Question Overclocking 4790k

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Mar 28, 2020
27
0
30
I've had an i7-4790k for a long time and I'm starting to feel the power decrease in my FPS so I want to overclock but I have no knowledge in this matter. I would need the help of an expert to tell me if I can overclock with my current setup. Here is my complete setup:

CPU: Intel i7-4790K
GPU: Zotac Geforce GTX 1080 AMP Extreme 11 GB
Motherboard: Asrock Anniversary Z97
Water Cooler: Corsair H100-i
Power Supply: Cooler Master EX2 625W
SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 1TB
Memory: Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600mhz 4x8GB

I tried a long time ago to overclock my 4790K and i had some bluescreens or my pc was restarting so i stopped trying because i didnt want to break anything. I have a feeling my motherboard cant handle overcloking since its a cheap board but i need to know if its safe to overclock with my setup and if no what should i change to make it possible and if theres any tipŝ i need to know before doing it. Thank you very much.
 
Mar 28, 2020
27
0
30
Well both fans on my H100i is working ATM if its what you mean. The pump is coming out from the radiator and the radiator has 2 fans screwed onto it. There's only 2 wires coming from my h100i and they are from the fans and they are plugged in. The pump wire well obviously is on my CPU
 
There should be a power wire coming off the CPU block of the H100i. That's the power wire for the pump. (I guess if the image below matches your exact unit, the power actually comes from a SATA connector)
35-181-032-08.jpg

I addition, each fan will have it's own power wire also. Totaling 3 wires (1 + 2)
 
Mar 28, 2020
27
0
30
Alright so i did check a installing tutorial for my H100i and indeed was plugged wrong. My pump wire was connected into the CPU2 fan socket and not the CPU1 but my sata was plugged correctly. The fans were plugged into the FAN1 and FAN2 sockets instead of being plugged in the CPU Cooler. After fixing all this, i did a stock test and still i went up to 85 degrees after not even a minute and i stopped it. I dont remember when was the last time i've put some thermal paste could it be it?
 
Mar 28, 2020
27
0
30
So i decided to check my radiator before changing the thermal paste and i realized that there was a thick layer of dust so i cleaned it. Then i change the thermal paste and it's pretty much the same. I get like 4-5 degrees less. However i did as i always did, i put the thermal paste of the size of a pea in the middle of my processor and apply pressure by fixing the cooler. Maybe i didn’t quite apply thermal paste or i put it wrong but what i am starting to believe is that this is not the reason why my CPU overheats so quickly because when i remove my cooler the first time, the thermal paste was well extended and applied well. So after this info, are you declaring my AIO dead ? If yes any suggestion on which one i should get at a affordable price?
 
Last edited:
Mar 28, 2020
27
0
30
Alright just got a new AIO Cooler and i've installed it and its overheating as soon as i start test as stock. Theres only 3 wires to connect which is 2 fans(actually both spinning right now) and the pump that i plugged in the CPU1FAN connector. The EVGA logo is in light.... Is it possible that i screwed the unit too tight on my processor or not enough? When i try to move the unit you can feel its tightly fixed. I did turn the screws for a long time but i haven't reach the point where i cant turn no more. There was already thermal paste on the cooler so i cleaned up my processor of all the thermal paste and used the quantity they put on the cooler. Thats all the info i can give you that hopefully will help you. Thanks a lot
 
Last edited:

RustyRagdoll

Distinguished
Sep 6, 2015
89
4
18,545
When i did the stock test the voltage was set to auto and i failed test. When i did the overclocked test i tried -0.01V +0.01V and +0.05V and failed all of them.
May be a bit late but, have you tried manually setting CPU VCore to 1.2v? And checking temps after?
Also, pro tip for every 4790K user is to cut down the VCCIN to from the stock 1.7/1.8 to 1.450/1.5, should cut temps a fair bit without taking away any performance. You can do this safely as the 4790K has two sets of VRM's on the PCB unlike it's little brother, the 4770K. Making it more efficient at power delivery with less input voltage.
Doesn't make a world of difference but it sure helps.
 
Mar 28, 2020
27
0
30
Even when i dont overclock and put my bios at default(stock) i get a 100 degrees on 2 cores when i test with prime95 with a brand new AIO cooler i bought. Any idea what would cause that overheat?
 

TRENDING THREADS