Is this a correct voltage for my 2600K?

Auto tends to overvolt. Most will hit 4.3Ghz with 1.2x volts when set manually. Set the offset to (-).05 volts and then stress test the CPU a little. If it passes, try .10, and so on until it passes. If (-).05 doesn't work, try (+).05v.  

Wait.. I don't know what you mean by + .05v and -.05v !! XD
What's the offset? Is it the Vcore?
And by (-).05v, do you mean 1.336 - 0.05v = 1.286v? So just change the CPU voltage to manual and 1.286 instead of AUTO?
Could you please be more clear and list steps? Thanks!   (i'm a noobie, a little)

No problem! Go into the BIOS and go to the CPU settings section. Then find the Vcore and change it to "offset" mode. Offset will open a section where you pick your setting of voltage. It can go down to a low voltage when your CPU is idling, but shoot up to a point that you set it to when it need the power. There are - and + settings. Find the -.005v first and try that. I meant to say .005 earlier. Anyway that should set you to be somewhere around 1.3v when under full load with load-line calibration on.

What else should I change besides disabling SpeedStep and enabling Load-line calibration?

And... is "CPU Voltage" the same as Vcore?

You can potentially disable various C-states to enhance stability. If it just says "CPU Voltage" then that is the same as Vcore.

There are multiple things. Here is a pretty good guide: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274821-29-sandy-bridg...

Vcore is CPU voltage.

Okay, well back to the offset thing.

I checked my settings in the bios and Vcore (CPU voltage) is at 1.288v offset mode.
Under it, there's a + sign set. Should I change this to - ? And offset voltage to 0.005 instead of Auto?

Here's the pic:
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt344/Yozer245/photo...

Anyway, Can't I just set the CPU Voltage to manual mode and maybe start off with 1.288 (manually).. instead of all this offsets?

Which motherboard do you have? My ASRock board seems to give me a lot more luck with offset voltage as well. If you have a halfway decent 2600K, you should be able to do 4.3-4.4 around stock

That would be a beyond golden chip, a halfway decent one might make it to 4.0.

I run mine at 4.3 with everything set to stock/auto. I must have gotten lucky lol.

Yes, just change it to -.005 and that should put you under 1.3v the further - you go. The further = you go should put you above 1.3v. That is how my 2500k works.   I would start in the - and go from there. Your overclock is pretty minor so I think you could do it below 1.3v. Good luck!  

No, it's fairly common with SB actually. Mine will do 4.4 stable with 0.005v under stock

My 24/7 Stable Clock is 4.5ghz @ 1.275 (i dont use offset)

Most chips will be 1.25 to 1.35 vcore @ 4.5ghz


and Energy96 run Prime95 and use CPUz to check ur vcore. if ur using AUTO then its very possible that its pumping closer to 1.5 volts

So you only changed the multiplier to 44 while leaving vcore on offset mode and -0.005? When I only change the multiplier to 43 with auto (aka offset) vcore, it says 1.288v in the bios and 1.336 in CPU-Z.
Could you please list the steps you did that got you to a stable 4.4ghz 0.005v under "stock" ? And what is that stock voltage value? Thanks!

Offset is not auto! Just because his can do that doesn't mean yours can hit it like that. Mine can 4.5Ghz and it's hard for it to go further, where his can hit 4.4Ghz easily! Yours may have a harder time hitting the clock you want, you cannot just cookbook an overclock if you know what I am saying.

I understand.. I really want to know what MANUAL voltage to start overclocking with. I'm aiming at 4.4 - 4.5 max for that starting voltage. Could you please give me a start?

They are all different, but I would try 1.28v first and move from there. It will most likely take about 1.3v +/- .023v.

Yeah auto isn't offset. If you want to try my way, just start on offset -0.005 and go up from there if needed to become stable. +0.005, +0.010 etc

I checked again just to be certain that I read it right months ago and the highest v-core went running prime under auto setting was 1.3v which is still plenty low. I could prob manually try to get it lower but 1.3v should not harm the chip at all and I have never had a blue-screen.

Hah! Mine has wen higher using auto! Much higher... Like around 1.4v.

I'm sure it has a lot to do with what motherboard you have and how it's BIOS is programmed.

