A few queries about 8700k overclocking...
A few queries about 8700k overclocking...
Good morning. Kind of a multi part question here...
System Specs: i7 8700k, Maximus X Hero board, Corsair H110i aio, Asus ROG Strix 1080 ti, 32 gig Corsair Dominator Platinum 3200 DDR4, Evga 750 G3 psu, two m.2 and two 2.5 ssd's.
First (ill try n keep this brief), this is my second Hero board. My first Hero that was abt 5 weeks old suddenly died one night. I was simply doing some research on YouTube. Dead, black, nothing. Tested the entire system, all components, and it was the board. Amazon replaced the board and everything seems fine now. The first board I had clocked to 5.0ghz using Intel Extream Tuning Utility and all cores synced in bios. Never had any temp issues at 5.0. So fast forward to now and i'm very nervous to over clock again. The system is back up and running with only XMP enabled, nothing else done. Should i have not used the Intel software? Also i have ALWAYS had extremely low Vcore voltage (.7 ish max ever). Is this normal, or Ive been told I may have a "golden chip"??
So now I'm at stock settings for the processor and XMP enabled, thats it. I guess the questions are; is my Vcore normal or did that have anything to do with the previous board dying (Im thinking it was a fluke with the board to be honest), If i OC again, should I do it Bios (which i dont know how) or is the Intel ETU software ok to use, and lastly (sorry), weather overclocked or not, should cores be set to sync all in bios??
Thanks so much in advance with any help with these questions. This is my second build (first overclocked) and I want to make sure I didn't screw anything up with that first board!
The .7 vcore isn’t typical. You need to check the BIOS settings, aiming for around 4.7 GHz at 1.3V. Make sure all cores are synchronized and adjust your load line calibration to a medium level (remembering the exact setting on the Asus board is hard right now—check the manual). If the vcore drops too much, try booting into Windows. If that fails, raise the vcore by one step in BIOS and attempt again. After launching, perform a stress test for several hours. Ensure your thermal performance remains stable; avoid excessive voltage (some prefer 1.4V, others don’t like going above 1.35V). Eventually, aim for around 4.8 GHz. If the chip overheats or voltage spikes, it could indicate a problem with the silicon.
I would think anything above 4.7, mild oc, since the chip is built to target that frequency. What you're doing improves cooling and power delivery, allowing all cores to run at that frequency instead of just one core during turbo boost. This gives better control over voltage compared to MCE, preventing excessive temperature spikes. Going higher than that doesn't guarantee success. And ymmv.
the vcore could be low because it is designed to start at a lower voltage, which is common for efficiency and performance in many systems.
The .7 vcore isn’t typical, you need to adjust from the BIOS. A solid starting point is 4.7 GHz, operating at 1.3 V. Align all cores and modify your load line calibration to a medium setting (I can’t recall the exact number on the Asus board, check the manual). This should reduce the drop in vcore. Try booting into Windows if possible. If it doesn’t work, raise the vcore by one step. Once you’re running, perform a stress test for several hours. Make sure your temperatures stay stable; once they do, return to BIOS and increase the clock by 100 MHz, repeating the process. Avoid overheating—keep voltage within safe limits, some prefer 1.4V while others stick below 1.35V. Eventually, around 4.8 GHz, you’ll notice your OC reaching its limit, whether due to heat or excessive voltage. This is when the performance bottleneck becomes noticeable.