OC'ing my non k i7 3770

[hapkiman]

Ok I have a question about my i7 3770 and overclocking. I know its a "locked" processor, and is already fast as hell, but I've found I can use the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and overclock the Turbo to 4.1 or 4.2 GHz with no apparent issues. It pumps up every game a good 10-15 FPS.

Also if this thread is in the wrong area I apologize in advance.

I have 2 rigs right now, #1 is a self built AMD rig (which I'm getting ready to sell). #2 is the "pre-built" I'm using until I start my new build. It's a modded HP Envy Phoenix 1120t with a i7 3770 on a Pegatron Z75 mobo, with 16GB of Crucial Ballistix 1600MHz RAM, and a Power Edition MSI GTX 670 card (heavily OC'ed). I also have a Intel 160GB 320 SSD as my boot drive. I know most here hate pre-builts, buts it actually a pretty damn good rig.

I have no issues running this system at stock clocks, and it runs max/ultra on any game I've tried. I play a lot of BF3 and get 80-90-100 FPS depending on the map at 1920x1080. It rarely goes below 70FPS on BF3. Ever. Even on Crysis 3 with every setting maxed I still am getting 35-45 FPS which is pretty dang good for that game, and quite playable actually (and looks drop-dead gorgeous). I just re-did the TIM on the GTX 670 (using MX-4) which dropped it from high 70c's to high 50's - low 60c's even after hours of Crysis 3.

I ran the i7 3770 at 4.1GHz all day long (about 14 hours) without a single hiccup (not Prime 95, but just gaming), and it stayed at 4.1 constantly. My temps were in the 50's, and never got too hot (I have a decent Asetek closed loop cooler). My ambient is also cool in my office - which I know helps. But the system was completely stable. I haven't been messing with the RAM, just the CPU.

My question is am I killing this proc, or shortening its life by this slight Turbo OC? I don't think I am, but my buddy (who has been doing this a lot longer than me) says I am making a mistake doing this because I'm stressing the 3770 out and it's gonna just crap out on me.

I know I can get a "k" version and a Z77 board and overclock the hell out of it, but I'm not really wanting to right now, because I getting ready for a new Haswell build this summer. I was just screwing around with a tiny OC, and I don't think I am hurting the proc. Someone please tell me if I'm wrong and he's right.

Thanks.

HPE Phoenix case
Pegatron 2AD5 Z75 mobo
i7 3770
16GB Ballistix 1600MHz (4x4)
Corsair TX 650watt PSU
MSI GTX 670 Power Edition
Intel 320 160GB (boot with Win 7 Prem)
Hitachi HDS72101 7200 RPM 1TB HDD
HP BD E DH12E3SHB SCSI Blu-Ray x8
two extra 120mm case fans push/pull
**EDIT I am only changing the Multiplier, not the baseclock

 

[k1114]

It's not more harmful than any other oc. Don't know why you think it would be any different. Non k cpus can go up 400mhz which is what you did. Your buddy doesn't know what he's talking about.