Overclocking 4790k GA Z97X-UD3H GTX950 Bios Setting

[squirtbrnr]

Not all applications use or have a need for AVX instruction support. I'm not sure what AVX instructions are for, this is just my experience with overclocking and testing. As for the voltage staying the same, did you disable any features in the BIOS such as EIST, C1E, or C3/C6 support? Also setting the Vcore manually as opposed to "Auto", "Adaptive" or "Normal" will disable any automatic voltage control and force a static voltage at all speeds even x8 multiplier. The overvolting is automatic on the processor and completely separate from setting a static Vcore. certain instructions can request more voltage if required.

 

[comfreak]

As for the voltage staying the same, did you disable any features in the BIOS such as EIST, C1E, or C3/C6 support?

I left all settings stock which is "Auto" except for the multipliers and the CPU Vcore.

Also setting the Vcore manually as opposed to "Auto", "Adaptive" or "Normal" will disable any automatic voltage control and force a static voltage at all speeds even x8 multiplier. The overvolting is automatic on the processor and completely separate from setting a static Vcore. certain instructions can request more voltage if required.

When my system is idling, HWMonitor shows me a voltage of 0.084V and under load that number goes up to a little bit more than what I set in the BIOS.

Interestingly, when I set the Vcore to "Auto" and only change the multipliers, the system automatically picks a Vcore of over 1.4V which is weird since I can run the system stable at 1.275V (in HWMonitor that number shows as 1.284V-1.296V under load) with the same multipliers.

 

[squirtbrnr]

I left all settings stock which is "Auto" except for the multipliers and the CPU Vcore.

Changing Vcore to a static voltage disables Adaptive voltage therefore HWMonitor and any other monitoring programs will report a static voltage of what you set in the BIOS and will never change.

When my system is idling, HWMonitor shows me a voltage of 0.084V and under load that number goes up to a little bit more than what I set in the BIOS.

Mine does this as well. It shows 0.084v at x8 multiplier. Which I think is a bug and off by a factor of 10 because stock voltage at x8 multiplier should be ~0.88v. Even in Windows I have 3 different programs that all report 3 different voltages that are all +/- 0.01v of each other

Interestingly, when I set the Vcore to "Auto" and only change the multipliers, the system automatically picks a Vcore of over 1.4V which is weird since I can run the system stable at 1.275V (in HWMonitor that number shows as 1.284V-1.296V under load) with the same multipliers.

Never change the multiplier without setting Vcore to static or offset mode. This is a quick way to fry your processor as the BIOS and processor work together to find a sure fire "stable" voltage at that speed and it almost always results in a dangerously high voltage. As for the fluctuation in voltage reported, it's not exact as I mentioned above and varies depending on the program and how it reads the voltage. Additionally there are line load calibration (LLC) settings in the BIOS that help stabilize voltage and prevent voltage sag at higher processor speeds. I have mine all set to extreme which produces a little more heat, but significantly increases the stability at higher speeds.

 

[comfreak]

Thanks for the detailed answer!

I have mine all set to extreme which produces a little more heat, but significantly increases the stability at higher speeds.

Okay, so what exactly did you change from the stock settings on your system? And did you use the presets from the board or did you change the values manually?

Thanks again!

 

[squirtbrnr]

Thanks for the detailed answer!

Okay, so what exactly did you change from the stock settings on your system? And did you use the presets from the board or did you change the values manually?

Thanks again!

First I loaded Optimized Defaults but as long as everything is "Auto" you can start from there and skip loading optimized defaults. Then under voltages I set the following:

• Vrin = 1.700
• Vcore = "Normal"
  • Vcore Offset = +0.100
• Vring = "Normal"
  • Vring Offset = +0.000
• Vsa = +0.200
• Vccioa = +0.200
• Vcciod = +0.200
• Vddr = 1.800

Vsa is only needed if overclocking the cache (system agent) or memory. The last 3 are only needed if you're overclocking memory.

I should mention my memory is also overclocked to 2666MHz, that's why the last 4 values are so high compared to stock. I can't guarantee these settings will work for you as each motherboard, processor, RAM combo will be different. Even someone with the same exact motherboard, processor, RAM combo may have different settings and a completely different experience. But this is a starting point.

I don't know if linking to another forum is allowed, so mods forgive me, but if you want more info on overclocking the 4790k, go over to Overclock.net for a guide and more information on what to tweak and how/when.

Here's information on Devil's Canyon Haswell: http://www.overclock.net/t/1490324/the-intel-devils-canyon-owners-club
Here's the guide I used for a Gigabyte board: http://www.overclock.net/t/1490835/the-gigabyte-z97x-overclocking-guide

 

[comfreak]

Thanks for your reply!

I will look into all of these settings and those two links as well. Hopefully I can make my new system even faster

 

[squirtbrnr]

added more screenshots of my BIOS to my previous post. That's all the settings I changed for overclocking. One difference though is this morning I changed "Memory Enhancement Settings" to "Enhanced Performance". So far I've seen no adverse affect.

 

[backward_0]

I'm running a 4690k, and just used the smart tweak function. what are the advantages to the casual overclocker, to trying to learn all the settings? Auto "should" be most stable?

also, I'm running a "20%" overclock to give me 4.3 from stock 3.5. I have my memory bumped from 1600 to 1866 with just the multiplier

 

[squirtbrnr]

I'm running a 4690k, and just used the smart tweak function. what are the advantages to the casual overclocker, to trying to learn all the settings? Auto "should" be most stable?

also, I'm running a "20%" overclock to give me 4.3 from stock 3.5. I have my memory bumped from 1600 to 1866 with just the multiplier

Sometimes the smart tweak function works, but the problem is as I mentioned before, smart tweak and "Auto" settings try and find a happy setting that's a sure fire, guaranteed, almost 100% fool-proof value so that everything runs. This almost always means a value well above "safe" levels given the processor specs and your cooling solution.

When overclocking, the rule of thumb is to use static settings or offsets on voltages to guarantee you stay within the limits of the processor. This takes trial and error and lots of stress testing to find a stable setting. Every processor, motherboard, RAM, and component will be different. What works on one setup, may not work on another despite being 100% identical in part numbers.

There are many tutorials and reviews and even online forums that have used the 4690k, so there is a lot of information out there on the Devil's Canyon CPUs and Haswell architecture. I would recommend looking into what the "safe" values for a 4690k are and try those. You might even get a higher overclock than the smart tweak option. At the very least you will affect the thermals and probably lower them.

Heat (caused by voltage and frequency) is the #1 killer of components followed closely by an incorrect voltage applied.

 

[backward_0]

Thank you for that explanation. I will look around to see if I can find some static settings for this proc. My thermals via HWmonitor are totally reasonable 30c at idle 40-45 under heavy sustained load. I'm air cooled w/ an older variant of the Evo 212, I do get an occasional KP on wake that I think is related to OC - like 1/5 of wake ups, and it has to be asleep for a long time.