Question Overclocking an i5-6600K to 4.7Ghz ?

[knowledge2121]

My current setup (my second PC) :

• Gigabyte Z170-HD3 (DDR4 Version)
• i5-6600K
• Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4
• GTX 1070 FE
• 500W EVGA PSU
• Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Air Cooler
• DeepCool CK500 case

I am planning to OC my CPU to 4.7Ghz. Z170-HD3 can OC i7-6700K to max 4.5Ghz according to Tom's review due to the VRM not being able to supply enough voltage to the CPU... How will the Z170-HD3 perform with a 6600K ? Considering my Chip, CPU cooler and case ventilation are good ?

I also want to upgrade my RAM from 16GB to 32GB ... I have heard that if I buy a new 2x8GB kit it may not play nice with the existing kit so I am looking to buy a new 2x16GB kit...

Which RAM speed should I look for ? if I go with a 3600Mhz RAM kit, will that play nice with my 4.7Ghz OC ?

Also, Is the RAM kit even compatible with my board :?

Here is a quote an extract from the board specs:

1. Support for DDR4 3466(O.C.) /3400(O.C.) /3333(O.C.) /3300(O.C.) /3200(O.C.) /3000(O.C.) /2800(O.C.) /2666(O.C.) /2400(O.C.) /2133 MHz memory modules

 

[Eximo]

You will want to consult your motherboard QVL list for compatible memory. Given the age of the board, it may be difficult to track down the models they actually tested at the time.

Running high speed XMP profiles with large memory sticks doesn't always work either. And you have a 1st generation DDR4 controller, so it won't necessarily work as well as recent Intel chips.

As for the CPU overclocking, the VRMs are not necessarily a hard limit. Depends on how much power the CPU needs to reach 4.7Ghz. Though realistically, that would be pretty much top marks for 6th gen. I would likely compromise around 4.5Ghz with a lot less voltage. You don't really have the best CPU cooler or PSU for heavy overclocking anyway. These chips can pull around 150W when put up around 1.4 volts. You already have a 150W GPU, plus the rest of the system, I wouldn't risk it.

 

[geofelt]

How well you can OC a 6600K will be determined by your luck in having a good chip.
These statistics show that 70% of 6600k chips can do 4.7:
https://siliconlottery.com/pages/statistics

If I recall my experiments with that chip in the past, running ram faster reduced the possible oc.
The specs for your motherboard suggest that 3466 is the best you could expect.

As to the tradeoff, I think the better OC will get you more than faster ram.
The Intel memory controller is very good at anticipating ram needs so fast ram is not so important.

No game really needs more than 16gb of ram. But, if you are multitasking also then you might need more ram to hold all the running code.
While running full out, access task manager/resource monitor/memory tab/hard page fault column.
If you see a hard fault rate much above zero, more ram can help.

Intel is fairly tolerant of mismatched ram. What is your plan B if an added 16gb does not work properly? I might guess that adding ram has a 75% chance of success.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

Well, a lot of whether to OC that chip, depends on what you intend to do. If for some reason you thing this might help you gaming wise, then it's a pointless exercise. Your system is limited by the CPU. So, regardless of how high you OC, it won't bring much to the table. Certainly not for modern games.

 

[knowledge2121]

Certainly not for modern games.

What is wrong with retro/previous generation games ? I have not played any games since ages ago...I might not even have time to play last gen games 2020+...plus this is mainly my workstation PC...

No game really needs more than 16gb of ram. But, if you are multitasking also then you might need more ram to hold all the running code.
While running full out, access task manager/resource monitor/memory tab/hard page fault column.
If you see a hard fault rate much above zero, more ram can help.

Intel is fairly tolerant of mismatched ram. What is your plan B if an added 16gb does not work properly? I might guess that adding ram has a 75% chance of success.

I will open many chrome tabs and many ebooks(PDF or DJVU files)...one or two latex editors and Sagemath.

I am thinking of upgrading to 32GB before putting this together because if I later decide to upgrade to 32GB I have to remove the CPU cooler which is huge...

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

What is wrong with retro/previous generation games ? I have not played any games since ages ago...I might not even have time to play last gen games 2020+...plus this is mainly my workstation PC...



I will open many chrome tabs and many ebooks(PDF or DJVU files)...one or two latex editors and Sagemath.

I am thinking of upgrading to 32GB before putting this together because if I later decide to upgrade to 32GB I have to remove the CPU cooler which is huge...

For sure, if that is your gaming plans, then it's perfectly suitable for now.

However, I wouldn't put any money into it, as in purchasing ram for it. It's just wasted, and won't give you any perceivable jump in performance. 16gb would be fine for your needs.