Overclocking ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming ITX/ac 9900k

Greetings,

First I must thank you all for your help while I was building my first PC. This is an excellent forum.

This the uteenth machine, but the first build. The machine is built and appears to be running OK. On the software side: I have set up a power plan which prevents the machine from sleeping, turning off drives, PCIe or USB. It also prevents the monitor from turning off (monitor turning off is disruptive). Finally the minimum and maximum processor states are 100%. I will only use that while doing music.

Furthermore, I have reduced visuals, background apps, etc; and changed processor scheduling to background. Without putting you to sleep, I have done the usual modifications for music production; keeping a steady state in Windows, and eliminating unnecessary processes and eye candy.

I am in the midst of installing software and approaching the point where I will be installing DAWs and music plugins, etc.
Before I get there, I want to look into overclocking the machine. I don't know if I even have to, but what I type below will probably give you the ammunition you need to tell me what I need to do.

The only change in BIOS so far, is to setup some custom fan curves and activate XMP 1 which sets my ram to its native frequency of 3200MHz. Apart from that it is stock. System is handling frequency, voltage etc. The maximum cpu frequency is 4900MHz. I have tested that with Aida64 and it was stable over 30 minutes. Maximum CPU temp was about 70 degrees. Idle temps are about 29 to 30 degrees. Ambient temp is about 24 degrees.

So I did some research re overclocking and came up with multiplier and core voltage are the most important issues. That's not a statement of fact. Just my take on things.

So...this motherboard has most of the bells and whistles that the others do. The only thing I can't find is adaptive voltage. After all this...:), what is the best way to get another 200 MHz out of the machine and is it worth it? As I pointed out, I have run at 4900 using Aida64. That is not through overclocking, but by setting up a power plan in Windows. While that power plan is active, the processor runs at 4900MHz.

I'll stop boring you with details. Any advice would be most appreciated. I hope this finds you all well,

Graham

Figures are nothing to go by. Go by previous experience from what you already know about optimising performance.

The last thing on my mind with a new system like that would be overclocking. Thats like buying a new BMW M3 and wanting to increase engine performance before youve even driven it.

3200 to 4900mhz is a massive gain from stock but with a new system like that i wouldnt even bother overclocking at all. Leave it stock. Maybe in a few years when you feel it needs it, then do a little OC

Find the slowest part of the system and maybe think about optimising that first. Leave the volts for another 3 to 4 years

My first overclocking was a Pentium 3 450mhz with 2x256mb of Crucial. Managed to take the chip to almost 600mhz which was a massive gain back then. The old days when overclocking was an art. Nowadays its click turbo and sit back, boring
Good luck

Thanks for giving my head a shake.

Youre ok i know how the overclocking thing is almost a must these days but not until youve really given the machine a thorough testing.

For encoding its a good idea to try and optimze the hard drives allocation format which offers different speeds for reading writing copying performance.
Like with a RAID setup Intel's Stripe RAID 0 Format allocation is default at 128kb. But after my own testing a setting of 64kb for dual 64mb cache HD 's, i can almost keep up with SSD speeds and machine is a beast.

Ah ive been there and done so many mods to the PC's over the years. The same Cooler Master case I own has probably seen 10 + motherboards over the last 20 years.

Edit: I would also look at optimising memory latencies. Drop the XMP profile. Ditch the Turbo. Keep her cool. Keep the hard drives cool. Run memory fast and correct hard drive allocation to meet your needs