ring bus stability at a 1:1 (or as close as possible)

- Getting the best performance out of your memory

-Enabling Haswell Power saving features.

System Overview

 

 

Part 1 : Overclocking your cpu, stress testing and finding stability

 

Part 2 : CPU Ring Bus Stability

 

 

Part 3 : Memory Stability

 

 

Part 4 : Enabling low power features

 

 

Any information I share is free, however if you would like to contribute to future projects \ guides or just show gratitude, Certainly not required..but. Thank You.

 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=74B428H7FQU7W

Hey ProKoN, thank you so much for the video guide!  Using your guide I was able to successfully OC my 4670K to 4.6GHz at 1.34V with a 4400MHz ring bus at 1.33V and 1.90V VCCIN, RAM at 1866MHz 1.6V 8 hours stability on Aida64 and I've been playing games without any issues.  I tried going higher to 4.7GHz but my PCIE sound card starting having issues at any freq over 4.6GHz so I can live with 4.6!  Also, temps never go over 60C while gaming.

 

Rig:

 

4670K @ 4.6GHz 1.34V (Delidded with CLU)

ASUS Maximus VI Hero

16GB Gskill Trident X series 1866 (8,9,9,24,2t)

Gigabyte 7870 GHz edition x 2 in crossfire (OC 1170Mz GPU and 1250MHz RAM)

Antec Kuhler H2O 920 closed loop liquid cooling (swapped out fans with Cougar CF-V12HPB)

Antec High Current Gamer Series 900W PSU

Samsung 840 Series 500GB SSD (OS drive)

Kingston Hyper X 240GB SSD (video capture and encoding drive)

5.5TB worth of HDD (2 x 2TB, 1 x 1TB, 1 x 500GB)

[ProKoN]

Hey ProKoN, thank you so much for the video guide!  Using your guide I was able to successfully OC my 4670K to 4.6GHz at 1.34V with a 4400MHz ring bus at 1.33V and 1.90V VCCIN, RAM at 1866MHz 1.6V 8 hours stability on Aida64 and I've been playing games without any issues.  I tried going higher to 4.7GHz but my PCIE sound card starting having issues at any freq over 4.6GHz so I can live with 4.6!  Also, temps never go over 60C while gaming.

 

Rig:

 

4670K @ 4.6GHz 1.34V (Delidded with CLU)

ASUS Maximus VI Hero

16GB Gskill Trident X series 1866 (8,9,9,24,2t)

Gigabyte 7870 GHz edition x 2 in crossfire (OC 1170Mz GPU and 1250MHz RAM)

Antec Kuhler H2O 920 closed loop liquid cooling (swapped out fans with Cougar CF-V12HPB)

Antec High Current Gamer Series 900W PSU

Samsung 840 Series 500GB SSD (OS drive)

Kingston Hyper X 240GB SSD (video capture and encoding drive)

5.5TB worth of HDD (2 x 2TB, 1 x 1TB, 1 x 500GB)

 

 

Thank You for the positive feedback!

 

Thank You for sharing your results!!

 

Welcome to the community!

[adhisakti]

4670K, Corsair H100i, Biostar Z87X 3D, Vengeance 2x4GB 1866

 

I get stable at 4.3 1.23VCore, Ring Bus Default @ 3.6GHz, RAM with XMP @ 1866, CPU max temp running Prime95 87 degrees C, but when I try to go 4.4 even if I set VCore to 1.265V, VCC 1.9V, VRing 1.2V, it is still crash after get into Windows. Is 4.3 the limit for my CPU or I can do something to get past it?

[ProKoN]

4670K, Corsair H100i, Biostar Z87X 3D, Vengeance 2x4GB 1866

 

I get stable at 4.3 1.23VCore, Ring Bus Default @ 3.6GHz, RAM with XMP @ 1866, CPU max temp running Prime95 87 degrees C, but when I try to go 4.4 even if I set VCore to 1.265V, VCC 1.9V, VRing 1.2V, it is still crash after get into Windows. Is 4.3 the limit for my CPU or I can do something to get past it?

try to set your VCCIN to 2.2V

[adhisakti]

4670K, Corsair H100i, Biostar Z87X 3D, Vengeance 2x4GB 1866

 

I get stable at 4.3 1.23VCore, Ring Bus Default @ 3.6GHz, RAM with XMP @ 1866, CPU max temp running Prime95 87 degrees C, but when I try to go 4.4 even if I set VCore to 1.265V, VCC 1.9V, VRing 1.2V, it is still crash after get into Windows. Is 4.3 the limit for my CPU or I can do something to get past it?

