WHEA errors with IBT and prime95...help?

[pieguyx1000]

OK, This is my first post in these forums. I made a account specifically because I have a few questions about my overclock. I built my first computer about three weeks ago. My parts are:

Motherboard-Asus P8Z77-V
Processor-i5-3570K
CPU Cooler-Corsair H60 v2
GPU-EVGA GTX 660 FTW Signature 2
Case-Corsair 300r Windowed Edition
PSU-SeaSonic S12II 620
Ram-G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866mhz
Optical Drive-Asus Blu-ray Burner(BW12B1ST)
Harddrive-Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM
Os-Windows 8 64-bit

I don't know if this matters but in my case I have what I believe to be a positive pressure fan set up. In my case I have two 140mm fans sucking in air from the front, one in in the rear top sucking in air and the H60 with it's stock fan exhausting air. I have filters on the fans sucking in air. I did this mostly to prevent dust build up.

Ok, now to my real questions. I have my i5-3570K running stable at 4.5Ghz with a voltage of 1.26v. I am really new to overclocking so I haven't really messed around with offsets. I also think with some more testing I may be able to get the voltage lower. Maybe. I have had it pass a prime95 blend test for 24 hours with no crashes or WHEA errors. The temps max out at about 86 degrees for my hottest core. The desktop is in a relatively enclosed wardrobe-type-thing that is slightly closed during the majority of my testing. When I have the doors open it's more like 68 to 78 degrees. My problem really only occurs when I get prime95 running a blend test and the I start Intel Burn Test at maximum stress level and run them both at the same time. During this I get one to two WHEA errors. The tests themselves pass and show no errors at all. I know that this is way, way overkill but shouldn't a good overclock be 100% stable? As I said before I'm new to overclocking and this is my first custom built system. Just to rule anything out, I ran prime95 for about 30 minutes, and then I started IBT at max with stock voltages(about 1.104-1.112), and 'normal' 1600mhz ram. It passed with no WHEA errors. Am I overthinking or overstressing my CPU?

A few other questions I have are: is my voltage for my i5-3570K at 4.5Ghz ok sounding? I may be able to get it lower for a 24 hour prime95 session with no WHEA errors. Are my temps Ok? Also this is a little off topic but does anyone know if my 620 watt max PSU will be able to handle GTX 660 SLI? It may be awhile until this happens because it's hard for a 15 year old to save $230. I am thinking about it though. Should be awesome if it does handle it...

I know this was a long post. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. If I'm posting this in the wrong area, or am doing anything wrong, please tell me.

 

[Bromeh]

For your fan setup, keep your front fans at intake but reverse your top fan for exhaust. Hot air rise so if you put it as exhaust, hot air is going out. I always like to keep a mid-pressure airflow. 50/50 and you have no problems.

The voltage seems good but try to lower it until you get BSOD or freeze.

And the cpu temperature seems quite high. Try to put your fan as exhaust and tru it again. I don't thing you will go over 4.5GHz with an Ivy Bridge because of the temps. Keep everything under 80 for safety.

Noone do Prime95 and Intel Burn at the same time, even Prime95 is overkill compared to a normal day usage. Pretty much any overclocked computer would crash with both of the programs running at once.

Finally, that power can run 2x 660 for sure. It could even run 2x 660Ti but it would be very tight.


- The Brownie

 

[Alabalcho]

@PieGuyX1000,

Apart from showing it off to your pals ("See, I am doing 5GHz), what's the reason to push this rig so hard? You will get 2-5% probably, and 2-3fps more, but at what cost?

 

[pieguyx1000]

@Bromeh Ok, wow, fast replies, thanks. I checked with a piece of tissue paper and the top fan is actually exhausting, I guess I got it mixed up. My mistake.

@Alabalcho I don't know. I guess I'm really just doing this to learn... I do game and I know I'm probably maxing my gpu way before I even get near my cpu's max. I do have speedstep on so it's not at a constant 4.5Ghz. I also guess that I'm trying to squeeze every drop of performance out of my cpu. Just wondering, when you said at what cost, what did you mean? The cpu's lifespan? power? just wondering...

 

[Bromeh]

@Bromeh Ok, wow, fast replies, thanks. I checked with a piece of tissue paper and the top fan is actually exhausting, I guess I got it mixed up. My mistake.

@Alabalcho I don't know. I guess I'm really just doing this to learn... I do game and I know I'm probably maxing my gpu way before I even get near my cpu's max. I do have speedstep on so it's not at a constant 4.5Ghz. I also guess that I'm trying to squeeze every drop of performance out of my cpu. Just wondering, when you said at what cost, what did you mean? The cpu's lifespan? power? just wondering...

