Looking for some help on overclocking please

[Tyler]

So I wont dance around the fact that I am a noob at this and really have never overclocked a machine, recently switched from AMD to Intel with a new build I put together about a week ago. This new CPU really has a lot of potential to overclock and I'd really like to learn the ropes if any of you would be so kind as to teach me.

INTEL CORE i7 990X 3.46GHZ
ASUS RAMPAGE III EXTREME X58
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 24GB DDR1600 (6 x 4GB)
SSD 120G PATRIOT PW120
RAID 0 - 2 x SEAGATE BARRACUDA 1TB 7200 RPM
COOLER MASTER 1200W
CORSAIR CC800DW FULL TOWER

If it's easier, we can talk through skype or msn (request msn) just looking to learn the ropes and develop some knowledge on overclocking without frying my cores in the process! Thanks in advance.

SKYPE: tyler.vorpahl

[xeromist]

I'm about to walk out the door but I wanted to make sure to give you a few tips at least in case you feel adventurous. The most important thing is to make smaller incremental changes. If you follow that simple rule then you will not "fry" your cores. The CPU has built in safeties so unless you work to circumvent them by large margins they will protect you.

Now for basic overclocking you will turn off turbo boost and power saving features and increase the bclk by a few notches at a time, seeing if it will boot. Once it won't boot then you increase the voltage. For I7 I would try not to go much higher than 1.4v. You should be able to get pretty high on less.

[Tyler]

Is it unwise to set my voltage to 1.4v and just start increasing the bclk until I find something that works for me or is it an art of having the lowest possible voltage with the highest bclk?

Also, is the bclk and voltage the only two items I am changing to overclock the CPU? I had this idea that there would be more than just those two.

Thanks for the response.

[pcjunkie209]

Is it unwise to set my voltage to 1.4v and just start increasing the bclk until I find something that works for me or is it an art of having the lowest possible voltage with the highest bclk?

Also, is the bclk and voltage the only two items I am changing to overclock the CPU? I had this idea that there would be more than just those two.

Thanks for the response.

well there is a lot of stuff u can change but not recommended. first off don't even touch voltage and what kind of cooling are u using because that can make a big difference? i don't see mention in your specs. if u have a good 990x u should be able to hit 4ghz without voltage. disable cstates and turbo boost like X said above. then i would change cpu mutiplier to 30 and see if it boots. now the broblem past 4.0 is gonna be cooling so if u have air u need to constently check cpu temps. download hwmonitor for temps. and download prime95 to stress machine and see if stable. after 4.0 on air make sure your temps don't exceed 80c if it does it will trottle back automatic. chip has safety features. so if stable u can try 31 on multiplier and see if it boots then stress. do this until it won't boot then bump voltage up by .025v increments and see if it starts. just remember that heat is your enemy when overclocking.

after all that u can start over using BLCK only that will give u a feel for multipler and BLCK. just know that using BLCK will heat up cpu faster and change freq. on ram so my advice is to down clock ram till u are stable then bump up ram to safe zone. for BLCK follow same steps above but do increments of 5 so stock is 133 bump to 138-140 and try to boot when you come to the point where it blue screens u might need a little volts .025v increments - remember this because to much can give u blue screen also or fry cpu. I hope this helps.

AND I AM NOT RESPONSABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THIS MAY CAUSE!!!! FYI

[Tyler]

Ok great information.

I am using the Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler and my Corsair Obsidian 800W case has 6 fans, 2 intake, 1 exhaust to the rear, and 3 120M exhaust fans ontop. I'm not looking to do anything crazy, just looking for some overclocking experience. Bumping up the BLCK by 5 increments and the voltage by .025v is great specific information I'm looking for. As for blue screening, I already had that happen to me yesterday when I attempted to overclock it through the TurboV Evo to ~4.3GHZ (Using this bar that drags across changing the CPU Ratio). I turned it off, restarted and set to default setting and was fine after that. I have Prime95 and Core Temp .99.8 desktop gadget that tells me my clock speed and each of the core's temperatures so I'm set in that regard.

1. Do you suggest overclocking through the TurboV Evo program supplied by ASUS? Or should I do this all through the BIOS?
2. How will I know if it is a good ratio between voltage and BLCK? After I run prime95 and see temperatues not higher than 70*C (assuming this is a safe temperature from the little research I've done) is it safe to assume that this is a clock speed that is safe for my computer?

Thanks.

[pcjunkie209]

well i can tell u for sure if u want oc experience i would start in bios not turbo V. after you figure out a little more then mess with turbo V. because to much of one thing and bsod with turbo V but the right combo in turbo V helps u. I would mess with cpu multiplier before BLCK. and 4ghz is a stable oc. u can hit that on that 990x with no volts if thats a good chip. i wouldn't go any higher with that cooler.

[Tyler]

Change the CPU Multiplier and not the BLCK? What's the difference.

[pcjunkie209]

Change the CPU Multiplier and not the BLCK? What's the difference.

The CPU muti affects the CPU directly and generates less heat. And the BCLK is the opposite. It generates more heat and affects other components. But same result in the end.

[xeromist]

Ah, yeah I didn't notice that you had an extreme CPU. They have the multi unlocked so go with what he said and ignore my first post. That would be the procedure for a locked CPU. The bclk does allow finer adjustment so once you hit the limit on the multi you will have to go to the bclk to get the last bit of clock speed.

[AnthonyLackey]

Yes... I wouldn't go past 4.0 with air cooling. MB 4.2 at the very most. Keep on eye on temps and run some benchmarking programs that stress the cpu. You don't want to go over 80 Celcius. If you go over back your overclock down till it goes under 80. If you want to push it more you need to upgrade to a GOOD watercooling system.