Hey everyone! So I recently built myself a computer and now wanted to overclock it to squeeze out some more power for gaming and video editing and whatnot. Here are my specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer
Like I said, I have never overclocked anything before, and have literally no idea where to start. Can anyone link me to good tutorials or writeups and lend me some timps additionally? Thanks again guys!
You will need to download coretemp or hwmonitor and Prime 95.
Access your bios, and increase the core multiplier by small increments, booting and running prime 95 each time. When your computer crashes after a few minutes of prime 95, raise your cpu voltage by small increments untill it does not. rinse and repeat. look up the maximum safe voltage and tempature for your CPU, and stay under them. when you have reached the maximum safe temp while running prime 95, or the maximum safe voltage, run prime 95 all day to make sure your overclock is stable.
1.35V is a really high. I wouldn't recommend going over 1.33 for 4.0gHz. With an H100i, you can easily hit 4.6gHz with safe temps. I have an i7 3770k @ 4.6gHz on a Phanteks PH-TC14PE @ 1.334V idling at 29 degrees C. Simply change the multiplier to 46 for 4.6gHz and the CPU voltage to 1.334V in the BIOS and test for stability using Prime95. If it doesn't work, try lowering the voltage. If that doesn't work, try raising the voltage, but only by thousandths of a volt at a time. You don't want to fry anything!
How long should I run prime 95 to tell if it's stable or not? And if I overclock it will it run at those speeds all the time? And what happens if it crashes? Will it just blue screen and then I can get back to the Bios? Sorry for all the obnoxious questions, I've never tried this before.
Well, normally, a 24 to 48 hour test will guarantee stability, but as long as you run it for a few hours without crashing, you should be good. If you bluescreen, your computer will restart and prompt you to enter the BIOS by saying,
"blah-blah-blah Overclocking has failed. Press F1 to enter BIOS..."
Or something similar. These questions aren't obnoxious, they are just questions that you don't know the answer to that we can help with :)
You have an Asus motherboard; my Maximus V Formula came with Asus's AI Suite, which includes a software called Turbo V Evo. It overclocks for you, testing stability. Did your motherboard include this?
How high do you think I can get the overclock to while still being stable considering I'm using the H100i and not a custom watercooling loop? What settings do you recommend I start out with?