Cpu lifespan of course. Every bit of voltage you add reduce it's life. It can be a year or a week less. It depends on the temps you get and the voltage you put in. Also depends on your chip. I was like you before i started having A LOT of bluescreens at 4GHz with my 3770k. To use it at 4ghz, i had to use 1.3v.


- The Brownie

 

[pieguyx1000]

Oh, and I forgot to ask, are WHEA errors a sign of an unstable overclock? Do they really matter? Do you guys pay attention to them? Because apart from them my cpu isn't showing any other problems(maybe high temps?). I could probably lower the voltage if it wasn't for this. Also, this may be asking too much, but someone with a good, stable overclock rune prime95 and IBT at max stress to see if they get any WHEA errors? The thing that bothers me is that at all stock I'm able to do this with no WHEA errors at all. Also this is mostly a learning experience for me, so this is probably going way, way more in depth than it needs to for me, or really anyone.
Thanks for all the help and quick replies.

 

[Bromeh]

What is exactly a WEAH ? Is it a blue screen or ? What kind of error message does it give ?


- The Brownie

 

[pieguyx1000]

@Bromeh Wow. I've read a bit and 1.3v seems like a lot for 4Ghz with Ivy bridge. I'm at 1.26v for 4.5Ghz. What are you at right now? Do you think I'm lowering the lifespan of my chip at this point? Should I lower the clock and voltage? I may do an offset voltage if I can figure out how it works. Everything I've read about it is very confusing... stuff like (actual voltage)-VID=offset. Other sources tell me it's VID-(actual voltage)=offset. I'm not sure at this point...

 

[pieguyx1000]

@Bromeh Wow. I've read a bit and 1.3v seems like a lot for 4Ghz with Ivy bridge. I'm at 1.26v for 4.5Ghz. What are you at right now? Do you think I'm lowering the lifespan of my chip at this point? Should I lower the clock and voltage? I may do an offset voltage if I can figure out how it works. Everything I've read about it is very confusing... stuff like (actual voltage)-VID=offset. Other sources tell me it's VID-(actual voltage)=offset. I'm not sure at this point...

 

[pieguyx1000]

@Bromeh A 'WHEA' error, from what I've read, is basically an error that your hardware/os catches and fixes. I think it is basically any error that doesn't crash your system. To see them you go to event viewer, then windows logs, and then system. Other than that I don't know very much more.

 

[Bromeh]

Just got back from my bluescreen sorry if it was long.

Now i'm running my 3770k at 3.5Ghz with 1.1v

I did the little test (both programs at once) at 4.5GHz with 1.3v and everything went fine, no problems.

But then, i tried to open a program and boom, bluscreen.

If you want to keep your i5 overclocked all the time, get it FKN stable unless you want your games to crash and all that kind of stuff and 2- get a safe voltage. The max voltage to use is 1.5 but don't go over 1.4 for safety. Anyway, even the 3570k isn't bottlenecking any systems at the moment so keep it normal until the graphics card become way stronger.


- The Brownie

 

[pieguyx1000]

I have not gotten any crashes at all. Right now I'm testing with a new program (OCCT) and I don't have any WHEA errors. I don't get them on 24 hour prime95 runs. Should I worry if I only get them with both prime95 and IBT at max? I don't get any if I run prime95 and IBT at standard.

 

[Bromeh]

I have not gotten any crashes at all. Right now I'm testing with a new program (OCCT) and I don't have any WHEA errors. I don't get them on 24 hour prime95 runs. Should I worry if I only get them with both prime95 and IBT at max? I don't get any if I run prime95 and IBT at standard.

If you want a 100% stable overclock, yeah you should worry about them. If you don't care having 98% stable overclock, don't worry about them.

If you get an error with OCCT, it's not 100$ stable. 30 mins of occt is good.


- The Brownie

 

[pieguyx1000]

I've done 1 hour and 30 minutes of OCCT. Going pretty good so far. No WHEA errors. I'll do another prime95 blend test for 24 hours. If I don't get anymore WHEA errors I'll try to lower the voltage, and if that doesn't work out I'll just stick with 4.5Ghz at 1.26v. Thanks for all your help. I'll post back results in one to two days.

 

[pieguyx1000]

I guess I wasn't stable 1.26v. I was getting WHEA errors at about 9 hours, ad to stop them I needed to go to 1.275v. Now I can run IBT at max and prime95 at the same time with no errors. Thanks for all the help. One more question though, could I get any more opinions on whether my 620 watts max psu can handle two gtx 660's in sli? It says SLI ready, and it has 2 12v rails with 24a. I know this is cutting it close, but I would like know if I could do it.
Thanks

 

[pieguyx1000]

guess I wasn't stable 1.26v. I was getting WHEA errors at about 9 hours, ad to stop them I needed to go to 1.275v. Now I can run IBT at max and prime95 at the same time with no errors. Thanks for all the help.