So lost with the OC

[Brenchen]

Hi fellow OCers,

I had attempted to follow different guides and walkthroughs for OC as I'm new to it. Initially I had a dodgy i7 3770K overclocker, as I could not pull more than 4.6GHz on it. I was on 1.38v, and even pushed it to 1.44v it wouldn't go to 4.7GHz.

Then since running an OCd machine is so important for what I need to do, I purchased another i5 3570K that is ensure to be a good overclocker (I assume), because it is able to run 4.5GHz at about 1.1v (it's been tested).

However, to get it reasonably stable on 4.8GHz, I am running at about 1.34v vcore, with my RAM at 2133MHz, timing on 10-13-13-31, 1.65v. My nominated is 2400MHz, 9-11-11-31, 1.65v.

When I tried to get my 4.8GHz stabled, all sorts of BSOD came up, stuff including RAM stability, vcore, QPI/VTT, hardrive related, it's all over the place!

I am not sure what to do here, as I can't simply describe ONE situation or scenario. Could some experts out there give me some pointers, or tie up some loose ends on what I might be doing wrong please?

Thanks in advanced
Brendan

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Hey there!:)

Does your RAM not reach it's rated speed and timings....(that is one single kit right?) One of the first things you could do is Memtest86+ your memory....first at BIOS stock and then at XMP ratings (whether that's on the XMP profile or manually set up) to make sure it is clean before you go on and OC.

http://rog.asus.com/127362012/overclocking/memtest-user-guide-for-rog-motherboards/

Also can I ask how you are cooling CPU and if you are cooling VRM....4.8 starts to be pretty hot territory for Ivy...

[Chino]

Each CPU is different and therefore requires different voltage to achieve a certain overclock. So don't be disheartened if yours take a little more than what you saw in the guide. The same applies to the memory. Remember that the IMC is on the CPU itself now. So whether you're able to run 2400MHz RAM or not depends on how strong your IMC is. Getting a golden CPU with a strong IMC is like winning the lottery.

With all that said, the faster you're running your RAM, the more voltage the CPU needs.

[Brenchen]

Thanks for the replies. I understand getting a good CPU is like winning a lottery (actually it is, silicon lottery), however the second CPU I bought I ensure I win the lottery, or at least tried to. They have these services in China where before you buy a CPU from them (all legit with warranty and all), they will pull it out of the box and test the overclockability. The better the CPU overclocks (rated by the voltage range used for 4.5GHz OC), the more it costs. So if it doesn't OC that well or poorly, the CPU would cost less than RRP. If it OCs well, it would cost above RRP.

So I've taken the better option, although it costs more, but at least I know I'm getting what I'm paying for. So this CPU is supposedly the better performing one.

As for cooler, I have the XSPC RayStorm D5 EX360 kit with Gentle Typhoon AP15 on there.

[Chino]

If I were you, I'd test the system's stability on stock clocks before overclocking anything since you mentioned in your other thread about having problems even running at stock. To ensure that you don't run into BIOS bugs or overclocking difficulties, I'd recommend you reflash your BIOS to the 1408 version using EZ Flash Utility via the BIOS or using the USB BIOS Flashback. What you'd want to do is clear your CMOS, get into BIOS to load the optimized defaults, save and reflash your bios. When the reflash is completed, proceed to clearing the CMOS again and load the optimized defaults again.

Now if you have AI Suite, remove it completely. Then run the uninstaller that is in my signature in Safe Mode to remove the leftover services. Then you're ready to go. Test your stability with stock settings. When all tests are done, proceed to setting up your RAM and retest stability again. Then if all goes well, start overclocking your CPU from zero. 😛

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Thing is if they test for 4.5GHZ at a certain voltage that means just that; that at 4.5 the CPU runs at voltage X unfortunately this is no guide to how or even if it will run any higher...and it says nothing about the system settings they test it at.

If you have an unstable system and install your OS with an unstable system the problems can be compunded by corrupt files on your drive etc. so best to go step by step with this. Test ram ...install os and then start ocing ram and then CPU...

[Brenchen]

Thanks for the indepth reply, Chino. I'm going to try out what you suggested. However, I cannot download the Uninstaller for some reason. The file exists but I cannot open it or extract the contents. Any ideas?

[Chino]

Try this batch file: http://www.mediafire.com/?l18zv1sjrvvfeel. It does the same thing as the uninstaller. Same procedure as the uninstaller. Download. Unzip. Run as administrator.