 

So as update I still can't make it to 4.4, the best I can do is 4.3 1.23VCore, 4.1 Ring Bus with 1.15VRing, XMP @ 1866, VCC Default (SPEC Voltage)

 

I try 4.4 1.265VCore, Ring Bus @ Default 3.8 after flash new version UEFI with 1.2VRing, 1.9VCC, it crash before I can start any benchmark.

 

When I try to increase the Ring Bus while CPU still at 4.3 1.23VCore, it can run AIDA64 Benchmark @ 4.1 Ring Bus with 1.16-1.17VRing, but can't pass through 5 minutes of AIDA64 Stability Test even I increase VRing into 1.2V so I rollback to 4.1 as stable.

 

Is there any chance to go 4.4 without going too extreme with voltages?

 

try to set your VCCIN to 2.2V

 

Is it a little bit too high?

[ProKoN]

 

 

Is it a little bit too high?

 nope

 

it is the highest you want to feed the VCCIN

 

I have been starting at 2.2V in regards to VCCIN and working my way down. my 4670k needed 2.07V for 4.8GHz

 

what cooler are you using?

 

what are your ambient temps?

[LemonJoy]

 nope

 

it is the highest you want to feed the VCCIN

 

I have been starting at 2.2V in regards to VCCIN and working my way down. my 4670k needed 2.07V for 4.8GHz

 

what cooler are you using?

 

what are your ambient temps?

hmm yes, i found stability at least for 4 hours when increased cpu input voltage to 2.0

 

now i`m running intel extreme tuning utility

i5 4670k

vcore 1.340v 4700mhz

cache 1.280v 4400mhz

vvcin 2.0

 

max tems in Core Temp was 78c

 

this combo of 4700core and 4400cache showed best results in benchmarks,

example i could hit 8.06 in cenebench

with cache 4600 i  cant get more than 8.04.. i dunno why, 4500 showed same results

 

so i left cache at 4400 thus it uses lower voltage,

anyway to hit 4700 core with lower stable voltages i needed to increase vvcin to 2.0, will try lower it if i`m stable for 8h

[Doug2507]

It's been a while since i posted so a little update....

 

5.0ghz 9+hr XTU stable.

1.35vcore (1.376 using DMM)

2.125vccin/vrin

 

Uncore i'm currently stressing. Had it all the way up to x47 passing x264 but failed xtu. Finding it hard to raise uncore to pass xtu (max 5hr30 so far) but i'm finding vccin/sa/iod helpfull in finding stability. I'll let you know the final O/C. 

 

[ProKoN]

It's been a while since i posted so a little update....

 

5.0ghz 9+hr XTU stable.

1.35vcore (1.376 using DMM)

2.125vccin/vrin

 

Uncore i'm currently stressing. Had it all the way up to x47 passing x264 but failed xtu. Finding it hard to raise uncore to pass xtu (max 5hr30 so far) but i'm finding vccin/sa/iod helpfull in finding stability. I'll let you know the final O/C. 

 

good to hear from you!

 

killer results... stabilizing 5.0 GHz...sweet.

 

can you post a 5.0GHz cinebench r15 run?

[Doug2507]

Will do once this xtu run finishes. Don't have any screenshots of CB as my Vector died. IIRC i was sub 1000 but can't remember if that was with ram at 2400 or dropped and if low uncore or not. With ram dropped and uncore at 42 right now i think i was circa 10.60 in R11.5. x49x46@2400 netted 10.89.

 

The crazy thing is i can post 5.1 at this voltage, getting it stable probably won't happen though!

[Doug2507]

 

 

Uncore passed at x42. Vrin & SA/IOD both having an impact on stability. Having IOA at the same voltage resulted in rather quick instability. I'd highly recommend leaving this to auto at this stage of the O/C.

 

RAM is still down at 1333mhz which will have an influence on CB scores. I'm expecting to bring uncore up to at least x45, x47 would be my ideal. It's crazy how time consuming this is!

[snrknight]

Hi there, Lemme just start of saying that guide was very helpful, but maybe its me but it's not working out like how I wanted it to be.

 

So here is my rig:

 

Mainboard: MSi Z87-G45 Gaming

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K @ 3.8GHz (1.1530V)

Cooler: Corsair H80i

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Racing Red 2x4GB @ 2133MHz (1.5V)

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB

PSU: Some next 500W psu

Case: Aerocool XSTRIKE Red

 

The voltages above are stock. I was surprised with the RAM voltage because you said a typical voltage for 1866MHz should be 1.65V but with mine, with XMP on I get 2133MHz as a standard without overclock and my voltage is actually 1.44V.

