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i5 2500k Overclock question.

jrrandell

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Messages
410
Edit: have another question.

After getting my overclock stable at 4.5ghz and everything seemly running fine Iv noticed my computer doing something weird. When I turn on the computer with the power button it will start up (all fans and lights power up ) then quickly shut down again ( before post) and then restart post and log into windows without issue. Anyone have an idea why its doing this?

Iv ran IBT for a few hours with max stress and played some games all weekend without any crashes.



Hey all, this is my first time doing any amount of overclocking and I have some questions about prime95 with testing my overclocks.

Currently Iv tried to set ups, having it run at stock (3.3ghz) with 1.15vcore which seems to be fine and 4.5ghz with 1.3vcore. However when running prime95 it would seem to run fine unless I opened something else say firefox? Am I not allowed to run anything else when prime95 is testing?

Iv since left the clock at 4.5ghz with 1.3vcore and played battlefield 3 fine for hours with temps only hitting around 52-57ish, so should I push it further? Should I try and lower the vcore while staying at 4.5?

Thanks all
TL/DR Is prime95 to be run exclusively?
 
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Well prime 95 will saturated your processors if you're using max fft.

As far as voltage 1.35 is what I run my 2500k at 4.5ghz. I run a little voltage overhead because the chip is on a cheap ass asus z68 v lx.

I don't know how stable the board would be if I push the bottom threshold of minimum voltage for stability. Plus I have true water cooling on it using spare parts. Works fine. You won't damage that chip even at 1.48v given you had adequate cooling in place. Don't worry.
 
However when running prime95 it would seem to run fine unless I opened something else say firefox? Am I not allowed to run anything else when prime95 is testing?

Can you elaborate? You should be able to do anything while Prime95 is running without crashing.

Also, 1.3v @ 4500 is pretty good compared to mine, I think mine is closer to 1.4v for "guaranteed stability with margin". Or, it might mean your voltage is too low, and that's why you're seeing a problem. Some have noticed that IBT is a good compliment to Prime95 for testing more opcodes.
 
Yeah, I have to run 1.38 on my 2600k for stability at 4.5. But there's always luck of the draw and my mobo isn't the nicest anyways, so there's always variables at play there. If you are really only at 1.3, that's pretty awesome.
 
If it is stable at 4.5 at 1.3 volts, I'd probably be happy with that and leave it there. You could push for 4.8 or something, but that would likely take a significant boost in voltages (and temps) for little to no noticeable performance gain.
 
Thanks for all the input guys, I think ill try and run prime95 while im out for lunch or whatnot, everything seemed stable for the past 3 hours of BF3 action but the comp just randomly crashed on me, not a BSOD just black screen reset, so it might of been not enough voltage. Then again it could of been BF3 xD

Oh this crash just happened fyi.
 
Yup, you're not stable yet, random reset is classic bad OC. If you have a decent cooler, try 1.4v without changing the clocks.
 
Yup, you're not stable yet, random reset is classic bad OC. If you have a decent cooler, try 1.4v without changing the clocks.

Ya thats what I figured, I ran prime95 while getting supper and came back to a locked up computer, however Im gonna slowly creep up until I get stable.

Edit: another question, how long should I run prime95 to determine if its stable? Also throwing this out here at full load temps stay stable at about 59-61 c
 
Keep in mind too that BF3 currently is not the best way to see if an unstable CPU caused the crash. I haven't overclocked this new rig at all but I still get crashes cause the game is so damn buggy lol. Just something to keep in mind.
 
Keep in mind too that BF3 currently is not the best way to see if an unstable CPU caused the crash. I haven't overclocked this new rig at all but I still get crashes cause the game is so damn buggy lol. Just something to keep in mind.

