Overclocking i5 2500k on a gigabyte Z68 mobo

[MrSniffles]

Hello everyone, I've searched everywhere for instructions on how to overclock my 2500k on a z68 mobo but I think I've confused myself more than anything else. I was planning on overclocking to 4.5GHz (Cooled by Hyper 212+) but a couple things are confusing me. What exactly should I be worrying about, I've read that I should adjust my DRAM timings and voltage and do something with my PLL overvoltage(some people are telling to turn it on while others are saying turn it off). On top of that I was thinking of setting my vcore to 1.32v, is this right? Is there anything else I need to worry about?

Thanks for any help

[OhpUldum]

Read this. P67 and Z68 overclock the same. Only the terms from manufacturer change but this will give you everything you need to know about overclocking a sandybridge chip.

[MrSniffles]

Read this. P67 and Z68 overclock the same. Only the terms from manufacturer change but this will give you everything you need to know about overclocking a sandybridge chip.

ok, tyvm ^.^

[Bann]

Ive saved both guides as PDFs and im going to print them at work if I get chance Tuesday is free/pvp night, so im going to try it then, besides it will give me something to read while travelling tomorrow

There are two simular threads, just to clarify >:<

[MrSniffles]

Ive saved both guides as PDFs and im going to print them at work if I get chance Tuesday is free/pvp night, so im going to try it then, besides it will give me something to read while travelling tomorrow

There are two simular threads, just to clarify >:<

Haha didn't even see that post, sorry.

---------- Post added 2011-08-14 at 11:53 PM ----------

Hey guys, I figured most of it out and i'm stable at 4.5GHz @ 1.38v. My highest temp atm is 70-71C steadily while running Prime95. Is this an okay temp or should I fix something? Thanks for any feedback

[shoebox]

that seems like a really good temp for a 1.3volt overclock at 4.5ghz from what iv read around the place.

[Muya]

The voltage is actually a little high. At a 4.5 you should be closer to 1.3 than 1.4. Then again, it might be the chip you got. Seems to be random with how well they perform.

[MrSniffles]

So I decided to lower my clock to 4.4GHz and voltage to 1.35v(was BSODing at 1.32v, if I recall correctly). It's now running full load at a highest temp of 63-64C. Last night, I started to run prime95 and after 30mins of stability I decided to go to sleep, ~9 hours later when I woke up my computer was off(?), when I turned it back on I didn't get a BSOD notification like I usually get when a BSOD occurs, I also didn't get a "windows did not shut down properly" message before the OS boot. What do you think is happening?

On a side note, I've been streaming youtube videos while playing wow/lol on max setting for about 2 hours now and I haven't encountered any errors yet.

[Sephiracle]

So I decided to lower my clock to 4.4GHz and voltage to 1.35v(was BSODing at 1.32v, if I recall correctly). It's now running full load at a highest temp of 63-64C. Last night, I started to run prime95 and after 30mins of stability I decided to go to sleep, ~9 hours later when I woke up my computer was off(?), when I turned it back on I didn't get a BSOD notification like I usually get when a BSOD occurs, I also didn't get a "windows did not shut down properly" message before the OS boot. What do you think is happening?

On a side note, I've been streaming youtube videos while playing wow/lol on max setting for about 2 hours now and I haven't encountered any errors yet.

Well, it's probably not fully stable. I would track down the error log from the BSOD and see what time it actually blue screened on you. Also, IBT/Prime95 will push the system a bit harder than just playing games will, so even if it BSOD's after about 10 hours or so, you should be golden, unless you play in Korea and play WoW for 3 days straight.

[MrSniffles]

Well, it's probably not fully stable. I would track down the error log from the BSOD and see what time it actually blue screened on you. Also, IBT/Prime95 will push the system a bit harder than just playing games will, so even if it BSOD's after about 10 hours or so, you should be golden, unless you play in Korea and play WoW for 3 days straight.

That's the thing, I'm fairly certain it didn't BSOD. I'll look anyway, where could I find the logs? x3

[DarkBlade6]

make sure u turn off auto sleep mode and screensaver

[Arslay]

Yeah, you could probably lower the voltage a tad and still be stable...

On my (I think lucky chip) i7 2600k I am steady at 1.272 vcore 4.5 GhZ on a p67a-gd55 Mobo. Hyper212+.

