KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
The default settings for the Core i7 4770k are shown above – the multiplier is set at 35 (x100), giving the final speed of 3,500mhz. The turbo function allows for boosts to 3,900mhz, the same as the ASUS Z78 Sabretooth which we also reviewed for launch today.
We configured the Corsair H100i cooler fans and pump to ‘performance'. There is very little if any difference using ‘maximum fan settings' as the cooler was reaching its limits under load.
Overclocking the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC proved straightforward enough. Inside the Frequency submenu of the Performance tab are various settings to adjust the PCIe Clock frequency, processor graphics clock and the processor frequency itself.
With the Core i7 4770k installed, we could access a range of automated range settings for the Core i7 4770k – we selected the ‘4.5GHZ' option. It didn't change any of the voltage settings however, so we still had to manually adjust those.
We changed the CPU Vcore voltage to 1.225V.
The 3D Power Control panel contains the Loadline Calibration and the PWM Phase Control settings. These can be useful to enhance stability at overclocked speeds. We used a mixture of ‘extreme' and ‘high perf' with the voltage of 1.225 to achieve stability at 4.5ghz.
Our 4770k sample seemed to be hot running (we checked with a diode connected directly to the core) and we tested with several motherboards and coolers before launch. At 1.25V or above the temperature could easily hit 90c+ under load. At 1.225V with a Corsair H100i the 4770k temperatures would hover around 82c, which is certainly safer long term.
System validation at 4.5ghz is available over here.
Not enough? … Well lets see how high we could get a (unstable) post into Windows.
With 1.35 volts and the loadline calibration and PWM Phase Control settings close to maximum we got a post at 4.9ghz – the temperatures of the processor hit more than 100c however. We do need the 4770k for other reviews and content, so immediately backed down. This was obviously not close to Prime stable either.
Remember, it is always important to use an overclock and voltage settings that won't kill the processor over time … unless you are rich or make a living out of overclocking hardware to the limits.
Gigabyte have this round sown up, that new bios also looks amazing.
Lovely looking motherboard – I am not moving however, waiting on the next generation.
about time they ditched the blue PCB boards- what a step forward ! love it !
this is the board to get, the price looks spot on and its not losing any features.
Only thing is the 6 SATA ports, id like 8 like the asus board, as I have a lot of hard drives.
THE GIGABYTE BOARDS are killer looking. best boards they have ever products.
4770k is a flop. Intel are clearly focused on the mobile platform now and power reduction rather than moving forward in the high end and giving people a huge step up. anyone with a 3770k wont need to move,unless for some reason they need onboard graphics !
disappointing CPU launch, but great motherboards from the guys. I like how they have ditched the old SATA standard now instead of 3 or 4 useless ports for SSD.
4770k isn’t that bad, but I agree, its not a huge step forward. it may help those peoplee who buy a lower end processor and cant afford a graphics card, but who the F*CK will want a 4770k for onboard graphics performance? its irrelevant really.
Ive seen a lot of reviews today and there seems to be a huge variance on the overclocks, which would suggest the new manufacturing process isn’t quite at the level it should be. ill stay with my 3570k for a while longer as its working well with the 7950 I have.
Noob question:
I see you used the 1.65volt corsairs, but the board specifications are for 1.5.volt. Wouldn’t
that impact the lifespan of the board in the long run?
Does the Z87X-OC natively supports the i7-4770k? Or do i need to update the Bios to a newer version? Actually i have a problem since i have just built my new pc but when i try to turn it on the fens start to work but everything shuts down after 1-2 seconds.. I’d like to know if there is an hardware problem or if it’s just because of the bios.
I have no real experience with Bios and stuff like that ç__ç