[SOLVED] Trying to overclock i5 6600k with Z170x gaming 3 motherboard with latest bios update

K1LLSW1TCH1

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So basically im new to overclocking and i have been trying to overclock my processor to 4.4ghz but im having a lot of issues doing so i saw most people can get 4.4 at around 1.3 voltage from what i researched to which i tried and it failed the stability test on aida 64. to which i think increased slowly and eventually reached 4.4ghz at 1.325 voltage which i thought was stable but the game i was playing proceeded to crash after about 2 hours. Also it failed the stability test i later tried after about an hour. The issue im having is i tried to leave voltage on auto and my PC literally wont boot at 4.4ghz on auto and im not sure why as i see a lot of people leave it on auto im wondering if my motherboard is the issue or the bios update i have as it seems like i need a huge amount of voltage to even run a 4.4ghz overclock im guessing i would need around 1.35v to get it to be stable. The auto feature just doesnt work and also my bios seems to have preset options to overclock called "CPU upgrade" which i tried also and my pc just wouldnt boot at 4.4 im really not sure what to do anymore as i want to overclock but it does not look like its going to happen my PC seems stable at 4.2ghz at 1.25v. Im on the latest bios update for the Z170x gaming 3 MB also f22j. im using 16gb DDR4 Ram and im using xmp profile 1. i have a hyper x 212 evo cooler on my cpu also. I also tried using the gigabyte software to overclock called easy tune and at 4.4ghz on the stability test my pc blue screened. im really unsure of what to do i guess maybe my processor is just a bad chip that cant go over 4.2ghz.
 
Solution
Not all CPUs are created equal.
It's possible you got a lower quality chip.

But in my experience, the VRM setup on MSI z170 boards is not the best.

I used to have an Asus z170 that could OC my i7 to 4.7GHz at 1.4v exactly, but I cant get past 4.4 on my MSI board with the same chip so right now it's 4.4 at 1.34v.

Depending on your cooling situation you can go all the way up to 1.4v but I would not go any higher.

So start at 1.4v then test stability then drop the voltage in increments as low as you can go while being stable, and once there take a look at temps when under load (realistic load like gaming and more CPU intensive things, not synthetic stress test temps)
And see if temps are acceptable to you (preferably not getting higher...

QwerkyPengwen

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Not all CPUs are created equal.
It's possible you got a lower quality chip.

But in my experience, the VRM setup on MSI z170 boards is not the best.

I used to have an Asus z170 that could OC my i7 to 4.7GHz at 1.4v exactly, but I cant get past 4.4 on my MSI board with the same chip so right now it's 4.4 at 1.34v.

Depending on your cooling situation you can go all the way up to 1.4v but I would not go any higher.

So start at 1.4v then test stability then drop the voltage in increments as low as you can go while being stable, and once there take a look at temps when under load (realistic load like gaming and more CPU intensive things, not synthetic stress test temps)
And see if temps are acceptable to you (preferably not getting higher than 82c)

But as I said, MSI is definitely not the best choice for overclocking, but it's also possible you drew the short straw in the silicon lottery my friend.
 
Solution

K1LLSW1TCH1

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Not all CPUs are created equal.
It's possible you got a lower quality chip.

But in my experience, the VRM setup on MSI z170 boards is not the best.

I used to have an Asus z170 that could OC my i7 to 4.7GHz at 1.4v exactly, but I cant get past 4.4 on my MSI board with the same chip so right now it's 4.4 at 1.34v.

Depending on your cooling situation you can go all the way up to 1.4v but I would not go any higher.

So start at 1.4v then test stability then drop the voltage in increments as low as you can go while being stable, and once there take a look at temps when under load (realistic load like gaming and more CPU intensive things, not synthetic stress test temps)
And see if temps are acceptable to you (preferably not getting higher than 82c)

But as I said, MSI is definitely not the best choice for overclocking, but it's also possible you drew the short straw in the silicon lottery my friend.

Yeah i think its the latter to be honest i think i would have to be at least at 1.35v to get 4.4ghz out of it and tbh at that point its like is it worth it really if all im doing is gaming and it will increase my temps by a lot 4.2ghz @ 1.25v seems completely stable, im thinking of upgrading to a i7 7700k which is the best processor out currently for my board.
 

QwerkyPengwen

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Yeah i think its the latter to be honest i think i would have to be at least at 1.35v to get 4.4ghz out of it and tbh at that point its like is it worth it really if all im doing is gaming and it will increase my temps by a lot 4.2ghz @ 1.25v seems completely stable, im thinking of upgrading to a i7 7700k which is the best processor out currently for my board.
4.2 is fine, but maybe see if you can't run 4.3 at that voltage. Maybe trying 1.3v if need be, just try to get the most you can out of it at the right voltage and temps
 

K1LLSW1TCH1

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4.2 is fine, but maybe see if you can't run 4.3 at that voltage. Maybe trying 1.3v if need be, just try to get the most you can out of it at the right voltage and temps

Yeah i mean i found out about having a high LLC as mine was set to auto and i seem to be stable at higher ghz on lower voltages, i did not know about this setting as im new to overclocking but im running 4.3ghz at 1.3v which was not stable before on high LLC and i have been testing for an hour in OCCT and no errors have been detected max temps of around 84degrees so im guessing i just needed to have this setting on high to over clock at higher ghz as maybe i just have a bad chip i guess, are there any downsides to this setting currently i have 4.3ghz at 1.3v at high LLC and it seems stable so far from testing im not really sure if OCCT is good though or if i should be testing on another program i tried intel burn test also which my friend suggested and it was stable so far i might try 4.4ghz at 1.3v on high LLC if this remains stable thanks for the help though man i appreciate it
 

K1LLSW1TCH1

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Please don't mess with LLC without even knowing what it is and what it does.

It's not some magic thing that just makes things work for you without any drawbacks.


LLC is directly connected to voltages.
well i mean i have done some research it just doesnt let the voltage drop at high loads to avoid crashes etc right? i mean it keeps it at higher power usage but im monitoring it and it is not going above 1.3v
 

QwerkyPengwen

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It does this by forcing voltage, which when put under certain loads works fine, but in other loads over shoots the voltage making the voltage go higher than what you set it to in BIOS.

You can of course use it, but just be careful not to change it too strong of a level otherwise you'll be pumping more voltage into the CPU than you might like to.

You gotta walk a line with it and find a balance.

You can see what I mean in action if you use CPU-Z to watch the voltage while you do play games and run stress tests.

I suggest using the program to check the voltage at different LLC levels and adjust LLC until you stop getting any Vdroop that way you maintain voltage with as little overshoot as possible.

The more you offset the Vdroop, the more over shooting you get.

It's a give and take.