Overclocking i7-3770k

[Bagera]

Hello

 

Recently I got my hands on a Asrock z77 Extreme4 motherboard. I already had a i7-3770k with a motherboard that isn't suited for overclocking, but now that i got a z77 board i should be able to overclock it.

 

This is my first time overclocking so i'm looking for some advice.

Anyone know of a (beginners) guide to overclocking? Preferably specifically for this CPU & motherboard. Anyone knows stable OC settings for this setup?

 

Thanks in advance

[rn8686]

 

[JoostinOnline]

5 minutes ago, Bagera said:

Anyone knows stable OC settings for this setup?

This is a question that can't be answered.  Every CPU is different.  It's called the Silicon Lottery.  How high you increase the frequency at any given voltage is a luck of the draw.  For example, I have one of the most high end coolers for my i7-4790K, but I can't get it over 4.6GHz (just 200MHz over the Turbo Boost frequency) without it crashing or overheating.  Some people can get it to 4.9GHz.

[Scruffy90]

I got lucky with my 3770k and was able to hit 4.8ghz stable @1.3 volts. I have not been so lucky with my other chipsets though, so ymmv. Best advice I could give you is have patience and don't push things too far at the same time. 

[Bagera]

2 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

This is a question that can't be answered.  Every CPU is different.  It's called the Silicon Lottery.  How high you increase the frequency at any given voltage is a luck of the draw.  For example, I have one of the most high end coolers for my i7-4790K, but I can't get it over 4.6GHz (just 200MHz over the Turbo Boost frequency) without it crashing or overheating.  Some people can get it to 4.9GHz.

I've read about the "Silicon Lottery". So i was aware of this. What i meant to ask is: Any knowledge of stable OC settings EVEN if you lost lottery? I was thinking that since this is an older CPU and probably a lot of people have overclocked it by now and maybe there is knowledge of OC settings that should work even if you have a "bad" CPU

[Dabombinable]

15 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

This is a question that can't be answered.  Every CPU is different.  It's called the Silicon Lottery.  How high you increase the frequency at any given voltage is a luck of the draw.  For example, I have one of the most high end coolers for my i7-4790K, but I can't get it over 4.6GHz (just 200MHz over the Turbo Boost frequency) without it crashing or overheating.  Some people can get it to 4.9GHz.

I myself can get my 4790k to 4.7GHz @ 1.32V under most coolers designed for dissipating 140W (albeit with a fair bit of noise). At 4.8GHz however its at the edge of its stability at 1.35V and reuires a far better cooler (the temperature jump from 4.7 to 4.8GHz is insane). And that's with the TIM of my 4790K being worse than that of my i5 4440.

[JoostinOnline]

2 minutes ago, Bagera said:

I've read about the "Silicon Lottery". So i was aware of this. What i meant to ask is: Any knowledge of stable OC settings EVEN if you lost lottery? I was thinking that since this is an older CPU and probably a lot of people have overclocked it by now and maybe there is knowledge of OC settings that should work even if you have a "bad" CPU

Set the voltage to a static 1.3V.  Then set the multiplier to 40.  Run Prime95 for 5 minutes and see if your system crashes or if the chip goes over 90C.  If it doesn't crash, increase the multiplier by 1.  Run the stress test.  Repeat until it crashes, then set it back to the previous one.

 

If it doesn't crash but the temps are 90C+, dial back the voltage by 0.01V (so 1.29V) and do the stress test again.  Repeat until it crashes, then bump the voltage back up 0.01V.

 

If it does crash the first time, lower the multiplier by 1 and test it.

 

Higher voltage means you can increase the multiplier, but it also means more heat.  The idea is to get a balance that feels comfortable to you.  You want the CPU to stay under 75C while doing something like playing a game.

[Bagera]

@JoostinOnline Thank you for your answer and time!