help with offset voltages

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tensai27

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I spent a long time overclocking my fx 6300 trying to get it passed 4.2ghz. After spending lots of time and trying everything I could possibly think of, eventually I successfully got my cpu stable at 4.4ghz. Now the problem I am faced with is that running my cpu at 4.4ghz all the time and at the whopping voltage it required for me to get it there, doesn't seem practical and degrades performance after a few hours of gaming. Obviously the solution to that would be to enable cool n quiet but my motherboard requires offset voltages in order to enable cool n quiet thus the reason I am here. Honestly, I only need to know how to convert my manual voltage over to offset. I already know the voltage my cpu requires to be stable at max load, where do I take it from here? How do I translate that into offset mode? Here's a post of my current setup. I'm thinking the easiest way to go about this for future overclocks as well is to find the max overclock using manual then transferring it over to offset. Thanks in advance. I'm using the m5a97 r2.0 motherboard by the way.
http://postimg.org/image/9clvwort1/
 
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The consensus that overclocking on auto voltage is a bad idea because it can sometimes use way too much voltage.

I had good luck with it, with auto using the exact same minimum amount of voltage needed for stability as an offset, up until my CPU was overclocked +1ghz or more (at that point the voltage seemed a bit excessive in auto vs offset), but YMMV.

If you decide to use it, I'd be careful at first and monitor your vcore just to be safe, as it may actually use way more or less voltage under load than the motherboard bios is initially reporting.

I see what you mean about the LLC. Good question. I'm not sure, but I would think it would probably increase the voltage even more, yes. The reason being that the equation actually winds up...
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bebop460

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Personally, I didn't have any luck calculating offset voltage, as what my motherboard claimed for voltage increments was not what was actually being delivered. I preferred to just tinker with it anyway.

This is the most sensible info I've seen about calculating offset voltage, and should apply to any CPU I'd think, but I can't speak for its efficacy:

"The difference between the load voltage in cpu-z and the VID you see in realtemp is the offset amount you're looking for.

For example if your VID is 1.3875 under load and your cpu-z vcore under load is 1.4275, the offset will be a positive amount from the VID, so it'll be +0.040 (1.3875 + 0.040 = 1.4275)

If the VID is 1.3875 and your cpu-z vcore is lower, say 1.3675, the offset will be a negative value of from the VID, which is -0.020 (1.3875 - 0.020 = 1.3675)"

From http://www.overclock.net/t/968053/official-the-sandy-stable-club-guides-voltages-temps-bios-templates-inc-spreadsheet/2240#post_14466483 post #2250, an excellent overclocking guide (for SB primarily) by munaim1
 
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tensai27

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Thanks for the reply. Offset voltages have always confused me which is why I opt for manual all of the time. Let me see if I can figure this out. So I should stress my cpu, record my max voltage on cpuz and my VID on realtemp(btw doesn't core temp also show the VID or is that not as accurate), then add or subtract depending on the values to get my + or - offset value....? What about LLC? If I leave that enabled wouldn't that raise it even more?
 
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bebop460

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It seems like Realtemp is Intel only, so you'd want Coretemp, yes.

You are correct, it is:

VID, +/- offset voltage = VCORE

Again, I can't speak to its accuracy, but it should get you in the right ballpark. I'd go a bit lower than what that equation suggests to start off, just to be safe. So if it turns out to suggest, say +0.02, I'd start with a bit less, say more like +0.01.

The short answer to "wouldn't (more LLC) raise it even more?" is maybe; it could wind up being more or less, but should be pretty close.

A long explanation of LLC:
From what I've read, LLC operates as a separate config from other voltages. LLC is basically additional voltage that is applied according to CPU load. So the higher the LLC, the more additional voltage will be applied in the high load ranges.

If you have the option to select different LLC levels, I'd go with the mid/low range if possible for a better voltage curve and a better chance of stability. This thread has a lot of great info if you want to learn more about it (http://www.overclock.net/t/1441962/sb-safe-24-7-max-voltage-info/10), but basically:

"High LLC + Low Offsets = Low Idle Voltage, Low Voltage on medium load, High Voltage on High Load

or

Low LLC + High Offsets = Higher Idle Voltage, Higher Medium Load Voltage, Same load voltage as HIGH LLC because of high offset."

Generally a lower/med LLC is preferable because it has slightly less load voltage and slightly higher voltages across idle/mid load ranges, and therefore better stability.
 
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tensai27

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Okay this is interesting. I just clicked offset just to see what it would set it at auto and it's pretty much the voltage I am using on manual. Should I just leave it? Or rather yet, is it safe to just leave it at auto? Here is a picture. Please compare it to my manual voltage in the picture I posted previously on the first post.
http://postimg.org/image/41g63gkhx/
It seems that my motherboard is auto-ing near my current voltages for some reason but I could be mistaking.
Also for my question about llc, I wasn't asking about adding more llc. I actually only have the option to enable or disable it on my motherboard. I can't set any level of llc. I was wondering since llc sets my voltage slightly higher under load, would using my load voltage in the calculation while leaving llc enabled only increase the voltage even more?
 
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bebop460

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The consensus that overclocking on auto voltage is a bad idea because it can sometimes use way too much voltage.

I had good luck with it, with auto using the exact same minimum amount of voltage needed for stability as an offset, up until my CPU was overclocked +1ghz or more (at that point the voltage seemed a bit excessive in auto vs offset), but YMMV.

If you decide to use it, I'd be careful at first and monitor your vcore just to be safe, as it may actually use way more or less voltage under load than the motherboard bios is initially reporting.

I see what you mean about the LLC. Good question. I'm not sure, but I would think it would probably increase the voltage even more, yes. The reason being that the equation actually winds up calculating Vcore+LLC. If you decide to use that equation, I'd start with significantly less voltage than is recommended to be safe.
 
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tensai27

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Thanks, yeah it seemed odd that it was auto setting the exact voltages I needed (or at least close enough to not bother fiddling with it). I was only afraid to run it at auto because I worried it would raise my voltages up to something ridiculous like 1.5v or something when gaming. So I guess I could stress it for a while and see what voltages it is reporting on the monitor tab in occt. As long as it isn't any more than before, I might as well not even bother fiddling with offset and leave it at auto. I'll report back and let you know.
 
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bebop460

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One other important thing to note is that when you change a setting in the BIOS, it will often still report the previous (old) setting until you exit the BIOS and save the changes.

So, in your case, it may be reporting 1.44v simply because that is what it was set at before and no changes have actually been saved.

So again, always be cautious with a new voltage config.
 
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tensai27

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Yes, thanks for the reminder. Reporting back with some good results. My vcore is exactly 100% the same as when I was setting it manually even when stress testing. I see no difference in temps or values when stress testing with offset vs manual so it seems I can just leave it at auto. This motherboard (or at least in my case) does really well at detecting what voltages are necessary on it's own. I now have cool n quiet enabled and it idles at 1.4ghz. Very happy with the results. Yes, now looking back at it, I could have just left everything on auto in the first place and saved a huge amount of time but at least I know that I am running it at the right voltage. Thanks again.
 
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