 

Anyway I followed your step by step guide and tried to overclock to 4.4Ghz to start with(1.330V for core). While running the IETU, after 31 seconds of stress test the temperature shot to about 96 degrees and the pc froze and shutdown. I tried 4.2GHz @ 1.220V and that lasted for about 1 mins 30 sec with temp upto 92 degrees. Then I tried 4.0 GHz @ 1.1970V and that lasts for about 4 hours under stress but about a week or two without stress. but the temperatures reach 89 degrees. I tried low voltages and slowly increased and then high voltages and slowly decreased but I struggled to get anything stable above 4.0 Ghz for a sustained period. I let my motherboard do auto overclocking with OC genie and it got to about 4.0Ghz @ 1.260V but even that failed under stress after6-10 mins.

 

I don't understand what's going on. would you be able to suggest some values for me to try. because everything I tried failed big time. and there was once a time when the computer crashed when I wasn't even doing anything at 0% CPU usage..

[LemonJoy]

guys is it safe to keep 24/7 those voltages, max temp 79-81c durin stress test, wont it degrade CPU? (my cpu 4670k)

 

cpu 47x 1.360v

 

ring bus 44x 1.320v

 

vvcin 2.000

 

found super stability, 14 hours of intel extreme tuning utility

also will enable low power features

 

[LemonJoy]

Hi there, Lemme just start of saying that guide was very helpful, but maybe its me but it's not working out like how I wanted it to be.

 

So here is my rig:

 

Mainboard: MSi Z87-G45 Gaming

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K @ 3.8GHz (1.1530V)

Cooler: Corsair H80i

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Racing Red 2x4GB @ 2133MHz (1.5V)

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB

PSU: Some next 500W psu

Case: Aerocool XSTRIKE Red

 

The voltages above are stock. I was surprised with the RAM voltage because you said a typical voltage for 1866MHz should be 1.65V but with mine, with XMP on I get 2133MHz as a standard without overclock and my voltage is actually 1.44V.

 

Anyway I followed your step by step guide and tried to overclock to 4.4Ghz to start with(1.330V for core). While running the IETU, after 31 seconds of stress test the temperature shot to about 96 degrees and the pc froze and shutdown. I tried 4.2GHz @ 1.220V and that lasted for about 1 mins 30 sec with temp upto 92 degrees. Then I tried 4.0 GHz @ 1.1970V and that lasts for about 4 hours under stress but about a week or two without stress. but the temperatures reach 89 degrees. I tried low voltages and slowly increased and then high voltages and slowly decreased but I struggled to get anything stable above 4.0 Ghz for a sustained period. I let my motherboard do auto overclocking with OC genie and it got to about 4.0Ghz @ 1.260V but even that failed under stress after6-10 mins.

 

I don't understand what's going on. would you be able to suggest some values for me to try. because everything I tried failed big time. and there was once a time when the computer crashed when I wasn't even doing anything at 0% CPU usage..

change vvcin to 1.900v, got same cpu and mobo, i was table at 1.280v core and 4400mhz

[Doug2507]

 

guys is it safe to keep 24/7 those voltages, max temp 79-81c durin stress test, wont it degrade CPU? (my cpu 4670k)

 

cpu 47x 1.360v

 

ring bus 44x 1.320v

 

vvcin 2.000

 

found super stability, 14 hours of intel extreme tuning utility

also will enable low power features

 

 

 

There's two things that will degrade the cpu, one is heat and the other voltage. What is 'safe' is anyones guess right now as there isn't much data yet on what is failing. Having said that the general consensus seems to be about 1.4-1.45v core, 1.35-1.4v uncore and around 2.2-2.3 vrin. All depends on who you listen to. As such, if running high voltage and it doesn't boot one day well thats that with nobody to blame but yourself.

 

I'm running 1.35vcore (1.376v actual), around 1.2v uncore at the moment (bringing uncore up) and will quite happily push it to 1.35v - if needed, and vrin at just under 2.2v. If it dies in a couple of years so be it as new tech will be on the go. I think when you start failing at what 'were' stable settings and need to reduce voltage/multi it's time to tame things down if you want it to last.

 

IMO what you have is perfectly acceptable.

 

*EDIT - Even on IBT max i only go into mid 70deg. XTU under 70deg. That's with delid and custom W/C. The way i see it, no matter what voltage you're running, the lower the temps the better.