First Time Over-Clocker (3770k) looking for input.

Frraksurred

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
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I've been on these forums for years, but never took the plunge out of fear. Money comes to hard and it seemed like I needed to do a boatload of research first. Well, I cannot play Dragon Age Inquisition at max settings (2560x1600), Witcher 3 is right around the corner and my 980 shows up tomorrow.... it's time. ;)

My setup is in my sig. Currently I'm at 4.3Ghz with core voltage at 1.9. Intelburntest runs successfully on "Standard" and my temps averaged about 70°C. I started at 4.6 @ 1.35 voltage, but IBT failed almost instantly and my temps were near 90°C. Scared me a little. :p I backed it down and have been gradually working my way back up using settings recommended by others from this site and others, but I cannot seem to get over 4.3 no matter where I set my voltage.

I'm a no0b and barely feel like I know what I'm doing, so any input would be awesome. Initially, the best way to stress test would be great. I'm using CPUID, Cinebench and IBT for tests. Again, these are all by recommendation because I didn't know where to start. I prefer to stay on the safe side because I like a reliable machine. My H100i has 2 fans in a pull config because a push/pull interferes with my HDD cage (which I could not believe considering the case). The fans are in "Performance mode" in Corsair Link.

Thanks upfront for the help.
 
What method are you using for voltage control? manual? offset?.... Actually the 3770K its a pretty easy to overclock chip the only thing you have to worry is how bad the crappy TIM between the core die and the internal heatsink are.. I have actually my 3770K@ 4.5ghz with offset voltage +0.070V and 50% LLC. Nothing more all the rest of things Auto. voltage its kinda average under P95 Small FFT and Aida64 FPU test at 1.240v-1.248v nothing too great but nothing to worry either.. temps are bit high for my likes under Prime and Aida but still very well into the safe zone with the hottest core at 85C in a 28-30C room temp..(i'm still thinking in delid but gaming temps aren't so bad either at ~60-62C in heavy gaming)
 
I believe the voltage control is in manual, but I will double check. What is the difference between that and offset? I don't remember seeing anything related to LLC (perhaps ASUS has another name for it?), but I will look for that as well. Thanks for the reply.
 
im using a Asus Board too.. (in fact i almost use exclusively asus boards in all my machines hehe).. LLC its CPU Load Line Calibration which its under Digi+ Power Control in your Maximus V Board.. the difference between manual and offset are the voltage itself will drop under idle and low loads conditions, better yet if you have also the C States and power saving features Enabled in BIOS and windows as the clock will drop.. (it save a lot of the heat produced under low use conditions and idle). anyway as said before ivy are pretty overclock friendly at mid clocks.. most can do good voltage plus acceptable temperatures until 4.5ghz - 4.6ghz.. basically I have 3 Overclock profiles. 4.2ghz (-0.060V Offset and 0% LLC which its basically a undervolt) a standard 4.5ghz and 4.8ghz which I use without Hyperthreading for those games that require a High IPC and single threaded/Core Performance (like skyrim for example). for testing purposes (i forgot to mention early) you can also try frybench and of course gaming.. I found crysis 3 as the best stability test out there.. if you are crysis 3 stable you will be stable with anything else in the market.. :D
 
Good info Araxie, thank you. I remember seeing Load Line Calibration now that you mention it, I will look into more my next reboot. I check into your other suggestions too, as idle power savings would be good.

I haven't dusted off Crysis 3 in a while, but I'm playing Dragon Age Inquisition now, so I'll see how that goes and maybe reinstall C3 after.

Thanks again, I'll try to remember to update when I have more info.
 
feel free to ask for anything if you need help, im not a guru or some like that, but I have a very large experience with sandy and ivy bridge overclocking both 1155 and 2011 boards.. so all my knowledge its available to unleash that tiny beast =D.
 
I'm assuming 1.9v is a typo. A 3770k at 1.9 volts would require phase change cooling.
 
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