Retail 3770k overclocking

[TidusZ]

I got a 3770k (batch L202B764) a few days early from a local shop, sanded it down to a mirror finish, as well as a Noctua D-14. I've had it running for about 2 hours so far and am about to finish stability testing at 4.5.

4.5 ghz

This is what I've got so far, 4.5 ghz 1.200 V at load (2nd highest LLC on gigabyte UD5H), ~20C idle, 72/75/76/71 highest after 1h30 of linx with HT. Will go higher soon. The lapping didn't help as much as I hoped with the temperatures though.

At stock the highest core in linx was low to mid 50s. It always seems to idle around 20 c.

testing now at 4.6 on same volts. 1 hour in and hottest core at 76. Going to go to 4.7 ghz soon.

4.6 ghz

Okay, I had to increase the voltage a bit to get past 2 minutes of linx. I increased the voltage in .005 increments and this is the first time I've got past a few minutes of Linx. I am 44 minutes stable right now with load temps hitting 83C on the hottest core. I will probably need to switch to prime 95 for 4.8 ghz as the temps are getting kinda :s

4.7 ghz

4.7 was stable as above.

This is the lowest voltage I've been able to get 4.8 stable for more than 10 minutes of Linx. The temperatures are as high as they are going to go before throttling and so 4.8 seems to be the cap for linx stability testing. I will probably just stabilize this 4.8 ghz, o/c my ram, and leave this as my clock for the next few years.

Once people figure out a good way to remove the IHS and deal with that, I'll be all over that, as my heatsink is only a little warm which is almost certainly due to the crappy paste/IHS interface. I have a feeling that once that IHS is either removed or filled with some non conductive solder-like material that IVY will o/c much higher/cooler.

4.8 ghz

Once I'm finished stability testing I'll post temperatures in prime 95 and in BF3, and I'll throw up a cinebench score.

Prime 4.8 ghz temps

Hovers in mid 70s, peaked at 87 on hottest core.

Cinebench @ 4.8

9.75. I still need to find max o/c on memory. (note, linx actually failed after 3 hours so I upped volts by 0.005. I am using 2nd highest LLC so volt drops slightly at load).

Highest temp in starcraft 2, 3v4 ai on huge map = 61/59/59/55.

I'll put up BF3 temps once I have that installed..

Conclusion
Limited by temps. 4.7 is a very safe o/c with decent temperatures. 4.8 the voltage may cause degradation, although not likely in any time frame that matters. Temps at 4.8 are really bad in linx, fine in anything else, and at no risk of throttling. The heatsink only gets a little warm while the processor is at 95 C so I'll wait til the gurus' delidding guides come out and consider that if it looks pretty safe. It is a million times faster than my q9550 @ 4.25 :O. Going by cinebench and the fact my ram isn't running very fast yet (samsung 30 nm currently 1866 9-9-9-27 so far), 4.8 is probably comparable to SB @ around 5.1 in cinebench from the results I looked over.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Nice OC! Hope theirs a BIOS update on the way to help lower voltage

 

[LagunaX]

I'd be happy with 4.7ghz 4C8T time to pick one up come Monday at MicroCenter...

 

[dma0991]

It didn't look impressive when you're at 4.5GHz but at 4.6GHz and 4.7GHz, I'm blown away even if the temps are a little high. Most of the Core i7 3770K that I've seen so far requires less voltage than the Core i5 3570K. I was hoping on the idea that the Core i7 3770K are better binned chips and I could achieve better speeds with HT off. Guess I should have waited a little while longer. :\

 

[Absolute0]

Very nice, good luck with 4.8. Any pictures of the "lap job?"

 

[Don Karnage]

What board are you using?

 

[blackened23]

Not bad at all. :thumbsup:

 

[evangelionstar]

Mate lapping wouldnt help much.

Seeing that your willing to push your 3770k and assuming its a retail kit as you stated you might want to try and de-lid it.

Seems like what intel has done is basically sabotage the thermal performance aspects of the cheap by being cheap and perhaps on purpose to allow SB-E and IVB-E to clock better.....


Shammy from Asus has confirmed that simply delidding it and changing the TIM Intel has used to something thicker and then reseating the IHS improves the thermals. You could also do that and thin out the IHS feet so that it has better contact with the IHS. Id say replacing the TIM and thinning out the IHS feet for better contact would result in much better thermal performance and thereby overclocking.
Alternatively, one could remove the IHS altogether and seat the cpu heatsink directly onto the core.

 

[superccs]

Check anandtech they just did an article on OCing the 37770 and found some strange phenomenons with voltage and heat.

Looks like this chip wont OC like the 2500K-2600Ks.. :/

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Since you already lapped it, can you bake it on 350 for a bit and delid it?

