Easy overclocking guide for beginners with three different CPUs
Easy overclocking guide for beginners with three different CPUs
Hi Guys,
Here are the specifications of the three systems I've built over the past few years:
My system
i7 3930k
ASUS P9X79
Gtx 980 Ti
My children's
i5 3570k
ASUS P8Z77 Pro
Gtx 980
I5 4690k
As Rock Z Extreme 6
Gtx 970
Until recently, the two Asus motherboard-based systems were kept in EZMode with optimal settings. When they were built, I was told it was acceptable. However, one of my sons was advised against it because the voltage was too high. After checking some forums, it seems this is the common concern.
Do you all agree? If yes, could someone walk through a straightforward overclock for the two Asus PCs and explain each adjustment to boost performance slightly?
All setups are mainly used for gaming. I suspect that once we switch back to normal mode, performance will drop noticeably. Also, would you mind providing a simple guide for the ASRock as well?
I’m not aiming for extreme overclocking—just enough to let me and the kids play at maximum settings with 1080p until an upgrade is necessary. Just to be sure, are these CPUs still in good condition with this configuration?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
each cpu will respond differently to overclocking, meaning you'll need to spend considerable time adjusting three computers.
you can access the bios, adjust the multiplier, then restart and run a stress test such as prime95 or occt. Let it operate for 30 minutes; if it remains stable, return to the bios and lower the core voltage, repeating the stress test. You might keep the multiplier unchanged and instead focus on reducing the core voltage until you reach a consistent stable value. This process can become quite time-consuming.
while testing, use manual voltage control. After identifying a stable overclock, you can switch to adaptive or offset voltage settings.
i noticed that during my initial overclocking attempts, the "optimized default" bios settings allowed my vcore to rise to 1.36. Now I limit it to stay below 1.2.
each cpu will overclock differently, so you'll need to spend a lot of time adjusting the settings for each one. you can access the bios, raise the multiplier, then run a stress test such as prime95 or occt. let it operate for about 30 minutes; if it remains stable, return to the bios and lower the core voltage, repeating the stress test. you might keep your multiplier unchanged and just try reducing the core voltage until you find the most stable value. this process can take a long time. while testing, use manual voltage control. once you achieve a consistent overclock, you can switch to adaptive or offset voltage settings. i noticed that my "optimized default" bios settings could push my vcore up to 1.36, but now I limit it to stay below 1.2. thank you for the advice. regarding overclocking all three machines for optimal performance at 1080p, i’m not planning to go higher resolutions soon. as long as we can achieve high frame rates on all three with 144hz monitors, that’s sufficient. i also wondered if a newer pc with the i5 4690k would require an overclock, similar to what others suggest for the i5 and i7 3930k. do you think adaptive or offset vcore is better? also, what specific settings in prime95 should I use and how long should the test run? some people run it for 24 hours.
Yes, I agree.
Overclocking can be done by 3 ways...
1. Use a dumb software which will hardly work.
2. go to the motherboard's BIOS and automatically let it work (that's your optimized profile).
3. you can go to BIOS and manually set frequencies, speeds, etc, which will work, which can be risky, which can crash and which is complicated but which will be easy to recover if anything goes wrong.
I'd suggest, go to the BIOS and manually, under limits, increase CPU Frequency to the normal turbo limit, and the CPU Voltage to as less as possible.
ASUS Motherboards also have an AI Overclock Tuner. You can also simply hit that and it'll overclock but it will NEVER be best optimized until you do it manually.
If you want to do it manually, please list detailed specifications about each of your desktop's parts, including CPU Cooler and RAM.
Whenever you do it manually, the first thing is to know how to reset/fix it if it goes wrong. For most motherboards, there's 2 CLRTC Jumper Pins which have to be shorted with a metal object, carefully, for 30 seconds to 1 minute to reset all BIOS settings to default. If there aren't any pins, you can carefully take out that flat button cell battery on your motherboard for 5 minutes, put it back in, to reset the BIOS.
It'll be better to search the internet or YouTube for an overclocking guide and following it, as it's hard and time consuming to do that on text and on a forum.
State which way you want to do the overclocking.
Achint2000 confirms agreement. There are three methods to perform overclocking... One is using a basic software that may not function well. Another involves accessing the motherboard's BIOS and adjusting settings manually, which can be risky but offers flexibility. It’s recommended to increase CPU frequency within safe limits and lower CPU voltage as much as possible. The ASUS boards include an AI Overclock Tuner; manually using it will still yield better results. For precise manual adjustments, provide detailed specs of your components like the CPU cooler and RAM. When proceeding manually, remember how to restore settings if needed—most boards have two CLRTC jumper pins that can be reset with a metal object for 30 seconds to 1 minute. If no pins exist, remove the flat battery on the motherboard for 5 minutes before reinserting it. It’s advisable to look up overclocking guides online or on YouTube, as doing it by text or in forums is difficult and time-consuming. Please specify which approach you prefer—simple manual overclock or following a tutorial.