Overclocking i5 7600k on ASUS z170 motherboard

[chibbluffy]

So, I've been messing around with a computer I built, trying to overclock it to 4.5Ghz or higher.
I tried setting the settings to a 100 BCLK Frequency ratio, 45-48 on the cpu core ratios, and 40-44 on the cache ratios.
I turned off boost and some other settings so that I could manually do this.
Voltage set to 1.300 like normal.
The highest it will go when I boot up into windows is 3.8-4.0 Ghz.
Is there a specific setting I should be looking for? I feel like I have tried everything. The target frequency, cache, and dram all match what I want to try and get, but when I boot up to windows, it doesn't get up to that high and seems to only cap at 3.8 or 4.0, varying on different inputs I have.

If more information is needed, let me know and I'll provide it.
Motherboard: ASUS z170
CPU: intel i5 7600k

 

[chenuki]

This excellent guide may be helpful: http://www.tweaktown.com/guides/7481/tweaktowns-ultimate-intel-skylake-overclocking-guide/index.html

 

[Supernova1138]

Try turning down the cache ratios to stock first, overclocking the cache can cause stability problems. If you can't get above 4.0GHz with the normal cache values at 1.3V, then you may have lost the silicon lottery and have a chip that isn't going to overclock well.

 

[chibbluffy]

That's kind of a bummer @Supernova. I don't get bluescreens or anything though :/

 

[Supernova1138]

Well if you're not even booting into Windows then it's really unstable. Booting into Windows is typically the easy part for an overclocked CPU, it's when the stress tests are done that you're most likely to encounter the bluescreens.

I'd say, set your voltage to manual, try to boot the system with the base stock voltage to make sure it's stable there at stock clockspeed, then if it is stable, start slowly ramping up the clockspeed 100MHz at a time and do some stress testing, if it fails or you get a bluescreen, up your voltage a bit and try again. You might also want to keep an eye on your temperatures, Kaby Lake can run hot, especially if you are pushing up to 1.3V or higher, so you might have some thermal issues too if your cooler isn't mounted right, or you have a weak cooler.

 

[chibbluffy]

What? No, I said I can boot into windows fine. I DONT get any blue screens. Everything is fine, it just doesn't make the frequency any higher

 

[chibbluffy]

I have 5 case fans along with the stock tower cpu fan, so cooling isnt an issue.

 

[chibbluffy]

You may be right about me losing the lottery. It's the only thing that would make sense at this point

 

[Supernova1138]

What? No, I said I can boot into windows fine. I DONT get any blue screens. Everything is fine, it just doesn't make the frequency any higher

How are you monitoring the clockspeed? Do you see it increase in Task Manager or CPU-Z when you do a stress test? What are you using to stress test? Maybe try checking your Windows power settings and make sure it's not set to some sort of power saving setting.

 

[chibbluffy]

I use the Task manager, and I've already set the power options to performance. I use Prime95 to test it.

 

[Supernova1138]

Do you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard? Z170 was built for Skylake, you might have some compatibility issue with Kaby Lake depending on what BIOS revision you have.

 

[chibbluffy]

I'm going to update my BIOS and hope that helps. It's what a friend suggested.

 

[chibbluffy]

I was pretty sure I had a later version, but not sure if it's the latest