i5-3570k voltage limit for idle or load?

leinad1022

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Apr 13, 2011
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Hi. I just installed my i5-3570k yesterday and I began overclocking it today. I have the hyper 212 evo pushing towards my 200mm exhaust fan in an antec 900 case.

I got it to 4.3 ghz at +.02v and just now got it to 4.4 ghz at +.06v. In cpuz this reads as 1.31v at idle and drops to 1.25ish volts and 80C max when I run intel burn test.

Ive heard 1.3v is a good limit for 24/7 OC(which this will be) but is that for idle levels or for when its under load. Also whats a good voltage limit for when I just push it one day to see how fast I can take it?

Also, Im gonna start overclocking my ram. Its DDR-3 1866mhz ram. What can I expect performance wise if I leave the voltage the same?

Thanks
 


Go into your BIOS and look for the top setting in your BIOS, it can either be set to AUTO, FIXED or OFFSET... Will be under the OCing tab...

Wait, ever OCd seriously before?

EDIT : OH and don't bother with OCing your RAM, it will give you close to zero real world benefit on Z77.
 

leinad1022

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Apr 13, 2011
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Ok so I figured out that I was overclocking in the wrong place. My motherboard has OC Genie II which I enabled for BIOS and set to customize, but when I go into the OC genie menu its just blank...Im running bios V2.6 which is outdated. Should I update that?
 
Sure, update it, should be simple as one button, but don;'t use software, use the BIOS. Here are a a few pointers :

Guide:
http://www.thinkcomputers.org/intel-ivy-bridge-overclocking-guide/

OK there is a guide, its not really for beginners, so it boils down to...

1. Disable all power saving adn turbo boost features and pick a load calibration, 1 being very stiff and one voltage constantly, 2 being a little more relax(easier to achieve stability), i prefer level 2.
2. Set voltage to fixed at first and drop it to 0.9v.
3. Boot into windows and run prime 95 or similar stresstest to test for stability for atleast half an hour. This will give you an idea of how sensitive your specific CPU is to voltage change.
4. Increase your voltage to 1.2v and multiplyer to 4.2GHz. Test thoroughly for an hour. Keep a close eye on temps with real temp or HWmonitor.

After that you can increase Multiplier one at a time testing for half an hour between each bump. When stability is lost, add 0.05v and try again.

Repeat process until you reach your desired OC or unacceptable temps(drop one clock and/or Voltage) and viola you have your OC..

 

hdeezie80

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Jul 18, 2012
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Agreed I always use fixed voltages for overclocking. Also make sure to disable C states and EIST to lock your CPU frequency into place should be in the power saving features in your BIOS, go off of your temperatures when it comes to voltages but up to 1.4 is a safe Vcore for ivy bridge chips, you just need to keep your temps reasonable while idle around 40 - 50 C is OK. heat is the biggest limitation on these chips. Don't use the OC genie usually preset OC's are way to agressive on voltage. As for stability testing stick with Prime 95, IBT can potentially damage your CPU.

The quickest way to OC memory is to raise the BCLK which will also raise your CPU frequency. keep in mind CPU frequency = BCLK x CPU Multiplier. In order to effectively OC memory you will have to raise dimm voltage and VCCIO voltage and go through a bit of trial and error figuring out timings and max frequency I would recommend sticking with XMP settings and aim highest CPU frequency you can achieve.