Basic things about overclocking

[StrelokSTK]

Hi, i'm a beginner in overclocking, but i think i know some stuff and i want to make sure it's right. To occ a cpu you increase the multiplier or that other clock (the one which is multiplied by the multiplier. Then you shoud increare the voltage because it shall use more power. The thing i don't understand is: i don't know how much power can go through the cpu socket, but i know that my psu on the 3.3 volt carries 150 max of power. Let's say that i overclock and the required wattage goes beyond 150w, will it crash? The cpu which i'm talking about here would be a 3770k or 4770k. Thanks

[confuzzedintelguy]

Possible..... however it would be peak loads that would ever get you beyond 150watts and is however unlikely either way i am fairly certain most new aged boards run vcore off of the 12v rail so this is something you shouldn't worry about.  You get the gist of it though just watch your vcore and only increase it as it is needed.

[RedFury77]

The 3770k is only a 77watt cpu.  

 

So is my 3570K, I overclocked to 4.7ghz and hardly ever hit even a 70watt draw.  So at full OC I don't think you'll actually draw more than the rated 77, just up to it.   Plus I've heard the 3770k takes even a little less voltage to oc than the 3570k.  

 

 

The thing i don't understand is: i don't know how much power can go through the cpu socket,

 

More than enough to fry the cpu.  Keep the voltage to 1.35v max unless you are doing some extreme cooling/benchmarking.

Edited May 7, 2013 by RedFury77

[wevsspot]

Stre - everyone is hitting on some basic points dealing with overclocking on socket 1155 (Sandy and/or Ivy) - but there are some great guides here and elsewhere on the very subject.  If you really want to learn about overclocking you should thoroughly study them and then come back and ask some specific questions or explain particular problems you're having trying to get a stable overclock.

 

At minimum you need to understand;

 

overclocking via cpu multiplier

overclocking via blck and why you may not want to touch the stock blck setting

memory frequency

memory timings

cpu voltage control

imc voltage control

ddr voltage control

temperatures

safe voltages

[Waco]

The 3770k is only a 77watt cpu.

 

So is my 3570K, I overclocked to 4.7ghz and hardly ever hit even a 70watt draw. So at full OC I don't think you'll actually draw more than the rated 77, just up to it. Plus I've heard the 3770k takes even a little less voltage to oc than the 3570k.

 

The thing i don't understand is: i don't know how much power can go through the cpu socket,

 

More than enough to fry the cpu. Keep the voltage to 1.35v max unless you are doing some extreme cooling/benchmarking.

You can easily exceed the rated power of a CPU many times over when overclocking. What are you using for load?

[RedFury77]

Just what I saw when running prime95 and Intel burn in. Never saw it hit 77 watts.

[Waco]

How did you measure power usage? Please don't say CPU-Z.

[wevsspot]

How did you measure power usage? Please don't say CPU-Z.

 

Let's hope not  

 

If it were me I'd use the following power draw assumptions when choosing a power supply or configuring the remainder of your build;

 

For the i7 3770K at stock voltage, stock clocks, idle you need to allow 75-90W

For the i7 3770K at stock voltage, stock clocks, load you need to allow 140-160W

 

 

For the i7 3770K at 1.3V @ 4.5Ghz, idle you need to allow 110-120W

For the i7 3770K at 1.3V @ 4.5Ghz, load you need to allow 180-220W

[ivangela]

How did you measure power usage? Please don't say CPU-Z.

CPU-Z not good for power usage? any other opinions on it? I only ask as that's what I use...that and HW monitor.

Wait, come to think of it, I use HWmonitor for power usage, no CPU-z...NVM

[wevsspot]

For determining the absolute power requirements of any given build, one of the most reliable methods is to measure it right at the outlet using a Kill-A-Watt power meter (or perhaps if your UPS has a meter instead).  Then you can subtract nominal power values for gpu, hard drive, fans etc.)  The only thing that leaves unaccounted for then is motherboard and memory.

 

I've never compared HWmonitor to Kill-A-Watt, but if it's close, then that's close enough.

 

And it's not equal comparing the power draw of the 3570K to the 3770K since one has hyperthreading, and the other doesn't.  The only way to make an actual power consumption comparison would be to disable HT on the 3770K and clock it to the same voltage and speed of the 3570K you were comparing it against.

[RedFury77]

I used Open HW Monitor http://openhardwaremonitor.org

 

I ran it again last night to see if what I remembered was right, OC'd to 4.7 it hit something like 76.4watts max, and never actually hit 77watts.  

[Waco]

I used Open HW Monitor http://openhardwaremonitor.org

 

I ran it again last night to see if what I remembered was right, OC'd to 4.7 it hit something like 76.4watts max, and never actually hit 77watts.

That's not accurate at all. Software measurements aren't trustworthy.