General inquiry regarding oc
General inquiry regarding oc
Hi,
I’m not very experienced with OC, and I haven’t done much on the CPU or GPU. My setup is:
z390 tomahawk
i5 9600k
1060 6gb asus dual OC
gskill royal 3200mhz cl 16
ATC 800 (cooler)
I have a few questions about all this OC stuff:
1) Does the motherboard really matter for OC? I think yes, but what’s the actual difference between my board and something like a high-end one? I know some boards have better coolers for the MOSFETs, but any important difference for OC and everyday use without OC?
2) What is the typical operating voltage for a 9th gen CPU with an i5 9600k? I understand it could be around 1.2 to 1.4 volts.
3) Can I use MSI Center for OC? I tried adjusting the RAM voltage, but it doesn’t stay at what I wanted in the previous software (Dragon Center). It worked fine before.
4) How do I get it to boot up properly? Sometimes it starts with a fault and then works after I turn it on.
5) I want to undervolt the GPU. I have an afterburner, but when it tries to start at boot it doesn’t. I clicked the “start at PC startup” option, but it doesn’t work.
6) Is my GPU behaving strangely? I can increase the overclock by 200mhz during a crash, but it only raises a little temperature.
7) What is a clear CMOS, and when should I use it?
I read some articles from MSI (Tom’s) and others, but if an expert could explain better, I’d really appreciate it. I’m not planning to go all the way to 5GHz OC like that; I just want to optimize my system instead.
Thanks for your help!
For the most part, no. Once a certain cost and quality are reached, performance depends more on the CPU and cooling efficiency. A very expensive motherboard can offer a significant boost, such as 100Mhz over a standard one.
1.4 is a high limit, ideal for advanced water cooling. Lower limits risk the CPU overheating. A safer daily voltage would be about 1.35. The CPU should stay below 85°C during heavy use.
In general, it's not recommended to rely on software for CPU overclocking; direct BIOS changes are better.
BIOS modifications take effect before the operating system starts.
MSI afterburner should activate if you have enabled it.
I'm not entirely clear on what you mean. If it will increase by +200...
In most cases, once you hit a certain cost and quality, performance depends more on the CPU and cooling efficiency. A premium motherboard can offer a noticeable boost, such as 100Mhz compared to a standard one. A very high maximum is ideal for advanced water cooling solutions. If the voltage is too low, the CPU may overheat, especially during heavy use. A safer daily operating voltage would be closer to 1.35. It's recommended to keep the CPU temperature below 85°C under load. Typically, people avoid using software for CPU overclocking and prefer making direct changes in the BIOS. Updates in the BIOS take effect before the operating system starts. MSI afterburner should activate if it has been enabled. I’m not entirely clear on your point. If a simple adjustment of +200 is sufficient without further tweaks, that’s acceptable. Different GPUs react differently—some handle undervolting well, others struggle. Clearing CMOS resets all BIOS settings, which can be helpful when setting up an overclock that won’t boot.
For cpu 1.35 is suitable.
From what I've observed, MSI Center on M.UI for the motherboard changes the BIOS settings. When I adjust the fans or voltage, I go to the BIOS and set it as the software. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but in my PC it functions that way. However, after turning it off, it doesn't start automatically. Also, when I press the button with the Windows icon, it doesn't work properly.
How can I perform a clean CMOS reset?
Thanks for your help.
Initially, positive feedback from Eximo^^ is noted. It's important to understand that the key element in boosting a 9600K is the condition of your specific chip. You might hear about 5.0 overclocks, but those using superior chips tend to share updates, while others remain quiet. The 9th generation processors are considered suitable for overclocking.
1.35 isn't the ideal value, it might not be the optimal voltage to use. Overclocking involves finding a balance between voltage, stability, clock speed, and temperature. In certain situations, a lower voltage could work better. Some programs can modify the BIOS settings, but these tools may be unstable, outdated, or lead to complications. It's safer to use the BIOS directly. You might need to reinstall MSI Afterburner and verify that it isn't disabled in your Windows Startup options. Run it with admin privileges and attempt to restart it again. Taking the battery off the motherboard will reset the CMOS. There should also be a set of pins and a jumper to temporarily disconnect the battery without taking it out. Refer to your motherboard manual for details.
I just ran cinebench and had trouble figuring out the exact CPU voltage. There are three voltages: one for the core (max1.27), one for the SA (max1.01 or 1.1, not sure), and one for the OI (1.2 or 1.1). The CPU is running at 4.5GHz because I slightly increased the frequency (from 4.3 as Intel XTU suggests), while the cache stays at 4.7 (standard). The temperature during testing was around 78°C, except for games where it was about 70°C. Are these values normal?
Core voltage is the topic when people discuss limits.
You’ve likely slowed down the clock, so it should hit around 4.6Ghz by default.
Temperature-wise, it’s acceptable given the voltage and speed.
This indicates there’s still significant room for improvement.
No, that is the turbo boost at 4.6 and it's quite uncommon to be active. From base it reaches 3.7 but I'm not sure why or if it works with XTI or MSI it can go up to 4.3 so I increased it to 4.5. The turbo remains active, so in certain loads it goes to 4.6 for about 20 seconds.
The simplest overclocking approach is pushing all cores to 4.6Ghz. You noted it wasn't unusual for people to reach 4.8 to 5Ghz, and high-quality builds with adequate cooling could hit 5.2Ghz. I even managed to get my old 7700k up to 5Ghz across all cores, though that required 1.416 volts with custom water cooling and a removed lid.