High CPU Core Voltage By default?I've just finished installing a H

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

Hello,
I have just finished installing a Hyper 212X Heatsink, was thinking of overclocking my i5 4670k a bit motherboard i have is ASUS Z97-A,

In CPU-Z i'm seeing my Core Voltage at stock Clocks is a bit high(?)
https://gyazo.com/2e2a2971316a6f9bf511fa5738670c51

Should i try to push the CPU speed further without making any changes in the Voltage?

Also, some overclocking tips or a guide to OC the 4670k haswell will be much apprecieted.

Eliasand · Jan 20, 2016

That voltage is normal.
That chip has a base speed of 3.4ghz, and turbo boosts to 3.8. As you can see, the speed on the screenshot is at 3.8ghz, and that means that the CPU was boosting at the time. The voltage for Turbo boost is usually around 1.25v, so 1.211 is completely fine.

The cooler is sufficient and the chip is easy to overclock. But make sure to frequently check your temps if you overclock it. A stability test is also strongly recommended.

A tutorial for OC'ing Haswell's http://www.overclockers.com/3step-guide-to-overclock-intel-haswell/

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

Ok,
Since i already have this much voltage by default, should i just go ahead pump up the core clock directly to 4.0 ghz and check with prime 95 for about a hour ?

Arronleeds · Jan 20, 2016

Tek-Buzz :

4ghz should easily run at 1.21v, infact i know it will.

my 4690k runs at 4.6ghz at 1.23v, 4670k is a bit older but i reckon you could get 4.2-4.3ghz at that voltage.

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

If you're using any Motherboard's automatic configurations, the voltage is most likely higher than it actually needs to be. However, 1.25v isn't a dangerous level. Most users don't want to go above 1.3V. I am currently running an I5-4690k @ 4.6Ghz with 1.25V on the Vcore.

If you're still a beginner, I'll make you a simple overclocking guide that won't be too complicated and should allow you to find your CPU's true limit.

Note that this isn't the most in-depth guide and you might want to read more about it on your own.

1. In your Bios, go to AI tweaker and find the Ai Overclock tuner. Set it to manual
2. Then, find CPU core ratio and set it to ''sync all cores''
3. Below that last field, you should find all cores multiplier. This is the key for the Turbo overclock. They multiply your base clock frequency (Often 100). If you're running Stock, you should see them all at 38, which is your current turbo clock. If BCLK isn't at 100, set it to 100 manually.

You can modify these to get higher performances when it counts.

Not quite done yet, but almost.

4. Below that, you should find a field called : CPU CORE VOLTAGE. This is important, because you will be modifying the speed of your processor. Set it to manual and change the value to : 1.225, which is what I start with and then work my way to the best settings.

Now, start by changing the value of your first core (3rd point) to 40. This means a clock speed of 4.0Ghz. Save the parameters and restart the computer. The system will go in POST (Power-On Self-Test) and if everything is fine, you'll get a normal start-up. If it boots for 2-3 seconds before shutting down, simply turn off the system and power it back on, Asus automatic recovery feature will bring the system back to the last working parameters.

Even if you get a normal start-up, I recommend that you use HWmonitor64 and Prime95 to verify the system's temperature and stability. Once you've done it once and it worked, you can go back and try pushing it further.

Overclocking is the art of pushing a computer past its limit and then optimizing it

Hope it helped,
-Sky

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

SkyMembrane :

If you're using any Motherboard's automatic configurations, the voltage is most likely higher than it actually needs to be. However, 1.25v isn't a dangerous level. Most users don't want to go above 1.3V. I am currently running an I5-4690k @ 4.6Ghz with 1.25V on the Vcore.

If you're still a beginner, I'll make you a simple overclocking guide that won't be too complicated and should allow you to find your true CPU's limit.

Note that this isn't the most in-depth guide and you might want to read more about it on your own.

1. In your Bios, go to AI tweaker and find the Ai Overclock tuner. Set it to manual
2. Then, find CPU core ratio and set it to ''sync all cores''
3. Below that last field, you should find all cores multiplier. This is the key for the Turbo overclock. They multiply your base clock frequency (Often 100). If you're running Stock, you should see them all at 38, which is your current turbo clock. If BCLK isn't at 100, set it to 100 manually.

You can modify these to get higher performances when it counts.

Not quite done yet, but almost.

4. Below that, you should find a field called : CPU CORE VOLTAGE. This is important, because you will be modifying the speed of your processor. Set it to manual and change the value to : 1.225, which is what I start with and then work my way to the best settings.

Now, start by changing the value of your first core (3rd point) to 40. This means a clock speed of 4.0Ghz. Save the parameters and restart the computer. The system will go in POST (Power-On Self-Test) and if everything is fine, you'll get a normal start-up. If it boots for 2-3 seconds before shutting down, simply turn off the system and power it back on, Asus automatic recovery feature will the system back to the last working parameters.

Even if you get a normal start-up, I recommend that you use HWmonitor64 and Prime95 to verify the system's temperature and stability. Once you've done it once and it worked, you can go back and try pushing it further.

Overclocking is the art of pushing a computer past its limit and then optimizing it

Hope it helped,
-Sky

THANKS for the detailed info, it did helped me alot.

Just a quick question:
What will the " sync all cores" do? is it there to affect all the cores with the overclocking?

