Noob at Overclocking

abillybob · January 9, 2015

So I pretty much get the concept although have never done it before because I've never cared to. Though on my personal computer I have an Intel i7 4790K running at 4.00Ghz. I have just also purchased a Corsair H55 Cooler to replace the stock cooler it's been running for a while.

My motherboard is a Asus Z97-PRO (WiFi AC) which I know is made to overclock although I have never done this because I never could be bothered to look into it all. Can anyone talk me through the process and what to do please because I'm a total noob and don't want to mess it all up! Haha.

I've also tried using MSI Afterburner to Overclock my GPU although the performance actually got worse even though I wasn't increasing the core clock that much anyway so I left it at stock. I want to try and avoid software overlocks if I can and do it in the BIOS so any help would be most appreciated and if you know how to also overlock a GPU in the BIOS safely even better!!!

Thankyou Guys

Disaster · January 9, 2015

#You are the thread starter, twisted thread starter#

Tesla · January 9, 2015

Cant....help....myself....

Let me google that for you

Michael · January 9, 2015

Whichever processor you're using, it's always important to have a basic understanding of multipliers and bus speeds. When I use to experiment many, many years ago, you could only increase the bus speed, which would in turn increase the clock speed of the processor. These days you can sometimes do both (increase the bus and multiplier), but go too far and your computer may not even Post correctly. It is a lot of fun, but remember it's always possible to damage a vital component - Plus components running hot often displaying weird behaviour, including BSODs. Enjoy!

pete · January 9, 2015

*hands OP a pencil and a duron*

Arreks · January 9, 2015

Most important thing is to just take it in small increments, doing large jumps is how you break things. Do a small increase, then play a game - if you don't get any artifacts and the temperature is stable then you can continue to increment.

Obviously overclocking is quite dependent on your RAM too, what do you use?

abillybob · January 9, 2015

Most important thing is to just take it in small increments, doing large jumps is how you break things. Do a small increase, then play a game - if you don't get any artifacts and the temperature is stable then you can continue to increment.

Obviously overclocking is quite dependent on your RAM too, what do you use?

This is the exact Ram I use [h=1]HyperX Beast Series 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR3 CL11 DIMM Desktop Memory Module (Kit of 2)[/h]

Sorry bit of a copy and paste from Amazon haha

Thank you everyone. I have done loads of watching YouTube videos and the like and I get the concept though whenever I feel I've done it correctly the GHZ don't change in Windows. Now I thought you just changed the multiplier so now I'm confused. I learnt about Bus Speed at college but can't remember what the hell it's all about now. Damn you brain.

Edit: Also what is Intel XMP!?!?!

Michael · January 9, 2015

Intel XMP is to do with memory timings/clock speeds, so if you overclock, it should adjust to suit. I think it stands for Extreme Memory Profiling, or something along these lines.

abillybob · January 9, 2015

Intel XMP is to do with memory timings/clock speeds, so if you overclock, it should adjust to suit. I think it stands for Extreme Memory Profiling, or something along these lines.

So on my BIOS profile should I change it from disabled to XMP?

Arreks · January 9, 2015

Intel XMP is to do with memory timings/clock speeds, so if you overclock, it should adjust to suit. I think it stands for Extreme Memory Profiling, or something along these lines.

Pretty much spot on, though I tend to disable it when I see it - I've read too many reports of it going wrong so I'd rather adjust manually!

7UD9 · January 9, 2015

Overclock.net - An Overclocking Community is a fantastic resource, it's where I learnt most of what I know about hardware. It's a great community, I was a senior mod there for quite a while.

Tips:

Learn what everything involved does before you mess with it.

Go in small, steady increments.

Test, test, test - don't increase anything (clocks, voltage, mem timings etc) until you're sure you're stable at the current settings.

Record what you do in a spreadsheet, there are lots of settings, you won't remember the combinations by memory, note down what works and what doesn't to refer back to later.

Make sure you have adequate cooling, you won't get far on a basic cooler, increased volts/clocks = higher temps, you need something that can move the heat away quickly.

