Overclocking a 3770K on an ASUS Z77 motherboard question [SOLVED]

BouwsT

Hey guys, taking my first stab at an overclock on my CPU. Nothing crazy, but I've got an Antec Kuhler 920 all-in-one, so I KNOW I can do better than a stock 3.5 ghz clock speed. My question is this:

I'm in my BIOS, and I've changed my base clock modifier to 42, giving me an initial clock of 4.2 ghz where I'll test and move up from there. However, when I save all my settings and I go back into my desktop to test it still shows my CPU as 3.5 ghz. I go back into BIOS, and all my settings are untouched (remaining at 42 base clock modifier). I run 3Dmark, see a marginal improvement (up from 6512 to 6595), and it shows my reported stock core clock as 3.5 ghz, but my maximum turbo core clock as 4.2 ghz... This isn't what should be changing on an overclock, no? That's just changing the maximum boost I'm going to get, but it's not increasing my base clock... Any advice? Am I on the right track? Anyone have any hands on experience overclocking on these boards? I've followed the ASUS guide to overclocking and I'm 99% sure I'm doing everything right, but I think I'm missing something small. Any insight would be very welcome.

MegaMan001

I have the same set up, oddly enough, as yours. Are you using the proprietary ASUS BIOS overclocking shell or BIOS itself?

curly haired boy

BouwsT wrote: »

Hey guys, taking my first stab at an overclock on my CPU. Nothing crazy, but I've got an Antec Kuhler 920 all-in-one, so I KNOW I can do better than a stock 3.5 ghz clock speed. My question is this:

I'm in my BIOS, and I've changed my base clock modifier to 42, giving me an initial clock of 4.2 ghz where I'll test and move up from there. However, when I save all my settings and I go back into my desktop to test it still shows my CPU as 3.5 ghz. I go back into BIOS, and all my settings are untouched (remaining at 42 base clock modifier). I run 3Dmark, see a marginal improvement (up from 6512 to 6595), and it shows my reported stock core clock as 3.5 ghz, but my maximum turbo core clock as 4.2 ghz... This isn't what should be changing on an overclock, no? That's just changing the maximum boost I'm going to get, but it's not increasing my base clock... Any advice? Am I on the right track? Anyone have any hands on experience overclocking on these boards? I've followed the ASUS guide to overclocking and I'm 99% sure I'm doing everything right, but I think I'm missing something small. Any insight would be very welcome.

are you changing the clocks for all cores or just 1

cause it might not do it for all cores unless you specify, and the 'turbo' is usually only going to boost a single core's clock.

BouwsT

Sorry for the delay, @MegaMan001‌ I am going directly into the BIOS to change the BCLK settings, closer to the metal = less room for error.

@curly haired boy‌ Nah, when I back out of setting the BCLK it states that all the cores are sitting at the specified core multiplier of 42. In theory, if the overclock took, it should show in my system details that the CPU is running at whatever clock I'm specifying, correct? Like, if I go into nVidia Geforce Experience, click "My Rig" it should show my CPU as an i7 3770K @ 4.2 Ghz, correct?

Veevee

I've had an e4300 overclocked on an asus board for 8 years, and windows 7 has always said the reported speed is stock (1.8ghz) while it certainly doesn't perform at stock speeds. Benchmark programs report the actual speed correctly (3.2ghz), and there is a very noticeable difference between overclocked and not. I think this is just a windows thing.

BouwsT

What program do you use for benching, Veevee? Like the OP said, I'm using 3DMark and it's reporting my maximum turbo clock speed as 4.2 Ghz... Does that mean my OC took?

Edit: I guess some of my confusion is on the language in 3DMark also, because it says "reported stock core clock"... I can't tell if that's a number that should be changing or not with my multiplier increases.

Gaslight

BouwsT wrote: »

What program do you use for benching, Veevee? Like the OP said, I'm using 3DMark and it's reporting my maximum turbo clock speed as 4.2 Ghz... Does that mean my OC took?

Edit: I guess some of my confusion is on the language in 3DMark also, because it says "reported stock core clock"... I can't tell if that's a number that should be changing or not with my multiplier increases.

I think the key word in 3DMark is "stock." My guess is that's a set number it just spits out based on what model CPU it detects. It checks what CPU you have, it refers to a table where the stock speed for every chip is listed.

BouwsT

Gaslight wrote: »

BouwsT wrote: »

What program do you use for benching, Veevee? Like the OP said, I'm using 3DMark and it's reporting my maximum turbo clock speed as 4.2 Ghz... Does that mean my OC took?

Edit: I guess some of my confusion is on the language in 3DMark also, because it says "reported stock core clock"... I can't tell if that's a number that should be changing or not with my multiplier increases.

I think the key word in 3DMark is "stock." My guess is that's a set number it just spits out based on what model CPU it detects. It checks what CPU you have, it refers to a table where the stock speed for every chip is listed.

Could be, I just don't know... I was almost positive that when you over clocked though, it should be reporting it somewhere (system details, Geforce Experience, etc). I just want to know if anyone with this board/BIOS has done overclocking, and where they can confirm that the OC has taken and they can begin stress testing.

Gaslight

I think Asus AI Suite reports the OC'd clock speed on my system.

BouwsT

Out of the city for a meeting, that's a good point though. I'll check that when I get home. Is that a program that needs to be downloaded for the Z77 motherboards, or is that part of the software package?

Gaslight

AI Suite came with my Z77 motherboard (I have a P8Z77V-PRO) on the included software CD-ROM I believe. You can probably download it somewhere too.

BouwsT

Will update this post tonight when I've checked. Thanks for the insight!

BouwsT

Alright! I LIED. I checked it a few days later.

So I downloaded the AI Suite II from the ASUS website and I've gone through some cursory OC passes, and I just blue screened at 4.5 GHz @ 1.2V... I think I'll switch over to the Technology thread for some more advice, because you guys have been very helpful in helping me identify whether or not my OC's have taken. Thanks so much!