Need help with overclocking i7 4930K on water

[Centurion855]

Hello everyone

I'm in need of some assitance on overclocking my Intel i7 4930K from it's stock speed of 3.4Ghz to around 4.2-4.5Ghz.
I'm especially looking for a safe overclock so I can keep using this system without problems for another 5 years.

I've read in some other topics that if you can reach 4.5Ghz you can consider yourself lucky.
The minimum I would like to reach is 4Ghz since I have a good all-in-one water cooling kit and a high-end motherboard.

I've tried putting in 42 for the CPU core ratio and then syncing all cores and putting in 1.35V for the Vcore and 1866Mhz for my ram (it's rated for 1866Mhz by default) with ram timings of 9-10-9-27. But when I then run Prime95 Blend my temps in Realtemp skyrocket to around 90°C...

Can anyone guide me on what other settings I should tweak in order to reach 4 - 4.2Ghz fully stable?

So far I only have experience with overclocking Intel dual cores E6750 & E8400 using Gigabyte's M.I.T which is way less advanced than the Rampage IV BIOS.

My motherboard is an Asus Rampage IV Black Edition with BIOS version 0507.
Here's a CPU-Z validation link: http://valid.x86.fr/bfm948

My full system specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4930K
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H100i
Mobo: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition (BIOS version 0507)
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB DDR3-1866Mhz CL9 quad kit
GPU: Inno3D GeForce GTX 780 Ti IChill HerculeZ X3 Ultra 3GB
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 1TB
HDD 1: Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 4TB
HDD 2: Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 4TB
ODD: LG BH16NS40
PSU: Corsair HX1050
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper Window
OS: Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit

Thanks to anyone who can help me out with this

 

[unknownofprob]

Put the core voltage to 1.20, It's a prime spot for the VCore at around 4GHz OC's as some others have gotten from Ivy Bridge-E. Got my 4930k @ 4.7GHz currently and at a voltage of 1.37V, I am running a modified Noctua NH-D15 to cope with the temps.

 

[Centurion855]

Put the core voltage to 1.20, It's a prime spot for the VCore at around 4GHz OC's as some others have gotten from Ivy Bridge-E. Got my 4930k @ 4.7GHz currently and at a voltage of 1.37V, I am running a modified Noctua NH-D15 to cope with the temps.

Here's what I did:
- Loaded optimized defaults
- Changed Ai overclock tuner from auto to Manual
- Synced all core ratios from auto to 40 with BCLK 100
- Changed Vcore from auto to manual 1.20V

Ram speed was at 1333Mhz with timings 9-9-9-24-1.

After starting Prime95 blend it gave me a BSOD after 10 seconds. :/
What did I do wrong?

 

[unknownofprob]

up the voltage by 0.01 until it's stable, play around until temps are at their best. Not all CPU's behave the same, so different voltages will apply for different people's overclocks.

 

[Centurion855]

up the voltage by 0.01 until it's stable, play around until temps are at their best. Not all CPU's behave the same, so different voltages will apply for different people's overclocks.

Ok I have put cpu core ratio to 40 and synched all cores so my cpu runs at 4Ghz. I used a Vcore of 1.3V.
After running Prime95 blend for 1hour & 30mins my temperatures peaked at around 60°C.
If I can get it some higher to 4.4Ghz i'd be satisfied with a 1Ghz overclock.

 

[Centurion855]

I have now set my cpu core ratio to 45 and synched all cores with a BCLK of 100. So my cpu is now OC'd to 4.5Ghz.
I used a Vcore of 1.35V to achieve this and upped the voltage of my RAM to 1.65V (1.5V was default for my ram).

I have been running Prime95 blend now for 1hour30mins and my temps maxed at 81°C and averaged at around 68°C.

Screenshot:

My question is are these temperatures acceptable or will it cause long term damage to my CPU?
I'm planning to still use this pc for another 5 years.

Thanks for any feedback

 

[unknownofprob]

81 Degrees is fine if the absolute max temp, as long as your CPU isn't throttling down then you know you have issues. However, With an overclock and temps like that your not going to get a healthy running 5 years out of it. 4.1-4.2GHz would be a better clock speed for the long run.

 

[madchemist83]

Don't go over 1.3 for 24/7 use. U might not have best cpu. Also those temps r pretty high for h100 cooler. I'd recommend reseating ur cooler.

 

[unknownofprob]

"U might not have best CPU"

I'll just ignore that, and no with those overclocks the temps are normal, the CPU is at 4.5GHz (also given that the CPU at stock is 130W TDP, OC'ing it will make that even higher.) with a closed loop water cooling solution.

 

[Centurion855]

I hope it will still do 4.5Ghz with 1.3V. :/

 

[madchemist83]

U can ignore that all u want fact stays the same that not all cpus will overclock well. Cpu at stock is 88 W, I think u get ur facts from the wrong source bro. Smaller lithography supposed to decrease the heat output, also its more prone to high voltage damage. Read about electromigration. My 2500k running at 1.39 V and temps are 65 tops on air, so 81 on water loop is too much.

 

[Centurion855]

U can ignore that all u want fact stays the same that not all cpus will overclock well. Cpu at stock is 88 W, I think u get ur facts from the wrong source bro. Smaller lithography supposed to decrease the heat output, also its more prone to high voltage damage. Read about electromigration. My 2500k running at 1.39 V and temps are 65 tops on air, so 81 on water loop is too much.

But but... 81°C was the absolute peak on the second core. On average the temps were 70°C under load of Prime95 blend.
I just want a safe overclock that will last me another 5 years. Someone told me 1.35V is too much so i'll try 4.0Ghz at 1.3V. Will that work to last another 5 years?

