Worst luck of the draw 4790k

[saternal]

So basically I bought a 4790k 1 month ago and tried some simple overclocking. I wasn't aiming too high and just decided to OC it to 4.4ghz and started testing with prime95 latest version small FTTs. To my surprise the OC only became stable at 1.175 vcore and 100% load with prime95 resulted in an average of 77C temp on H100i GTX performance mode. I tried 1.150 to get the temp lower but ended up BSOD during stress testing after 1/2 hr. My PC specs as follows:

I7 4790k
Msi Z97 Gaming 5
Corsair H100i GTX on pull exhaust
Samsung 850 evo 250gb
MSI GTX 970 gaming 4g
Corsair 450D
Corsair RM750 80+ gold
Ambient temp about 30C
Idle temp about 38C at 4.4ghz adaptive mode
Default cpu settings at 37C idle and 65C full load 4.0ghz

Did I get the worst luck of the draw? Or am I doing something wrong?
Does this constitute as a fault in the CPU and can I RMA it?

I've read about it a lot and saw much better OCs at much lower temps.

Some expert advice would be great.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Every chip is different , it's not faulty , it's just not a lottery chip.

 

[Enderegg]

I got my 6700k@4.5 w/ 1.4V Pretty sure I got a worse one.

 

[saternal]

Every chip is different , it's not faulty , it's just not a lottery chip.

Yup. I know all chips are different but seeing how badly my chip OCs I think I did strike the lottery in getting the worse 10% of all 4790k chips. Will intel accept an RMA on this type of terrible OC capability.

 

[saternal]

I got my 6700k@4.5 w/ 1.4V Pretty sure I got a worse one.

How about your temps though? Does it reach the high 70s with that OC?

 

[Enderegg]

I got my 6700k@4.5 w/ 1.4V Pretty sure I got a worse one.

How about your temps though? Does it reach the high 70s with that OC?

Not even close. About 65C with Intel Burn test, at maximum. But I think the max safe temp is 80/85, so even if I was reaching 70 I wouldn't be stressed about it

 

[saternal]

I got my 6700k@4.5 w/ 1.4V Pretty sure I got a worse one.

How about your temps though? Does it reach the high 70s with that OC?

Not even close. About 65C with Intel Burn test, at maximum. But I think the max safe temp is 80/85, so even if I was reaching 70 I wouldn't be stressed about it

Is intel burn test a better software for testing OC? I read somewhere that the latest version of prime95 are too heavy on the cpu resulting in higher CPU temps during load.

 

[Johnpombrio]

I got 4.4GHz on air with no voltage increase and at around max 73 C but even going to 4.43Ghz on water and the chip topped out on thermals So there is hard wall on DC. On Ivy Bridge, I never got above 4.2 on water so it's not you or your mobo, just the chip.

 

[saternal]

I got 4.4GHz on air with no voltage increase and at around max 73 C but even going to 4.43Ghz on water and the chip topped out on thermals So there is hard wall on DC. On Ivy Bridge, I never got above 4.2 on water so it's not you or your mobo, just the chip.

So I presume if I call intel about this worst luck of the draw chip of mine they will just disregard it right?

 

[Enderegg]

I got 4.4GHz on air with no voltage increase and at around max 73 C but even going to 4.43Ghz on water and the chip topped out on thermals So there is hard wall on DC. On Ivy Bridge, I never got above 4.2 on water so it's not you or your mobo, just the chip.

So I presume if I call intel about this worst luck of the draw chip of mine they will just disregard it right?

Yes. The chip works. At least at stock speed and voltages, so it's not faulty. That's just the way it is. My last chip (FX-8320) also was very bad.

 

[Johnpombrio]

I have a 10% rule. If the difference is less than 10% I don't bother upgrading or overclocking the same chip. I highly doubt you would notice any difference between 4.2GHz and 4.4GHz o/c. Go with the lower value, as you can run in on a nice quiet air cooler and stock voltages.

A way to increase "perceived speed" is to turn off Intel Speed Step, C States, and CPU spread spectrum ( this last one is not in my UEFI BIOS) in the BIOS. Programs seem to start up faster, web ages pop up faster, and generally the system boots and works faster (my perception tho but it DOES seem to work). For 10-15 watts extra, it works as well as overclocking.

 

[lodders]

My 3570k only goes to 4.1Ghz. According to the internet I should be able to get 4.6Ghz.
We have two identical AMD phenom II, both overclocked to the max. One of them is at 4.0Ghz, which is very good for a Phenom II, the other is at 3.4GHz, and WILL NOT go any faster.
In the CPU lottery, you have winners and losers, and no, you can't ask for your money back.