Lightly OCing an i5. Is it worth it?

[scumbag]

Hi all,

I have some questions about overclocking the i5, specifically a 2500k.

Firstly, i don't want to get a massive overclock, I'd like to keep my PC as quiet as possible.
Is there any point in adding just a few hundred mhz as it'll turbo upto 3.7 ghz anyway?

Will any overclock to the base frequency also add a corresponding increase to the turbo?

Is there any way to only increase the turbo limit but leave the base frquency at 3.3ghz?

 

[slh28]

Most overclockers will just turn the turbo off, 3.7Ghz isn't much considering the 2500k can get to 4.5Ghz pretty easily.

If you are thinking of moderate OCing (or even if you're not OCing) then get a cheap aftermarket cooler, it will be quieter than the stock Intel cooler which is useless.

 

[scumbag]

Most overclockers will just turn the turbo off, 3.7Ghz isn't much considering the 2500k can get to 4.5Ghz pretty easily.

If you are thinking of moderate OCing (or even if you're not OCing) then get a cheap aftermarket cooler, it will be quieter than the stock Intel cooler which is useless.

Yep, I've built the PC myself and put Prolimatech Megahalems cooler on there with a push/pull fan configuration so that's taken care of.
A bit overkill for stock speeds.

A lot of the time my PC will be doing very little so I don't want it hammering away at 4.5 gigs for nothing. However for gaming & movie crunching I'd like to be able to get a bit more grunt out of it.

It' been a while since I messed about with overclocking and i'm more curious about how the turbo works with it.

 

[slh28]

Enable Speedstep and it won't be hammering away at 4.5Ghz all the time, the CPU will downclock automatically when idle.

 

[MrBlkfx1]

What motherboard do you have? If you are looking to just get a slight overclock. I know some boards bios have something called a "Level up feature" which really just boosts the turbo clock. For example,. my ASUS maximus Extreme-z has the same bios feature just mentioned.. that will take my i7-2600k to 4.2 or even higher. When you pick to use this method.. You keep your same base clock but it increases the turbo clock speeds.

 

[scumbag]

What motherboard do you have? If you are looking to just get a slight overclock. I know some boards bios have something called a "Level up feature" which really just boosts the turbo clock. For example,. my ASUS maximus Extreme-z has the same bios feature just mentioned.. that will take my i7-2600k to 4.2 or even higher. When you pick to use this method.. You keep your same base clock but it increases the turbo clock speeds.

That's interesting, I can't remember what board I have (on my laptop at work now) but I'll have a look at that later, thanks.

 

[scumbag]

Enable Speedstep and it won't be hammering away at 4.5Ghz all the time, the CPU will downclock automatically when idle.

I suppose this turbo boost feature is just marketing speak for Speedstep, or is there a difference?

 

[slh28]

I suppose this turbo boost feature is just marketing speak for Speedstep, or is there a difference?

Nope, turbo and speedstep are 2 separate things, go into your motherboard BIOS and you will see the options for them.

Turbo = slight overclock under load
Speedstep = underclock when idle (below the stock frequency)

Download HWMonitor and see how your clocks change under idle/load situations.

 

[MrBlkfx1]

Turbo boost and speedstep are two different things.
Speedstep is a feature that will down clock your processor when idle in efforts to save power.
Turbo boost is a boost in clock frequency when your CPU encounters large loads.

When speedstep down clocks it will not put you at your base clock.. it will put you at half of that in most circumstances.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/cpus-motherboards/14026-whats-up-my-cpu-speedstep-f-q.html

This link will provide you with useful information concerning speedstep.

 

[MrBlkfx1]

Lol... looks like Slh28 answered right when I did.

 

[LNCPapa]

With my ASUS mobo my 2600k idles at 1.6, runs at 4.4 normally and still turbos (I think) when needed.

 

[slh28]

Lol... looks like Slh28 answered right when I did.

To summarize, leave SpeedStep on (it should be on by default anyway) as you'll get lower temps and power usage without any drawbacks afaik.

 

[Buckshot420]

I gotta chime in. When "overclocking" the i5 2500k the base clock ALWAYS remains at 100mhz. All you are doing is ramping the turbo mode feature and NOT changing or "overclocking" the base clock. When you change the turbo multiplier to say X 45 you are multiplying the (base clock) 100Mhz X 45 (the multiplier) = 4.5Ghz. It is nothing like overclocking of years past.