Asrock SKYOC non-k overclock help

[donnellyian1995]

Hi guys, I am trying to overclock my i5 6400 using skyoc on my z170m-itx/ac motherboard. However, whenever I even try to enable skyoc, the board will not post. Every once and a while I can get into the bios, but after about 5 seconds of editing my settings the bios will hang. The board performs normally with skyoc disabled. Any thoughts?

PC specs:
Asrock Z170m-itx/ac
i5 6400
GTX 980
7200 RPM HDD
16GB G.Skill 2133 DDR4
450w PSU

 

[dylanestrada]

Have you readjusted your RAM profile? If the RAM is running at too high of a frequency you'll experience problems getting a post.

Remember, when you adjust the BCLK it affects both the CPU and RAM speed.

You should be able to adjust the RAM speed or select an XMP profile in your BIOS.

I am also overclocking my i5 6400, you can see my settings from the bottom right [CPU-Z validator].

 

[dylanestrada]

The three things you must adjust to get a successful overclock on these non-K Skylakes

1. BCLK-Mine is at 163

2. RAM speed-You'll want to set your RAM speed to a little lower than it's advertised speed (I have Corsair Vengeance that can clock to 3000 mhz, but for my 6400 overclock, I keep it down to 2600 mhz)

3. Voltage-I'm using 1.27 volts, you may need to use more.

Also make sure that you have Power Saving featured turned off as well as Turbo turned off (these settings interfere with your overclock)

 

[Chayan4400]

PC specs:
Asrock Z170m-itx/ac
i5 6400
GTX 980
7200 RPM HDD
16GB G.Skill 2133 DDR4
450w PSU

I'm really hoping that's a typo. If not, do not try any sort of overclocking on that PSU. Running on stock speeds, an i5 6400 + GTX 980 needs a 500W PSU as a bare minimum. 550W is recommended if not overclocking. If you are looking to overclock, you need at least a 600-650W PSU.

Your problems with SkyOC are probably due to insufficient power. I wouldn't even risk playing games on your current PSU as it will overwhelm the PSU and underpower the GPU, resulting in sudden shutdowns, crashes or BSODs. In some cases it may even damage the components. Change that PSU to a good quality 600W PSU at the least. What budget do you have for a new PSU?

 

[donnellyian1995]

PC specs:
Asrock Z170m-itx/ac
i5 6400
GTX 980
7200 RPM HDD
16GB G.Skill 2133 DDR4
450w PSU

I'm really hoping that's a typo. If not, do not try any sort of overclocking on that PSU. Running on stock speeds, an i5 6400 + GTX 980 needs a 500W PSU as a bare minimum. 550W is recommended if not overclocking. If you are looking to overclock, you need at least a 600-650W PSU.

Your problems with SkyOC are probably due to insufficient power. I wouldn't even risk playing games on your current PSU as it will overwhelm the PSU and underpower the GPU, resulting in sudden shutdowns, crashes or BSODs. In some cases it may even damage the components. Change that PSU to a good quality 600W PSU at the least. What budget do you have for a new PSU?

Well, I am using the node 202 with its integrated 450w power supply. It hasn't given me any issues at all actually, even at full load on cpu and gpu I am only pulling 380w from the wall.

 

[donnellyian1995]

The three things you must adjust to get a successful overclock on these non-K Skylakes

1. BCLK-Mine is at 163

2. RAM speed-You'll want to set your RAM speed to a little lower than it's advertised speed (I have Corsair Vengeance that can clock to 3000 mhz, but for my 6400 overclock, I keep it down to 2600 mhz)

3. Voltage-I'm using 1.27 volts, you may need to use more.

Also make sure that you have Power Saving featured turned off as well as Turbo turned off (these settings interfere with your overclock)

I'm actually running stock settings. It runs great with skyoc disabled, but the second i enable it, even with the settings at stock, no post. I am not aiming for a high overclock due to thermal and power limitations, I just want like 3.8-4gHz. One thing I have noticed though, is that I have no option to set an XMP profile for my ram. is this normal?