Sunnyknight · January 9, 2015

So I pretty much get the concept although have never done it before because I've never cared to. Though on my personal computer I have an Intel i7 4790K running at 4.00Ghz. I have just also purchased a Corsair H55 Cooler to replace the stock cooler it's been running for a while.

My motherboard is a Asus Z97-PRO (WiFi AC) which I know is made to overclock although I have never done this because I never could be bothered to look into it all. Can anyone talk me through the process and what to do please because I'm a total noob and don't want to mess it all up! Haha.

I've also tried using MSI Afterburner to Overclock my GPU although the performance actually got worse even though I wasn't increasing the core clock that much anyway so I left it at stock. I want to try and avoid software overlocks if I can and do it in the BIOS so any help would be most appreciated and if you know how to also overlock a GPU in the BIOS safely even better!!!

Thankyou Guys

Our lil lad is growing up!

Depends. What do you want to hit? I think stable vcore of 1.29v? on 4790k with manual req settings of multi to 45? or 46? (i forgot) would bump you up to 4.5 easily. Do the increments by 0.050 at a time from stock. I believe you can go as high as 1.40v on these chips, but you'd have to google that (i'm sure there's a threshold?) Remember, more juice, more heat, and with a 'stick on' watercooler, it's not such a big step forward.

RAM ocing is a lot trickier, and i have dabbled in it myself. There are so many settings, it takes about a day, yes a day, to get your ram correct. Don't dabble in that yet. I would advise though, just simply going with the XMP profile from your Kingston IF your Mobo supports it? As far as i know, most mobos only support up to 2333mhz? The XMP profile simply loads up those timings and away you go for RAM.

What GPU do you use?

ChickenDhansak · January 9, 2015

*hands OP a pencil and a duron*

Wow, that takes me back

Unlocking the Duron and Athlon Using the Pencil Trick

http://www.motherboards.org/articles/guides/41_1.html

Edited January 9, 2015 by ChickenDhansak

Michael · January 9, 2015

So on my BIOS profile should I change it from disabled to XMP?

Well XMP didn't exist when I overclocked, but yes I'd probably disable it so you can fine tune settings yourself if I was doing it now.

LosOjos · January 9, 2015

Remember too that every chip is different - someone could hit 5GHz on their 4790K, you might only get 4.2GHz.

As for "software" or "hardware" overclocking, your BIOS is software, it makes no difference if you overclock using it or a piece of software.

AFAIK, there's no way to OC your GPU from the BIOS. MSI Afterburner seems to be the most popular way of OC'ing a GPU.

The Unigine Heaven tech demo is good for quickly checking how your GPU OC is going - run it at stock, note your score, boost clock speed a little, run again. Keep doing that until you get to a point where you're getting artifacts or other graphical glitches, then roll back to the last stable clock. Same for memory clock.

Finally, run a stress test for a few hours - if it doesn't crash and you're not getting glitching (watch it for 5/10 minutes every hour - nobody is going to sit there for 5+ hours watching constantly!) and the temperatures are safe* then you're good to go.

Links:

MIS Afterburner (to OC and can intelligently control fans): MSI Afterburner

Unigine Heaven (for general testing/benchmarking (the free version is fine)): https://unigine.com/products/heaven/

FurMark (for stress testing over a few hours): FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net

HWMonitor (to monitor temperatures and other system stats): HWMonitor CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

* safe temps vary by GPU, I believe current NVIDIA cards are OK right in to the low 90's, but Google yours to be sure. Also keep an eye on system temps, as obviously all that heat is in your case so it's not only going to affect your GPU

EDIT: final note, do bear in mind that running any component at higher voltages/temperatures/speeds than stock will decrease it's shelf life. Temperature seems to be the biggie here - although I know my card can safely go in to the low 90's, I opt for a lesser OC and lower temps personally.

Edited January 9, 2015 by LosOjos

mac_shinobi · January 9, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=linus+overclocking

Edited January 9, 2015 by mac_shinobi

mrbios · January 9, 2015

*hands OP a pencil and a duron*

Old School!!! I remember doing that!

