Haswell overclock

Posted May 12, 2017

I have got myself a new PC, so I have my current one to play (fool) around with. That's why I decided to try overclock it. It has an i5 4460 and Asus H81M-Plus motherboard.

I know that for CPUs with locked multipliers, overclocking is still available by adjusting the reference clock. H81 chipset is the budget chipset out there, it surely can't (even if it can, I don't trust the 3 power phases on that)

When looking up in my local used market, a couple H87, H97 , Z87 and Z97 boards come into view. I know that Z chipsets allow users to do practically anything, but it is also more expensive (US$70-75, comparing to $50 for an H97). So, can I save some money by buying a H87/97? Or just play safe and opt for a Z board?

I have looked up in the board manufacturer's site, but none of them mentioned CPU overclocking directly.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync