CPU overclocking

[montyben101]

I have a quad core I5 at 3.00 GHZ What is the maximum I can (safely) overclock it and how can I do it??

[Kryten]

You don't know until you try. It varies from chip to chip due to variation in manufacturing; I don't mean model to model, literally chip to chip.

[montyben101]

Hmm I could try it to 3.10 GHZ I dont know how to see the current temperature (if you even can) so i dont know if it will be safe

[ZedNova]

Could you post the exact model of i5? It would help in figuring out how far you can OC. If it doesn't have a "K" at the end of it's name, it can't be overclocked.

1) In the BIOS, You increase the turbo multiplier by one ("x31" in your case), then go the desktop verify that your chip is overclocked with CPUZ.

2)Run any program that will stress out your CPU and keep an eye on temps. When i say stress it out, i mean the program uses nearly 100% of each core for an extended period of time.

3) If you don't crash after this, increase the multiplier by one again and repeat. (The bluescreen message will usually be something like "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor".)

4) Once you receive a bluescreen message, go back to the bios and lower the multiplier by one, and do a much longer stress test on the CPU to verify that the overclock is Stable. (Still keeping an eye on temps)

If you don't experience a bluescreen after stress testing, or after extensive usage for a few days, you have a good OC.

Download CPUZ and CPUID hardware monitor: http://www.cpuid.com/ to verify the core clock, and check temperatures.

Make sure you do NOT use any software to OC, it doesn't work as well as the BIOS and can cause data corruption in some cases.

Edited December 6, 2014 by ZedNova

[Redjoker]

Just a few tips: If you are using the stock cooler, I would not recommend overclocking. A highly recommended cheap cooler is the hyper 212 evo for $30, but if you are using prebuilt case it may not fit. Also do not use prime 95 for stress testing your overclock. Currently if you forget to lock the cpu voltage in the prime 95 settings, it can draw much higher voltage and possibly fry your cpu. The programs I see many recommend are aida 64 or intel burn test.

[magnemoe]

Just a few tips: If you are using the stock cooler, I would not recommend overclocking. A highly recommended cheap cooler is the hyper 212 evo for $30, but if you are using prebuilt case it may not fit. Also do not use prime 95 for stress testing your overclock. Currently if you forget to lock the cpu voltage in the prime 95 settings, it can draw much higher voltage and possibly fry your cpu. The programs I see many recommend are aida 64 or intel burn test.

Yes, overclocking make you cpu use more power so you need an good cooler,

[ZetaX]

Hmm I could try it to 3.10 GHZ I dont know how to see the current temperature (if you even can) so i dont know if it will be safe

For your own sake, please don't even try overclocking. Without even such basic knowledge like that you are doomed to break something.

Yes, 100MHz will almost surely not hurt, but you also won't really see a difference. The amount you probably want should only be done with some understanding of the inner workings and how to and what to monitor (for example, not only temperature but also power is a must-watch).