Help with 4790K

[Swetko]

Hello,
I just built a desktop with 4790K, 16GB 2133 gskill ram with Asus z97 PRO motherboard. I am thinking/trying to overclock it but with no success. I wanted to start with some overclocking with Intel stock cooler then move to a better cooling if I see that things work.

Initially I tried playing with XMP and setting core ratios but now I am just running everything at stock, after BIOS reset. Running tests and measuring temperature. So far Idle temps are 25-30 (5-10 above ambient). Prime95 reaches 75-80C, OCCT ~80, IntelBurnTest 85-90C. In all cases the sustained frequency is 4ghz. It might reach 4.2 for a second for some tests. Core voltage I think normally is 1.04 and reaches 1.184. This is the VID number from HWMonitor(OCCT) and the VcoreXXX from HWInfo. Vcore from OCCT is 1.78 but I think that is wrong.

This sounds pretty bad I think, except for Idle temps which I think are normal. Even with stock cooler I thought things would sort of work. I am not able to get any Turbo. Also I don't understand how Turbo interferes with overclocking. I understand the basic idea of increasing multipliers and then increasing voltage in case it's unstable. But at first I was confused as to how to set the multipliers since my motherboard only offers "Core Ratio LIMIT". I am not sure what that limit means.

I tried removing the cooler and reapplying thermal paste. (I got Arctic Silver 5). Same thing. I don't quite like how the stock cooler attaches to the MB but judging by the way the thermal paste spread it looks OK. I will go to the office and get another cooler to try.

From this article:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/2

I see that at stock settings the chip sustains 4.4GHz at 81C from OCCT. Seems like something is off with my setup. I know I can't expect a lot of overclock with I would be happy with 4.6 or so. At this moment I can't get anything above 4.0.

How should I go about fixing this problem? What BIOS settings, cooler, etc?

Thank you!

 

[Swetko]

I just ran POV-Ray and I got temps about 70-75, and score of 1400 which is quite low compared to that article's 4GHz result of 1670.

 

[Burner27]

I ran Prime 95 for mine, and the temps shot up to 88c, then frequency dropped below 4GHz (temps stayed same) until I cancelled the test. No sure if I have a bad CPU? Using stock cooler.

 

[Puppies04]

Do not try and overclock on the stock cooler, it isn't designed for it. Buy an aftermarket cooler and some decent TIM and TIM remover to clean the gunk that has come off the standard cooler.

Once you have done that come and ask for help on overclocking otherwise you will just be dissapointed.

 

[Burner27]

I am not trying to overclock, just want to know why my temps are so high.

 

[BSim500]

I am not trying to overclock, just want to know why my temps are so high.

They're high because Haswell (unless previous Ivy & Sandy Bridge) will auto-add +0.1v voltage when it detects an AVX load (like Prime, IBT, etc).

 

[Yuriman]

I am not trying to overclock, just want to know why my temps are so high.

My Ivy Bridge gets into the mid 90's under watercooling - or at least, it did until I sold my WC loop a few weeks ago. Reminds me that I need to update my signature.

As another poster stated, Haswell adds voltage when it detects an AVX load, and as a result it generally runs even hotter than Ivy Bridge. 80's to 90's won't hurt it though.

 

[Swetko]

Thank you,
I just ordered water cooling Corsair H90 and we'll see how it goes. Somehow I thought with the stock cooler I can sustain 4.4 Turbo all the time at full load.

 

[vMax65]

You are absolutely within the ballpark for the temps with that cooler a H100i for example will give the following in Aida64, Prime95 and IntelBurn - 100% max at 4.4Ghz on all cores mine tops out at 63 degrees.

 

[vMax65]

I am not trying to overclock, just want to know why my temps are so high.

Ok so after looking at things in a bit more detail for me to get the temps of the i7-4790k to run at mid 20's idle and mid 60's in prime95 at 4.4ghz, 4.5 or (4.7GHZ temps reach 80 degrees) without touching voltage fully stable, (screen cap below) I have to run the following settings in bios on Maximus Hero vii (should work on other asus boards).

Everything in auto except the following:

AI - Manual
BLK - 100.0 sure you could push this ever so slightly
Multi-core Enhancement - Disabled
CPU Core Ratio - Sync All Cores
44 i have set to 44 but have tested at 45 no problems (4.5ghz)
EPU Saving mode disabled
CPU level up - 4.00g
Extreme Tweaking disabled
Memory at stated speed... i.e mine is at 1600 (i have 32gb installed) set yours to whatever it is.

The above should make your cpu run full at 4.4ghz with no heat penalty and 4.5 as well... again being a noob i have no idea why. If i touch xmp it seems to set the temps high or could be mce or even epu mode not sure at all but the above will definatly keep things running cool and you can overclock at cool temps but will have to play with vcore to go above 4.6...

Again please be aware i am new at this but the above works for me and keeps temps very low mid 20's idle and no more than 63 degrees in prime95.

Screenprint 4.6ghz

 

[Swetko]

Thank you all for the help!
It turns out it was indeed the stock cooler. I installed the H90 and I am running at 4.7Ghz at 1.25V. Haven't done full stability checks but IntelBurnTest did several iterations and temps were ~80. Tried 4.8 at 1.3V but crashed at IntelBurnTest, though POVRay ran just fine. Didn't want to increase the voltage further. I am happy with 4.7 for now. I might try 4.8 with higher voltage when I have more time.