 

[Chayan4400]

Running your PSU near full capacity is never recommended. Doing that on a Tier Three PSU like the FD Intergra M is asking for trouble. You'll find yourself with a fried PSU and possibly some other components as well soon if you don't change it. Even if you don't see any issues now they are bound to crop up. Look it up anywhere; you'll see that the same advice is repeated over and over again. It's up to you of course, but for me I'd rather spend $100 on a PSU than have to spend $600+ on a new GPU.

 

[donnellyian1995]

Running your PSU near full capacity is never recommended. Doing that on a Tier Three PSU like the FD Intergra M is asking for trouble. You'll find yourself with a fried PSU and possibly some other components as well soon if you don't change it. Even if you don't see any issues now they are bound to crop up. Look it up anywhere; you'll see that the same advice is repeated over and over again. It's up to you of course, but for me I'd rather spend $100 on a PSU than have to spend $600+ on a new GPU.

Okay, thanks for the advice. What Mini-SFX PSU would you recommend for my system? I'm having trouble finding some. Also, this still hasn't answered my first question. Why would enabling skyoc, even with stock settings, give me post issues?

 

[Chayan4400]

I helped another member OC a 6500 to 4GHz easily. He was new to overclocking and didn't want to really push it. When you enable SkyOC, does the BIOS immediately crash or does it not POST the next boot? Try re-flashing your board with the BIOS update; it's possible something may have gone wrong during the update.

You say that you don't have an XMP option. Does your BIOS look like this?

So you don't have the 'Load XMP Setting' option?

 

[Chayan4400]

For a SFX PSU, your only option is the SIlverstone SX600-G. It's a Tier 2 PSU, so high quality and perfectly capable of handling a 980 and a 6400.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($117.99 @ Directron)
Total: $117.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-03 12:09 EST-0500

Review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=395

 

[donnellyian1995]

I helped another member OC a 6500 to 4GHz easily. He was new to overclocking and didn't want to really push it. When you enable SkyOC, does the BIOS immediately crash or does it not POST the next boot? Try re-flashing your board with the BIOS update; it's possible something may have gone wrong during the update.

You say that you don't have an XMP option. Does your BIOS look like this?

So you don't have the 'Load XMP Setting' option?

It looks somewhat like that, minus the option to "load XMP setting." Immediately after enabling skyoc, it will not post until a few tries, when i get the American Megatrends "Your system failed to boot several times, press del to alter BIOS settings" or something along those lines. I have tried re-flashing the bios, its a no-go. One thing I have noticed after enabling skyoc and eventually getting into the bios, before it hangs, all of the CPU numbers are stock, except for the Cache frequency, which drops extremely low.

 

[donnellyian1995]

For a SFX PSU, your only option is the SIlverstone SX600-G. It's a Tier 2 PSU, so high quality and perfectly capable of handling a 980 and a 6400.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($117.99 @ Directron)
Total: $117.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-03 12:09 EST-0500

Review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=395

Thanks, i will have to save up for a week or two, as I am a broke college student but i will invest in this as soon as possible.

 

[Chayan4400]

Thanks, i will have to save up for a week or two, as I am a broke college student but i will invest in this as soon as possible.

I know the feeling . Don't worry, you'll get there. Just avoid playing any really intensive games for the time being and you'll be fine.

Coming back to the problem, you may want to try and re-flash the BIOS with the one you did before, and try SkyOC again. Also clear CMOS (Easiest way to do this is to take the motherboard battery out of it's holder, disconnect the PC from the mains and press the power button for a minute or two.

 

[donnellyian1995]

Thanks, i will have to save up for a week or two, as I am a broke college student but i will invest in this as soon as possible.

I know the feeling . Don't worry, you'll get there. Just avoid playing any really intensive games for the time being and you'll be fine.

