i5 2500k with z68a GD-55

[Vertickal]

Hi everybody! I'm very new to overclocking, and I was looking for some guidance on overclocking my CPU! I want to overclock to 4.5GHz from the stock speed of 3.3GHz. I've looked around online quite a bit, but I've yet to find a helpful guide for my exact specs, and I've tried following a guide of someone with similar specs, but that ended up failing.

My specs:
i5 2500K @3.3GHz
MSI z68a GD-55
Windows 7 64 bit
Corsair CX 750 PSU
8GB Kingston HyperX
Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooling
Seagate Barracuda 500GB HDD
XFX Radeon 7970

Thanks so much for any and all feedback!

 

[gokul36]

if your want to OC ur CPU from 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz u need a good liquid cooler

for example like Corsair H100i or H810i .....not a simple air cooler like "Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooling"

 

[Vertickal]

if your want to OC ur CPU from 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz u need a good liquid cooler

for example like Corsair H100i or H810i .....not a simple air cooler like "Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooling"

Okay,well,what speed would you recommend?... Any guides to overclocking with these particular specs?....

 

[gokul36]

u can over clock upto 4.7GHz

Use this : i5 2500K OC - Voltage core is 1.43 V for 4.7GHz freq (stable)
dont go further than tat

 

[AxlFone]

No- You do not need water cooler to OC EVO can do 4.2GHz or maybe bit more.
You can try Two fan push + pull to make best OC possible.

But sure there is netter coolers.
http://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-BW-Support-Socket-Driver/dp/B008YTUN38
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermalright-cpu-cooler-macho120

This is amazing good performance air cooler (expensive)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu14s

What is your case? Only way to make good suggestion is if know what case u use.
If you have 240 or 280 fan muonts top of your case then buy this.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/21235/ex-wat-270/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX240_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

or 280
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/20926/ex-wat-266/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX280_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

if you have room for 360 then this-
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/21236/ex-wat-271/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX360_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

420 then this- and so on..
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/20927/ex-wat-267/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX420_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

And remember bigger is better

Edit. 1.45V is safe with 2500k

 

[Vertickal]

u can over clock upto 4.7GHz

Use this : i5 2500K OC - Voltage core is 1.43 V for 4.7GHz freq (stable)
dont go further than tat

I thought you just finished saying that 4.5GHz was too high.. Now you're saying to go to 4.7GHz? I don't understand..

 

[Vertickal]

No- You do not need water cooler to OC EVO can do 4.2GHz or maybe bit more.
You can try Two fan push + pull to make best OC possible.

But sure there is netter coolers.
http://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-BW-Support-Socket-Driver/dp/B008YTUN38
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermalright-cpu-cooler-macho120

This is amazing good performance air cooler (expensive)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu14s

What is your case? Only way to make good suggestion is if know what case u use.
If you have 240 or 280 fan muonts top of your case then buy this.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/21235/ex-wat-270/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX240_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

or 280
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/20926/ex-wat-266/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX280_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

if you have room for 360 then this-
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/21236/ex-wat-271/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX360_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

420 then this- and so on..
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/20927/ex-wat-267/XSPC_Raystorm_750_EX420_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_New_Rev_4_Pump_Included_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321

And remember bigger is better

Edit. 1.45V is safe with 2500k

Alright,thanks. I may get water cooling at a later date but for right now I'm going to stick with the Hyper Evo 212. I'll try for 4.2GHz, but what settings do I change in the BIOS? Other than the CPU ratio which I change to 42.

 

[gokul36]

u can over clock upto 4.7GHz

Use this : i5 2500K OC - Voltage core is 1.43 V for 4.7GHz freq (stable)
dont go further than tat

I thought you just finished saying that 4.5GHz was too high.. Now you're saying to go to 4.7GHz? I don't understand..

u said....u r new to Over Clocking......
if u r NEW....u should increase ur Processor Speed step by step ....3.4 3.5 3.6

not straight away to 4.5

 

[Vertickal]

u can over clock upto 4.7GHz

Use this : i5 2500K OC - Voltage core is 1.43 V for 4.7GHz freq (stable)
dont go further than tat

I thought you just finished saying that 4.5GHz was too high.. Now you're saying to go to 4.7GHz? I don't understand..

u said....u r new to Over Clocking......
if u r NEW....u should increase ur Processor Speed step by step ....3.4 3.5 3.6

not straight away to 4.5

I still don't understand why you're mentioning 4.7,but okay. How would I go about doing that? Just change CPU ratio to 3.4, boot into Windows, restart and then bump it up to 3.5 etc.?

