Intel HD 4600 Overclocking

[Oktayey]

Hi, I can't afford a dedicated GPU at the moment, so I'm stuck with Intel HD 4600 Integrated Graphics. Desperate to squeeze as many frames out of my games as possible, went to overclocking. I decided to use the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility because it was first-party, and 3DMark for benchmarking and comparing results. But after my control(base clock) & 1st overclocking test(+200MHz = 1350MHz according to XTU), I realized that I could brick my processor. And sure enough, at my 2nd overclocking test(+400MHz = 1550MHz according to XTU), my computer froze. I restarted it and, luckily it was fine, but I didn't want to take any more risks. So I'm here. 

 

I already figured out what dedicated GPU I'm going to get when I have the money, but for now I'm stuck with this. So, my question is, what is a safe overclocking margin for this processor? How much can I overclock before it goes into risky territory?

 

Here are my setup parts: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/BVPL3C

 

Thank you in advance to anyone who replies.

[21rkosta]

if its default cooler you have very little overclocking room

[Oktayey]

3 minutes ago, 21rkosta said:

if its default cooler you have very little overclocking room

Yes, it's stock cooling. Does that mean that the limiting factor is temperature-related problems?

[21rkosta]

@OktayeyPresumably yes

[Cyracus]

What you experienced was a crash from system instability. Overclocking is a balancing act between clocks, voltage, heat, and a chips potential. Potential comes down to the silicon lottery, you get what you get, clocks need voltage to feed them, more voltage means more heat that you need to dissipate. So depending on your temps you can increase voltage, or drop the clock a little, since it was stable at +200 but not +400 try +300

[Oktayey]

4 minutes ago, 21rkosta said:

@OktayeyPresumably yes

Hm... That doesn't seem like a problem because my CPU, not overclocked, stays under 45 degrees Celsius.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Oktayey
Replaced "computer" with "CPU"

[21rkosta]

well do that minimum overclocking that worked for you, and check temps, find the amount of increase, double it, and add it onto your regular temp and thats will give you an estimate of the temps that the thing was running at

[Oktayey]

3 minutes ago, Cyracus said:

What you experienced was a crash from system instability. Overclocking is a balancing act between clocks, voltage, heat, and a chips potential. Potential comes down to the silicon lottery, you get what you get, clocks need voltage to feed them, more voltage means more heat that you need to dissipate. So depending on your temps you can increase voltage, or drop the clock a little, since it was stable at +200 but not +400 try +300

Hm. Are you sure? My brother, who has lots of experience with this kind of stuff, said not to touch voltage when overclocking.

[Oktayey]

2 minutes ago, 21rkosta said:

well do that minimum overclocking that worked for you, and check temps, find the amount of increase, double it, and add it onto your regular temp and thats will give you an estimate of the temps that the thing was running at

I don't fully understand what you're saying. Are you saying that there a linear relationship between clock speed and temperature? Because I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

[21rkosta]

well its not realy an exact thing, its just a swag

[Oktayey]

1 minute ago, 21rkosta said:

well its not realy an exact thing, its just a swag

A "swag"? You mean estimate?

[21rkosta]

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/swag_2

[Oktayey]

1 minute ago, 21rkosta said:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/swag_2

Ah.

[Cyracus]

23 minutes ago, Oktayey said:

Hm. Are you sure? My brother, who has lots of experience with this kind of stuff, said not to touch voltage when overclocking.

From what I can find up to 1.35v is generally considered safe for that gen, but as I said more volts means more heat so you have to balance that, but you can't push more speed if you don't give it the power it needs to do so

[Oktayey]

2 hours ago, Cyracus said:

From what I can find up to 1.35v is generally considered safe for that gen, but as I said more volts means more heat so you have to balance that, but you can't push more speed if you don't give it the power it needs to do so

Ok, thanks. I'm trusting you on this... I REALLY don't want to brick my processor.