4770K MAXIMUS HERO VI overclocking attempt

[Xotic]

I built this PC in March of 2014 as primarily a gaming PC and to aslo play with overclocking and SLI for the first time. I was able to get a stable overclock @4.6ghz and CPU voltage @1.28v. Temps were fine although I can't remember what they were. After about a year, it wasn't stable anymore and backed it down to 4.5ghz @1.28v and it held for about another year. Since then I gave up on the overclock and have been running stock clock speeds with default setting + XMP. I had a corsair H100i cooler on it at the time.

Since my build still seems to be doing fine with current games, I have decided to try to optimize it as best I can rather than upgrade for the time being. I am now running a Hyper evo 212 with 2 corsair SP120s in a push/pull config which I know will not allow me to go as far as I could in the past. The other day I tried the "CPU level up" feature in the bios @4.6 and it failed to boot to OS. It did boot to the OS @4.4 and passed Realbench running @1.264v and max temp was 76c. But BSOD 3/4 of the way through the 2nd run. Temps never passes 70c the 2nd time. I don't understand whats holding me up here if the temps aren't reaching dangerous levels

TL;DR

I am still kind of new to overclocking, but I'd like to try to get a modest, dependable (safe) overclock for everday use (gaming) out of this setup for the time being without having to spend much on my current setup and I would like some advise. I am not looking to achieve high benchmarks, just wanna get more out of my setup for gaming/everday use. Any help is appreciated.

4770K
Asus Maximus Hero VI
Hyper evo 212 w/ SP120s (push/pull)
16gb (2x8) Gskill Trident X 2400mhz
EVGA GTX 980ti Classified
Corsair ax860 PSU

[HiVizMan]

Hello there Xotic - where exactly did the BSOD happen during the second run of Realbench?

There could be any number of factors that caused the BSOD, and are holding you back. The best place to overclock your system is in the bios as you know. Spend some time reading the bios guide that Raja posted https://rog.asus.com/articles/maximus-motherboards/maximus-vi-series-uefi-guide-for-overclocking/

[Xotic]

HiVizMan wrote:
Hello there Xotic - where exactly did the BSOD happen during the second run of Realbench?

There could be any number of factors that caused the BSOD, and are holding you back. The best place to overclock your system is in the bios as you know. Spend some time reading the bios guide that Raja posted https://rog.asus.com/articles/maximus-motherboards/maximus-vi-series-uefi-guide-for-overclocking/

"Heavy Multitasking"

Good read. I do have a question. With my DRAM frequency, should I be running an XMP profile? Manual? Auto? I am currently running XMP profile. Is this gonna "stunt" my CPU clock speed?

[Xotic]

I am not very familiar with the different phases of Realbench as this is the first time I have used it. But, It did lockup approx half way or better throught the video that was playing. I don't really know if that helps you. But I did notice that the CPU temps were considerably low at that point (60c ish)

[Xotic]

optimized defaults > AI tweaker = XMP > Sync all cores > core value = 43

Thats all I did. Ran Realbench twice. Vcore=1.232, Max temp 74C
Here are the results, tell me what you think...

Wed Oct 24 2018
01:53:52


Image Editing: 161546
Time: 32.9812

Encoding: 58577
Time: 90.9571

OpenCL: 106600
KSamples/sec: 19692

Heavy Multitasking: 69209
Time: 110.274


System Score: 98983



----------------------------

Wed Oct 24 2018
02:05:38


Image Editing: 176730
Time: 30.1476

Encoding: 55317
Time: 96.3175

OpenCL: 106600
KSamples/sec: 19626

Heavy Multitasking: 67306
Time: 113.391


System Score: 101488



----------------------------

[HiVizMan]

I think that at those settings your system is good to go. I think we are on different time zones, most of your responses came in the very early morning for me. Or you are a very early risers.

Now if you want to increase your frequency, make a note of your vcore and simply increase the multi by 1. F10 and enter.

Run realbench again.

If pass well and good. Keen an eye on temps obviously. If fail then up the voltage to the CPU by 0.025 and run again. Temp is your guide here. Keep the CPU below 80/90'C if possible. That is well below the maximum ceiling but there is no real need to over stress due to heat now is there. At the end of the day the PC is doing what you want it to do as it is.:cool: