Safe to Overclock My i7-4770K?
Safe to Overclock My i7-4770K?
Hey, I'm checking ways to boost gaming performance. I have an i7-4770K that reaches up to 3.9 GHz/1.106V with Turbo. I’m considering OCing it to 4.2 GHz but have two questions:
1) Can 1.1V safely run the CPU at 4.2 GHz under normal loads (I usually use less than 60% CPU)?
2) With Prime95 pushing cores to 70-80°C, would I really need higher voltage if those temps are high? It doesn’t matter if the answer to the first question is yes.
Thanks!
I can't think of any games that would need you to overclock. In what games is your cpu suffering? Its probably your gpu hindering the performance.
Anyway, to answer your questions...
1. All cpus are different. My i7-4770k would be different from yours. (I don't have one). Just keep lowing the voltage until it crashes, then raise it up again slightly.
2. 70 degrees is slightly high. What cpu cooler do you have?
Yeah, I'd prefer it if it ran on the GPU. I'm playing Vindictus, which has a lot of physics and action combat, and the optimization isn't great. My cooler is a Coolermaster Seidon 120M WC. I really don't want to try any higher voltages until I'm confident the cooling is sufficient!
Need to head over right now, but just wanted to add... some versions of Prime95 use the AVX 2 instructions on Haswell Processors (like your 4770K), which creates extremely high and unrealistic demands on the CPU. It's not really a suitable stress test for those chips because of that. Check if you're running an AVX Prime95 version and consider trying another stress test instead.
Thanks for the update, rhysiam - not familiar with that. Intel Burn Test seems similar but more problematic, so I'm unsure about it. Used HeavyLoad and achieved around 60º. Aida64 (CPU only) reached up to 62º, while adding FPU pushed it to 85º. Voltage remained at 1.1V and clock speed stayed at 3.7 GHz. Any other suggestions?
I haven't OC'd Haswell myself, but others suggest OCCT: http://www.ocbase.com/
Ian Cutress from Anandtech was once a competitive OCer; he employs PovRay and OCCT, considering an OC stable when both succeed.
I own a 4770k with 4.3ghz OC and 1.20v using a Noctua NH-D14. During testing with Prime95 v26.6 (no AVX issues) and Aida64 (only stress CPU and FPU checked), I observed mid-60 temps in stress scenarios. De-lid the CPU lowered temperatures by 8-10 degrees. I don't see any worries about long-term health at this voltage, based on the readings and existing information.