Help: Step-by-step guide to overclocking a 4770K on a Z87X-OC ?

[LasseBauer]

Hey,
I am in the process of finishing my build, and now I want to take advantage of the built-in overclocking functions in both the i7 4770K CPU and my Gigabyte Z87X-OC motherboard - and RAM for that matter.

I have found a few articles on overclocking, yet they all seem extremely technical, and frankly a bit over my head. Like this one: http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide

Can someone tell me a (relatively) EASY way to overclock my hardware?
Is there a simple step-by-step guide?
I am not looking to do extreme on-the-edge OC, just want to get the most out of my system while still keeping it safe and stable.

• Anyone know of any good software for monitoring temperature, speed etc (other than the built-on BIOS manager)?

 

[bbills3293]

up

 

[esafeddie]

Hey,
I am in the process of finishing my build, and now I want to take advantage of the built-in overclocking functions in both the i7 4770K CPU and my Gigabyte Z87X-OC motherboard - and RAM for that matter.

I have found a few articles on overclocking, yet they all seem extremely technical, and frankly a bit over my head. Like this one: http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide

Can someone tell me a (relatively) EASY way to overclock my hardware?
Is there a simple step-by-step guide?
I am not looking to do extreme on-the-edge OC, just want to get the most out of my system while still keeping it safe and stable.

• Anyone know of any good software for monitoring temperature, speed etc (other than the built-on BIOS manager)?

Gigabyte website has a simplistic program for over clocking that takes care of a simple over clocking method as well as an advance one.

 

[esafeddie]

Sorry I forgot to add, this program is a windows one, for a Hack I don't know but good luck.

 

[lokin]

Hey,
I am in the process of finishing my build, and now I want to take advantage of the built-in overclocking functions in both the i7 4770K CPU and my Gigabyte Z87X-OC motherboard - and RAM for that matter.

I have found a few articles on overclocking, yet they all seem extremely technical, and frankly a bit over my head. Like this one: http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide

Can someone tell me a (relatively) EASY way to overclock my hardware?
Is there a simple step-by-step guide?
I am not looking to do extreme on-the-edge OC, just want to get the most out of my system while still keeping it safe and stable.

• Anyone know of any good software for monitoring temperature, speed etc (other than the built-on BIOS manager)?

Hope it's not too late for ya, but I've been trolling the forums so I figured I'd answer.

You have a VERY easy option that often works for these Hacks, go into your BIOS and look for performance [Auto] go ahead and set it to %20, lol. that'll give you 1866 or 1600 on the RAM and 4.3 on the CPU.

 

[p0ttz]

Hope it's not too late for ya, but I've been trolling the forums so I figured I'd answer.

You have a VERY easy option that often works for these Hacks, go into your BIOS and look for performance [Auto] go ahead and set it to %20, lol. that'll give you 1866 or 1600 on the RAM and 4.3 on the CPU.

The above is okay IF you have sufficient cooling in place. DON'T OC USING THE STOCK COOLER.

Use this in windows to monitor temps:http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
Use this in OSX to monitor temps: http://www.tonymacx86.com/279-inside-multibeast-new-fakesmc-plugins-hardware-monitoring-app.html

The problem with "simple" OCs on Haswell is that it's not an uncomplicated chip, every single one OCs differently and fine tuning how well your chip can OC will determine what you get out of it. Sure you can set one of the quick and dirty OC profiles in your motherboard but the reality is that your motherboard is probably going to over volt that chip pretty heavily, the side effect being heat. While you're trying your OC aim to keep your temps under 85c, 95-100c is the temp at which the chip will throttle.

Another note, if you're wanting to use your OC for permanent use, do more research and get it running efficiently. If you just want a quick play around to see what your chip can do, try the dirty OC method. Or some settings I have offered below.

Some settings for a basic OC:
CPU Multiplier: 42/43x
CPU VRIN Override LLC: Set to Extreme
PWM Phase Management: Extreme
VCore: 1.19
Ring Voltage: 1.15
C1E, C3, C6/C7, and EIST: All Disabled
Don't touch anything else, leave on auto.

p.s. OCing is a personally responsibility, everything you do, do it at your own risk.

 

[RMJ114]

Hey,
I am in the process of finishing my build, and now I want to take advantage of the built-in overclocking functions in both the i7 4770K CPU and my Gigabyte Z87X-OC motherboard - and RAM for that matter.

I have found a few articles on overclocking, yet they all seem extremely technical, and frankly a bit over my head. Like this one: http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide

Can someone tell me a (relatively) EASY way to overclock my hardware?
Is there a simple step-by-step guide?
I am not looking to do extreme on-the-edge OC, just want to get the most out of my system while still keeping it safe and stable.

• Anyone know of any good software for monitoring temperature, speed etc (other than the built-on BIOS manager)?

Well, any overclocking can cause instability. That's why it's so complicated to overclock.