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

Sync all cores will make all cores have the same maximum turbo frequency. For certain users and certain situations, it is possible to have certain cores run faster than others. In most cases, it is more beneficial to have all cores at the same speed.

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

OK, so i just went to bios and saw my CPU core Voltage is 1.072v and to auto, does that means it is not at 1.21 as shown in CPU z?

- I had an XMP profile by default, do you suggest me to put it at manual?
- There were 2 Sections of Voltages, 1 is Core Voltage which was at 1.072v and set to auto. Other was Cache Voltage which was at 1.207v, what is " cache voltage" ? I'm guessing i have to mess with the core voltage only and leave cache voltage alone?

If yes, what if i put Core voltage past the cache voltage, is it normal have core voltage higher than cache voltage as by default the cache voltage is higher than core voltage.

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

XMP means ''Extreme memory profile'', which is what your Motherboard considers optimal settings. However, these aren't really the best and you should set it to manual if you want to set everything up as well as it can be.

The core Voltage you saw is probably the normal clock Vcore, but once you'll get on windows, it'll be running on 1.21V for it's Turbo clock. I doubt the Turbo clock rate is ever needed in the Bios. You also got it right, leave the Cache voltage on Auto, since this requires much more fine tuning and is more prone to cause issues. If you have the Cache Voltage on Auto, it will adapt to your new settings and you will be fine. Mine is on auto with my I5-4690k @ 4.6Ghz and it barely moved from when it was at 4.3Ghz, and I also am on an Asus Mobo.

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

I just set the CPU core to 42 and manual voltage to 1.200 after that it froze, also i saw a thick white green line at the top in the bios when it was frozen, what could be wrong?

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

Your voltage was probably too low. Try bumping it to 1.25 with 42.

All CPUs are different, because you can't exactly control how perfect everything is at 22nm small, refered to as the Silicon lottery.

Simplified explanation : Intel certifies that your processor can run @ 3.4GHZ/3.8Ghz turbo. They know most of them could go higher, but because they can't be sure for all of them, they do the initial test and the ones that show the most promises are selected to be ''k'' (or unlocked) processors. But even through that selection process, sometimes you might get one that won't go past 3.9Ghz.

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

I did nothing, just played with the core clock, it was set to 'Auto' than 38 in my motherboard, changed it to 42 for all cores and set manual temp to 1.225v

There is also the Max CPU cache Ratio, i've seen a guy setting it same as the core ratio, in my case i set it from auto to 42, that's all i did.

Going to check with 42x and see if it freezes or not. BTW 10 mins of prime95 test and temperature rarely goes 80c, stays at 70c and below most of the time.

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

Tek-Buzz :

For temperature in Prime95, do Small FFTs. Blend is for system stability. I personally stopped at 4.6Ghz because it reached 71 degrees celcius at most with Small FFTs and ran stable. Assuming the 4670k is similar to the 4690k, Intel recommends that you don't run over 72.02 degrees Celcius.

What Prime95 will show is the closest to the max temperature your CPU will ever reach, EVER. While small FFTs can push my CPU to 70-71, It doesn't go over 47 degrees celcius when playing games like GTA V or The Witcher 3.

The stability test is more important, but try to keep the ''highest temperature reached'' under 75, even in Prime.

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

And as I said, all CPUs are different when it comes to overclocking, so you should start at 4.0Ghz and 1.225V. If it works, bump it to 4.1Ghz and same Voltage. If it works, keep going. When it stops working, possibly at 4.2, raise the voltage to 1.23 and from there increase by .01 every time if it keeps failing, until you reach 1.3, which is where I would set the limit. You can set the Cache voltage to offset, but I honestly found it to be more trouble than solution.

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

The 4.0 at 1.225v is working fine, even bumping the voltage to 1.275 the 4.2 didn't work.

Ran small FFT than blend test in Prime 95 this time, only core 1' temp is going beyond 80c, rest cores are below 75c.

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

Tek-Buzz :

What about 4.1? From 3.4Ghz to 4.1, it's already over a 20% overclock, which would be great. Even 4.0Ghz is over 15% overclock, so nothing to be shy about.

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

Tried the 4.1 too, it booted up to windows, but didn't hold the test a second and crashed.

4.0 is still good, and i only play games in this PC, so all good, i just saw in witcher 3 the performance is still the same as 3.4 though, no slight improvement.

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

Tek-Buzz :

Games like the Witcher 3 that are well optimized aren't very CPU bound. Before, it ran on Turbo clock @ 3.8Ghz. On most games, 200Mhz won't make that big of a difference. Now you could try reducing the Voltage until you find the lowest point possible.

Lower voltage = less heat = higher lifespan.

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

How much i aim at lowering the temp? in witcher 3 CPU temp is not going above 45c though.

SkyMembrane · Jan 20, 2016

Tek-Buzz :

That's up to you. Right now your temperatures are alright, so I you would probably be fine. I'm just saying that reducing the voltage to the lowest stable point is a good thing for your processor's lifespan. If you don't feel like it, then you're good to go

Glad I could help you!
-Sky

Tek-Buzz · Jan 20, 2016

Yea, temps are normal, ran Aida 64 for about 45 minutes, temps never went above 60c, i think i'm gonna leave it all at that.
Thanks!

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