OC Maximus Gene VI + 4670k - Beginners Q.

[BreakFix]

Hi Peoples

Some advice if you can spare me some time please.
I am returning to desktop builds after several years of laptop, OC nowadays seems "The norm" for any self respecting tech-head so i went ahead, did some due diligance and bought the following Micro-ATX build in the hope to doing some enthusiast gaming and start some OC tinkering

- Intel i5 4670k @ 3.4Ghz
- ASUS Maximus Gene IV - latest BIOS 1301
- Dominator Platinum - 2x4GB 1866Mhz (CAS 9-10-9-27, DHX, XMP, 1.5V)
- H100i cooler (SP120) @ 27degrees idle, ~50degrees under race conditions (BF4).
The rest is just gravy.

I've reset almost all of my BIOS settings to AUTO for smooth running for the time being, no problems at this point.
I was lead to believe a quick and dirty overclock using CPU Level UP (4.2 / 4.4 / 4.6 Ghz) would quickly tell me the quality of my silicon and how well i did in the silicon lottery.

If a use CPU Level Up @ 4.2Ghz the system fails after just a few minutes of Prime95.

Am i following the wrong approach? Feel free to point me at a beginners guide but i wondered if there way anything specific for the ASUS Maximus brand. Perhaps the slightly exotic RAM timing might have tripped me up? I didn't appreciate the importance of this component but believe quality RAM would be flexible enough to do what ever was required.

Puzzled.

[Nate152]

Hi BreakFix, Sometimes cpu level up and X.M.P. can make your machine unstable. Using cpu level up and X.M.P. makes me unstable as well. Try overclocking your cpu manually.

[BreakFix]

Thanks Nate152,

I've just completed the 4-Way optimisation, it hit 4.2 but i suspect i just bumped CPU level Up to 4.2. It BSOD on the first reboot before AI Suite III even managed to load.

Time to go and research XMP and overclocking. Thanks for the tip.
In this video it appears JJ's AIS3 version checks each core. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoaAT5TkXc4 *scratch head*

[Nate152]

I can help you overclock your cpu, it's super easy, with your cpu cooler I see 4.6 GHz. want to try?

[BreakFix]

Well thanks for your support.

XMP is now enabled, it appears to have detected to 9-10-9-27 timings without any fuss but I had to set to DRAM to 1866 Mhz specifically.
Prime95 is stable at x40, and now x41. At x42 with CPU Level Up it BSOD quite constistently so i will proceed from here with caution.

Is there a way to automatically running tests against each core as shows in JJ @ Asus youtube video? CPU Level Up appears to have replaced it?

Before i aim for 4.6 lets see if i can get 4.2 stable? 🙂


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Short test later, x42 multiplier caused a BSOD after about 40 seconds.

[Nate152]

OK, here is what I would like you to do, go into your bios, Hit F5 to set defaults, extreme tweaker tab, set AI Overclock Tuner to manual, let's set up your ram manually to rule out the ram causing the BSOD in XMP. Set the ram frequency to 1866, set the Dram voltage to 1.5v go to Dram timing control and enter the first 4 timings of your ram kit, let all other ram timings on auto. F10 and Enter. After you do this come back and we will proceed with overclocking your cpu.

[BreakFix]

Hello Nate152.
An honor to have your company.

I believe these configurations are now set. A quick Prime95 shows no sign of a problem.
What's next my learned friend?

[Nate152]

First before we start do you have cpu-z and a cpu temp monitoring program?

[BreakFix]

I do indeed have CPU-Z up and running, also HWMonitor.

[Nate152]

we will start with the 4.2 GHz. you suggested. extreme tweaker tab let ai overclock tuner to manual,sync all cores, set cpu core ratio to 42 and cpu core voltage to 1.25, check to see that cpu target speed is 4200 MHz. do this and return.