i7 OC Help

[Bugattisport1]

Hello,

I own an i7 4770k with the Asetek 570lx 240mm radiator CPU cooler. After tinkering for a few minutes, i could only get the processor to OC to 4.2 ghz, with adaptive voltage turned on. I looked at what others were getting, and found that 75% of i7 4770k's can OC to 4.5 ghz!?

What am i doing wrong?

EDIT: I get around 74 degrees with that overclock. Sometimes spiking into 80s, stable but too hot.
SPECS

GIGABYTE 7970 3GB GHZ EDITION

COOLERMASTER HAF X

INTEL CORE I7 4770K

ASETEK WATERCOOLING 570LX LIQUID

SAMSUNG SOLID STATE DRIVE 2.5" 250GB

HD-112857-0104 SEAGATE 3TB SATAIII 64MB 6GBS BARRACUDA XT

ASUS Z87-A DDR3 LGA1150 SATAIII USB3

KINGSTON DDR3 8GB PC17066 2133MHZ HYPERX

COOLERMASTER PSU SILENT PRO 850W M2

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Is this your first attempt at overclocking?
What is the Vcore?
I would recommend starting with Override overclock. Adaptive does not limit the voltage to the CPU and so It's hard to know exactly what is going on. When you know what your Vcore should be for a stable overclock, you can change to Adaptive.

What is your idle Vcore and temperature?
What is your ambient temperature?

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... Temperature is directly related to semiconductor and OC performance...
1) Start with Stock hardware settings... No turbo or extreme MB, PCI and memory settings.
2) Work you OC procedure on the CPU only first.
3) Work without a GPU/extra hardware installed if possible.
4) work without a case cover on for best cooling during tests.
5) any changes to the MB BIO's needs to be Saved&Exit.
6) determine your minimum CPU Voltage your CPU needs to boot to the BIO's and stock CPU speed... record this number with the CPU idle "BIO's screen/health" temperature AND CPU Fan speed... you now have a base line of your CPU "Stock" physical performance. Speed VS Voltage VS Temp VS CPU Fan speed.
7) Start increasing your multiplier and finding the Voltage, Fan speed and temperature data points of your CPU.
8) Plot these points and you will start to see voltage, performance and temperature swings/curves... and will give you a reasonable prediction what your CPU will need for 4.5 ghz safe operation.

 

[lodders]

I call it the silicon lottery, some chips are good overclockers, and some are not.
For example, I have 2 identical AMD Phenom II PCs, both overclocked to the max. One I managed to get to 4GHz (which is very good) the other would not go beyond 3.45Ghz.