Oh and it's not possible to remount my cooler because my case (CM Storm Trooper window) only has place for the H100i at the top. :/

 

[madchemist83]

1.3V should be safe for 24/7 use. What I meant when I said reseat it is that u should take heatspreader off and try mounting it again. Maybe when u mounted the first time the tim didn't spread correctly or u used too much of it, hence high temps

 

[Centurion855]

I didn't put it in myself the incompetent people from Salland did it .. only one fan spinning oh come on! If I wanted a cpu water cooler with only one spinning fan I would have bought a H80i. >_> I fixed it, now they're both spinning but the second fan is constantly at 100% RPM..... ARGHHH

 

[madchemist83]

Weird. Where fans connected to ? Psu or mobo ?

 

[Centurion855]

Weird. Where fans connected to ? Psu or mobo ?

All plugged into motherboard like this:
- Corsair H100i fan 1 connected to CPU_FAN header
- Corsair H100i fan 2 connected to OPT_FAN3 header
- Corsair AF140 case fan connected to OPT_FAN2 header

These are all my available fan headers on my Asus Rampage IV mobo:
- 1 CPU_FAN header
- 1 CPU_OPT header
- 3 OPT_FAN headers
- 3 CHA_FAN headers

When I put my case fan at silent it spins up to 1200RPM and when I put it at performance it spins down to 600RPM as shown in the BIOS.
The first fan of my H100i is always at 2300RPM and the second fan is now only spinning at 1200RPM.
I'll post some pictures later on.

 

[Centurion855]

Here are some pictures of my BIOS:

CPU_FAN control @ Turbo:

OPT_FAN2 @ 90% duty mode and OPT_FAN3 control @ performance mode:

Fan speed monitoring:

CPU_FAN control (first H100i fan) is at Turbo and it shows 2300RPM so that's all good.
OPT_FAN2 (Corsair AF140 case fan) is set to duty mode 90% so it should be at 1080RPM which it is, so np there.
But OPT_FAN3 (second H100i fan) is set to performance mode and still it is only spinning at 1200RPM... it should be spinning at 2300RPM like the first H100i fan.

How do I fix this?

My fans are plugged into my motherboard like this:
- Corsair H100i fan 1 connected to CPU_FAN header
- Corsair H100i fan 2 connected to OPT_FAN3 header
- Corsair AF140 case fan connected to OPT_FAN2 header

These are all my available fan headers on my Asus Rampage IV mobo:
- 1 CPU_FAN header
- 1 CPU_OPT header
- 3 OPT_FAN headers
- 3 CHA_FAN headers

 

[madchemist83]

Attach all the fans connected to your H100 to the cold plate/block/controller. That's the thing that goes onto the CPU and has the corsair logo that lights up white. The fan lead from that needs to attach to your motherboard CPU fan header.

In your BIOS you need to disable the CPU fan control as the header you've plugged in is the pump speed and it needs to be at 100%.

The fans being plugged into the cold plate will allow the H100 to control the fan speed based on the setting you use when pressing on the cold plate's button.

 

[Centurion855]

Hmm strange it all seems fixed now.. the 2 fans are spinning, the Corsair RGB logo stays red even after a cold reboot and the second fan is not spinning at 100% RPM anymore because I set it to "quiet mode" using the Corsair Link software.

The only thing that is still not correct is that only the pump and the second H100i fan show up in the Corsair Link software, but the first H100i fan is nowhere to be found...

Here's a pic:

As you can see it shows the H100i pump and the second H100i fan.
But then for some reason it shows the 4th?? H100i fan at 0 RPM...

 

[madchemist83]

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2062894/corsair-link-recognize-h100i.html

 

[Centurion855]

That is for windows 8.1 and i'm using windows 7. I'll try it anyway and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Centurion855]

Ok so I uninstalled my current Corsair Link and installed the newest Corsair Link and updated the firmware for my H100i.
Now it only shows the H100i pump & H100i fan2. Could it be that the "pump" is actually fan 1? Because the pump displays in RPM's although under device type it clearly says "pump"..

Here's a screenshot:

 

[madchemist83]

About the fan, this is normal. Corsair H100i GTX only have one fan channel and the cable is y connected to power 2 fans, this is why Corsair Link only detect them as one but control both.

About Q-Fan Control you should disable it in order to prevent pump problems. You should either disable any motherboard fan control to CPU header or make it manual and set it to 100%.

 

[Centurion855]

About the fan, this is normal. Corsair H100i GTX only have one fan channel and the cable is y connected to power 2 fans, this is why Corsair Link only detect them as one but control both.

About Q-Fan Control you should disable it in order to prevent pump problems. You should either disable any motherboard fan control to CPU header or make it manual and set it to 100%.

Ok i'll do that, thanks. But my water cooler is a H100i and not a H100i GTX, idk if that matters.
Also I think the pump is plugged into the CPU_FAN header of my motherboard and one of the H100i fans is connected via the OPT_FAN3 header of my mobo.
I don't think i'm using the Y-cable you mentioned. Because at the back of my case behind the mobo I see two unplugged cables...

This is all very confusing... why does Corsair not make it simple and arrange the Corsair Link software that it shows 4 things?
- H100i Pump control
- H100i fan 1 control
- H100i fan 2 control
- RGB LED control

This way there is no confusion possible >.>

So what you are telling me is that in my BIOS I get RPM readings for both my H100i fan 1 and fan 2 but in the corsair link software it controls the RPM's for both fans under "H100i Fan 2" ?