Can I apply pre-set overclock settings on an ASUS motherboard?
Can I apply pre-set overclock settings on an ASUS motherboard?
I'm just starting out with OC'ing and tried overclocking my 8700k twice using strix z370-e. Both times it worked in stress tests but had problems like Chrome opening or screen going black, so I thought it was unstable and went back to default settings.
I'm curious if using the preset overclock profiles in the BIOS would be safe. I don't want to go that high, as I wasn't aiming for 5000mhz but just wanted to improve performance. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
For future reference, when you return to overclocking.
A brief summary of the overclocking and stability check process.
Adjust CPU multiplier and voltage in BIOS to the desired values. Avoid presets or automatic tools; they may cause excessive compensation on core and other voltages. Manually set most core parameters, and keep remaining adjustments on auto until you decide to modify settings like cache frequency, system agent voltage, VCCIO, memory speeds, or timings after the CPU is fully stable.
Save your BIOS settings (create a new profile if supported) and exit BIOS.
Boot into the...
Presets and automatic tools aren't preferred. They cause excessive overvoltage, reducing your overclocking flexibility.
The initial issue to address is identifying the CPU cooler you own and the overall cooling setup.
The next concern is understanding the stress tests you applied for stability checks.
What model of power supply do you have? Provide the exact details.
Describe your memory configuration: are XMP profiles active? Is it a matched set or mixed modules? Share part numbers or kit references.
Tell me the voltage you were using and the maximum frequency during operation. Besides core voltage and multiplier, what other BIOS settings did you modify?
Cooler: Corsair H100i v2
I applied Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and Prime95
Power Supply: Evga 850 GQ Gold
I ran xmp in both sessions
Achieved 4.7 ghz at 1.3v
It's worth mentioning that in Prime95 my frequency would decrease to 4.4ghz? and temperatures remained excellent. I never exceeded 80°C on Prime95.
"I used Prime95" is too general. Many versions exist, and various tests can be performed with it. Which torture test were you using? Small FFT, Large FFT or Blend? What version were you using? Version 26.6 or an updated one?
The Intel Extreme Tuning Utility seems ineffective for thermal or stability assessments. It does offer some utility, but not specifically for those purposes.
Frequency should remain stable during full stress unless a thermal problem exists or settings are misconfigured. Typically, only thermal concerns would lead to this issue, though improper clock configuration could also be the cause. Also, in BIOS I’d likely disable the Speed shift option and enable the Speed step setting. I’ve noticed some systems where Speed shift doesn’t function properly, permitting the CPU to downclock under heavy loads or preventing it from lowering to idle speeds below base frequency—both undesirable outcomes.
It might be useful to review this material, understand it thoroughly, and then revisit your approach.
*Basic CPU overclocking tutorial*
Also, I just looked at core temp and my clock speed is at 4.4ghz?? (keep in mind that I adjusted the OC to optimized defaults) how is that possible?
That is normal. You are likely seeing normal boost behavior. The boost behavior on the 8700k looks like this.
It's likely you had three cores under boost at the time you looked at Core Temp.
Here is what I would suggest you do. First, go into the bios and make sure that Speed step is enabled. DISABLE Speed shift. (You can enable it later if you wish. I leave it disabled as I've seen that the implementation is spotty depending on the motherboard model and chipset).
Save settings and exit bios.
Boot into Windows. Go into the control panel power options by typing control into any search or run box. Open the control panel and then open the power options.
Make sure that the Performance plan is selected. Click on "Change plan settings" next to the power plan. Click on "change advanced power settings".
Scroll down to Processor power management. Expand that setting and change the Min processor power state to 8%. Leave the maximum at 100%. Save and exit.
Download HWinfo (NOT HWmonitor. Totally different).
Install Hwinfo. Open HWinfo and choose the "Sensors only" option. Uncheck the "Summary" option if it is checked. Click run.
Scroll to where you see "Core 0 clock", "Core 1 clock", etc.
Make sure no other programs are running. No browsers, or other applications. Let it sit on the desktop for a few minutes. Clock speed should drop to something like 800-1000mhz.
Now open Prime95 (Make sure you are using version 26.6, ONLY, no other version. Newer versions use unrealistic AVX instruction set loads and are not recommended for thermal OR stress testing. Version 26.6 does NOT use AVX instructions and is suitable for steady state thermal load testing, and is acceptable for preliminary stability testing. Blend is not a good stability test for the CPU but it is a great stability test for the memory configuration. Realbench is a great CPU stability test utility.) version 26.6 and choose the Small FFT option.
It should load ALL cores to 100%. Check HWinfo Core clock readings and see what the all core max turbo boost is running at.
This same procedure is a good check against the manual overclock configuration when you need to verify that things are running where they are supposed to be, when overclocking, as well.
For future reference, when you get back to overclocking.
Quick and dirty overview of overclocking/stability validation procedure.
Set CPU multiplier and voltage at desired settings in BIOS. Do not use presets or automatic utilities. These will overcompensate on core and other voltages. It is much better to configure most core settings manually, and leave anything left over on auto until a later point in time if wish to come back and tweak settings such as cache (Uncore) frequency, System agent voltage, VCCIO (Internal memory controller) and memory speeds or timings (RAM) AFTER the CPU overclock is fully stable.
Save bios settings (As a new BIOS profile if your bios supports multiple profiles) and exit bios.
Boot into the Windows desktop environment. Download and install Prime95 version 26.6.
Download and install either HWinfo or CoreTemp.
Open HWinfo and run "Sensors only" or open CoreTemp.
Run Prime95 (ONLY version 26.6) and choose the "Small FFT test option". Run this for 15 minutes while monitoring your core/package temperatures to verify that you do not exceed the thermal specifications of your CPU.
(This should be considered to be 80°C for most generations of Intel processor and for current Ryzen CPUs. For older AMD FX and Phenom series, you should use a thermal monitor that has options for "Distance to TJmax" and you want to NOT see distance to TJmax drop below 10°C distance to TJmax. Anything that is MORE than 10°C distance to TJmax is within the allowed thermal envelope.)
If your CPU passes the thermal compliance test, move on to stability.
Download and install Realbench. Run Realbench and choose the Stress test option. Choose a value from the available memory (RAM) options that is equal to approximately half of your installed memory capacity. If you have 16GB, choose 8GB. If you have 8GB, choose 4GB, etc. Click start and allow the stability test to run for 8 hours. Do not plan to use the system for ANYTHING else while it is running. It will run realistic AVX and handbrake workloads and if it passes 8 hours of testing it is probably about as stable as you can reasonably expect.
If you wish to check stability further you can run 12-24 hours of Prime95 Blend mode or Small FFT.
You do not need to simultaneously run HWinfo or CoreTemp while running Realbench as you should have already performed the thermal compliance test PLUS Realbench will show current CPU temperatures while it is running.
If you run the additional stability test using Prime95 Blend/Small FFT modes for 12-24 hours, you will WANT to also run HWinfo alongside it. Monitor HWinfo periodically to verify that no cores/threads are showing less than 100% usage. If it is, then that worker has errored out and the test should be stopped.
If you find there are errors on ANY of the stability tests including Realbench or Prime95, or any other stress testing utility, you need to make a change in the bios. This could be either dropping the multiplier to a lower factor or increasing the voltage while leaving the multiplier the same. If you change voltage or multiplier at ANY time, you need to start over again at the beginning and verify thermal compliance again.
A more in depth but general guide that is still intended for beginners or those who have had a small amount of experience overclocking can be found here:
*CPU overclocking guide for beginners
Thank you very much for all the useful information. I plan to try again later when I have more time. Appreciate it!