OCing from BIOS instead of using Utility i7-2600k

exitPr0gram said:

Workin' with a GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard

And an i7-2600k

Ok... So i was using the utility Easy tune (A tool from my motherboard page) to do this form me but it didn't work out so well...

good news is that during the process i found a setting in the BIOS that when configured can reduce the probability of problems when OCing. Good stuff.

Now, Easy Tune basically overclocked my "Turbo Boost" ... When i look at my Windows Index Experience, it sais 3.4(stock) - 3.9 with Turbo boost.... Is there a way to overclock the 3.4, or is overclocking the turbo boost the same ?

My have an H100 and did a stress test for only 5 minutes but stayed at 40 Celsius the entire time.

I've changed the multiplier in the BIOS to read 3.9 instead of 3.4 like stock, but that doesn't work well. Windows takes forever to load programs on startup and i usually have to reboot. I'm thinking the Easy Tune configured other settings to make it work (at least a little) more properly.

My system specs will show u i have ripjaw 2x4GB sticks, which i head is one of hte preferred brands when OCing...

Also, i was told i need to not only watch out for HEAT as a danger (which with the h100 seems to be the last of my problems), but something to do with the RAM bus speed or something like that can cause problems as well. Info on that please?

I want to overclock this maybe to its max potential and i need help. Help me make my beast of a machine more BEASTLY, someone! pretty PLEASE ... I'm a quick learner lol.

Oh and if the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility will help configure this easier and someone just happens to have experience with it, that'd be awesome too =)

Thanks in advance, as always.

Turboboost allows one or more cores to run at elevated multiplier (the number the core frequency of 100 MHz is multiplied by) when other cores are idle. Intel allows this because more power on one processor can be tolerated when others are idle.

With these Sandybridge processors, you overclock them by setting all of the cores multipliers to a high value - usually much more than Turbo itself can run at. Windows does not display this elevated frequency. You need something like CPU-Z or Core-temp to display it.

Somewhere in your BIOS menus are a couple of values to raise the multiplier. A multiplier of 40 gives you 4 GHz clock. You will have to raise the core voltage when you get in the lower 4 GHz range. Raising the frequency and the voltage will generate much more heat so you also need an after market cooler. Monitor your temperatures careful under load with Realtemp and test the system stability under load with Prime95 (do some googling).

You will get the best and safest overclock by doing it manually in the BIOS once you know what you are doing. WYou may be able to get to 4.5+ GHz pretty easily.
So as far as the RAM and heat. With these processors you really don;t want to change the core frequency (100 MHz by default) because that not only changes the processor frequency, but the memory as well, usually making the memory unstable. Since overclocking the memory doesn't benefit much, these processors are overclocked by the multiplier (multiplies the core frequency for the processor), which only affects the processor speed.

There are good resources here:

http://www.overclock.net/f/4/intel

I am sure you can find a guide specific to your 2600k on that motherboard or class of motherboards there.

GeneO said:

exitPr0gram said:

Workin' with a GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard

And an i7-2600k

Ok... So i was using the utility Easy tune (A tool from my motherboard page) to do this form me but it didn't work out so well...

good news is that during the process i found a setting in the BIOS that when configured can reduce the probability of problems when OCing. Good stuff.

Now, Easy Tune basically overclocked my "Turbo Boost" ... When i look at my Windows Index Experience, it sais 3.4(stock) - 3.9 with Turbo boost.... Is there a way to overclock the 3.4, or is overclocking the turbo boost the same ?

My have an H100 and did a stress test for only 5 minutes but stayed at 40 Celsius the entire time.

I've changed the multiplier in the BIOS to read 3.9 instead of 3.4 like stock, but that doesn't work well. Windows takes forever to load programs on startup and i usually have to reboot. I'm thinking the Easy Tune configured other settings to make it work (at least a little) more properly.

My system specs will show u i have ripjaw 2x4GB sticks, which i head is one of hte preferred brands when OCing...

Also, i was told i need to not only watch out for HEAT as a danger (which with the h100 seems to be the last of my problems), but something to do with the RAM bus speed or something like that can cause problems as well. Info on that please?

I want to overclock this maybe to its max potential and i need help. Help me make my beast of a machine more BEASTLY, someone! pretty PLEASE ... I'm a quick learner lol.

Oh and if the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility will help configure this easier and someone just happens to have experience with it, that'd be awesome too =)

Thanks in advance, as always.

Turboboost allows one or more cores to run at elevated multiplier (the number the core frequency of 100 MHz is multiplied by) when other cores are idle. Intel allows this because more power on one processor can be tolerated when others are idle.

With these Sandybridge processors, you overclock them by setting all of the cores multipliers to a high value - usually much more than Turbo itself can run at. Windows does not display this elevated frequency. You need something like CPU-Z or Core-temp to display it.

Somewhere in your BIOS menus are a couple of values to raise the multiplier. A multiplier of 40 gives you 4 GHz clock. You will have to raise the core voltage when you get in the lower 4 GHz range. Raising the frequency and the voltage will generate much more heat so you also need an after market cooler. Monitor your temperatures careful under load with Realtemp and test the system stability under load with Prime95 (do some googling).

You will get the best and safest overclock by doing it manually in the BIOS once you know what you are doing. WYou may be able to get to 4.5+ GHz pretty easily.
So as far as the RAM and heat. With these processors you really don;t want to change the core frequency (100 MHz by default) because that not only changes the processor frequency, but the memory as well, usually making the memory unstable. Since overclocking the memory doesn't benefit much, these processors are overclocked by the multiplier (multiplies the core frequency for the processor), which only affects the processor speed.

