Slightly overclocking i7-3770 ok?

[bogavante]

Hello there,

I might have crossed a line that I shouldn´t have but I can still go back if that´s what you guys suggest me.

I have recently built my first hackintosh with top notch components, the main ones: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H motherboard and Intel i7-3770(without a K) processor. My setup worked almost instantly and it´s very robust so far.

I was reading success builts and setups from others and after seeing some of them, one of the settings I played with in my BIOS was:

I changed the clock ratio to 35 and each of the individual Turbo ratios to the maximum possible(if I remember correctly it was something like 43, 43, 42 & 41 respectively). After changing doing that my Geekbench changed from +-14400 to +-15500

My question is. Am I doing something not intended for the type of CPU I have(i7-3770) and risking some damage, or this setting is OK to adjust it the way I have eventhough my CPU is not intended for overclocking?

Thank you very much,
Boga

 

[Dschijn]

I am wondering how you can change the Turbo Steps…?! As a non K CPU you shouldn't be able to do that.

Maybe you are lucky and the mainboard can change the Turbo steps for that CPU as well.
Just test a 2-3h heavy load on the CPU, like prime95 in Windows and monitore the temperatures. They shouldn't exceed 85°C.

 

[bogavante]

This is all new concepts to me. Just know that I changed those settings in the BIOS and after that my GB raised by 1000 extra points or so. got those settings from another user(I later realized he had a 3770K not a 3770)

Another thing is that I had upgraded to version 14 of the BIOS maybe they allow minor overclocking on my cpu now where they didn´t in previous BIOS versions...

So this intensive test you suggest, is there an alternative for mac os? I don´t have Windows installed. Also, Is it risky for my hardware? If I am not supposed to play with those settings then I prefer to be on the safe side.

Thank you for answering!
boga

 

[Dschijn]

I don't know OSX testing. Windows software is well known and easy to install.

The thing is… The OC might be stable for you, but by testing it on the limit you make sure that you never exceed critical temperatures and that system is stable.
Some OCs are (because of low voltage) not stable under heavy load.

 

[bogavante]

I found that Prime95 is indeed compiled for other OS´s so installed Prime95 v27.7 build 2 for mac osx and run the test while looking at the HWMonitor history graphs in real time. I kept the test running for 5 minutes uninterruptedly and the temperatures of each of the 4 cores where most of the time between 73-79 ºC . Only a few times one or two of the cores went for as high as 82 ºC. The computer didn´t show any visible problem and it kept on working as normal.

Is this a good thing or did I ran the test for too little time?

To keep the noise down I have only 1 of the 3 fans included in my Corsair Graphite 600T case plugged. I mention this in case it´s of any relevance.

Thanks for any suggestion/advice,
boga

 

[Dschijn]

That looks fine!
You should run prime for a little longer and look if one of the 8 calculations is interuppted.

 

[bogavante]

I ran Prime95 during 15 minutes this time. I could only see the temp reach 84ºC 3 times. But most of the time the four temperatures where dancing between 75-80ºC
The 4 workers worked all the time, as well as the computer in general.
I guess that means that these slight overclocking settings on the i7-3770 might be cool after all

 

[DBP]

Windows software is well known and easy to install.

Except that you need to install Windows to be able to use it. Big hurdle for some of us.

I ran Prime95 during 15 minutes this time. I could only see the temp reach 84ºC 3 times. But most of the time the four temperatures where dancing between 75-80ºC
The 4 workers worked all the time, as well as the computer in general.

4 workers? Prime95's Torture Test will spawn 8 concurrent workers by default on a 3770(K) due to the 4 cores + hyperthreading.

Prime95 has three Torture Test modes, small/large/blend. Small drives the CPU cores the hardest, whereas large (because the working set doesn't fit within the CPU cache) spreads the load to other parts of the system slightly. Which mode were you running? If it was large or blend I expect the core temps will go higher in "small" than previously. Also, take note of the ambient temperature at the time (with a thermometer outside the case, not the "Ambient" sensor in the machine, which is actually influenced by the CPU temp).
But at first glance the temps you mention seem reasonable.

I decided my OC system was stable when I could leave it running Prime95/small for hours on a 37C day while out of the house, and find it still running smoothly when I got home.

 

[DBP]

I just started working with an i7-3770 (non-K) system today, and indeed the BIOS is giving me the option to increase the turbo ratios up to 43. Once I get the system up and running (a job for tomorrow) I'll have a little play and see what HWMonitor says.
Unfortunately that machine is using the stock Intel cooler so I shouldn't push it too far.

Quite unexpected!

EDIT: further discussion of my findings is in this thread.

 

[skaker]

I'm pretty sure what's happening here is you are (in effect) setting all-core turbo to maximum (stock) turbo. A 3770 (K and non-K) should turbo to 37 when all cores are active. A locked multiplier does not mean it can't be adjusted, it just means there's a maximum. My guess is by setting the turbo bins to 41-43, the benefit you're seeing is really from increasing the all-core from 37 to 39. A lot of motherboards do this by default (including most GA boards), but perhaps only for K version chips.

Your numbers kind of bear this out. You must have pretty fast memory (or alternatively, maybe that board does some default bclk adjustments as many ASUS boards do...) as your GB at higher than mine and I have cas7 1866. My GB when all core is set to 37 is 14200, and when set to 39 is 15100. In contrast, at 44 my GB is 16800. So assuming at stock yours is running at 37, your numbers would fit perfectly for the increase being due to changing all-core to 39.

An easy test would be to set all turbo bins to 39 and see if your GB drops at all. If it goes down...I have no idea, something else weird is happening =).

In answer to your original question, regardless of what's actually going on, there's no reason for concern.