What is a safe level for overclocking? i5 4670k

[Hammahness]

I want to overclock my cpu to a to try match performance of my new GPU so I don't get some bottleneck in CPU heavy games such as GTA 5 but I've never overclocked it before. What's the safest level to overclock the CPU instability becomes a factor?

I'm also cooling my CPU with the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Performer C

 

[drkatz42]

Each chip has different overclocking abilities. A reasonable expectation: 4.2 to 4.4ghz.

 

[Hammahness]

Each chip has different overclocking abilities. A reasonable expectation: 4.2 to 4.4ghz.

I've never overclocked my cpu before so would it be wise to just edit the cpu core ratio and leave everything else at auto such as the voltages, cpu caches, etc? Btw would my cpu cooler be up to the task?

 

[Karadjgne]

Late answer, but oh well.

TT water 3.0 is capable of any OC you could throw at it, no worries there.

On that cpu, a simple bump of the multiplier upto 43 is easily accomplished and won't need any further adjustments. The stock voltages are more than capable of keeping that cpu stable. If anything, you might want to reduce things like Intel C-states as deeper sleep cycles can have issues, so C-3 is as much as you'll need. It's only when you get to 4.4GHz and up that you'll really need to start moving things around in the bios. This is average, not gospel. Depending on your specific cpu requirements, it may be a 42 multiplier not a 43, or may be 44. Pot luck. You may also benefit from a very small (0.008v) drop in the vcore voltage. You may be able to do this several times before system instability. Stock voltages are usually around 1.25v at stock speeds. My i5 runs 4.3GHz at 1.114v. Net result was @10°C drop in cpu temps under load on average, idle stayed the same 34°.