i7 4770k is unstable at 4.2GHz, assistance required
i7 4770k is unstable at 4.2GHz, assistance required
others struggle with achieving those speeds and voltages, especially with the Haswell chip. I managed to hit 4.5ghz at a lower voltage, but pushing past 4.6ghz proved difficult. I could reach 4.4 at 1.26v, but anything higher would require even more voltage, which isn't feasible for me.
Karadjgne shared their experience with the 4770k model. They reset the BIOS to defaults, kept everything on auto, and adjusted the multiplier to 42. Intel provides sufficient voltage to achieve this without altering other parameters. Adjustments become necessary only when aiming for speeds above 4.3GHz or faster, at which point tweaking LLC or voltage/current settings is required. If temperatures remain elevated, gradually reduce the vcore by 0.08v. Their 3570k stays at a maximum of 4.3GHz with 1.08v, while the 3770k reached 4.9GHz at 1.32v despite lower voltages. Currently, they're at 4.6GHz with 1.208v and a slight increase in LLC and 10% amperage. Researching OC results suggests general principles apply, though component names vary by board and BIOS. Many Intel OC guides are available, and they confirmed their results without changing other settings except the multiplier. At idle, temperatures were low (30-38), but a brief FFT test showed a significant spike to 87-100. They questioned the effectiveness of such a simple OC with a decent air cooler, noting the auto voltage setting kept them at 1.184 and only a minor voltage bump was observed.
Dragos Manea explains the situation, noting that a 20% increase isn't a minor adjustment and that a voltage of 1.3V is quite high, likely causing significant heat. He questions why P95 consistently draws 1.3V instead of the expected 1.185, mentioning concerns about P95 tests potentially drawing more current than intended.
Since the voltage at that level makes the motherboard think the CPU is stable, you can make a small adjustment and set the manual voltage to 1.29 if it works, then reduce it to 1.28 and so on until it becomes unstable. I don’t believe you should go beyond 4.2 at 1.28V, but you can try to be certain it won’t exceed that. My suggestion is to keep it at 4.2 and gradually lower the voltage to test its limits, starting from around 1.3V.
Karadjgne shares his experience with a 3570k that has been boosted to 4.3. At idle it runs between 30-31 and at p95 it reaches 67-70 with a 26.6 boost on a Corsair H55, similar to a Hyper212 Evo. Adjusting voltages might help, but some settings could be turned off based on the BIOS. Every CPU is unique—don't compare them directly. I've noticed my CPU can hit 4.7 GHz at 1.25V, but it struggles to reach 4.4 at that voltage. Even with the same model or generation, performance varies between CPUs.