i7 [email protected] needs 1.25V, is this a silicon lottery?
i7 [email protected] needs 1.25V, is this a silicon lottery?
I've been trying to overclock my CPU for a few days now, but I haven't managed to reach a stable setting below 1.25v at 4.2Ghz. Windows won’t even start below this voltage. Could it be that the silicon didn’t work out this time, or is there another reason? My PC is nearly four years old, with everything else still functional—RAM, SSD, and cooler.
Here are my specifications:
i7 4770k
Hyper Cooler 212 Evo
2x8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600Mhz
GTX 770 Gigabyte Windforce 4GB
Maximus VII Ranger Motherboard
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
2x 2TB Seagate Barracuda
750W Asaka Venom PSU
I’ve disabled all power-saving options in the BIOS and raised the Initial Voltage to 1.9V. Stress tests show peak temperatures around 80°C and idle temps near 40°C.
Can you increase the voltage to 1.25V? It’s acceptable below 1.3V, though 1.25V is quite high for moderate output levels. The key is balancing the upper end of OCing with the base settings—focus on how far you can push clocks at that level.
What are your default voltages when everything is set to standard? Each board reacts slightly differently.
Generally, a typical range is about 1.12 to 1.15V. If your boards start higher (like 1.15V or above), you’ll likely need to raise the OC voltage accordingly.
After that adjustment, check what clock speeds you can achieve at 1.25V. You have some room, but it’s not excessive. It might be possible to reach around 4.4–4.5GHz at that voltage, which would still provide a solid performance on a 4770K.
Can you increase the voltage to 1.25V?
Below 1.3V works well, though 1.25V is still quite high for moderate output. The key is balancing the upper end of OCing with the base settings—focus on how far you can push clocks at that level.
What are your default voltages when everything is set to normal?
Each board reacts differently.
Generally, you’d aim around 1.12–1.15V.
If your boards start higher (like 1.15V or above), you’ll probably need to raise the OC voltage accordingly.
Check what clock speeds you can achieve at 1.25V—there’s some room, but it shouldn’t be excessive.
You might even reach around 4.4–4.5GHz at that voltage, which would be a solid performance on a 4770K.
The i7-4770k needs 1.29 volts at 4.3Ghz, it works a bit better at 4.5Ghz but only with 1.35 volts which causes very high temperatures. I remember those were typical chips. The worst ones couldn't handle 4.0Ghz at any voltage. Good ones could reach 4.5Ghz around 1.28-1.3 volts. Devil's Canyon (i7-4790k) usually runs about 300Mhz compared to the i7-4770k at the same voltage.
Thank you for the updates. I couldn't start Windows at those speeds, needing to go up to 1.29v to complete a 20-minute stress test on Intel's XTU program, with temperatures reaching 88°C. At normal settings, 3.5Ghz shows core voltage at 1.040v, cache at 1.200v, and initial voltage at 1.856v. When Turbo Boost is enabled and auto mode stays on, the core voltage remains at 1.200v. Also, my 4.2Ghz @ 1.25v experienced a BSOD after 15 minutes in CS:GO, which raises concerns about stability now.