Are you safe to use a cold compress in these conditions?
Are you safe to use a cold compress in these conditions?
I was curious about the safety of overclocking my system given the temperatures I’m seeing while idle and during games. What temperature rise can we expect with these current levels? That peak temperature usually reaches around 1 to 2 hours of gaming. How reliable are CAM’s readings in this situation? Thanks for your help!
I'm using 1.39 volts to hit 5.0Ghz on a 7700k, but 1.4 is typically the safe limit for daily use. 1.35 volts is more sensible for air cooling. The VDC isn't the main voltage—check CPU-Z to see the actual reading (my VDC often needs 1.5+ volts).
The voltage level is elevated at 4.2Ghz. If higher voltage is achievable under the same conditions, it might be possible, but ideally it would be better to reduce it. A voltage of 1.35V seems suitable for continuous operation. At this level, performance should reach approximately 4.4 to 4.5Ghz.
Great question. It's not necessarily a problem having the voltage without overclocking, but you should still consider whether it's safe for your setup. Since you won't be keeping it running continuously, the impact might be less than if it were always on.
I'm using 1.39 volts to hit 5.0Ghz on a 7700k, but 1.4 is typically the safe limit for daily use. 1.35 volts is more sensible for air cooling. The VDC isn't the main voltage—check CPU-Z to see the actual reading (my VDC often needs 1.5+ volts).
Consensus reached on voltage levels being excessive for a 4.2GHZ overclock. Temperatures remain satisfactory. Generally, I strive for under 70°C, though below 85°C is acceptable in theory. It seems you might have missed the silicon opportunity and require that higher voltage, but I believe with some adjustments you can bring it down to 1.2-1.25V at that frequency. As noted earlier, maintaining 1.35V or lower will keep you suitable for continuous overclocking. For reference, I successfully ran an i7 6700K up to 4.4GHZ at 1.225V, 4.5GHZ at 1.285V, and 4.6GHZ at 1.35V. I chose 4.4GHZ for its compact case and adequate airflow with an Arctic 240 AIO cooler. During a 4.4GHZ OC paired with a GTX 1070 running at 1893MHz on Intel burn test, and simultaneously under FireStrike Ultra stress, temperatures stayed around 75°C. At the maximum load, both reached 85°C, which exceeded my comfort threshold, even in the worst-case scenario. During Intel burn test alone, the CPU peaked at 68°C at 4.4GHZ and 75°C at 4.5GHZ.
It's the sole choice if you're truly committed to pushing performance limits.
JamesHarps asks if using the BIOS to adjust the voltage is the safest method. He mentions he's on an ASUS motherboard and is considering overclocking.
Alternatively, you might find these useful:
- Overclock.net's Skylake guide with statistics
- Tweaktown's Intel Skylake overclocking manual
Both cover key BIOS details and terminology, which was really helpful for my first Skylake overclock attempt on a Gigabye board, mostly using ASUS boards.