Ya im well aware but since prime95 locked up sometime within 15 mins Im blaming it on the overclock. Since I actually have some free time tonight Im gonna get down and get it done. ;)

Just curious, while running prime 95 about 5-10 mins in my computer locks up and everything is non-responive except the reset button. However the display is still showing my desktop, is this normal for bad overclocks or is something else going on? I ask because iv never really done this before and I though my computer would black screen whenever the overclock was bad
 
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Ya im well aware but since prime95 locked up sometime within 15 mins Im blaming it on the overclock. Since I actually have some free time tonight Im gonna get down and get it done. ;)

Just curious, while running prime 95 about 5-10 mins in my computer locks up and everything is non-responive except the reset button. However the display is still showing my desktop, is this normal for bad overclocks or is something else going on? I ask because iv never really done this before and I though my computer would black screen whenever the overclock was bad

Normal.

When adjusting your voltage try keeping Load Line Calibration at 1 level below the max, or max if you prefer.
 
sorry im not sure what load line calibration is, like I said im new at this.

I dont think im doing everything right because I left my speed at 4.5 and set vcore to 1.4 and with prime 95 running it still locked up in 5 mins and the temp reached 72c. seems kinda weird that I could BF3 for a total of about 5 hrs with vcore at 1.3 and have 1 problem but 5 mins of prime 95 even at 1.4v and im still freezing.

Edit: What what all my setting be in my bios to get this overlock, maybe I didnt change some setting and its causeing me grief, this is also my first uefi bios

2nd Edit: Also iv been running blend test, should i be running FFT?
 
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Try running Intel Burn Test instead and see how that works. Prime95 doesn't seem to be as good a testing utility for SB as it was for previous generations.

Honestly, though, if you are only overclocking to 4.5, you can probably just leave all the voltage settings to Auto, and just raise the turbo multiplier to 45 and see if that works. The SB motherboards seem to do a pretty good job of supporting overclocks up to about 4.6 or so without too much fooling around in the BIOS. Auto might run a little bit higher Vocre than absolutely needed, but not dangerously high.
 
Edit: another question, how long should I run prime95 to determine if its stable?

That's a loaded question. What I like to do is set the CPU to 4.6 and find the minimum voltage for 4 hour stress stability, then fall back to 4.5, that way you should have a little breathing room, versus having no idea how close you are to the edge.

Don't just use Prime95, as the other poster stated. IBT, some benchmarks, games, media players, etc.
 
Ok im using IBT now and i actually feel like im getting somewhere, running the default 5 tests and starting at 1.4vcore at 45x multiplier I didnt crash until I hit 1.30 on the vcore, So im gonna go back to 1.31 and increase stress level and time.

Also thank you soo much everyone, this is why I love [H]ard :D

Edit rather then new post:

So im still running IBT with my settings currently and I was trying maximum stress level and it seemed to be running great except asus turbo v give me a temperature warning of 73c Is it safe to keep testing at this level or should I increase the time while doing a very high stress test?

Edit #2: Upon paying closer attention to turboV them tempature seems to stay steady between 59-63 and randomly jumps to 72-76 for about a second and back down.
 
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Edit rather then new post:

So im still running IBT with my settings currently and I was trying maximum stress level and it seemed to be running great except asus turbo v give me a temperature warning of 73c Is it safe to keep testing at this level or should I increase the time while doing a very high stress test?

Edit #2: Upon paying closer attention to turboV them tempature seems to stay steady between 59-63 and randomly jumps to 72-76 for about a second and back down.

That's the nature of the IBT test - the temps will vary, but 75C or so is perfectly fine for stress testing. I wouldn't run those temps 24/7, but under normal loads you'd probably be looking at temps in the low 60s with IBT temps in the 70s.
 
That's the nature of the IBT test - the temps will vary, but 75C or so is perfectly fine for stress testing. I wouldn't run those temps 24/7, but under normal loads you'd probably be looking at temps in the low 60s with IBT temps in the 70s.

Ok thank you :) I went ahead and ran IBT on Mamimum stress for 15 cycles, and it took a total of 39 mins without any trouble, seem like Im getting stable? Keep in mind im still at 4.6ghz so I have yet to fall back to 4.5.
 
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