Gigabyte has some built-in overclocking itself, but as suggested you may want to invest in some better cooling, not to mention better case air flow or larger cases. Water cooling is an option as they have great sealed units so you don't have to worry about do-it-yourself and have a water disaster like me and kill your $200 board.

Anyway, I think the option is called Performance Upgrade or something and it'll give you various options for overclocking, and start with the lowest first and then do some stress testing on your computer and make sure it doesn't lockup or crash on you.

You'll need monitoring software as well to watch your temperatures. Not sure what Mac has for stress and monitoring.

If you dual boot windows, then I'd start there.

Stress test programs:

Intel Burn Test: Stress CPU
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...-IntelBurnTest-The-new-stress-testing-program

Memory Stress Test:

Memtest for windows:
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

MSI Afterburner Video Card stress Test(works for all video cards in general)(It also Monitors video card functions):
http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

Monitoring programs:

Real Temp(I like this one as it has the time it has ran):
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

If you don't have windows, then you'll need to search for these programs for Mac if they even exist.

 

[p0ttz]

Well, any overclocking can cause instability. That's why it's so complicated to overclock.

Gigabyte has some built-in overclocking itself, but as suggested you may want to invest in some better cooling, not to mention better case air flow or larger cases. Water cooling is an option as they have great sealed units so you don't have to worry about do-it-yourself and have a water disaster like me and kill your $200 board.

Anyway, I think the option is called Performance Upgrade or something and it'll give you various options for overclocking, and start with the lowest first and then do some stress testing on your computer and make sure it doesn't lockup or crash on you.

You'll need monitoring software as well to watch your temperatures. Not sure what Mac has for stress and monitoring.

If you dual boot windows, then I'd start there.

Stress test programs:

Intel Burn Test: Stress CPU
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...-IntelBurnTest-The-new-stress-testing-program

Memory Stress Test:

Memtest for windows:
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

MSI Afterburner Video Card stress Test(works for all video cards in general)(It also Monitors video card functions):
http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

Monitoring programs:

Real Temp(I like this one as it has the time it has ran):
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

If you don't have windows, then you'll need to search for these programs for Mac if they even exist.

Check out Intel Extreme Tuning Utility or Aida64 tests as they are built taking into account the Haswell AVX instruction sets. IETU was apparently specifically created to test the Haswell platform.

Linpak, Prime and even running the Aida64 FPU only test can place unnecessary load on the CPU making it run CRAZY hot. Which is fine if you intend folding or doing a lot of something that will stress your floating point, but most people don't need to stress test to that level. Decide how rigorous you want to be with your testing.

 

[RMJ114]

Check out Intel Extreme Tuning Utility or Aida64 tests as they are built taking into account the Haswell AVX instruction sets. IETU was apparently specifically created to test the Haswell platform.

I haven't tried them lately, but in the past they never worked very well for me. Of course I usually manually overclock things if I want. Just haven't done it in a while as I find it unnecessary and these CPUs are very powerful and gain very little fps in any game. Most program see little difference either. Not to mention instability. Any stress program is meaningless, unless it is applicable to the program you run most often. Each program stress the system in a different way.

Linpak, Prime and even running the Aida64 FPU only test can place unnecessary load on the CPU making it run CRAZY hot. Which is fine if you intend folding or doing a lot of something that will stress your floating point, but most people don't need to stress test to that level. Decide how rigorous you want to be with your testing.

Well, it's a stress test. Why would you under stress it? It's not like you run the stress tests 24/7 or anything. Unless folding, bitcoin mining, etc. I just find it best to test worst case scenario.

But when all is said and done, I never recommend overclocking. just too many side affects all around. Instability, part degradation, which leads to instability, and shorter life span. I think you can safely do mild overclocks. say up to 25% as manufacturer mass produce these and sets low standards to achieve higher success. But better to leave well enough alone.

It's fun to do and learn a little more about PCs, but wouldn't recommend 24/7. At least not with a new machine. Go to ebay and pick up a cheapo system you can OC until it blows up and nothing really lost. It's better to experiment and learn this way than risk your main rig, plus it's a lot cheaper.

ps, IETU has been around since, at least, sandy bridge. My Intel P67 Extreme had it. My first Intel Branded MB.

 

[p0ttz]

ps, IETU has been around since, at least, sandy bridge. My Intel P67 Extreme had it. My first Intel Branded MB.

Didn't know that. I don't use it for the OC. Just the test as have found a few OC guides pointing to it being good to test the AVX instruction sets.

I actually got what I thought was 15fps boost in BF4 with my OC… but that's rough, I can't justify it with exacts.

I can't replicate any sort of stress that Prime95 or Linpak put on my system, which I guess is why I find them pointless. For me a stress test is to make sure the OC is stable and will keep my system stable for MY most demanding situation. And that can be tested with Aida and IETU - for me at least - as my OC at 4.5 has run without any crashes for a couple weeks now. But I'll let you know when my chip blows up Personally I don't need it to last 5 years, but maybe 2!