 

[Puppies04]

Check anandtech they just did an article on OCing the 37770 and found some strange phenomenons with voltage and heat.

Looks like this chip wont OC like the 2500K-2600Ks.. :/

Nice, I will go check that out now although unless they found that as you add voltage the heat goes down I doubt what they found was a strange phenomenon

Jk, jk will go take a look.

 

[JAG87]

I......... can't believe you lapped it. There goes the warranty.

 

[n0x1ous]

What board are you using?

He is using a Gigabyte UD5

 

[Subyman]

Nice OC, especially on air. What are you planning to run daily at?

 

[Diogenes2]

I......... can't believe you lapped it. There goes the warranty.

There went the warranty when he Overclocked it ..:whiste:

Why all the fuss over temps.

It's already been established IB will run hotter. A good OC with volts below 1.3 and temps below 90, sounds like a winner to me..

 

[Gnerma]

Wow I remember lapping. I guess that's still a thing. Nice overclock so far.

 

[radu_matei_2007]

awesome OC!

In 2 weeks I`m gonna go for a 3770 i think and a solid cooler

 

[Absolute0]

I......... can't believe you lapped it. There goes the warranty.

The only reason I can think of that you'd need the warranty is if you killed the processor with voltage, and in order to do that you have to really be asking for it.

CPUs are tough, warranty should not be a big issue. Motherboards are way, way more likely to fail in my experience.

Lapping won't provide a huge temp decrease but it does help. One should lap the bottom of the heatsink as well as the CPU surface though, and then you need to be very careful when mounting to try to get the thinnest layer of thermal paste possible at the interface.

 

[exar333]

There went the warranty when he Overclocked it ..:whiste:

Why all the fuss over temps.

It's already been established IB will run hotter. A good OC with volts below 1.3 and temps below 90, sounds like a winner to me..

Not anymore, you can get a warranty from Intel covering all uses of the CPU (overclocking, over volting, etc.).

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Mate lapping wouldnt help much.

Seeing that your willing to push your 3770k and assuming its a retail kit as you stated you might want to try and de-lid it.

Seems like what intel has done is basically sabotage the thermal performance aspects of the cheap by being cheap and perhaps on purpose to allow SB-E and IVB-E to clock better.....


Shammy from Asus has confirmed that simply delidding it and changing the TIM Intel has used to something thicker and then reseating the IHS improves the thermals. You could also do that and thin out the IHS feet so that it has better contact with the IHS. Id say replacing the TIM and thinning out the IHS feet for better contact would result in much better thermal performance and thereby overclocking.
Alternatively, one could remove the IHS altogether and seat the cpu heatsink directly onto the core.

Yeah... I doubt that Intel would purposely go through the trouble to do that.

Did Intel stop soldering the core to the IHS? I thought they haven't changed that since the early C2D days.

Not anymore, you can get a warranty from Intel covering all uses of the CPU (overclocking, over volting, etc.).

Does it cover physical alteration of the chip though?

 

[blckgrffn]

Did Intel stop soldering the core to the IHS? I thought they haven't changed that since the early C2D days.

Evidently, yes. That is the big news for IVB. Other than it being more efficient and marginally faster.

 

[Don Karnage]

Warranty from intel on ivy bridge will be available on Monday. I for one am buying.

 

[Kenmitch]

Lapping voids warranty. Removing heat spreader sounds interesting.

 

[blackened23]

Just an aside, the tuning plan warranty most certainly does not cover lapping and IHS removal. If you mess with that stuff your warranty is gone. Read the terms on the intel website....Secondly, I don't see IHS removal as something viable because of 2 reasons:

1) You have to remove the CPU retention device from your mobo, without the IHS the CPU retention bracket has nothing to grasp except the substrate of the CPU (which you shouldn't clamp, clamping it will damage it) and is higher than the die regardless. Basically, this means your heatsink is the only thing holding the CPU in place. So now you voided your CPU warranty and tuning plan, and you had to forcibly remove the CPU retention bracket from your motherboard and probably voided your motherboard warranty as well......

2) You need a shim to offset the difference in height.

Honestly if you can get 4.5ghz at 75C that is not bad at all -- Removing the IHS sounds like a sure way to throw 300$+ down the drain, this is not a solution to get better temps unless you really don't care about killing your chip. Dont' play with that crap unless your funds are extremely elastic....as I said earlier, 4.4-4.5ghz in the mid 70s is perfectly reasonable if true. The OP had some encouraging news, after seeing many other reports of 85-90C at 1.2V...If I can get 4.5 @ 1.2V in the mid 70s I will be very very happy.

 

[AdamK47]

The design of some heatsinks goes counter to the idea of lapping.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-silver-arrow-sb-e_2.html#sect0

Look half way down the page.