8pack creates extreme PCs such as this £32K
OrionX2 that has two PCs in one case
So is there any other software you
recommend for stability testing other than
actual workloads?
At Overclockers UK we use Prime95 with
26.6, 28 and latest version selectable. We also
use HCI Memtest, Y- Cruncher, Real Bench,
Cinebench, Unigine Heaven, and Valley and
Octane. Then rebooter which checks the
systems can reboot fine.
Have you noticed much difference between
board manufacturers when it comes 24/7
overclocks, and how much do a motherboard’s
power circuitry and cooling have an impact?
Gigabyte boards I find inefficient clock-for-
clock and not great on memory across almost
all of them. MSI doesn’t handle memory
particularly well, at least not as well as Asus
or ASRock. The VRMs matter a lot with these
higher-core count CPUs. Anything above six
cores on Intel and eight cores on AMD will likely
overclock better on a motherboard with decent
power delivery and cooling, and for extreme
overclocking it’s essential. I have also noticed
that boards with poor VRMs have hotter CPU
loads with extended stress testing. I think this
is caused by heat soak from the VRMs into the
socket. So ASRock and Asus usually get my
vote but it depends on the CPU socket. Asus
isn’t great on TRX40, whereas ASRock offers
some great and more affordable boards there.
What are your thoughts on board manufacturers
using doublers when it comes to VRMs?
Who cares about this if it works well? A lot of
what is said is just marketing, but as long as
it does a good job and performs well, that’s
all I care about. I really wouldn’t get too hung
up about that stuff. There are too many other
factors and besides, the Asus ROG Zenith
II Extreme – it had crazy power delivery,
like 92A VRMs – but the ASRock TRX40
Taichi, with much lower specifications, could
overclock further.How beneficial is using offset/adaptive
voltages instead of a fixed voltage or manual
overclock for a 24/7 overclock?
I always use manual. I’m not into saving a
few watts of power and I really don’t get why
people get hung up about it. I leave Speedstep
and sleep states on, so no more current is
being drawn even at full voltage. Offset I don’t
particularly like because of its lack of stability,
and with certain loads, it doesn’t apply enough,
or others too much. I find manual overclocking
with a good loadline calibration curve is best.
Some people argue that you can extend
your CPU’s lifespan by doing offset voltage, but
if temperatures, cooling and voltage are safe
then I really don’t see this as in issue.
We have systems running here with a high
manual overclock from seven years back.
They’re still running fine and Intel also agreed
with me on this.We’ve seen some good results from delidding
non-soldered CPUs. Would you recommend
delidding to anyone that’s confident enough
to do it?
I would recommend delidding
yes, but only if you’re
competent or confident you
have the correct technique and
tools. Otherwise you can buy
pre-tested and delidded CPUs
direct from OcUK with a one
year warranty.When it comes to overclocking
software, do you recommend
things like Intel performance
maximiser for someone
who is maybe not confident
or doesn’t have the time to
do a manual overclock?
Yeah sure, this is a very safe
way to gain a decent all-cores
overclock, although you still
need to set the XMP profile and
ideally I would bump the cacheratio a couple of notches in the BIOS too, as it
doesn’t alter that.Can you share any tips on EFIs?
The best tip I can give here is that updating your
BIOS will not result in identical performance
or stability with overclocks. A lot of things can
change, so your settings might be stable on
one BIOS version but not on another. Loadline
calibration can be altered, different voltages
for IO and SA are applied, so if you change your
BIOS version, you’ll likely need to redo the entire
overclock and stability testing.If someone wants to get into overclocking- entering results and competing online –
where should they turn? Can this be done
with water cooling or do you need something
more exotic?
I’d highly recommend looking at HWbot.
org. You can compete in a very large range
of benchmarks, which gain you points for
the leagues. They have the benchmarks
categorised into CPU, GPU and memory as
well as less obvious ones. Overclockers can
be competitive on any type of cooling and they
most definitely don’t need sub-zero cooling to
do well. HWbot has a classification system with
the Enthusiast and Apprentice leagues that use
ambient cooling and no vendor sponsorships.
This allows people to progress through the
ranks fairly. The top two leagues Elite and
Extreme are no holds barred but I suggest
anyone wanting to compete in OC should get a
grasp of everything and build up knowledge in
the lower leagues first.
Do you have a favourite platform/socket for
overclocking / which one would you suggest
to someone buying new if they wanted to get
into overclocking?
The really fun, rewarding benchmarks that also
teach you most about tweaking and efficiency
are best on Intel’s Z-series platforms, so
currently Z390. You get the biggest overclocks,
get to tweak lots of settings, and deal with great
improvements in CPU and game benchmarks
plus it costs a lot less than HEDT platforms too.If someone wanted to learn and ask questions,
are there any specific forums/Facebook
groups you’d suggest they sign up to?
The forums at overclockers.co.uk are a good
option, particularly if you live in the UK. Hwbot
also has a forum and you can also check out
Gamers Nexus or Der8auer on YouTube.