i5 2500k z68 overclocking help

[z1mb0bw4y]

Before I begin into this, let me say that I have basically no experience with overclocking. I've read many guides, but I have yet to find one for the z68 motherboard specifically, which is awful since I don't want to attempt to assume what the different settings are between manufacturers. Besides, to be honest, I don't want a general guide anyways since every CPU is different, and would like some personal help with this one.

So I'm currently sitting at 4.3 GHz stable. The majority of the guides I've seen say "set multi to 45x and mess with voltage until you get stable" (obviously more in depth than that), but none of the steps I've followed in those guides has helped. I want to know how I can tell when I've reached my CPU's limit, how to get there, and how I can change settings in a "safe" manner so as to not screw up my comp.

Would someone be willing to walk an overclocking-illiterate scrub through how to do this? Or if nothing else, a link to a guide specifically for z68 chipset would be spiffy.

[shoebox]

Cpu's limit can be determined by:
temps above 80 and your in the red, above 90 and you should seriously stop, 100 and cpu will shut down to save itself.
stability, if your crashing, getting allot of bluescreens, programs arnt operating, then your cpu is not getting enough voltage, most people say dont go past 1.45volts anything more and the chip begins to degrade very quickly.

So to reach your Cpu's limit, stay under 85*c under heavy load, to get there, increase in increments of 100mhz, and when you hit a crash, increase the voltage a very small amount. once your temps reach 85-90 and you dont get any crash's thats your CPU's limit.

overclocking is always risky, to keep it as safe as possible, dont exceed 1.45 or 1.5 volts(cant remember), and dont push your CPU to 50x multiplier straight of the bat, work your way up slowly, making sure to keep the temp low as long as possible.

---------- Post added 2011-09-24 at 03:51 PM ----------

Also, who is the manufacture of your board, as each manufacture has their own BIOS style and therefore different OC method.

[Deleted]

there are many programs in the internet that you could use to check stability... like orthos and super pi etc maybe you should check sites and their repsective forums like techpowerup...

to shoebox : 1.45. 1.5 volts to 32nm processor???????????????????????????????????? thats a lot

to op : and it's not only the cpu you should mess with only... messing abit with your ram can help a lot

[z1mb0bw4y]

Also, who is the manufacture of your board, as each manufacture has their own BIOS style and therefore different OC method.

Wow, I forgot to include a LOT of pertinent information.

z68 motherboard is from Gigabyte, I'm using a Hyper 212+ CPU cooler, and at 4.3 GHz my CPU NEVER goes above 62-63 degrees, even burning with IBT. CPU-z says voltage at 4.3 GHz is 1.296V.

[shoebox]

to shoebox : 1.45. 1.5 volts to 32nm processor???????????????????????????????????? thats a lot

no joke, iv seen people use that many volts to get theirs to 5ghz.

---------- Post added 2011-09-24 at 04:00 PM ----------

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=935517

theres a guy in that thread, with 1.6 volts and he reach's 5.3ghz, while a guy at 1.5 reaches 5.5ghz

[Deleted]

ah those benchmark monkeys , they spend half their income in new stuff every week , indeed such speeds are achievable , i dont know how long the cpu will last tho

[shoebox]

as soon as i get a higher income, il be burning through cpu's daily.

[Milkshake86]

Adequate cooling is the #1 problem with overclocking past 4.7 on an i5 and your not using air unless its an open box w/ an assload of fans. Personally use Liquid cooling myself considering the price drops as of late its the best bet. My cpu is stable at 4.5 and im happy, but i have 16gb of ram at 1600mhz. Id say @ 4.3 if your stable what more could you need? However the advice to slowly move up in increments is your best bet in general and thats how it should be done, however 63 c >.> im sheltered with liquid i dont go above 40 at full load 55 at most sometimes 60.

[Arisfarreach]

there are many programs in the internet that you could use to check stability... like orthos and super pi etc maybe you should check sites and their repsective forums like techpowerup...

to shoebox : 1.45. 1.5 volts to 32nm processor???????????????????????????????????? thats a lot

to op : and it's not only the cpu you should mess with only... messing abit with your ram can help a lot

1.45 to 1.5 is a lot, but the chip can handle it. They've been pushed above 1.6+.

Of course, 1.45-1.5 is about as high as you wanna be for 24/7 use.

Also, as shoebox said, go by the temps. If you're hitting 90C with 4.5Ghz at 1.45V, step down. Not all chips can be pushed to 5.0+ Ghz.

[Milkshake86]

1.45 to 1.5 is a lot, but the chip can handle it. They've been pushed above 1.6+.

Of course, 1.45-1.5 is about as high as you wanna be for 24/7 use.

Also, as shoebox said, go by the temps. If you're hitting 90C with 4.5Ghz at 1.45V, step down. Not all chips can be pushed to 5.0+ Ghz.

an i5 2500k with liquid cooling or obscene air setup should be able ot make 5ghz but what practical use do you have showing off is the only possible option 4.7 is more than enough 4.5 is well beyond aswell when even at stock w/ turbo is ideal for most gaming applications at that point its all about the GPU keeping up also if your pushing 90c w/o load id back down as is hell if your pushing 80c with load id suggest you have gone to far. With aftermarket air cooling systems i have seen 70c at 4.7ghz at 100% load so i mean 80-90 is a bit much and leaves no real headroom for ambient temps and everything else going on.