Looking for solutions to improve Gigabyte z170n gaming 5 itx overclocking performance?
Looking for solutions to improve Gigabyte z170n gaming 5 itx overclocking performance?
I own a z170 system and plan to increase its overclocking. My 6700k still performs well. I considered upgrading to 9700K or Ryzen 3800x, but the gains in gaming speed are small, so I decided to keep my current configuration for another year.
I’m very new to this process. I use Gigabyte’s automatic OC for my CPU, which reaches 4.4GHz. Trying 4.5 causes crashes in Windows. I watched a YouTube tutorial where someone with the same chipset and motherboard managed to reach 4.5GHz with a Vcore of 1.330, but the system became unstable when I increased it further.
Perhaps my CPU isn’t powerful enough to exceed 4.4GHz. I’ve seen others successfully push their CPUs up to 4.6 with an air cooler without issues.
Here’s my BIOS OC page:
https://imgur.com/sZ799Yx
View: https://imgur.com/sZ799Yx
My current specifications are:
- i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz (Automatic OC)
- Gigabyte z170n gaming motherboard
- 16GB 2166 DDR4 RAM with XMP profile enabled
- 650W power supply
- RTX 2080 Super graphics card
- Idle temperatures around 26-28°C
- Load temps around 50°C
Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
It's acceptable for your CPU temperatures, but does it really cool the VRAM area effectively? This board only provides three-phase power delivery and lacks adequate cooling for that. You can push your CPU to any speed, but without proper VRAM cooling or power supply, stability won't be guaranteed. Just because it includes it doesn't mean you'll get better performance compared to a lower-end CPU like the 6600K...
The boards are identical in chip set but differ greatly in power delivery and VRAM cooling. Auto overclock usually requires more voltage than necessary, so a good cooler is essential. In short, your motherboard isn't really built for high overclocking, and each processor may respond differently to it.
Thanks for your reply. That was an important aspect I overlooked regarding VRAM and BIOS settings. The available options for overclocking are 4.5, 4.6, and 4.7, so it seems the system should be capable of reaching those levels.
My cooler performs well at 4.4 full load at 67°C, and gaming at around 55°C, which means it should handle an additional 100Hz overclock easily.
It meets your CPU temperatures but does not actually provide effective cooling for the VRAM area like a standard cooler would. The board only has a 3-phase power delivery with insufficient cooling, making stability unlikely. You can still overclock the CPU to any level, but without proper VRAM cooling or power supply it won’t work well. Just because it includes this feature doesn’t mean it’s worth it compared to a better CPU like the 6600K with adequate cooling. Avoid auto-overclocking due to these issues.
There is a case fan 120mm that directly blows air onto the CPU area of the motherboard, and it's likely affecting the VRMs as well. For auto OC, my system has been running Auto OC for 2-3 years already. The 0.1 was just an example.