I5 3570K Overclock

[nitroxc]

Hello!

I just ordered myself an I5 3570K with an Asrock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard and I am going to be looking at overclocking it. My system specs:

I5 3570K
Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz DDR3
1TB HDD
MSI R9 285 2GB
Kolink Aviator (Case) - 2 Frontal intake fans, 1 Rear exhaust fan
Cooler Master Hyper 212 - Has the standard 120mm cooler master fan on it

I'm not one to really mess around with voltages too much so I don't want an ultra OC. So would the Hyper 212 + the 3 case fans with stock voltages be enough to keep the chip smooth at 4.2ghz? Or would I need to play around with the voltages a bit? Also a question on the voltages: If I did need to mess around with the voltages, Is it a tedious process that requires alot of effort or is it usually quite quick? Because I have read a few articles saying you need to undervolt it to the point where it doesnt boot properly, and then increase it after each boot by like 0.0025 volts until it boots properly and run stress tests (which seems a bit tedious)

Thanks in advance,

o7

 

[Ecky]

As you increase clockspeed, voltage rises too, though eventually you'll have to add additional offset voltage.

My recommendation is to just see how far you can go without messing with voltages. You will probably need to disable C3, C6/C7 and package C-states for stability, and change your voltage mode from "auto" to "offset", and from there, just increase the multiplier. Disabling spread spectrum might help with stability too.

 

[Ecky]

I also have a 3570K, and I've made some study on voltage, frequency, temperature and wattage/power consumption. You might find these graphs useful:

Minimum stable voltage at various clockspeeds:

Power consumption of my CPU at various clockspeeds:

Temperature increase as clockspeed increases, using Noctua NT-L9i:

Performance per watt (considering only CPU wattage) at frequency:

 

[nitroxc]

So going by Ecky's graph would it be wise to set it at 4.2ghz and 1.2 volts and if its fine then leave it, and if it wont boot simply increase the voltage a bit until it boots properly and survives prime95 for 20mins or so ?