Failing in getting a good overclock (i7 2600k)

[Robinnn 13]

Hello guys,

 

I have an i7 2600k for a few years now. In the beginning I started to overclock it and I thought I had it stable at 4,5ghz.

So now and then I got a BSOD, maybe 1 per month or so. In the beginning not thinking about a faulty overclock because it worked before.

This was all with FSX

 

But the last time I get more and more BSOD's so I decided to set all the settings back to default. (Yes I made a backup)

So now running P3D I do not get any BSOD's anymore.

 

I tried my own overclock settings, even the POWERBOOST option in the BIOS so that it goes automatically. But still BSOD's with this.

Before I went overclocking a few years ago I spent many hours reading and reading the internet how to overclock. But obviously it is still now right.

 

It is good that my BSOS's are over but also my frames in P3D went down. I bought this CPU a few years ago because I wanted to overclock it. 

 

So what do I want? 

I want a stable overclock. Preferred to 4,5Ghz of course but anything better then default clock speed is fine with me. Also I think my CPU gets a little too hot with 4,5ghz (at least with my settings).

During a flight with P3D it is constantly between 70 and 80 degrees Celsius. And the fan makes a lot of noise. (especially during summer)

 

So maybe somebody can give me a little advice or share his own settings with me. Again, anything better then default clock speed is good for me

 

My system:

Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe

CPU: Intel i7-2600k 3.4Ghz 

RAM: 8GB

Videocard: Geforce GTX 680

Processor Cooling : Corsair Hydro H60

 

Robin

[Eziocin 46]

Robin,

I have a similar rig as yours:

 

I7-2600k @4.8 Ghz

Asus P8P67 Deluxe

Ram 8Gb

Videocard EVGA GTX970 (but have been running for more than one year on the 680)

Processor cooling: Corsair Hydro H100

 

I have now been running for almost three years and I didn' t have issues (keeping my finger crossed as you may never allow your PC to hear you saying that they are running well... :-) ).

 

Have a look at this guide :

http://www.scribd.com/doc/94305186/P67-Sandy-Bridge-Over-Clocking-Guide-for-Beginners#scribd

It might be very helpful (it was very helpful for me at the beginning)...

I am not at home today but if you want I can share with you my BIOS settings for the Mobo later on tomorrow.

 

Feel free to ask if you need more detailed info.

 

Regards

 

 

Ezio

[hesynergy 67]

Same with me check my specs on the board.

 

I have set the bios so that it governs the overclocking as yours did, but, it turns out that I was my CPU was being throttled because it was overheating. I bought a bigger cooler and now I am overclocking with very acceptable CPU temperatures.

 

Granted, I am not getting 60 frames a second, but if I reasonably tweak my adjustments, flying the 737NGX into San Francisco still gives me acceptable smoothness.

 

Would I upgrade if I had the resources? Yes definitely. I don't.

 

Regards, and good luck!

 

Chas

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

You stated that your temps run between 70-80c, this is a bit high for stock speeds, but won't cause any damage. Did you monitor your temps during OC? It could be something as simple as your cooler not being seated properly or your thermal paste being applied incorrectly. Remove your cooler and put some new paste on, and ensure your cooler is seated properly. Then check your temps at stock speed again. Good place to start.

[AnkH 2,233]

Reasons for a suddenly instable OC are usually related to bad cooling, as hesynergy mentioned or to a creeping power supply failure. First, I would certainly test the temperatures of your CPU under full load, then, if temperatures are not an issue, you could try to increase the vcore a little bit and see if this helps. Last, it might be that your CPU is simply not as capable as others and maybe alread 4.4GHz results in a rockstable overclock.

 

So, two questions: what CPU cooler do you use and what PSU do you have?

[Robinnn 13]

Thankyou all for reply.

 

 

You stated that your temps run between 70-80c, this is a bit high for stock speeds, but won't cause any damage. Did you monitor your temps during OC? It could be something as simple as your cooler not being seated properly or your thermal paste being applied incorrectly. Remove your cooler and put some new paste on, and ensure your cooler is seated properly. Then check your temps at stock speed again. Good place to start.

Maybe I did not mention it right. But 70 to 80c is with 4,5Ghz, not at stock speed.

 

 

So, two questions: what CPU cooler do you use and what PSU do you have?

As written in the first post. A corsair H60 Hydro. And I believe I have a 750watt PSU. (not sure though, it can be higher too)

[AnkH 2,233]

Well, I must have been blind, sorry for that. The brand of the PSU is more important than the watts. A no-name 750W PSU sometimes only provides 300-400W while a good one really provides the 750W. You should check that...

 

70-80c with the H60 and 4.5GHz is not to bad, I guess its not related to the temperatures then. With what Vcore do you run your 4.5GHz?

