Could you confirm if you'd like me to check the safety of this OC for regular use?
Could you confirm if you'd like me to check the safety of this OC for regular use?
Hey everyone, just finished assembling my first PC two days ago and have been spending a lot of time on these forums. I have a few questions about overclocking my CPU, but since I'm still getting familiar with the PC side, I don’t know where to find reliable information beyond what’s here. Let's begin with my setup.
CPU: i7 8700k
RAM: Corsair LPX (2400) 16 GB
GPU: GTX 1060 6GB SSC
Cooler: Noctua DH-15 (recommended by several forum users for good air cooling)
Mobo: ASUS ROG STRIX Z370 E GAMING
SSD: Samung 360 EVO 500GB
HDD: Seagate Berracuda 1 TB (for storage)
I’m using the ASUS OC auto config, which suggests a top speed of 4.77 Ghz at 1.26 V. The CPU core temperatures stay around 60-64°C, with a peak of about 71°C during gaming on one core. Are these temperatures and voltages safe for regular use? Any tips on tweaking things or situations to monitor? I mainly play games and use Revit for drafting. My CPU usually stays at 37°C when idle.
I’m not aiming for 5 GHz or trying to push the limits, so is this overclocking even necessary? Could you advise if it’s safe to run this setup continuously or should I only overclock during certain tasks?
71C while gaming puts a lot of strain on the CPU because most games rely heavily on the GPU, and the CPU stays around 40-70% usage. It's uncommon to see such high temperatures. Plus, your GPU isn't strong enough to make better use of the CPU power.
I recommend lowering the CPU frequency as much as possible and aiming for around 4.5 or 4.2 Ghz, especially if you won’t be doing tasks that require heavy CPU processing like rendering.
(High CPU speeds are useless if your GPU can't take advantage of them and improve FPS)
Could adjust the fan settings to a more aggressive profile and check the results. The room temperature with the PC is around 37C, which feels a bit too high for that cooler during idle. I’d like to see it reach about 60C when gaming is active but prefer staying conservative at 60C under load. The 1.26v target seems fair. My current speed is 4.7 and it runs slower or gets unstable; make sure speedstep is enabled so the CPU can downclock when idle. A balanced power plan in Windows would help too.
71C while gaming puts a lot of strain on the CPU because most games rely on the GPU, and the CPU stays around 40-70% usage. It's uncommon to see such high temperatures. Your GPU isn't powerful enough to make better use of the CPU and improve FPS. I recommend lowering it to about 4.5 or 4.2 GHz, especially if you won’t be doing CPU-heavy tasks like rendering. Those high CPU speeds are useless if your GPU can’t handle them and boost performance.
Might adjust the fan settings more aggressively in bios and observe the results. What’s the current room temperature with the pc running? 37C might be a bit too high for the cooler when idle. I’d like to see it reach around 60C during gaming but stay conservative otherwise. 1.26v for that setting seems fair. My 4.7 model runs at 1.25v or gets sluggish, so keep speedstep enabled so the cpu can downclone when not under load. A balanced power plan in Windows would be ideal. The room temperature is between 21-22 C. Should I install the second fan on that cooler? It mentioned it was optional, but I think it’s worth adding anyway.
Swessel87 shared insights on optimizing performance. While gaming demands a lot from the CPU, current usage stays low, making temperatures unusually high. The GPU lacks sufficient power to boost CPU usage further. It’s recommended to underclock and aim for around 4.5 or 4.2 GHz, especially if you won’t be handling CPU-heavy tasks like rendering. High CPU speeds are ineffective if the GPU can’t utilize them to improve frame rates.
what's the ideal spot to check temperatures, possibly because i'm idling at lower speeds and my temp monitor isn't reliable? i usually rely on core temp and msi afterburner for accuracy. thanks!