Recommended overclock for i5-3570k?

[haswell5271]

I like to consider myself a very tech savvy person. I feel I have a firm grasp on how overclocking works. But I would love to have some input on this subject:

I have an:
i5-3570k
Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
ASRock Z77 Extreme3
Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Rev 2
Corsair Vengeance 4GB x2 @ 1600MHz
EVGA 650ti Boost 2GB

I would like to know what you guys think a good overclock for this build would be. I am a gamer who loves setting things to the maximum graphics. I've also considered overclocking my GPU, however I have no experience doing so and I feel it may be unnecessary. If you feel I could really benefit from this then please feel free to weigh in.

Please give voltages as well as the multiplier. Also RAM overclock speeds you'd recommend would be lovely.

This is an open forum and all recommendations are appreciated

 

[huilun02]

It depends what game and resolution really, and then your 650 Ti Boost might bottleneck even before you can see any gain in overclocking the processor.

My i5-3570k is 4.0Ghz at stock volts. With my HD 7950 (OC) already doing ultra 1080p in most games. So didn't see the need to push any further.
You'll see little to no gains in most games. Take this for example:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-4-graphics-card-performance,3634-10.html

A stock i5-2500k achieved similar average frames to the i7-3960X.
However other games like the ARMA series, RTS and physics sandbox games are more CPU-heavy and will gain from overclocking.

 

[haswell5271]

It seems like from that chart that it raises the minimum FPS of games. I can run anything I've thrown at my PC at maximum graphics. Take Skyrim for example. No problems hitting +60 FPS using FRAPS at Ultra. However after I add a TON of HD mods I have dropped Skyrim to 38 frames. If I could boost that to at least 40 that would make me happy.

I've read that overclocking to 4.2 GHz can be easily achieved without touching voltages. Do you know of any overclocking charts that are legitimate?

 

[huilun02]

Your HD mods are pushing your GPU more than the processor. Consider overclocking the GPU instead. Framerate will take a hammering after you saturate the 2GB of vram.

I noticed your processor is already at 4.2Ghz, just watch temps and volts if you push it higher...
Guru3D made an overclock review of the i5-3570k, most certainly legit:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i5_3570k_review,11.html

As for the process of actually doing the overclock, it's a tedious repetition of:
Increasing the multiplier by 1, test for stability, if failed keep increasing voltage and testing until its stable. Then do it all over again until your satisfied. Temps will increase as you add more voltage, so you want to add as little as possible.

 

[haswell5271]

I don't think I've ever actually used even half of my VRAM. So that's not a problem. I guess I cpuld up the GPU frequency a bit. Any recommendations?

Also my processor is at stock speeds right now. I have read that it can be overclocked to 4.2 without increasing voltages. I'd like to push even that.

I'd like to reach around 4.4 GHz because I know it can handle it. I would like to find a chart that has recommended voltages for such frequencies.

Thank you for the link. It was nice to see someone with such a high overclock. Even though I'm on air cooling I'd like to be able to reach 4.4.

 

[huilun02]

There is no 'standard' voltage for any given overclock...

Exactly how much volts you will need to achieve it, will depend on the chip you got.

For some people like this guy, got it 4.4Ghz stable at 1.23v;
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/282210-29-overclock-3570k

Or even 4.3 at stock volts;
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2248452

Other not so lucky people need 1.27v for 4.3Ghz, and 1.35v for 4.4;
http://www.overclock.net/t/1360527/i5-3570k-requires-1-35v-for-4-4ghz


This is what they call the 'silicon lottery' because each chip is not exactly identical to one another. It's up to luck if yours is a good one and let you get a higher clock for no increase in voltage.

Perhaps you could use the above examples to establish a range to hit your minimum volts without too much trial and error;
Set multiplier to 44 and 1.23v, if not stable, keep adding 0.005v until it is. There is another method to overclocking, using offset voltages. I can't babysit you through all that, so look it up yourself.

As for cooling, 4.4Ghz should be no problem with an air cooler.

Anyways good luck, may the low volts be with you!