i7-3770K / Z77-UD5H / Sierra /iMac 13.2 / Can't get overclocking

[surfgeorge1]

I built a Hackintosh based on the buyer's guide (I think late 2012) and ran it with the various Mac OS for the past years, but never tinkered with overclocking just used Multibeast to get a working system...

Components:

• GigaByte GA-Z77-UH5D
• i7-3770K
• Noctua NH-14D extreme air cooler
• 32GB Corsair Vengeance Series DDR3-1600, CL10
• EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
  
• 2x Samsung 840 Pro SSD (Mac/Windows dual OS)
• Corsair AX750 Gold Power Supply

In the last weeks I made a new installation of Mac OS Sierra.
I am not a computer expert and it took me several attempts to get a clean and well working installation.
I tried different System configurations and started trying overclocking, but without much success.
I experienced different issues:

• Bios Screen / Clover Bootloader screen not showing during booting (screen only active after half the graphics card kicked in)
• System wouldn't shut down completely (fans kept running)
• System running very hot in Prime95 torture test (up to 99 deg C)

Then I started reading about SSDT and I followed this thread
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/quick-guide-to-generate-a-ssdt-for-cpu-power-management.177456/
to generate an SSDT, and that slightly increased the GeekBench Score from the previous 12000+ to 13200+ with Frequencies between 1,6 and 3,9 in Intel Power Gadget. I used the recommended iMac 13,2 system configuration.
I have a Noctua NH-14D cooler and a Prime95 Torture Test (max heat) drives the temperature up to about 75 deg. C

So now I have a perfect base and would like to overclock - but every attempt of changing my working BIOS settings to introduce some overclocking leads to the CPU speed being frozen at 0,8GHz while the temperatures are actually higher!
From reading I guessed that maybe I need to create a custom SSDT but all I could find was very old, pre-Sierra and I couldn't figure out IF I need it and HOW to do it.

QUESTIONS:

• Which system configuration is needed/recommended/best for overclocking this HW?
• Is a custom SSDT required for OCing with Sierra?
• If custom SSDT is needed, where do I find a description about creating it?
• Or am I on a completely wrong track? Then what do I need to change to enable OCing?

I hope someone has successfully overclocked this CPU/Mobo with Sierra and can help me!

Let me know if I should post anything.

Thanks in advance! surfgeorge

 

[surfgeorge1]

In the meantime I found this great guide:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-overclock-with-z68-z77-power-management-ssdt-edits.53111/

Followed the OC instructions and got a stable 4,4GHz BIOS settings with temps below 80 deg C at 73W and max temperature peaks of 90 degC at 87W in the Prime95 Blended torture test.

Next I changed back to Sierra (with my non-OC BIOS), edited the SSDT file according to the instructions in the thread above.
Rebooted with that SSDT in the EFI/EFI/Clover/ACPI/patched folder, still with safe, non-OC Bios - worked.

Rebooted with OC BIOS: Intel Power Gadget showed a little above 4GHz for a second, than the whole system went to 0,8GHz and stayed there
System reacted slowly, increasing load with Prime95 didn't increase processor speed.

Again the question to the community: WHAT AM I MISSING to get OC working in Sierra??

Cheers, surfgeorge

 

[surfgeorge1]

SUCCESS!
A Quick update:
I researched more about direct editing of the config.plist file and tried activating the "Generate PStates" and "Generate CStates" checkboxes. Still, OC wouldn't work and the system was kind of jerky.

This morning I updated Clover to the latest version and additionally set the Multiplier Min (16) and Max (44) in Clover's Acpi tab.
After this modification overclocking is finally working!

But the GeekBench score of 14400 is disappointing.
In the process of trying to get OC working I achieved 3 different levels of max. CPU speed and the according GB scores:
3,5GHz ~ 12100
3,9 GHz ~13300
4,3 GHz ~14400

This is a pretty much linear scaling of the score which makes sense, but makes me wonder how people achieve 16.000 GB score with this CPU.

Any ideas?

 

[Heinrich]

@surfgeorge I know this is an ancient thread, but I have an ancient Hack that I am trying to nurse a little bit longer.

I had a stable 4.5 OC but since updating firmware and updating to Sierra, I have not been able to recreate. Just found your thread and will go thru the above guide as well.

Did you make any progress? Also running 13,2.

 

[BreBo]

@surfgeorge I know this is an ancient thread, but I have an ancient Hack that I am trying to nurse a little bit longer.

surfgeorge1 was last seen: Feb 6, 2017

 

[Heinrich]

Mac OS 10.3.3 - FCP 10.4
Asus Z370 Tuf Plus
Coffeelake i7-8700k 4.9 GHz
8 GB Ram
NVIDIA 1060 6gb (with quick sync enabled)
BruceX Test 5K - 28 seconds

it was about 37 seconds with quick sync disabled (was still hoping an 8700k would get me to somewhere like 10-15 seconds, i dont get whats missing)

surfgeorge1 was last seen: Feb 6, 2017

heh

 

[Westsurf]

@surfgeorge I know this is an ancient thread, but I have an ancient Hack that I am trying to nurse a little bit longer.

I had a stable 4.5 OC but since updating firmware and updating to Sierra, I have not been able to recreate. Just found your thread and will go thru the above guide as well.

Did you make any progress? Also running 13,2.

@Heinrich I'm in the same position of you of wanting to get my OC back which isn't working on High Sierra. However, I'm using iMac 14.2 as suggested by Stork.

Not running an SSDT. Have tried running Generate C states and P states with min and max multiplier at 16 and 43 (used to run 45 when I originally OCd way back in 10.8 days) but clocked back a bit to lower temps as my original water cooling died and the Corsair replacement isn't as good (using Windows 10 as the OC test bench).

Have you had any luck of getting it working?

 

[Heinrich]

@Heinrich I'm in the same position of you of wanting to get my OC back which isn't working on High Sierra. However, I'm using iMac 14.2 as suggested by Stork.

Not running an SSDT. Have tried running Generate C states and P states with min and max multiplier at 16 and 43 (used to run 45 when I originally OCd way back in 10.8 days) but clocked back a bit to lower temps as my original water cooling died and the Corsair replacement isn't as good (using Windows 10 as the OC test bench).

Have you had any luck of getting it working?

I did. And this might frustrate you: I went back to 13,2 and restarted and there it was. Currently Geekbenching around 16k.

14,2 has consistently not worked for me. I had numerous boot issues. Once back to 13,2, smooth as silk.

 

[Westsurf]

Great ... I've NEVER had to use 13.2 ... Originally Mac 3.1 then onto 14.2 for El Capitan (?) forward as per Stork's guide.

If that's the case I'll do a new set up on Mojave beta with 13.2 and work on it for the next upgrade as I've finally got the perfect High Sierra build inc iMessage et al.

Thank you for the input.

 

[itsrad]

My build is a 3570k with an asus P8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt. I'm running Sierra again after being on High Sierra. I've tried multiple definitions Pro 5.1, iMac 13.2, iMac 14.2. I haven't done a custom ssdt cause it confuses me but, it might be the answer. My overclock on windows is at 4.6Ghz but on OSX it's stuck on 3.4 doesn't budge in any direction. Switching definitions and using nullcpu/ not using it doesn't do anything. I also tried setting min and max multipliers in clover configurator with generate p states and c states to no avail. Any advice?