[Robinnn 13]

I checked the PSU. It's a 700watt Silent Pro Coolermaster. Maybe it's not enough?

 

Not sure what Vcore I had with 4,5Ghz. I have to check that in the BIOS again. I'm reading now the manual that Ezio gave to me.

[AnkH 2,233]

The Coolermaster Silent Pro are very good PSU, so you also do not have to worry about this one. Now, it seems that your H60 provides enough cooling, the PSU is top-notch, then what remains is a bad overclocking. Probably reading the manual from Ezio along with some fine tuning of the Vcore and going down to 4.4GHz will save you from future BSOD. Good luck.

[Robinnn 13]

Thankyou,

 

I am busy with the overclocking guide but I bumped into the DRAM Timing control.

It sais that I have to take a look at my RAM to see what numbers I have to enter in the BIOS

 

CAS Latency - 

RAS to CAS Delay - 

RAS Pre Time - 

RAS ACT Time - 

DRAM Command Mode - 

 

and the DRAM Voltage too

 

So I did make a photo of my RAM but I can't really find the right numbers. Can you?

 

 

 

EDIT: 

 

I just found all this information in CPU-Z

[Eziocin 46]

I can't open the attached picture, but if you have the manufacturer and model number you can easily find these values in the manufacturer's website.

Another option is, if your RAM is XMP rated (again, you can find this info either on the RAM module itself or on the Manufacturer's website), you can select XMP in the AI Overclock Tuner dropdown menu in the Bios (see the picture in the guide in the same page where the memory timings are shown) and they will be automatically loaded.

However I'll see if I can open your picture from my home PC this evening.

 

Also, although I don't think that your BSOD are caused by your processor running at 70 deg. I would take a look at the H60 radiator. The H60 is a little bit marginal for an overclocked I72600K , and if on top of this you have dust accumulation on the radiator you may end with very poor cooling action which is not good anyway. I recently noticed an increase in my CPU temperatures at high load and found out that my H100 radiator was almost completely clogged with dust on the suction side. Once I cleaned it I regained my usual temps (50-55 deg running FSX or P3D @4.8 Ghz).

 

Regards 

[coa1117 53]

if on top of this you have dust accumulation on the radiator you may end with very poor cooling action which is not good anyway

 

Yeah, this is critically important. I have a 2600K on a P8P67 Pro v3.1 that's been running stable at 4.7 (with Speed Step enabled) for 4 years. In FSX my temps are typically 55-60 with the processor at full tilt with an Antec Kuhler H2O 920. Once a year I disassemble the major components and give them a good cleaning, especially the fans and the radiator. I use alcohol to clean the fan blades and hit the radiator with a high suction vacuum cleaner brush. It's amazing how much dust accumulates in the box.

 

If your fans and radiator are holding a lot of dust your temps will suffer, though I doubt steady 70-80c would cause BSODs. You would still have about a 20-30 degree margin unless the temps are spiking higher when under load. Are you monitoring your temps over a period of time while under load or only checking them at discrete moments? A program like HWiNFO64 (there is also a 32-bit version) runs in the background with very little processor usage. It can monitor and log temps and many other system statistics over time. The log might reveal what your temps are when the BSODs occur.

[Robinnn 13]

I will buy tomorrow a can of air and clean the radiator. Thanks for the hint.

 

I am currently busy with overclocking and now stable (I hope) at 4,4Ghz.

Prime95 is running for a while now and it still works.

 

I started at a high Vcore and worked my way down to 1.28Vcore. Do you think it will be worth trying to get it lower?

[corkyo4 2]

A few thoughts here, based on my own quest for a a stable but problematic overclock:

 

- when you get a bsod not down the error code and Google this. In my case it was a voltage problem which turned out to be the power to the CPU. I don't mean not enough voltage in the bios settings. In my case I was only using a 4 pin CPU power connector and not the 8 my kobo has.

 

- I found keeping everything on auto at first and only increasing the clock of the CPU and using CPUid to monitor voltage and temps.

 

- I tweak voltage based on my observations in CPUid to help reduce the temp.

 

- I fitted a good cooler to keep the temps below 50.

 

- maybe tweak the timings of the memory, in my bios I have some presets profiles which have helped.

 

It's a mine field in terms of the amount of settings you can change.

 

One of the big causes for bsods when using p3d for me was my dual gpu setup. Crossfire was literally crashing p3d on load so I switched this off and that helped too. I thought it was my overclock but turned out to be my other hardware

 

Hope this helps

 

Tom

[bonchie 2,305]

Bump up the voltage. That will probably fix it since temperatures aren't an issue. 

I had my 4.6ghz OC on my 2500k go sideways the other day. I bumped the vcore up from a tiny amount (like one setting up) and it's fine now.