i5 6600k is limited to a maximum of 4.2Ghz and remains stable.
i5 6600k is limited to a maximum of 4.2Ghz and remains stable.
I recently purchased a new PC with the following specifications:
Processor: Intel i5 6600k
Motherboard: Asus Z170 pro gaming
Cooler: Noctura U14S
RAM: Corsair 16GB DDR 4 3000mhz
Graphics: GTX 1070 (Gigabyte gaming pro)
Storage: 250GB Hyper X Fury SSD and 2Gb Seagate HDD
Power: Coolermaster 650w bronze
Operating system: Windows 10, with all drives configured.
However, I’m now facing some frustrating overclocking results.
The default voltage for the i5 was quite high at first—1.295—without any changes; I adjusted it to 1.32 and aimed for a 4.5Ghz clock.
After a few minutes, blue screens appeared, prompting me to test 4.4 and 4.3 clocks. These offered better stability but both failed in Prime95 after about five minutes, which was quite disappointing.
Running at a 4.2Ghz clock, I managed to run Prime95 for roughly two hours without issues; the maximum temperature stayed around 69°C, which seems acceptable. The voltage remains at 1.32.
Am I making a mistake here, or is this just an unfortunate outcome? I’m unsure if the cooler is limiting performance or if there’s another issue. Should I try increasing the voltage, or are there other adjustments I should consider? There aren’t many reports of people encountering problems with a 4.5Ghz clock, so any advice would be appreciated!
Verify your load line calibration. Just as with my CPU, it's possible yours might require more voltage than usual, especially at stock clocks where you could easily undervolt, or perhaps your voltage ceiling is around 4.2 GHz with higher clocks needing only slight increases. You could have missed the silicon lottery, but start by checking voltage changes with HWMonitor.
check if a bios update is beneficial, also I've heard that maintaining the CPU base clock as the default works best, using just the CPU multiplier.
*quick edit*
possibly adjust the core voltage to its maximum of 1.35.
Verify your load line calibration. Just as with my CPU, it's possible yours might require more voltage than usual, especially at stock clocks where you could easily undervolt, or perhaps your voltage ceiling is around 4.2 GHz with only slight increases needed for higher clocks. It's also conceivable you've missed the silicon lottery, but start by checking voltage changes using HWMonitor.