Hi, and thanks in advance for your responses.
<short version>
Is it ok to lower the voltage and clock speed in order to reduce temperatures? Will long-term health of the system be compromised?
</short version>
<long version>
<intro>
Hi, I'm on my first build and have never OC'd and did not expect such high temps with stock settings on a 4770k. I did not intend to OC at first, but wanted to keep it as an option for the future, that's why I got the K.
Out of the box the CPU rated at 3.69 ghz in Mac OS, not 3.5 (3.5 in BIOS). I made no changes to the BIOS settings, and thought nothing of it until I ran a stress test.
With Prime 95 I was at 95 degrees Celsius within five minutes.
I did not budget for anything other than the stock cooler plus case fans, so I'd like to keep it this way for a 8-10 weeks until I can get a better cooling solution (water or a Noctua 14).
</intro>
<question>
My question is, is it okay for now to just lower the voltage until temps are acceptable and performance stable? I did that tonight (1.05v, no offset, 3.0ghz) and was able to maintain 75 degrees for an hour.
Is it safe for the system to run at such low voltage? Will the CPU be damaged by being underclocked by 15%? Eventually I'll want to run this thing at 100% and then even OC it, hopefully.
Maybe I got a dud.
</question>
<build>
<rationale>
I didn't intend to over clock immediately but wanted to have the option to do so in the future to accommodate future software needs. So I got the 4770k. I don't need OC speeds at this time.
At this point, I'm looking for a way to get this thing stable until I can afford a better cooling solution, probably water, or the Noctua 14.
</rationale>
<details>
GA-Z87x-UD4H
i7-4770K
Corsair Ballistix 1600 2x8GB
SSD
Antec HCG 850 PSU (I know, rookie mistake, way more than needed, should have gone for higher efficiency)
NZXT Elite 210 Case w/2 stock exhaust fans
CM 140mm 1200rpm exhaust fan
CM 120mm 2000rpm intake fan
On the way: Kingwin 120mm intake fan
OSX Mountain Lion 8.5
</details>
<troubleshooting>
Based on my reading:
I have already removed, cleaned and re-seated the stock heatsink with AS5 with same as stock results.
I can feel the airflow in the case, but to test I opened the case and had a high powered room fan blowing at the CPU. It took longer, but I got the same high temps on Prime 95.
I'm nowhere near the confidence level to de-lid.
Changing to XMP made the problem worse (faster rise in temp and my blood pressure, mid 90s).
</troubleshooting>
<acknowledgements>
Thanks for any suggestions you have and the things I've read on this forum. When I got this thing I thought I'd be able to run it out of the box for a year or so before worrying about OC settings, but, it seems I've had to speed up my learning curve.
</acknowledgements>
</long version>
<short version>
Is it ok to lower the voltage and clock speed in order to reduce temperatures? Will long-term health of the system be compromised?
</short version>
<long version>
<intro>
Hi, I'm on my first build and have never OC'd and did not expect such high temps with stock settings on a 4770k. I did not intend to OC at first, but wanted to keep it as an option for the future, that's why I got the K.
Out of the box the CPU rated at 3.69 ghz in Mac OS, not 3.5 (3.5 in BIOS). I made no changes to the BIOS settings, and thought nothing of it until I ran a stress test.
With Prime 95 I was at 95 degrees Celsius within five minutes.
I did not budget for anything other than the stock cooler plus case fans, so I'd like to keep it this way for a 8-10 weeks until I can get a better cooling solution (water or a Noctua 14).
</intro>
<question>
My question is, is it okay for now to just lower the voltage until temps are acceptable and performance stable? I did that tonight (1.05v, no offset, 3.0ghz) and was able to maintain 75 degrees for an hour.
Is it safe for the system to run at such low voltage? Will the CPU be damaged by being underclocked by 15%? Eventually I'll want to run this thing at 100% and then even OC it, hopefully.
Maybe I got a dud.
</question>
<build>
<rationale>
I didn't intend to over clock immediately but wanted to have the option to do so in the future to accommodate future software needs. So I got the 4770k. I don't need OC speeds at this time.
At this point, I'm looking for a way to get this thing stable until I can afford a better cooling solution, probably water, or the Noctua 14.
</rationale>
<details>
GA-Z87x-UD4H
i7-4770K
Corsair Ballistix 1600 2x8GB
SSD
Antec HCG 850 PSU (I know, rookie mistake, way more than needed, should have gone for higher efficiency)
NZXT Elite 210 Case w/2 stock exhaust fans
CM 140mm 1200rpm exhaust fan
CM 120mm 2000rpm intake fan
On the way: Kingwin 120mm intake fan
OSX Mountain Lion 8.5
</details>
<troubleshooting>
Based on my reading:
I have already removed, cleaned and re-seated the stock heatsink with AS5 with same as stock results.
I can feel the airflow in the case, but to test I opened the case and had a high powered room fan blowing at the CPU. It took longer, but I got the same high temps on Prime 95.
I'm nowhere near the confidence level to de-lid.
Changing to XMP made the problem worse (faster rise in temp and my blood pressure, mid 90s).
</troubleshooting>
<acknowledgements>
Thanks for any suggestions you have and the things I've read on this forum. When I got this thing I thought I'd be able to run it out of the box for a year or so before worrying about OC settings, but, it seems I've had to speed up my learning curve.
</acknowledgements>
</long version>
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