Overclocking & OS Help

[Deleted]

Hello people!

I built this desktop a year ago:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/kzGQqk and I've only just gotten the Scythe Mugen 4 CPU Cooler as I am thinking about overclocking.

I am looking for information on what software I should use to overclock my processor - currently I have CPUID CPU-Z software that came on a CD with the motherboard which I believe i can use for the purpose. Secondly, I have no idea whatsoever about overclocking and would love it if somebody could explain the process step-by-step and post parameters that would not cause any damage to my system (I'm aiming at 4.4-4.5 GHz) and also to clarify whether this is something that I have to re-do everytime i reboot like with the GPU Tweak software that came with my graphics card.

Furthermore, I am looking at reinstalling my OS due to updates and such taking a toll on my limited SSD space and will do this with the software available form my university - either a Windows 7 Ultimate or Windows 10 Education. I cannot currently make up my mind on which one I want to use as I quite frankly dont understand what possible features I might be missing with the 10 Education version. If somebody could give me advice on that one as well it would be greatly appreciated - bear in mind i only use this desktop to play games - 95% of the time this is WoW and do not even have a media player or office installed for that matter and i intend to keep it so with the only addition of possibly (quite unlikely atm ) streaming in the future. I only describe the above in the offchance the Windows 10 Education features might prevent me from doing so.

[Thunderball]

On Windows: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Wind...siness/Compare. In short: Education version is the best you can get, I wish everyone could.

On overclocking. There are plenty of videos on the internet, google ASUS Z97-PRO overclocking guide. I'll try to explain as short as possible. You will need utilities to control processor clock, voltage (that's CPU-Z), temperature (that's HWMonitor) and utilities to test for stability. Preferably you start off by resetting CMOS (refer to your motherboard manual, it's a jumper) to eliminate the influence of any setting you've made in BIOS on your overclocking. Next you enter you BIOS, switch to advanced mode (the "old" look with a bunch of pages), start with setting your CPU Core Ratio to Sync all Cores and enter a basic multiplier of 44 or 45 (which is 4400Mhz or 4500Mhz with 100 MHz BLK), then change CPU voltage mode to Fixed and set a basic setting of 1.25v. Then you check if it starts, and if it does check for stability. There is a number of tools for that, most popular is AIDA64 System stability test, stress tests like Prime95, Linpack and x264 encoding. While testing make sure to check your voltage fluctuation and temperatures. If your system it not stable (hangs, errors, BSODs on any stage of testing) you go back to BIOS and change your settings: to increase stability you can either lower the clock or increase voltage, to lower temperatures you decrease voltage or/and clock. Make sure to keep voltage under 1.3v and temperature under 80C. If your system is stable with both voltage and temperature limits met you go back to bios and switch Ai Overlock Tuner to XMP mode (preinstalled OC settings for your memory), input all the other BIOS setting you need and check the stability again. Note that this only applies to some ASUS boards as they have troubles with overclocking under XMP mode.

[Deleted]

1. Would I need to reset CMOS if the only thing i've done there is update its version and not touched any of the other settings? I understand that this is 'preferred', i guess much like 'performing a clean install' when updating driver's but i honestly have not changed any settings there as I am not knowledgeable enough to touch anything.

2. I have a utility that monitors CPU temperature that came with the MoBo CD just like CPU-Z - it's called AI Suite 3 - is that good enough?

3. Are the utilities required to test for stability of the system multiple or will the AIDA64 mentioned by you be sufficient to do the stability test and stress test? Also what parameters should i be looking at apart from temperature and voltage and what are considered 'safe boundaries' generally considering the build I have linked above?

4. That final bit about XMP mode is a major turn-off to me as I do not like doing things I do not fully understand - I am going to look for a guide that might explain it but is there a chance this might not apply to my board and I would not have to do this at all or is that only regarding stability? How complicated is this process and should I try and take it to a shop for the whole process? Is it a one-time setup and change of settings or would I have to change this every time I reboot?

[Thunderball]

1. Would I need to reset CMOS if the only thing i've done there is update its version and not touched any of the other settings? I understand that this is 'preferred', i guess much like 'performing a clean install' when updating driver's but i honestly have not changed any settings there as I am not knowledgeable enough to touch anything.

2. I have a utility that monitors CPU temperature that came with the MoBo CD just like CPU-Z - it's called AI Suite 3 - is that good enough?

3. Are the utilities required to test for stability of the system multiple or will the AIDA64 mentioned by you be sufficient to do the stability test and stress test? Also what parameters should i be looking at apart from temperature and voltage and what are considered 'safe boundaries' generally considering the build I have linked above?

4. That final bit about XMP mode is a major turn-off to me as I do not like doing things I do not fully understand - I am going to look for a guide that might explain it but is there a chance this might not apply to my board and I would not have to do this at all or is that only regarding stability? How complicated is this process and should I try and take it to a shop for the whole process? Is it a one-time setup and change of settings or would I have to change this every time I reboot?

1. Yes, it's prefered even if you didnt change any settings. It's also prefereable that you upgrade your BIOS before all that.

2. You can use your motherboard software but you have to check if it's reading correct information. To check that you will need to make your processor work and check the data from your mobo software and other software.

3. AIDA64 test is the basic one, it will allow you to tell if there is something seriously wrong. I recommend synthetic tests (like Linpack or Prime95) for the temperature testing as they will heat up your processor very fast. But dont rely on them for stability purposes because they sometimes cause even non-overclocked systems to BSOD. For the Haswell CPUs (which you have) I have mentioned that safe boundaries are 1.3v and 80C.

4. XMP mode is factory overclocking. It's a mode when motherboard reads your memory modules for factory designated settings and applies them. The process is not complicated at all - you apply it one when you already know that your system is stable to check if applying XMP mode will affect is in any way (you should do that only because it's a known ASUS problem allowing you to eliminate the source of instability while you're overclocking).