I miss the days of my Athlon 64 3800 running at 3.8ghz at -45oC under my Prometia Mach II GT phase change cooler, along with my custom cut Lian Li PC60 case.

Man I'm such a nerd.

Michael · January 9, 2015

Once you've mastered air/fan cooling, there's always water cooling or indeed extreme cooling with nitrogen! I've never tried the latter two. Water cooling is just a glorified radiator and nitrogen can be dangerous. There are no doubt many clips online of people doing it though, always a good watch

Sunnyknight · January 9, 2015

EDIT: final note, do bear in mind that running any component at higher voltages/temperatures/speeds than stock will decrease it's shelf life. Temperature seems to be the biggie here - although I know my card can safely go in to the low 90's, I opt for a lesser OC and lower temps personally.

What card is this?!

Most GPUs should be kept below 80c... I've kept most of mine at a stable 65 - 70. Thats with OC.

LeMarchand · January 9, 2015

Once you've mastered air/fan cooling, there's always water cooling or indeed extreme cooling with nitrogen! I've never tried the latter two. Water cooling is just a glorified radiator and nitrogen can be dangerous. There are no doubt many clips online of people doing it though, always a good watch

...and submerged in mineral oil!

LosOjos · January 9, 2015

What card is this?!

Most GPUs should be kept below 80c... I've kept most of mine at a stable 65 - 70. Thats with OC.

NVIDIA cards run in the 70s even on stock IME...

EDIT: I should note, I'm talking under stress temperatures here, not day to day!

Edited January 9, 2015 by LosOjos

mac_shinobi · January 9, 2015

Remember too that every chip is different - someone could hit 5GHz on their 4790K, you might only get 4.2GHz.

As for "software" or "hardware" overclocking, your BIOS is software, it makes no difference if you overclock using it or a piece of software.

AFAIK, there's no way to OC your GPU from the BIOS. MSI Afterburner seems to be the most popular way of OC'ing a GPU.

The Unigine Heaven tech demo is good for quickly checking how your GPU OC is going - run it at stock, note your score, boost clock speed a little, run again. Keep doing that until you get to a point where you're getting artifacts or other graphical glitches, then roll back to the last stable clock. Same for memory clock.

Finally, run a stress test for a few hours - if it doesn't crash and you're not getting glitching (watch it for 5/10 minutes every hour - nobody is going to sit there for 5+ hours watching constantly!) and the temperatures are safe* then you're good to go.

Links:
MIS Afterburner (to OC and can intelligently control fans): MSI Afterburner
Unigine Heaven (for general testing/benchmarking (the free version is fine)): https://unigine.com/products/heaven/
FurMark (for stress testing over a few hours): FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net
HWMonitor (to monitor temperatures and other system stats): HWMonitor CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

* safe temps vary by GPU, I believe current NVIDIA cards are OK right in to the low 90's, but Google yours to be sure. Also keep an eye on system temps, as obviously all that heat is in your case so it's not only going to affect your GPU

EDIT: final note, do bear in mind that running any component at higher voltages/temperatures/speeds than stock will decrease it's shelf life. Temperature seems to be the biggie here - although I know my card can safely go in to the low 90's, I opt for a lesser OC and lower temps personally.

GPU Tweak ??

LosOjos · January 9, 2015

GPU Tweak ??

Yeah that'll work too - Afterburner is just one that gets mentioned a lot. I like Afterburner personally

Ant · January 9, 2015

Old School!!! I remember doing that!

I miss the days of my Athlon 64 3800 running at 3.8ghz at -45oC under my Prometia Mach II GT phase change cooler, along with my custom cut Lian Li PC60 case.

Man I'm such a nerd.

Ahh, this takes me back too! I also had a Lian Li PC60, but modded to fit the rad for my water cooling set up. Mine was only an AMD Barton XP 2500+ Can't remember what the maximum I ever clocked it to though. Phase change coolers were the thing of dreams!

abillybob · January 9, 2015

Woop Woop! Thank you everyone

I'm going to have some fun tomorrow when my new cooler comes!

Noob at Overclocking

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