Hello everyone! Before I begin overclocking my new rig, I want to make sure I fully understand what I'm doing before making any adjustments to my UEFI/BIOS. I've both read and watched TinyTomLogan's guide (super helpful, big thumbs up!) as well as watched the Linus Tech Tips i7 Overclocking guide (here: http://youtu.be/0CHs5_TdpXE )
Rig specs: Intel I7-4770k 3.5GHz (which I'll certainly be bumping up)
Corsair H100i Sealed loop CPU cooler
Asus Maximus VI Formula ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB ) DDR3-2400 Memory
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB ACX Video Card x2
So if I understand correctly, then my procedure will be as follows:
1) Enter the bios and set my RAM settings to 1600 MHz to avoid future headache.
2) Save settings and boot normally, running stock clock/voltage settings (3.5GHz/1.2v) and then running the OCCT and CPUz utilities to check for stability and acceptable temperatures respectively. Here I will also begin to see my Vdroop based on current load line calibration (if any).
3) Assuming step 2 works, I can now begin to step up the load line calibration untill i reach a nice stable voltage under load. (rebooting and stepping in bios as necessary)
4) Back into my BIOS I change my core voltage to its default, off from auto and on to 1.2v (in my case). It is now that I can bump my Core clock up to 1 higher than default turbo, while also turning turbo OFF (40x100 in my case).
5) Now more stability testing/temp monitoring w/ OCCT/CPUz and if all goes well I can step it up 100MHz at a time until it fails. When it fails, I bump up the core voltage by a small amount (+0.05V) and try again.
TL;DR Once I fail overclocking at lets say, 4.3 GHz and slightly increasing the voltage doesn't help stabilize it, does that mean I've reached my Maximum overclock per this processor? Or is it safe to bump the voltage just a bit more to try and stabilize it, so long as I'm not shooting past my temperature limit?
Rig specs: Intel I7-4770k 3.5GHz (which I'll certainly be bumping up)
Corsair H100i Sealed loop CPU cooler
Asus Maximus VI Formula ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB ) DDR3-2400 Memory
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB ACX Video Card x2
So if I understand correctly, then my procedure will be as follows:
1) Enter the bios and set my RAM settings to 1600 MHz to avoid future headache.
2) Save settings and boot normally, running stock clock/voltage settings (3.5GHz/1.2v) and then running the OCCT and CPUz utilities to check for stability and acceptable temperatures respectively. Here I will also begin to see my Vdroop based on current load line calibration (if any).
3) Assuming step 2 works, I can now begin to step up the load line calibration untill i reach a nice stable voltage under load. (rebooting and stepping in bios as necessary)
4) Back into my BIOS I change my core voltage to its default, off from auto and on to 1.2v (in my case). It is now that I can bump my Core clock up to 1 higher than default turbo, while also turning turbo OFF (40x100 in my case).
5) Now more stability testing/temp monitoring w/ OCCT/CPUz and if all goes well I can step it up 100MHz at a time until it fails. When it fails, I bump up the core voltage by a small amount (+0.05V) and try again.
TL;DR Once I fail overclocking at lets say, 4.3 GHz and slightly increasing the voltage doesn't help stabilize it, does that mean I've reached my Maximum overclock per this processor? Or is it safe to bump the voltage just a bit more to try and stabilize it, so long as I'm not shooting past my temperature limit?