 

[nikoli707]

many people use a hyper 212 cooler and get to 4.6ghz and say under 80c with a 1.35vcore. my particular 2500k does 4.8ghz@ 1.385vcore and i use a noctua nh-d14. i wouldn't go past 1.4vcore unless you have a really good cooler. id say 99% of all 2500k's should be able to get a 43x multiplier without touching anything else and be stable. if you can't then i would start looking to see if there is another hardware issue.

 

[Vertickal]

many people use a hyper 212 cooler and get to 4.6ghz and say under 80c with a 1.35vcore. my particular 2500k does 4.8ghz@ 1.385vcore and i use a noctua nh-d14. i wouldn't go past 1.4vcore unless you have a really good cooler. id say 99% of all 2500k's should be able to get a 43x multiplier without touching anything else and be stable. if you can't then i would start looking to see if there is another hardware issue.

Ahh okay,thanks! Do you have a guide you followed as to what you needed to change in the BIOS? I'm unsure as to what settings I change (other than the CPU ratio). Thanks!

 

[gokul36]

Use "Control Center" Utility provided by the MSI....along with your motherboard CD

 

[Vertickal]

Use "Control Center" Utility provided by the MSI....along with your motherboard CD

Where do I find the Control Center utility? I've searched around on Google but the downloads all appear to be very old and poorly rated.

 

[gokul36]

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-GD55--B3-.html#/?div=Utility&os=All

 

[Vertickal]

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-GD55--B3-.html#/?div=Utility&os=All

Thank you very much,kind sir!

 

[RobCrezz]

if your want to OC ur CPU from 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz u need a good liquid cooler

for example like Corsair H100i or H810i .....not a simple air cooler like "Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooling"

Please dont listen to this guy, he is trolling.

You dont need a H100i to get these speeds.

I have a mid range Phanteks TC-12DX and my 2500k is running 4.6Ghz, idles around 27-30'c and 45-50'c in games.

 

[RobCrezz]

Ok to the OP.

Check your Load Line Calibration settings (LLC), on my board it was in levels and I have it at lvl 4, with that I could keep the voltage just under 1.3v @ 4.6ghz

 

[RobCrezz]

Also, there is a nice guide to follow here
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/265056-29-2600k-2500k-overclocking-guide

 

[Tradesman1]

The EVO is fine and will handle 4.6 and even higher

 

[nikoli707]

don't use the msi control center for over clocking… do it in the bios. you should be able to just plug in the 43x ratio multiplier and be stable. if it is then check and see what the reported vcore voltage is in the bios(it will change automatically the higher you set the multiplier) and also what the reported vcore voltage is in windows using HWMonitor and set prime95 to a full load. whatever the difference is between the two is your drop. you shouldn't have to mess with LLC(line load calibrations) until your well above 4.6ghz. also don't mess with any voltage settings until you find out which multiplier(43x 44x 45x 46x) fails to enter windows and you know what vcore voltage is after the cvid automatically adjusts it for you.

 

[Vertickal]

don't use the msi control center for over clocking… do it in the bios. you should be able to just plug in the 43x ratio multiplier and be stable. if it is then check and see what the reported vcore voltage is in the bios(it will change automatically the higher you set the multiplier) and also what the reported vcore voltage is in windows using HWMonitor and set prime95 to a full load. whatever the difference is between the two is your drop. you shouldn't have to mess with LLC(line load calibrations) until your well above 4.6ghz. also don't mess with any voltage settings until you find out which multiplier(43x 44x 45x 46x) fails to enter windows and you know what vcore voltage is after the cvid automatically adjusts it for you.

Alright,thank you! I will follow the guide RobCrezz posted, as it seems to be in line with your explanation.