I also have my RAM running at 1800mhz through its XMP profile as well. All in all that's not too bad of an overclock IMO for basically doing nothing more than setting the multiplyer to 43.

Yeah, it isn't bad, just I think you could do better with offset or manual. I don't like manual/fixed because when the CPU idles it doesn't go down with it.

I wouldn't mind setting it better using offset, etc but I admit I am lazy when it comes to OC'ing and really haven't had a real need to improve it. I don't know what to set and where to set it so it would probably take a lot of reading for me to get right. I'm sure if I were going to push the OC higher I would need to figure this out but the processor is already faster even at stock than even necessary from what I see from my usage.

OKay so I've run a 10-hour stress test with offset -0.005 and it was perfectly stable. Should I change it now or leave it at -0.005?

By 0.005v understock, is that Offset -0.005?

That is under 1.3v for me, and 1.2v is stock. So I don't think it's under stock yet, but I am not an expert. I would try for -.010 and so forth.  

Stable 4.5ghz for me is 1.31V on the 2600k!

I would like to manually overclock for 4.4ghz.. but I have no idea on what manual Vcore I should enter in. Can you give me an idea? What is the absolute stock Vcore for the 2600K so I could maybe start at?



So If I choose to go with offset, should I decrease by 0.005v until instability? so -0.010, then -0.015 , -0.020 offset voltage ??

Stock for Sandy Bridge chips is 1.2v, but most run @ stock speeds when running below 1.2v.

Yes, if you go with offset go -.010, -.015, -.20, and so forth until it is not stable. Remember, you probably won't get much better than what are you are now because you are running -.005 with a pretty decent overclock.

I personally would NOT go with a fixed voltage as it does not go down when the CPU is idling. That means when the CPU is running 1.6Ghz you might be putting 1.3v through the CPU when that is unneeded.  

One more thing.. when idle, cpu-z shows 1.312v on 4.4GHz.. but when I stress test on prime 95 on 100% load, it jumps down to 1.232v.. any ideas/concerns???

I'm not sure about the 1.6GHz.. How could you get that? By enabling speedstep? (I've disabled speedstep)

You must be running a manual/fixed voltage. That means that it will run whatever voltage is set. (1.312v) When the load comes, Load-Line Callibrations comes in and set the voltage down.

Like I said, when idling, you don't want that much voltage. Use offset and not manual/fixed.

Yes, 1.6Ghz is with ISS on. I would strongly suggest putting it on as with new Intel chips it does not hinder overclocking ad will save you money on your power bill while giving your chip a longer life which is always nice.  

But I'm sure I have it on offset..

Enable SpeedStep and then tell me if it still happens.

By the way, if your CPU runs 4.4Ghz with 1.232v, that's really good!  

Under full load for a few minutes... I don't know if it can stand it for 12 hours.

When you enabled speedstep, what happened? Did the voltage go down? It should go down to about .9-1v and the frequency should be 1600Mhz.

I run with Speedstep on and my voltage set manually and it appears that the voltage will max out at my specified setting, and then back down when it's not at 100% load.
This sounds like the equivalent to using offset voltage.
Are there any advantages to using speedstep AND offset voltage?

With my CPU (and many others) manual will keep it at the voltage even when it is idling. Yours is the only one I have heard of that doesn't do that.

I'll try it soon and get back to you.. I'm really busy.

Why mess with Vcore and offset voltage? A Vcore of 1.33v is completely fine... no need to over complicate it. LLC of 5 will under-volt while LLC of 1 will over-volt...

my LLC is completely default

A default LLC should be at 5.

1.33v for 4.4Ghz is a bit high. I would suggest putting it lower. Around 1.28v probably. Also, I believe Load-Line 1 will not do anything to the voltage and the higher the level the more it lowers it.

1.33 should be a stable 4.5ghz oc.

Using manual, I overclocked to 4.5GHZ at 1.330v (not sure if that's the best i could do). I have LLC at 50% and speedstep disabled.. When I opened CPU-Z, it show that my Vcore is at 1.312V (on full load, it's 1.280v) ... is this normal?
btw, what is you LLC at?

So what should I do next, maybe lower the manual voltage a bit more?