i5-4690K Max Overclock with my CPU Cooler

[micahharne]

So i would want to know what is the max or a good overclock i can do on a I5-4690K with my current CPU cooler.

Please If you could also get what TDP the overclock would be at would be great, but isn't required.

CPU Cooler : be quiet! BK002 Shadow Rock LP

 

[CompuTronix]

micahharne,

Your question is only valid if you have a Z87 or Z97 motherboard. Overclocking isn't as predictable as one might think, since it involves many major and minor variables which will affect the outcome.

Overclocking is always limited by two factors; voltage and temperature. No two processors are identical; each is unique in voltage tolerance, thermal behavior and overclocking potential, which is often referred to as the "silicon lottery". As Core speed (MHz) is increased, Core voltage (Vcore) must also be increased to maintain stability. This increases Power consumption (Watts) which increases Core temperatures.

The maximum recommended Vcore for 3rd and 4th Generation processors, which are both 22 nanometer microarchitecture, is 1.300 volts. The i5 4690K Devil's Canyon is a "refresh" of the 4670K Haswell. The 4690K has a base clock of 3.5 GHz, and was Intel's 3rd and final 22 nanometer optimization. Some of these processors were able to achieve 4.7 to 4.8GHz, while the top few percent could reach 4.9 or even 5.0GHz, with high-end air or liquid cooling.

As your Be Quiet! BK002 Shadow Rock LP cooler is a 120mm fan class 4 pipe downdraft cooler with a small fin area, it's considerably less thermally capable than Cooler Master's popular entry-level budget Hyper 212 EVO tower cooler. Moreover, you choice of cooler suggests that you're working in a small case with less than optimal airflow, fans and cooling, which will further restrict overclocking.

The 88 Watt TDP 4690K is quite challenging to cool above 1.25 Vcore, and can dissipate as much as 120 Watts when overclocked. Your 130 Watt TDP cooler has virtually no thermal margin, and is therefore only capable of supporting a mild overclock. Overclocking should not be attempted with Vcore settings in “Auto” because BIOS will apply significantly more voltage than is necessary to maintain stability, which again increases Power and heat.

With high-end cooling you might reach the Vcore limit before 85°C. With low-end cooling you’ll reach 85°C before the Vcore limit. Regardless, whichever limit you reach first is where you should stop.

Here's the nominal operating range for Core temperature:

Core temperatures above 85°C are not recommended.

Core temperatures below 80°C are ideal.

Core temperatures increase and decrease with Ambient temperature.

Remember to keep overclocking in perspective. For example, the difference between 4.5 GHz and 4.6 Ghz is less than 2.3%, which has no noticeable impact on overall system performance. It simply isn’t worth pushing your processor beyond recommended Core voltage and Core temperature limits just to squeeze out another 100 MHz.

If I'm correct about your hardware configuration, then if you can achieve a stable, all Core overclock of 4.4 to 4.5GHz at less than 85°C, I'd be very pleased and content with that outcome, especially considering the limitations. However, there's no way to predict how well your particular 4690K sample will overclock until you actually try it.

Sorry, but with respect to your "Max Overclock" question, no one will be able to give you a precise or more definitive answer.

CT

 

[kiss-method]

Incredibly detailed advise above!

One thing that I'd like to add (although I'll admit I didn't read the above post completely), is that while overclocking and stressing your cpu.... Staying within the norm is not always a golden rule. I've pushed my older setups into 90s (celsius), but that's at 100% load throughout all cores. Depending on your tasks that you wish to carry out! Or games you want to play, you may be able to push further without keeping the ideal temps! Just because of how those tasks utilize your processor.

Now, as I mentioned my older system... The max temp I think was 86 if I remember right (max safe), I brought overclock to low 90s, but during my favorite game, temps stayed in low 80s. So I guess I had a bottleneck at that point to the GPU but can't really look at it at this point. Just thought I'd share this part....

 

[micahharne]

micahharne,

Your question is only valid if you have a Z87 or Z97 motherboard. Overclocking isn't as predictable as one might think, since it involves many major and minor variables which will affect the outcome.

Overclocking is always limited by two factors; voltage and temperature. No two processors are identical; each is unique in voltage tolerance, thermal behavior and overclocking potential, which is often referred to as the "silicon lottery". As Core speed (MHz) is increased, Core voltage (Vcore) must also be increased to maintain stability. This increases Power consumption (Watts) which increases Core temperatures.

The maximum recommended Vcore for 3rd and 4th Generation processors, which are both 22 nanometer microarchitecture, is 1.300 volts. The i5 4690K Devil's Canyon is a "refresh" of the 4670K Haswell. The 4690K has a base clock of 3.5 GHz, and was Intel's 3rd and final 22 nanometer optimization. Some of these processors were able to achieve 4.7 to 4.8GHz, while the top few percent could reach 4.9 or even 5.0GHz, with high-end air or liquid cooling.

As your Be Quiet! BK002 Shadow Rock LP cooler is a 120mm fan class 4 pipe downdraft cooler with a small fin area, it's considerably less thermally capable than Cooler Master's popular entry-level budget Hyper 212 EVO tower cooler. Moreover, you choice of cooler suggests that you're working in a small case with less than optimal airflow, fans and cooling, which will further restrict overclocking.

The 88 Watt TDP 4690K is quite challenging to cool above 1.25 Vcore, and can dissipate as much as 120 Watts when overclocked. Your 130 Watt TDP cooler has virtually no thermal margin, and is therefore only capable of supporting a mild overclock. Overclocking should not be attempted with Vcore settings in “Auto” because BIOS will apply significantly more voltage than is necessary to maintain stability, which again increases Power and heat.

With high-end cooling you might reach the Vcore limit before 85°C. With low-end cooling you’ll reach 85°C before the Vcore limit. Regardless, whichever limit you reach first is where you should stop.

Here's the nominal operating range for Core temperature:

Core temperatures above 85°C are not recommended.

Core temperatures below 80°C are ideal.

Core temperatures increase and decrease with Ambient temperature.

Remember to keep overclocking in perspective. For example, the difference between 4.5 GHz and 4.6 Ghz is less than 2.3%, which has no noticeable impact on overall system performance. It simply isn’t worth pushing your processor beyond recommended Core voltage and Core temperature limits just to squeeze out another 100 MHz.

If I'm correct about your hardware configuration, then if you can achieve a stable, all Core overclock of 4.4 to 4.5GHz at less than 85°C, I'd be very pleased and content with that outcome, especially considering the limitations. However, there's no way to predict how well your particular 4690K sample will overclock until you actually try it.

Sorry, but with respect to your "Max Overclock" question, no one will be able to give you a precise or more definitive answer.

CT

Alright, So i could do a like a slight OC and don't go above 1.25V. Try to see what OC i can get with something below 1.25V?