[SOLVED] Overclocking my Intel I5-4690k

ShadeSlayer812

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Dec 1, 2015
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I am going to build a computer with an Intel I5-4690k. I know the basics of overclocking but I was wondering if it would work for me. My ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard supports overclocking so that won't be a problem. My cooler is a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler, which I do not know if this will be sufficient. My PSU is XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply, and I have an 8gb GPU so that will eat alot of power. According to PC part picker my PC will use 477W (before or after over-clocking?)

So could you please tell me if i can overclock and please refresh on how to overclock. Thanks! :)
 
You are good.

I have become a bit jaded on the subject of haswell cooling for overclocking.
How high you can OC is firstly determined by your luck in the bin lottery.
I had high expectations from the Devil's canyon parts and their better thermals.
I found out that the thermals really do not matter unless, perhaps, you are a competitive overclocker.
Haswell runs quite cool, that is, until you raise the voltage past 1.25v or so.
Once you go past 1.3v, then you really do need very good cooling to keep stress loads under say 85c.
But, the consensus is that voltages higher than 1.30 are not a good thing for 24/7 usage.
I have been unable to find any official Intel recommendation on what is a safe vcore limit.
To oc, just gradually increase the multiplier in the bios, leaving all else on auto.
Stress test with OCCT which will stop the test if temperatures reach 85c.
Monitor vcore with cpu-Z.


Even if you can handle the heat, how much do you really need that extra multiplier from say 4.4 to 4.6?

Your psu is excellent.
Here is a chart that shows what graphics cards you can run on 550w.
I suspect you have a R9 card in mind, and be advised that they are more power hungry than nvidia.
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

A 550w psu should run a card as good as a GTX980 or a R9-380X.

Now, With Skylake now available, there is absolutely no question in my mind that a new build should be Skylake.
a. Prices for cpu, z170 motherboard and ddr4 ram are almost precisely the same.
b. Skylake has an estimated 5-10% performance improvement per clock over haswell.
c. 14nm runs cooler, you get a decent overclock without the need for exotic cooling.
d. The Z170 chipset permits the use of much faster ssd devices on the horizon. Samsung 950 pro for example:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/ssd950pro/overview.html
e. skylake can be upgraded in the future to kaby lake.

I suggest for a new build, you look at a i5-6600K, a Z170 motherboard and DDR4 ram.
The cost should not be significantly different.