Overclock 4670k with ASUS B85M-E

[compadre954]

I built a PC a few months back and have been upgrading a-la-carte ever since. My current specs are as follows:

ASUS B85M-E
Intel 4670k
EVGA GTX 760
8 GB Ram
EVO 212 cpu cooler


I originally had the 4430 then decided to upgrade to a K series chip. The chip itself set me back some dough, and I thought the additional clock speed from the upgrade would be enough. Then I caught the overclock bug. I did some research and realized with a mobo BIOS update that the mobo was capable of overclocking. So I set the cpu multiplier to x40 and it was stable. I tried setting it to x42 but blue screened once windows launched. Are these mobos capable of reaching speeds higher or will a z87 board be necessary?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

If you want real overclocking features get a decent Z87 board.

 

[compadre954]

I have cpu voltage control and cpu multiplier in my BIOS, I'm just wondering if the >$100 is worth the price. Shouldn't I be able to get close to 4.4-4.6 ghz with my current set up assuming temps aren't too high?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

For real overclocks you need Z87.

 

[Jake Thorn]

The z87 boards would be better, but you should be able to get 4.2 with a 4670k, what are your voltages at?

 

[compadre954]

1.25v

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

With that board you won't get far, not enough options to overclock effectively.

 

[Jake Thorn]

Try uping to 1.275, then 1.3. Have you been running stress tests before, or just seeing if your system will launch, then going back to up the multiplier? If you used a synthetic, what was the program?

 

[Jake Thorn]

With that board you won't get far, not enough options to overclock effectively.

I agree, but 4.2 should still be feasible. A new board would help, but we can always try helping achieve better performance without first recommending to shell out +$100 for parts. If I can't help him, I will surely advise him to buy the board. But lets try overclocking better first.

 

[compadre954]

No stress tests so far. I just wanted to see if the system would launch then I subjected it to BF4.

 

[Jake Thorn]

No stress tests so far. I just wanted to see if the system would launch then I subjected it to BF4.

If your system BSODs without any sort of synthetic being applied, then its worse than I thought. You will need a z87 board. I'd recommend the MSi z87-gd65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130692
Amazing board I will vouch for.

And don't adjust the voltage whatsoever, if simply launching an application BSODs your system at 1.25 with 4.2. Did you ever run a synthetic at 4.0?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($197.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $197.26
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-26 21:26 EST-0500)

 

[Jake Thorn]

The MSi board is superior(though barely) and cheaper. The Maximus VI has 2 PCI-e 3.0 and 1 PCI-e 2.0, while the z87-gd65 has 3 PCI-e 3.0 ports, in addition to an extra PCI-e x1 slot. Go with the MSi board.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

ASUS is higher quality when it comes to boards.

 

[Jake Thorn]

Maybe in general, but the z87-gd65 is an excellent board. Not worth the loss of extra features and money for a sense of superiority. If the z87-gd65 fails him, I'll take this back, but it won't.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Both are great for overclocking , great boards.

 

[compadre954]

I appreciate the responses, but I'm still weary of the actual benefits of a z87 board. Why do they outperform my current b85m-e if it's capable of overclocking? I dont mind links to heavy technical articles or complicated explanations; I love doing research . Before I make a purchase, I just want to make sure the board will bring me to my desired clock speed (~4.4 ghz). If I can invest the extra $150-$200 in another component, I would prefer that.

 

[Jake Thorn]

Honestly, any good, high quality z87 motherboard will put the bottlenecks on your cooler and "luck of the draw" with your CPU. They regulate voltage far better, have high quality capacitors and are actually designed with overclocking in mind, as opposed to the b85, which is not meant to be overclocked at all. The also allow for a better motherboard overclock, if you're willing to do that as well(Why not really). I will try to find the best article specifically on z87 motherboards, but that is the jist of it.

 

[Jake Thorn]

Here is something for a general comparison between z87s and b85s, and any other 1150 motherboard type.
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z87-H87-H81-Q87-Q85-B85-What-is-the-difference-473/

To make some adjustments on this based on the z87-gd65:
The motherboard supports PCI-e 3.0 instead of 2.0
It has 8 SATA 3.0 ports instead of 6

And that is just to name a few. It has MIL-STD-810G certification, which means they've pasted a horde of stress tests. I will attach the forms for that, if you genuinely enjoy pure technical research, but its very long so...
http://www.atec.army.mil/publications/Mil-Std-810G/Mil-Std-810G.pdf

 

[flapjacky]

Been using b85m-g for overclocking my 4670K. No issues what so ever, same overclocking options as Z-boards.
Ive delidded and mounted my cooler directly on the die. ive pushed 1,42V without any problems. (a couple hours stress testing).
Its great value, you dont need a Z board for a decent/good enough overclock experience!

 

[fexii]

Hi, I found this thread because I can't find out how to OC my i5 4670k on my asus b85m-e.

I can only set a CPU-Ratio-LIMIT, which the core takes maximal when he is in Turbo mode.

Can u explain how you overclocked with this bios? I already have the newest bios updated.

Thx 4 help