Overclocking i5 4690k - need help

[Kafar]

So, I got a new PC and I bought i5 4690k

I never did any OC. I've read some guides on the net but they are all kinda messy

Can anyone write for me step by step guide to overclocking and testing ?

I know the bare minimum - go to UEFI, set memory to standard, test the stability on standard settings. Then just raise the multiplier and test again. If needed, raise the voltage a bit (how much?). After all tweaking run the final test

The main problem is with programs. I've seen Prime95 and Aida64 everywhere but ppl say that those are not good programs cus they push CPU way too far and they tend to overclock.

As for in-between testing, ppl recommend LinX and for temps - RealTemp (also CPU-Z for checking if the settings applied)

So anyway, which programs I should use for first stability test (without OC), in-between testing and final test ? For how long I should test ?

I would really appreciate if someone would write for me detailed guide in points step by step with all UEFI tweaks and testing

 

[Kafar]

So, did first OC

I've set up the multiplier on 37. Ran 20x Linx. Everything was fine, temps max at 68

Next, I've raised multiplier to 39. Ran 20x Linx....well, not fine I guess

As you can see, temps maxed out at 84 which I guess is totally too high for 3.9 GHz. I did nothing to core voltage, left it at auto and as you can see it was auto st up to 1.2 V. Weird thing is that it's not dropping down - and it was dropping even to 0.8 when the CPU was not OC'ed and not at load. Also, my CPU fan keeps running at 1500 even tho temps are now at 30-32. And its defo louder than regular 1200

So, my wild guess is that I wont be able to OC ? (I'll just drop it down to stock 3.5)

EDIT: PS, my cooler is Fortis HE1225

EDIT2: Weird, after setting everything to default stock vaules aka non-OC, I ran the CPU-Z and it showed me that CPU can boost itself with up to 39 multiplier. And it was x39 for a while with even lower voltage (smth like 1.12). Also, cooler is running at default speed. I dont get it (I made SS where it OC'ed itself to x37)

 

[iamlegend]

Lol, your stock settings can boost your CPU until 3.9Ghz you need to OC past 3.9Ghz.

Run Prime 95 and determine the maximum voltage of your CPU and then from that record the voltage, i.e. @3.9Ghz = XV.

Then increase your Core clock = 40 and run prime 95 again if there is no crashes continue to increase 41,42,43 etc until it will crash.

From the time it will crash, restart and increase the core voltage, let`s say from 1.2=> 1.25 =>1.255 =1.260 and so on.

 

[frag06]

Lol, your stock settings can boost your CPU until 3.9Ghz you need to OC past 3.9Ghz.

Run Prime 95 and determine the maximum voltage of your CPU and then from that record the voltage, i.e. @3.9Ghz = XV.

Then increase your Core clock = 40 and run prime 95 again if there is no crashes continue to increase 41,42,43 etc until it will crash.

From the time it will crash, restart and increase the core voltage, let`s say from 1.2=> 1.25 =>1.255 =1.260 and so on.

Do not use Prime, it is extremely hard on Haswell processors. Use OCCT Linpack or AIDA64 for stress testing.

 

[Kafar]

I have AIDA64 installed, how to set it up ? For in-between testing I ran LinX as you can see above

Anyway, as I said before, on 3.9 GHz with 1.2V the cooler was running on 1500 and it didn't went down even tho temps were 30C after testing. Also the voltage didn't went down and stayed at 1.2V as opposed to stock values when it's going down along with multiplier when CPU isnt used much

I don't want my cooler running noisy and at unneeded speeds when the CPU is cold :/

 

[michaelzehr]

I have AIDA64 installed, how to set it up ? For in-between testing I ran LinX as you can see above

Anyway, as I said before, on 3.9 GHz with 1.2V the cooler was running on 1500 and it didn't went down even tho temps were 30C after testing. Also the voltage didn't went down and stayed at 1.2V as opposed to stock values when it's going down along with multiplier when CPU isnt used much

I don't want my cooler running noisy and at unneeded speeds when the CPU is cold :/

Depending on your motherboard, there are options for voltage to be adaptive or manual. For example I have an asus z97A and AI suite III. AI suite has an option for adaptive Vccore based on the multiplier, so it drops the voltage when the cpu is idle. There's also an option for manual, which keeps the Vccore the same regardless of load. Sometimes when I change Vccore somewhere else, the manual/adaptive setting changes. For myself, I put it back, to adaptive because I'm more interested in power and quiet rather than always having the most cpu power.

Likewise there are usually fan settings that can be changed. If the fan spun up as the cpu temperature went up, but then didn't spin down, I'm not sure what that issue is. Some fan controllers (either software or hardware) are slow to respond to changing conditions. (Or if somewhere the fan is set to adjust based on the current, which is related to the voltage, you might be running your fan full speed because your voltage isn't adaptive.)

If you mentioned your motherboard I missed it, but let me add when using the ASUS there's an auto tune in software in ai suite iii, and also an ez tune in bios. If you're new to OCing, you might want to try those. My bios ez tune was much more aggressive than the ai suite iii auto tune, but your mileage may vary.


Aside to frag06: why shouldn't one use something that's "hard" on a cpu when stress testing? I thought the idea was to work the cpu at the highest possible load to see if it's stable, even if that's a harder load than you're likely to ever reach in normal use? Can you explain?