So there are 2 ways to OC, but which is better?

[driedupfish]

Hi all,
I found that there are two ways of OCing the CPU via the BIOS. The way I’ve been doing it is adjust the frequency of each core using the Intel Turbo Boost. So for a quad core, I would set whatever speed I wish to OC on all 4 cores and enable Turbo Boost, while leave your base multiplier untouched. The other way is simply set the main multiplier at your desired speed.

Now my question is, do both give the same result / performance?

Btw, I have the Z77X-UD3H mobo, Z77 chipset.

 

[felang]

Hi all,
I found that there are two ways of OCing the CPU via the BIOS. The way I’ve been doing it is adjust the frequency of each core using the Intel Turbo Boost. So for a quad core, I would set whatever speed I wish to OC on all 4 cores and enable Turbo Boost, while leave your base multiplier untouched. The other way is simply set the main multiplier at your desired speed.

Now my question is, do both give the same result / performance?

Btw, I have the Z77X-UD3H mobo, Z77 chipset.

Leaving idle clocks at stock and overclocking only the max turbo multiplier will save you on electricity, ideally you should use offset voltage overclocking so that idle voltage is low and only turbo voltage is modified.

Max performance should be equal between both options you describe.

 

[Billb2]

Yes, an overclocked CPU doesn't know how it got there.

 

[driedupfish]

Okay, I am more confuse, can someone show me the "proper" way of overclocking. I've been reading some literature on the topic, but I can't seem to find any simple ways of doing it.

What I've been doing so far is set a multiplier, say 42, on each of the 4 cores, enabled Turbo Boost, and set everything else to Auto (even voltage).

So that means the cpu is at stock clock speed when idle, and OC takes place when Turbo Boost kicks in. Everything seems to be stable so far and temp is not too hot.

So it this okay or what? The thing is, with this method, the overclocking only takes place when Turbo Boost kicks in. What if Turbo Boost, for some reason, failed to start?

 

[Smoblikat]

Yes, an overclocked CPU doesn't know how it got there.

For some reason I find this statement quite comical. All I can picture is a CPU that is extremely confused

 

[felang]

Okay, I am more confuse, can someone show me the "proper" way of overclocking. I've been reading some literature on the topic, but I can't seem to find any simple ways of doing it.

What I've been doing so far is set a multiplier, say 42, on each of the 4 cores, enabled Turbo Boost, and set everything else to Auto (even voltage).

So that means the cpu is at stock clock speed when idle, and OC takes place when Turbo Boost kicks in. Everything seems to be stable so far and temp is not too hot.

So it this okay or what? The thing is, with this method, the overclocking only takes place when Turbo Boost kicks in. What if Turbo Boost, for some reason, failed to start?

It really depends on how much time you want to invest in fine tuning your overclock. IMO overclocking with a fixed voltage is wasteful, the CPU will run at full speed and full voltage (turbo clocks) all the time. You´re method of using auto voltage and increasing only the multiplier, is already more efficient than fixed voltage so you are on the right track because as you mentioned, your system is downclocking and lowering voltage at idle.

If 4.2GHZ is enough for you and you are actually running stable and at decent temps then you can call it a day now and enjoy your rig. The thing is, most mobos tend to provide the CPU with more volts than necessary while using auto voltage, causing your overclock to not be as efficient as it could be. Most people really don´t worry about this though.

If you want to optimize your overclock (what I mean by this is not using "AUTO Voltage" and manually finding that perfect combination of multiplier, voltage, and heat), then I´m afraid you will definitely have to invest a great deal of time testing different combinations of multiplier and voltage and especially stress testing for stability.

There really is no wrong method though...

Let me know if you want to invest more time and I´m sure we´ll be able to help you until you become an addict like the rest of us.

 

[toyota]

Okay, I am more confuse, can someone show me the "proper" way of overclocking. I've been reading some literature on the topic, but I can't seem to find any simple ways of doing it.

What I've been doing so far is set a multiplier, say 42, on each of the 4 cores, enabled Turbo Boost, and set everything else to Auto (even voltage).

So that means the cpu is at stock clock speed when idle, and OC takes place when Turbo Boost kicks in. Everything seems to be stable so far and temp is not too hot.

So it this okay or what? The thing is, with this method, the overclocking only takes place when Turbo Boost kicks in. What if Turbo Boost, for some reason, failed to start?

turbo boost will always kick in unless something is wrong or not correctly set up in BIOS. I oced to 4.4 the same way and the only other thing I had to do was raise the TDP limit.

 

[JimmiG]

I OC'd via Turbo Boost. Works fine. My BIOS also have options for Max Amps and Max Watts which may prevent turbo from kicking in. So I set them both to 1000

 

[john3850]

If your running Folding Seti games or benches etc. 24 7 you will have less problems running a cpu at high speed.
Most people will use boost for the lower idle which helps cooling.
I found that most of my errors came when the cpu idle voltage could not speed up fast enough to keep up with the needed boost speed voltage.
I can leave a game running in the backround for hours while I am on the net with a 2500k or a 3700k at 4700 MHz with no cpu idle.
If I try to use the boost I most lower the cpu speed a few hundred or the game crashes or shuts off.
My problem may be do to the poor vrm support on the cheap mb I use.
Because I don't do folding both my pc are set to boost with idle.

 

[Billb2]

Real men overclock in the bios.

It takes a lot longer to learn how, but then you can pretty much get whatever OC you want (up to the limits of the mobo/CPU).

 

[hackerballs]

Yes, agree Billb2, manually, does take time.

a few days to do and break in and 25 years to learn how

 

[aigomorla]

straight multi overclocking -> lazy man's oc... is the easiest way to OC because all u do is play with the multi.
This allows only the cpu to be overclocked... making your system as stable as possible, because your ram / pci-e / everything... is still at stock.

Now the other way which is bclk... this is whats called the real man's overclocking.
Why?
Because bclk will CHANGE EVERYTHING on your system.
IT will increase the motherboard's memory speed, it will increase the PCI-E bus speed, it will increase the CPU speed.

Now the reason why the bclk overclocking is the real overclocking is... becuase as u play with 3 different things which are synergized, you also get into a ton more problems in keeping it stable.

typically straight multi overclocking is limited to only K and XE users as these are the only chips i can think of which allows u to go up to 65x multi.
So another word for it is also known as the richman's overclocking.

 

[Sunburn74]

I actually turned off turbo and just set my multiplier at 45. Then I increased the offset voltage slightly (ie set voltage to NORMAL and then increased the offset by +0.1V) whilst leaving all the power features on. Accomplishes the same thing as overclocking through the turbo multiplier (and actually my S3 sleep problems when away when I did this). My pc will run at speeds anywhere from around 600mhz to 4.5ghz depending on load and the voltages are variable as well.