Overclocking i7-8700k

Stefano Bae · July 26, 2018

Hello guys, I've recently build my first pc, and now I wanted to overclock the CPU so I wanted to ask if you can give me some tips, and advices.

First of all this is my configuration:

CPU: Intel i7 8700k

COOLING: Noctua NH-D15 with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut (no delidding, only on the IHS)

MOBO: Asus ROG STRIX Z370-E

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (8x2) DDR4, 3000mhz

SSD: Samsung 960EVO 500GB

HDD: WD Blu Hard Disk 1Tb + Intel Optane 16GB

GPU: Asus Strix Gtx 1080 8GB

PSU: Corsair TX650M

CASE: Cooler Master MsterBox 5

ADDITIONAL FANS: Arctic F13 PWM x 1, Artic F14 PWM x 1(other 2 should be with the case)

When I first lauched the PC and got into the bios, it told me if I would like to have and 'automatic overclock' (I don't know actually if was named like this, but it clearly meant that) based on the type of cooling, usage etc... I didn't know much about overclocking so I said yes and it did all the work. But now I thing maybe it's better to do it manually to get a better power consumption, performance and other things.

I also noticed that the temps during a cpu stress test with cinebench were a little bit high than what I expected (about 40 degrees during idle, and 99 degrees during 100% usage of cpu). But for now I didn't noticed problems in stability and general performance. The noctua is a pretty good cooler, at least they say that it is, I used a liquid metal thermal to get more thermal conductivity, and I think the airflow is good too.

jiyeon · July 26, 2018

If you're having trouble with temps, turn off Asus Multicore Enhancement in the BIOS. Asus ME isn't worth the extra power consumption and heat, for me at least.

seon123 · July 26, 2018

38 minutes ago, Stefano Bae said:

and 99 degrees during 100% usage of cpu

A poor application of the liquid metal could cause that.

Thanks to Intel's use of toothpaste between the die and the IHS, the TIM between the IHS and the coldplate doesn't really matter much. Try using a good normal TIM (like the NT-H1 that came with the cooler), as it's much easier to apply.