Question What is a reasonably good speed for i9-9900K?

[modeonoff]

Just going to the BIOS and choosing XMP to allow the RAM to run a higher speed (3400MHz), I get about 4.5GHz automatically. Is this considered to be normal, good or excellent? Shall I try to push to make the CPU runs faster? Is it worth to do that?

 

[Chasingfaith]

The XMP profile is an automatic profile that sets your memory speed and memory timings to the specified values. In your case, this is 3400MHz because you bought a 3400 MHz ram kit. However, an XMP profile usually does not overclock the cpu. A non-overclocked i9 9900k runs at a maximum speed of 4.7 GHz over all 8 cores, with single cores reaching as high as 5 GHz and therefore, your cpu runs normal. If you've got a good cooling solution, you might want to overclock your cpu to about 5 GHz over all cores.

 

[modeonoff]

The XMP profile is an automatic profile that sets your memory speed and memory timings to the specified values. In your case, this is 3400MHz because you bought a 3400 MHz ram kit. However, an XMP profile usually does not overclock the cpu. A non-overclocked i9 9900k runs at a maximum speed of 4.7 GHz over all 8 cores, with single cores reaching as high as 5 GHz and therefore, your cpu runs normal. If you've got a good cooling solution, you might want to overclock your cpu to about 5 GHz over all cores.

Thanks. What is the recommended guide/procedure to do that?

 

[Chasingfaith]

I recommend that you away from "automated overclocking software" and that you overclock you cpu manually using in the bios.

The entire process is quite a lot to explain over a forum, but there are plenty of good articles and videos that explain the procedure in detail. Any kaby lake/ coffee lake cpu will overclock pretty much identical to your cpu so this is a good place to start:

Intel Coffee Lake Overclocking Guide – GND-Tech

Overclocking Coffee Lake is hardly any different than Kaby Lake/Skylake or Haswell and the related HEDT models.

www.google.com

Furthermore, I recommend that your start with:
multiplier: 50x (sync all cores)
XMP profile enabled
Core voltage: manual 1.32v
LLC: select a mid/high setting. The naming scheme is this is different for every motherboard manufacturer

After this, you should start your pc and check its stability/temps. Personally I just use cinebench to quickly check stability and intelburntest to check the temperature. After this, you might want to tweak you voltage, LLC or increase/decrease your multiplier when desired.

Which motherboard you you have and which cooling solution do you use?

 

[sizzling]

As above, what motherboard and cooler do you have. Average setups will barely run a 9900k at stock speed let alone overclocking one.

 

[XxDarkMario20xX]

I have the same CPU and mine is overclocked to 5ghz and my idle temps 29-35 and maybe when i watch stuff gose to 40 but when gaming might go between 60-75 I have an be quiet! Dark Rock TF, Top Flow Dual Tower CPU Cooler, 6 Heatpipes, 2x 135mm PWM Fans, 220W TDP, for Intel/AMD CPUs and Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. Z390 AORUS MASTER-CF So having a good cooler might do the trick plus when made thread many days ago heard cheaper 390 boards will have problems that why i went with the motherboard.

But we cant say anything because you need to post the specs of your motherboard and cooler and such

 

[modeonoff]

As above, what motherboard and cooler do you have. Average setups will barely run a 9900k at stock speed let alone overclocking one.

Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Xtreme. Two CPU coolers from Noctua NH-D15S, 3 Silentwings front case fans from BeQuiet.
I added 3 top Thermaltake Riing TRIO RGB fans and also replaced the back Silentwings fan by another Riing TRIO RGB fans.
Have not pushed the machine yet but when turning on the machine, the fans are very loud but within a few seconds, the machine is silent (both pre and post adding of RGB fans).

 

[Chasingfaith]

Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Xtreme. Two CPU coolers from Noctua NH-D15S, 3 Silentwings front case fans from BeQuiet.
I added 3 top Thermaltake Riing TRIO RGB fans and also replaced the back Silentwings fan by another Riing TRIO RGB fans.
Have not pushed the machine yet but when turning on the machine, the fans are very loud but within a few seconds, the machine is silent (both pre and post adding of RGB fans).

With your hardware you should be able to achieve at least a 5GHz clockspeed over all cores (and probably even more)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjABegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw1UpunS74zU8yNTAK9yf5Tg

This guide might help you through the process

 

[modeonoff]

With your hardware you should be able to achieve at least a 5GHz clockspeed over all cores (and probably even more)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjABegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw1UpunS74zU8yNTAK9yf5Tg

This guide might help you through the process

Thanks. Will doing that shorten the life of the components? Under what situations do we overclock?

Without doing anything extra, even playing Metro at the highest settings, everything works butter smooth.

 

[Chasingfaith]

Thanks. Will doing that shorten the life of the components? Under what situations do we overclock?

Without doing anything extra, even playing Metro at the highest settings, everything works butter smooth.

Overclocking can shorten the life of your components depending on the voltages and temperatures. However, a slight overclock such as the one I suggested won't noticeably decrease the lifespan of your components. You'll probably start seeing a faster degradation of your components once you start pushing upwards of 1.4V through the cpu, or expose it to temperatures upwards of 80c for prolonged periods of time, en even then they might last for years. It's hard to tell really...

That being said, your cpu is already crazy fast without an overclock and you won't gain much "gaming performance" by overclocking. If you don't feel comfortable yet, it's not a problem to just use your cpu as it is for the time being. On the other hand, overclocking can be great fun once you get into it, and it will also get you a free performance boost as a bonus. It's all up to you really

 

[Karadjgne]

I'd not worry about shortening cpu lifespans much. Cps are lasting 40 years so far, even my PII 350 (OC to 400MHz) still works. The average usable lifespan of a cpu is more often dictated by software than hardware considerations unless you are doing something really stupidly overboard.

 

[modeonoff]

Thanks. For 4K gaming, my components are sufficiently fast. Always smooth. No lag. I am interested in overclocking for CAD, Matlab and computer simulations.

 

[Karadjgne]

If you got the cooling for it, just set all core lock at 5GHz and call it a day.

4k gaming is mostly on the gpu. The cpu sets the fps limits, gpu gotta live upto that according to resolution and settings. 60fps at 1080p is the same as 60fps at 4k for the cpu, big difference for the gpu.
CAD is a little different in that it's mostly cpu bound, but a 9900k shouldn't have any issues there either.

 

[modeonoff]

If you got the cooling for it, just set all core lock at 5GHz and call it a day.

4k gaming is mostly on the gpu. The cpu sets the fps limits, gpu gotta live upto that according to resolution and settings. 60fps at 1080p is the same as 60fps at 4k for the cpu, big difference for the gpu.
CAD is a little different in that it's mostly cpu bound, but a 9900k shouldn't have any issues there either.

Thanks. From the list of specs I listed above, do I have the cooling for it? If I set all core lock at 5GHz, will the computer become noisy?

For basic work and 4K gaming, the machine is silent. Note that one glass side panel is still not installed yet because I will add SSD to the computer this month. When I put on the glass side panel, will the machine become noisy if all set to 5GHz? Since the machine is silent, I cannot tell if replacing those Silentwings3 fans with Thermaltake RGB fans make the machine noiser or not.