Total beginner trying my first overclock (i5 2500k) looking for guidance

[fst89lx]

*edited slightly to make post shorter and a little more concise*

Hi everyone, Attempting my first overclock ever on my current pc with the i5-2500k processor. Just looking for some guidance/reassurance that I'm doing it right here. I have been trying to read as many guides as possible on OC'ing this chip, but being a total beginner, I'm still a little confused.

PC Specs:
pre-built IBuyPower pc
CPU: i5-2500k
Cooler: Thermaltake SpinQ
Mobo: Gigabyte z68a-d3-b3
Ram: A-DATA 8GB ddr3 1366
GPU: GTX 560 Ti
SSD: Samsung 850 evo 256gb
OS: Win7 pro

With my motherboard/BIOS, when I change the cpu clock ratio, BIOS sets the vcore for me, I cannot manually set vcore. Current settings:
CPU Clock 40x (stock 33)
Vcore 1.32 (stock 1.224) *This is set by bios when I change my clock*
Internal CPU PLL overvoltage - Auto (stock auto)
Real time ratio changes in os - Enabled (stock disabled) *This disabled turbo boost*
All C-States - Auto (stock auto)
Load Line Calibration - Enabled (stock Auto) *Only have enabled, disabled, auto*
Dynamic Vcore +0.000V - Auto (stock auto)

All ram settings left on auto, or where-ever they were stock. Saved, rebooted to windows, ran Prime95 for like 2hrs15min with no errors and played a few games of CS with no problems.

Pic of results after p95


Temps are safe so far right? 67* max temp.
Need some help with VCORE and VID. As you can see, HWmonitor and cpu-z is showing a vcore of 1.296, but HWmonitor and Realtemp are showing a VID of 1.386. Is this normal, and is it safe?

Here is a pic of HWmonitor, cpu-z, and real temp taken right now.


Am I doing ok so far?
Thanks for any help guys, I really hate being the millionth guy asking about a 2500k overclock, so I do apoligize for that!

 

[GlacierNine]

Post pictures of every page in your BIOS. You should always have voltage adjustments somewhere.

It is normal for voltge to be higher in windows than the BIOS says but that doesn't mean its desirable nor does it mean it is necessary.

 

[Krenum]

Best way to do it, is just set the CPU Ratio to manual and ad whatever number (within reason you like) without touching the core voltage & see if it crashes. I've had my 2500k Overclocked at 4.7 or (47) CPU Ratio for years on 1.35volts.

 

[fst89lx]

First off, thank you both for replying, I was actually going to let this thread die because I pushed it up to 4.3 ghz and the temps got to 76-78* within 10-15 minutes of p95. After that I put it back to stock because I got scared lol. I think that my cooler is the culprit here. Money is crazy tight right now, but I am going to pick up a 212 evo when I can and try again once that is installed.

Post pictures of every page in your BIOS. You should always have voltage adjustments somewhere.

It is normal for voltge to be higher in windows than the BIOS says but that doesn't mean its desirable nor does it mean it is necessary.

I assure you that there is no way to manually set cpu vcore with my board/bios. I searched google high and low and with my board, its not possible. vcore adjustments have to be done with the dynamic vcore offset.
My main worry was with my VID being so high, but from what I've been able to gather, that value is not really important. I'm going to struggle say this right, but the way I understand is that vid numbers are programmed in some table in the cpu at intel, but past stock clock speeds, its not really accurate nor important. Someone explained it as VID = voltage I demand and VCORE = voltage I get. So my cpu thinks it needs 1.386v , but it is actually being fed 1.296v.

I can and I will take pics of my bios when I get a new cooler and try this again though.

Best way to do it, is just set the CPU Ratio to manual and ad whatever number (within reason you like) without touching the core voltage & see if it crashes. I've had my 2500k Overclocked at 4.7 or (47) CPU Ratio for years on 1.35volts.

I feel after binge reading as much as I possibly can, thats what I'm going to do.

Here is what I will be trying to do when I get a new cooler: Disable all power saving ---> set multi to 45 ---->stress test ------> if it passes, POSSIBLY put in some negative offset for dynamic vcore (if vcore is too high) -----> once stable, turn power saving features back on and test/tweek from there.
Look good or am I missing something?

 

[Krenum]

First off, thank you both for replying, I was actually going to let this thread die because I pushed it up to 4.3 ghz and the temps got to 76-78* within 10-15 minutes of p95. After that I put it back to stock because I got scared lol. I think that my cooler is the culprit here. Money is crazy tight right now, but I am going to pick up a 212 evo when I can and try again once that is installed.