There are good resources here:

Intel

I am sure you can find a guide specific to your 2600k on that motherboard or class of motherboards there.

Thanks for your informative reply.

"Somewhere in your BIOS menus are a couple of values to raise the multiplier. A multiplier of 40 gives you 4 GHz clock. You will have to raise the core voltage when you get in the lower 4 GHz range. Raising the frequency and the voltage will generate much more heat so you also need an after market cooler. Monitor your temperatures careful under load with Realtemp and test the system stability under load with Prime95 (do some googling)."

I do, indeed, have an aftermarket H100 Corsair Liquid cooler (See sys specs). When i did overclock using those tools i mentioned, EasyTune, etc.. my temperatures during a 5 min stress test via Aid64 my temperature readings were at 38-40 Celsius, which as far as my research tells me is what the temp is suppose to be at idle, which is very good, i think. is Aid64 good i have the paid edition ... or would you think that Real Temp would be more accurate? And to be honest, raising the frequency and voltage in the BIOS is what scares me. If i'm wrong, the fail safes that are built in might not save me from killing my MB or CPU. If i'm trying to reach the 4GHz mark, what should i put the settings at for freq and volt ? Could i reach higher? I have researched this before, but never had the system to do it and needed it put in to more.... simpler terms.

Now if i dont have to worry about the overheating of the processor, i need to worry about the RAM. And if i understand you right, by default it is at 100 MHZ, if not set to that by default should i change it ?

Also, i've become quite familiar with my BIOS as of late, i've reformatted literally 5 times trying to get a system partition to be created on my SSD instead of my 7200 hitatchi as well as installing Linux before i just unplugged all drives except SSD. Both of which i've fixed... But anyway, i know the multiplier you speak of. There is also another feature on this motherboard that allows you to change a setting from "turbo, extreme and normal", so that when you overclock, it increases stability. I'm not sure how useful it is but i will use it via trial and error, i guess. This area of the BIOS is where i'm guessing i would alter voltages, etc. I've also disabled the graphical BIOS image during boot as well as enabled "Quickboot" and set my SSD drive as the first drive to boot.

I will check the programs u mentioned out and see what i can learn from them. Thanks again.

P.S.
Linux is working just fine now the the darn page file is on the same disk as the OS... that and the fact the other internal drives partitioning mess got fixed

Also, what would i raise the core voltage too ?? And 100Mhz for ram is fine if i'm going for 4ghz ?

Not sure if htat screen shot will help but there it is lol.

exitPr0gram said:

Also, what would i raise the core voltage too ?? And 100Mhz for ram is fine if i'm going for 4ghz ?

Not sure if htat screen shot will help but there it is lol.

Your going to have to read up on the technique. Each processor is a bit different and it is trial and error, but you have to be methodical and careful. There are plenty of guides out there on methodology - you need to read up a bit and be careful as you can fry your processor/MB if you don't know the limitations of the processor and motherboard and how to approach overclocking. .

exitPr0gram said:

Also, what would i raise the core voltage too ?? And 100Mhz for ram is fine if i'm going for 4ghz ?

Not sure if htat screen shot will help but there it is lol.

You should not change the 100MHz base clock, only the multiplier.

GeneO said:

exitPr0gram said:

Also, what would i raise the core voltage too ?? And 100Mhz for ram is fine if i'm going for 4ghz ?

Not sure if htat screen shot will help but there it is lol.

Your going to have to read up on the technique. Each processor is a bit different and it is trial and error, but you have to be methodical and careful. There are plenty of guides out there on methodology - you need to read up a bit and be careful as you can fry your processor/MB if you don't know the limitations of the processor and motherboard and how to approach overclocking. .

LOL i guess i will just do it .001 at a time until i get it right =D

OK.... I am running a stress test via Aid64 as we speak.

Its running my processor at 100% and temp hasn't gotten higher than 60.

I am providing screen shots of voltages, temps, everything i could print screen and make sure i got the settings right ... after you all help me verify them, of course. lol.

Now i increased the "Multiplier" my 39 from 34.... so 3.4ghz to 3.9.... but this is only effecting my turbo boost.... How do i increase my base speed of 3.4 and not my turbo boost which is what the multiplier in the BIOS changes?

Also, someone told me to do some changes with the RAM so i might need advice on that... I head that never go above 1.3 VCore voltage, because its the safest.

The stress test SEEMS to be going good ( i just checked it in the background ).

BUT... I want to get this thing up to 4.5Ghz. I heard someone said they put the VCore voltage at a tad bit above 1.3 and i think disabled something else...

Any input please? Is increasing my "Turbo Boost" basically the only overclocking i'm gonna get ? I also want to increase my "Calculations per second" in the windows experience rating.... That possible by OCing ?

Thanks again guys.

I am going off of what these guys are saying, among others, because they are using the exact same processor and motherboard.... i have 8GB RAM instead of 16, though... But my H100 Liquid cooler is WAAY better, im assuming.

Overclock Guide for GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 with i7 2600K please?

had to disable a couple of things... set RAM to run at the right spd ... so now i went from 3.4GHz to 4.5GHz. Did a torture test for 1 min over an hour and never even came close to 70 celsius.

People coming here can find what they need to overclock with a similar build as mine:

Overclock. Im missing something small - Overclockers Forums