I5- 2500K overclocking problems

[turbocabbage]

Hello,
I am having problems overclocking my processor and would like any one's opinion about the matter.

Gigabyte z68XP-UD3
i5 2500K
8GB 1333MHZ ram
gigabyte odin GT 550W
ATI HD 7850

my problem is this:

Whenever i try to overclock the processor, i cannot do so without it saying "the sytem ecountered a problem because of overclocking or changing of the voltages" (something similar to that). If i overlock from 3.3-3.4, it WILL give me this error no matter what. i CANNOT change the voltage without encountering this error, UNLESS i set the voltage to "auto". If i set the voltage "auto" then i can change the multiplier to whatever i please and it will not give me this error message. HOWEVER, upon restarting the pc again, (this could be days later, or hours later)- but upon the NEXT restart, the PC will have reverted to its original voltage and frequency settings, suggesting that it was infact NOT stable at the prevoius settings, even though it did not give me error messages.

WEIRd thing is, if I set the voltage manually, and simply pretend not to see the error messages when restarting after overlcocking, the computer will run PRIME95 and other stress tests perfectly for the required time.

EXAMPLE: i set voltage to 1.32 and frequency to 4.5GHZ and was given the error message, but then ran prime for and hour and a half with no problems and another stress test too. was called burner or something. HOWEVER, upon the NEXT restart of my pc, the settings have reverted again to default.

the ONLY way i can force my PC to remember what i have set the frequency and voltage to is if I enable "turbo-core" and individually overclock each core to 4.5, and leave the overall multiplier at 3.3. i then manually set the voltage to 1.32, and im given error message upon restart, but then stress tests are fine and settings are saved upon next restart.

Now i wouldnt really care but, i experiencing STUTTERING problems in quite a few games. if the fps drops below 60, many games stutter and appear much worse than the FPS suggests. in WoW ill have 50fps but it will look like 20. in skyrim its simply unplayable.

Note: dont think its cmos battery cause it remembers all other settings i change, just not frq and volt.

any opinions and help would be greatly appreciated!

thank you

[Geek-9pm]

I am having problems overclocking my processor and would like any one's opinion about the matter.

Really! Who ever told you that overclocking is a easy, safe pursuit.
With any electronic device, including personal computers, there are about 4 or 5 main choices to make. Here is a List:

1. Low entry cost
2. Long life.
3. High performance
4. Easy to use
5. Very reliable

Many times one gets 3 out of 5. If one were to  get 4 out of 5, that good.

But are you looking for 5 out of 5? I can't do nit. So I will be watching this thread to see if the experts can do 5 out of 5 and violate the rules set by the manufacturer.

What I am saying  is that overclocking is, by definition, and experimental use of a motherboard. Not a normal use. Yet you talk like you want everything else to remain the same as to reliability, ease of use and so on.

Maybe somebody will prove me wrong. 

[turbocabbage]

@ geek.

I'm sorry if my post was long and confusing, I don't mean to suggest that  everything should work perfectly in my overclocked system, and I understand the implications of overclocking.

In a nutshell, I want to know why my particular processor cannot be overclocked if turbo-boost is disabled, when, according to most guides, turbo-boost is usually to be disabled when overclocking.

[Transfusion]

Perhaps the OP wants to overclock in order to maximize the potential of his system... low entry cost, high performance... Some people can't afford higher end systems and thus find a good incentive to overclock if the chances are high that they will be able to overclock to a decent performance level...

You mention the BIOS not saving settings on reboot... I have a hunch it's related to the infamous http://www.overclock.net/t/1034724/gigabyte-p67-z68-boot-cycling-problem P67/Z68 boot cycling problem, where settings are not saved after reboot and where sometimes the system will just fail to POST out of the blue..

I've had stuttering issues before when I overclocked my E3200 to 3.6 GHz, at 1.392 VCore, and I assumed it was RAM/Mobo limited because I have tested it in a P43 board which pushed it well over 4 GHz without issues... BTW my RAM dividers would only go down to 3:5

http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/4831-Finally-stopped-the-stutters-i7-2600k/page2 
Perhaps this may help too... I'm honestly not sure too about turbo boost, because usually one doesn't want turbo-boost interfering with your overclocked settings and throttling your processor...