I assure you that there is no way to manually set cpu vcore with my board/bios. I searched google high and low and with my board, its not possible. vcore adjustments have to be done with the dynamic vcore offset.
My main worry was with my VID being so high, but from what I've been able to gather, that value is not really important. I'm going to struggle say this right, but the way I understand is that vid numbers are programmed in some table in the cpu at intel, but past stock clock speeds, its not really accurate nor important. Someone explained it as VID = voltage I demand and VCORE = voltage I get. So my cpu thinks it needs 1.386v , but it is actually being fed 1.296v.

I can and I will take pics of my bios when I get a new cooler and try this again though.



I feel after binge reading as much as I possibly can, thats what I'm going to do.

Here is what I will be trying to do when I get a new cooler: Disable all power saving ---> set multi to 45 ---->stress test ------> if it passes, POSSIBLY put in some negative offset for dynamic vcore (if vcore is too high) -----> once stable, turn power saving features back on and test/tweek from there.
Look good or am I missing something?

I wouldn't worry about power saving features. Just set the CPU multi to 45, log your temperatures and set the Vcore accordingly, I wouldn't go anything over 1.4volts though. From my experience 1.35-1.37 is the sweet spot, although your chip may vary.

 

[sweets3450]

I think the intel safe spc is 1.52 but your temps will shoot through the roof if you don't have a good cooler. over 1.4v it starts to get very hot so it's up to do if that's worth the oc.

 

[fst89lx]

I have a brand new 212 evo sitting on the shelf in my room right now, I'm waiting for some ram that is on back order to come in. Once that gets here, I'm going to install both parts at one time, and then I'll get to overclocking.

 

[bigdogchris]

I'm a total OC noob so I always go the easy route. For my 2500k I just bumped up the current load to 140% and set the offset to +.05 and set the cores to x44 multiplier. For my 6600k I did the same thing but didn't have to add any offset voltage for a 4.4 OC.

You just have to decide if you want to put in a lot of work to squeak out every last MHz or are you happy getting the best bang for your buck (time wise).

 

[rgMekanic]

I'm weird I overclock on a load type basis ala boosting turbo boost, on my 6800k all core active it boosts to 4.1, 4 cores 4.2, 2 cores 4.4, at stock voltages, allows all c-states to remain active, turbo boost to remain on, so it idles like a kitten (important to me since my machine never gets turned off), not the most beefy overclock I could do, but the best imo for my usage

 

[fst89lx]

Ok, I am ready to get this show on the road. Since I started this thread, I have changed a few parts in my system. New parts are:
CPU cooler : coolermaster 212 evo
RAM: 16gb Crucial Ballistix tactical 1600
GPU: GTX 1070

Right now I am working on a 4.3ghz overclock, relevant bios changes are:

CPU Clock 43x
Vcore 1.32 *This is set by bios when I change my clock*
Internal CPU PLL overvoltage - OFF
Real time ratio changes in os - Enabled *This disabled turbo boost*
All C-States - Auto
Load Line Calibration - Enabled *Only have enabled, disabled, auto*
Dynamic Vcore +0.000V - Auto

Ram is on XMP profile 1

With this setup, I ran prime95 small FFT for 3 hours and got this

max vcore 1.308
max temp 69*

I also ran p95 blend for an hour and got this

max vcore 1.32
max temp 69*

What I've noticed is that core #0 runs up to 8* cooler than the rest under full load. I know that there will be some deviation between cores, but is 8* acceptable, or did I fuck up something in the cooler installation? BTW at idle, the temps are all within 3-4* of each other.

my goal is a stable 4.5ghz. Tomorrow I will probably set the multiplier to 45 and do some testing. I've read differing opinions on safe temps for the cpu, some guys say anything under 80* is good to go, some say low to mid 70's. Anyone have any input on that?

 

[fst89lx]

First try at bumping multiplier to 45, got bsod before windows loaded. Restart and got into windows for about 20 seconds and got bsod again. Going to do some more reading to see what I need to do here, Some things I've already came across are to disable c3/c6, try to add vcore, enable PLL overvoltage.

 

[fst89lx]

If I disable c3/c6 it boots into windows and runs so far. ran a quick 1hr small FFT on prime95 and got this


voltage at idle is 1.344, it drops to 1.308/1.320 running p95.

With c3/c6 off, it does NOT downclock on idle anymore. I like this feature, because it makes sense to me that running at full speed all the time should shorten the lifespan of the processor.
What should my next steps be to try to keep 4.5ghz oc, with c3/c6 on but avoid getting the blue screen when loading/in windows? Maybe turn c3/c6 back on and add +.01 to dynamic vcore in bios? Downside to that would be, I don't need the additional voltage on load, since it is already working at 1.34. I would assume that is the trade off I would need to live with if I want it to boot into windows with the c states on?