Coming back to the problem, you may want to try and re-flash the BIOS with the one you did before, and try SkyOC again. Also clear CMOS (Easiest way to do this is to take the motherboard battery out of it's holder, disconnect the PC from the mains and press the power button for a minute or two.

OK, i will try to clear the cmos, and see what happens.

 

[donnellyian1995]

Thanks, i will have to save up for a week or two, as I am a broke college student but i will invest in this as soon as possible.

I know the feeling . Don't worry, you'll get there. Just avoid playing any really intensive games for the time being and you'll be fine.

Coming back to the problem, you may want to try and re-flash the BIOS with the one you did before, and try SkyOC again. Also clear CMOS (Easiest way to do this is to take the motherboard battery out of it's holder, disconnect the PC from the mains and press the power button for a minute or two.

Okay, after clearing the CMOS, and enabling SKYOC, it booted into windows first try. I will now see if I can change any settings in the bios, or if its going to hang like before.

 

[donnellyian1995]

Thanks, i will have to save up for a week or two, as I am a broke college student but i will invest in this as soon as possible.

I know the feeling . Don't worry, you'll get there. Just avoid playing any really intensive games for the time being and you'll be fine.

Coming back to the problem, you may want to try and re-flash the BIOS with the one you did before, and try SkyOC again. Also clear CMOS (Easiest way to do this is to take the motherboard battery out of it's holder, disconnect the PC from the mains and press the power button for a minute or two.

SUCCESS!! Currently booting with a 140 bclk which put me at 3.779 gHz. Running at 1.275v. Do these sound like good numbers, or should I try to push a little higher?

EDIT: I have pushed to 3.915gHz with a 145 bclk at 1.320v. Interestingly enough, i just noticed on the last boot, skyoc is DISABLED! Im not sure how it is working, nor do I care. It seems stable. In the future, I may try to push to 4.3gHz, just not on this stock cooler XD.

 

[Chayan4400]

Push for 4-4.2GHz. Set voltage to 1.3, then slowly decrease in 0.05 increments with stresststing for ~10 mins in between till it is no longer stable. Set RAM to XMP and decrease it's multiplier till it comes back to slightly below stock speeds (~2100MHz). Once you reach the level where it becomes unstable, increase it to the last known stable voltage. Remember to stress test with something CPU intensive like OCCT or AIDA64 (NOT Prime95) while also keeping an eye on temperatures between each change. Once you have an overclock that you are content with, stress test for at least 12 hours (Check each hour for the first two hours to see if it has crashed or BSOD'ed, then let it run for at least 10 hours more). If you see no anomalies (Artifacting, screen tearing, etc.) and the PC doesn't freeze, hang, BSOD or crash, then the overclock is almost certainly stable.

 

[donnellyian1995]

Push for 4-4.2GHz. Set voltage to 1.3, then slowly decrease in 0.05 increments with stresststing for ~10 mins in between till it is no longer stable. Set RAM to XMP and decrease it's multiplier till it comes back to slightly below stock speeds (~2100MHz). Once you reach the level where it becomes unstable, increase it to the last known stable voltage. Remember to stress test with something CPU intensive like OCCT or AIDA64 (NOT Prime95) while also keeping an eye on temperatures between each change. Once you have an overclock that you are content with, stress test for at least 12 hours (Check each hour for the first two hours to see if it has crashed or BSOD'ed, then let it run for at least 10 hours more). If you see no anomalies (Artifacting, screen tearing, etc.) and the PC doesn't freeze, hang, BSOD or crash, then the overclock is almost certainly stable.

Check my edit above.

 

[Chayan4400]

1.32V is a little too high for a PC that will be used daily. You should be able to keep it stable at 1.3V, which is the maximum voltage for normal use.

 

[donnellyian1995]

1.32V is a little too high for a PC that will be used daily. You should be able to keep it stable at 1.3V, which is the maximum voltage for normal use.

OK thanks, i will incrementally drop it down as far as I can. What do you think about the fact that skyoc isnt even enabled? just a bug? do you think its actually enabled, even though it still gives me the option to enable it?