[Geek-9pm]

Some more detail is needed.  What CPU is installed?

Gigabyte z68XP-UD3

Some new Intel CPU's can not really be overclocked. So to answer your question we need the documentation for both the mobo and the CPU.

[Transfusion]

Geek.. er.. at the risk of sounding impertinent, have you read the topic? i5-2500K... the K is supposed to be an enthusiast version (unlocked CPU multiplier) which allows it to be overclocked without raising the FSB...


http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3892 
Here's the OP's motherboard, it does provide documentation for all the features that you would need....


Also, turbocabbage, try setting Load Line Calibration to 10, it eliminates VDroop that may contribute to your system instability...

[Geek-9pm]

Transfusion, Thank you. My ignorance. Does that mean it will overclock any CPU that can run in the motherboard.
I thought a Sandy Bridge should not overclock. But I am often wrong.

[turbocabbage]

transfusion thanks very much for the help. I try the load line calibration setting at 10, but still error message:(.
what is very strange is that when i run stress tests, they do not fail. which implies that the error message is infact incorrect, because the PC apprently IS stable at the current voltage and frequency!

Its all very confusing hah.

@ geek. Well the sandybridges with the 'k' letter are the ones that can be overclocked. Although im not 100% clued up about it, my understanding is that the procesors with the 'K' are aimed at those buyers who want to overclock their processors much further than the stock frequency. the i5-2500K is renowned for being one of the best overclocking chips around. Some people are even able to increase the frequency to 4.0GHZ without incresing the voltage at all and achieve a stable system. that's why im a bit upset that mine is giving me error messages when i try to overclock, because i feel that I have not got value for money if I cant overclock it.

thank you for the input guys. continuing to try solve this!

[Transfusion]

It's okay, we all make mistakes sometime....
No, of course not *all* sandy bridge CPUs are overclockable... like the i3 2120 for example, where one can only increase the base clock by a tiny 4 points at most. Any further will definitely cause instability. Not all mobos support overclocking either...
With the i5 2400, people have had mixed results.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/03/intel-sandy-bridge-review/14 

[patio]

Why do you need to OC an i5 should be the question ? ?
Is it because people say it can be done ? ? Or is it regret over not getting the i7 ? ?

[turbocabbage]

@ Patio.

I built a gaming PC. the i5 is a faster chip than the i7 for gaming.
the i7 is more expensive because of other features (such as hyper threading) that do not affect gaming performance.

WHY do i want to overclock the i5-2500K?
If you did some basic research on the i5-2500k i think you would see why i want to overclock it.

[Transfusion]

turbocabbage, I would suggest going to overclockers.com if you want to get to know more of the performance computing community, and I hate to sound disparaging but seems like some aren't really in favor of overclocking because of instability... truth is, other parts will wear out long before an OC'ed CPU will, provided you don't do a ridiculous >=1.4V overclock without adequate cooling.
With that over, I do think we should try to help turbocabbage to the best of our efforts, he does sound pretty reasonable.... the i7 is just minutely more powerful in terms of gaming http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=288 because of superior single threaded performance. If not, Intel would be cannibalizing sales from itself!

I would suggest checking the simplest things, such as whether your motherboard BIOS is up to the latest revision, whether your 12V rail(s) are stable with a multimeter (http://www.techrepublic.com/article/power-supply-troubleshooting-with-a-multimeter/1056686), do a few more stress tests on your system (while overclocked), such as Memtest86+/Furmark, and if possible, compare results with a known working motherboard of the same chipset.

[turbocabbage]

thanks for the help transfusion

[Geek-9pm]

Footnote.
Intel is now using overclocking as a market thing. They even have an insurance policy in  case the CPU burns itself to death.

Intel offers CPU insurance, will replace your burnt-out overclocked ...

[Geek-9pm]

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