Gaming I never go over 50C
Prime 65C is my max

You should be able to shed 5C by dropping the voltages and still be steady.

[Deleted]

By the way, does OCing shorten the CPUs life if you don't go to extremes and only go till 4-4.5 while keeping it from overheating?

[Arslay]

Slightly, but other parts will most likely break before the CPU (namely gcards). Also, the rig will be quite outdated by the time the chip dies (usually).

[MrSniffles]

So I upped my vcore to 1.355v (with a level 5 PLL, still 4.4GHz clock) because it BSODed on the 4th run of an intel burn test at 1.35v. After I upped the vcore the test was successful, here's the log:

----------------------------
IntelBurnTest v2.51
Created by AgentGOD
----------------------------


Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
Clock Speed: 3.32 GHz
Active Physical Cores: 4
Total System Memory: 8175 MB


Stress Level: Standard (1024 MB)
Testing started on 8/15/2011 12:10:51 PM
Time (s) Speed (GFlops) Result
[12:11:04] 8.112 110.1907 3.414876e-002
[12:11:16] 8.124 110.0339 3.414876e-002
[12:11:29] 8.120 110.0805 3.414876e-002
[12:11:41] 8.344 107.1253 3.414876e-002
[12:11:54] 8.152 109.6539 3.414876e-002
Testing ended on 8/15/2011 12:11:54 PM
Test Result: Success.
----------------------------


While this test was running my temps were usually 55-60C but spiked twice to 73C for no longer than a second, I also heard my fan increasing in speed during these times because I guess it was spinning the appropriate RPM for the regular 55-60C temps. Is this to be expected?

EDIT: not sure why the logs say 3.32GHz, CPU-Z was always reading 4.4GHz

[Cilraaz]

So I upped my vcore to 1.355v (with a level 5 PLL, still 4.4GHz clock) because it BSODed on the 4th run of an intel burn test at 1.35v.
[...]
EDIT: not sure why the logs say 3.32GHz, CPU-Z was always reading 4.4GHz

1. Don't use IBT to test stability on Sandy Bridge chips. Prime95, while it takes longer, is better at finding instability. You should be able to pass a 4-8 hour Prime95 run (Blend, max memory) when you can really call the system stable.
2. By "level 5 PLL", I assume you actually mean level 5 LLC (load-line calibration).
3. I assume you mean that you have voltage set to 1.355v in the BIOS. What does the voltage drop to under load?
4. Is PLL Overvoltage enabled? (Hint: It should be)
5. What other settings (other than vCore, LLC, and multiplier) have you changed and what are they?

The log says 3.32GHz because that's what the CPU is. Its default identifier is what's read by most programs, so its default speed is shown by most programs.

[Drunkenvalley]

Blargh, this bugs me. What is BLCK? e.e Absolutely can't seem to find the right google to get a hit that hasn't got anything to do with skincolors or just colors.

[Freezymcgee]

I'll assume your referring to BCLK,

BCLK = base clock

and in the case of sandy bridge processors is more or less stuck at 100.0 mhz

BCLK x multiplier = speed of the processor (ex BCLK of 100.0 mhz with a multiplier of 45 = 4500 mhz = 4.5 Ghz)

[Cilraaz]

Sometimes you can get away without CPU PLL Overvoltage if you've got a decent chip. For higher clocks, generally it's needed, but for lower ones, most chips seem to just about cope without it. Enabling it helps immensly, but you lose the ability to resume from sleep/suspend, and hibernate is screwy too.

PLL Overvoltage is suggested for most overclocks over the lower half of 4GHz (so usually 4.4GHz and up or so). I haven't lost the ability to resume from sleep, and hibernate is hardly worth using.

Blargh, this bugs me. What is BLCK? e.e Absolutely can't seem to find the right google to get a hit that hasn't got anything to do with skincolors or just colors.

BCLK is Base Clock. It's the Sandy Bridge equivalent of Front-Side Bus, except every clock in your system is tied to it. Modifying it will modify everything from your CPU clock to PCI Bus clock to your RAM clocks, which is why it is not a suggested method of overclocking.

[Drunkenvalley]

Aaah. I just recall people saying that the Asus boards' misbehavior could be fixed by BCLK set to base value and RAM setup manually, etc.