Core i7 920 default vCore seems low

Son_of_Blob

Distinguished
Nov 18, 2004
30
0
18,530
I've recently upgraded to a Core i7 920 rig and have a question about the default cpu core voltage. I haven't fooled around with overclocking yet, as I'll wait till I get a better cooler, so all settings in BIOS are on auto. The default setting on most sites I have seen gives 1.2 volts. However according to both Asus Probe and CPU-Z my system (using auto setting for CPU vCore in BIOS) gives a reading of 1.05. It moves around a bit though...from 1.05 up to 1.08 or so.

Is this normal, or should I manually set the vCore to the usual 1.2 volts? Whys should my rig opt for 1.05? Could that be a sign of a bad voltage regulator on the Mobo or some such?

Thing is, I've had a couple of crashes in usually stable games and am wondering if the vCore being too low could be to blame.



Core i7 920 CO/C1 revision, stock cooler
Asus P6T mobo (non deluxe)
Kingston DDR3 3GB PC-10600/1333 CL9 Value Ram
Gigabyte N26OC-896H-B GTX260
Zalman 750 watt PSU
 

dragonsprayer

Splendid
Jan 3, 2007
3,809
0
22,780
if your system is running fine do not worry

first off cpu's require different amounts of voltage, some bios will change the cpu voltage and read its vid.

some times the reading is not accurate

yes, it could be too low - give you an example:

i have built brand new systems that the defult cpu voltage was too low to boot into windows. raising the voltage fixed the issue - this is rare but it happens - this is with no oc.

when we build systems we load windows at defult settings with boost in mem voltage or lower mem speed to assure a clean install.

you could have a rare cpu that does crash windows

also boost the memory voltage, while we ship all systems at 3.8ghz, we set the memory to 1.62v for windows install at defult cpu speed - then oc the system at the same 1.62v.

depends on the memory we use 1333 7-7-7 1.5v and run it at 1500-1600 at 8-8-8 1.62v
 
If you aren't overclocking, leave it alone. Each CPU has its Vcore set at the factory to a level that it will run fine at - the lower ones are actually the better CPUs, as they can run stock speeds with less power (making less heat in the process). Unless it crashes, it's just fine.