Perfect stability with continuous overclocking on I7-4790K
Perfect stability with continuous overclocking on I7-4790K
Hey there! You're looking to upgrade from your K i7-4790 to the K version and diving into overclocking. Since you're CPU bottlenecked, aim for a stable clock speed that delivers top performance. For your AsRock Z97 Pro3, target around 4.6 GHz or higher depending on your motherboard's support. Voltage should match your motherboard's recommended range—typically 1.8V to 1.9V for most K series. Keep the cache speed as it is unless you're certain it won't affect stability. Just stay consistent and monitor temperatures closely.
The 4790K is an older chip; even after overclocking, you're likely still limited by your CPU. How much you can push depends on your motherboard's power delivery and your luck with the silicon. Begin with configurations others have found reliable. If it works, increase slightly and rerun a stability test. If it fails, reduce gradually until stable settings emerge.
Confirmed. After nine years with the 4790K, I upgraded to a 7800X3D since 4C/8T consistently limited performance in most titles requiring over 99% CPU usage. While some games only reached 60% GPU utilization (1080Ti), most exceeded the four-core threshold needed for optimal gaming.
I understand I might face some delays, but I’m choosing to speed things up so I can definitely see improvement.
For platforms other than Haswell, the motherboard power supply plays a minor role thanks to its integrated voltage regulator. I’d aim for a 4GHz and 1.2V core voltage. Gradually raise the frequency in 100MHz increments, then when instability appears boost the voltage by 0.01V at each step until stability returns or overheating starts. Once stable, increase the frequency again.
When people struggle with reading, I’ll provide a response too. I’ve been running 4.8 at 1.28 for years. I even managed 4.9 during some sessions. I didn’t realize the value in pushing it to its limits, but it did help despite the hardware constraints and games I tried. My 4th generation didn’t handle overclocking well, yet it performed better than the 4770k I had before. If you plan to upgrade, replacing the old unit would be the best choice.