Can't get a stable overclock - BSOD

[KaaN10]

I've overclocked my i5-4670k to 4.1ghz with the voltage set to 1.155v and I had a BSOD after an hour on prime95 running blend test. I changed this to 1.157v, 1.160v, 1.162v and even 1.165v and yet I'm having the same problem, the longest I've had prime95 running before BSOD was 6 hours @ 1.160v. The temps are fine on all voltages around 75C-80C.

The build is new and is as follows: i5-4670k, hyper 212 evo, gtx670, z87 extreme4, corsair vengeance 2x4gb 1600, antec neo eco 620c. I've tried memtest86 to see if it was a problem with my RAM and it passed twice with no errors.

This is the error I'm getting:

STOP: 0x0000009C (0x0000000000000000, 0xFFFFF88002F6DB70, 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000).

Collecting data for crash dump...
Initializing disk for crash dump...
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Dumping physical memory to disk: 100
Physical memory complete

Anyone know what's going wrong?

 

[cmdrdredd]

more voltage. Not every CPU is the same, you may need more. Eventually you'll find the point where errors stop.

 

[KaaN10]

more voltage. Not every CPU is the same, you may need more. Eventually you'll find the point where errors stop.

1.160v - 6 hours prime95
1.165v - 1.5 hours prime95

What's going on here though?

 

[KaaN10]

Also I have all my case fans on silent mode via the bios as it's too loud having them on standard or higher.

Fan for the Hyper 212 Evo is a Noctua F12.

 

[blackened23]

What cmd said is correct - more voltage should do the trick. Don't let prime 95 temps alarm you - as long as you are under 90C you are fine. You will never, ever, ever approach prime 95 temps in real world use - keep that in mind. That is complicated by the fact that Haswell's iVR auto corrects the voltage above what it should be during prime 95 blend mode - from what I remember it usually adds .1V. So you may be at 1.28V anyway during stress testing....

What I would personally do is get a more versatile cooler such as the H100i. That will give you more breathing room in terms of temps - and the first thing you should do is start at 1.25V manual and work your way down. Your voltage is a bit low in terms of OC'ing - most folks start at 1.175-1.26V depending on the cooler quality. Most 4770k's will give you 4.5 with 1.25V, and with a H100 you'll have plenty of working room with temperatures.

 

[KaaN10]

Would rather not fork out another $150 though.

I'll try upping the voltage to 1.17V and see how it goes, thanks.

 

[KaaN10]

Edited.

 

[JimmiG]

Keep upping that voltage. You're getting nearer the point where it's stable. My 4770K needs 1.214V for 4.3 GHz so there's still lots of headroom for you. Also, don't read too much into the number of hours it's stable at a given voltage. It's just the nature of an unstable overclock. Some times it might work for 1 hour, the next time for 6 hours with the same settings.

Also, as you get nearer to 1.2V, try increasing VRIN to 1.9V as well (default 1.8V). This might be needed if the built-in voltage regulator is kind of weak.

 

[blackened23]

Yeah either way you look at it, you need to up the voltage a bit. I'd aim for around 1.2V - and see if you can get higher clockspeeds while you're at it. There's no reason you can't attempt 4.3 or 4.4 with 1.2 - 1.225V.

 

[KaaN10]

All that's needed was 0.002v and I was able to run prime95 for 12 hours at 1.167v.

Cheers.

 

[caution]

I wouldn't stay with such a close_to_fail voltage bump, to be honest.

Those kind of marginal stable overclocks can fail down the road, by an extra gpu installed (!) or even by the psu getting older...

 

[blackened23]

He's only at 4.1ghz though.....That's barely a bump over stock turbo. His voltage doesn't seem too low with that in mind.

I'd say if it's working so far run with it...he can always up it a tad later. Besides, prime95 will raise temps far higher than any normal system load anyway...

 

[caution]

^ You're mostly right.

But I always go for the 101% stable and I assume everyone does so. If you're a gamer, it's indeed quite irrelevant tbh. A BSOD can't kill yoy, after all.

But if you're a developer / video editor / etc. instability or some random BSOD can result to lost workhours. That's why I find the absolute minimum voltages, and I stay one or two notches above. I know I sacrifice a bit of temprature headroom, but it makes me sleep better