Intel 5960x paired with AsRock Extreme 4 x99 - Mild Overclocking Inquiries (up to 4.0 Mhz)
Intel 5960x paired with AsRock Extreme 4 x99 - Mild Overclocking Inquiries (up to 4.0 Mhz)
Hi Ryan and deadjon, thanks for your feedback. I plan to download HWMonitor as well for monitoring. Do you have a particular model you can use for stress testing while still displaying voltage results? I think Intel Extreme Tuning Stres Test only shows package temperature during its CPU stress test.
Ryan, I assume you meant to go to FIVR Configuration in OC Tweaker. There’s a “CPU Vcore Voltage Mode” I can switch to “Override Mode,” and just below it there’s a “Vcore Override Voltage” where I could set it to 1.150.
I’m following what you suggested, so I’ll attach a photo to confirm I’m at the right settings. As you can see, I’m quite new to this. For now (unless you advise otherwise), I left everything else at AUTO.
There’s also a DRAM Configuration in the main OC Tweaker, but I haven’t changed anything there. I’ll include the menu settings for reference.
Here are some photos for your reference:
Don't stress about the drama. It should be okay. After all, it has built-in xmp so it shouldn't cause any issues.
DDR4 is 1.25, acceptable.
DDR3 is 1.55, also fine.
Consider trying an Intel burn test. I personally use IBT, aida64, and heaven as a benchmark for games. Prime95 doesn't always work on every chip.
Hi Ryan, The intel burn test demonstrates how high the vcore reaches when under load. It might help to try running it at 4.0 and check the voltage. In the early stage of OC Tweaker, there were two options; I selected "Load 4GHz and Xmp OC setting" rather than "Load optimized CPU OC Setting." Do you know the distinction between them?
use intel burn test to track temperatures and VCore via hw monitor at http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
download the VCore and core temps package; the heat map shows which core is hottest.
the difference lies in the optimized OC not including memory XMP settings. your RAM should be running at a significantly higher frequency, like 2400 or above. the optimization will only adjust your CPU frequency. I don’t know the exact number yet.
I ran a stress test using Internet Extreme Tuning Utility (10 minutes CPU load).
Here’s what appeared on the HW monitor:
Ryan_78 :
consider using intel burn test to track temperatures and VCore.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
download the VCore and core temperature package; the package shows the hottest core.
the main difference is that the optimized OC doesn’t include XMP settings for memory.
your RAM should be running at a significantly higher frequency now—something like 2400 Hz or more. The optimized version only adjusts the CPU. I’m not sure the exact number yet.
Thank you Ryan, just for a quick reminder about the values on that HW monitor screen shot. I just want to be sure in the future if I notice anything unusual. The voltage list under Intel Core i7-5960x in the heading stays consistent, always at 1.151V during the stress test—probably the value you entered in UEFI, which you recommended to change to 4.0. The CPU VCORE range is between 0.912 and 0.952V, as shown under ASRock. Are there any other details you think I should keep track of? Thanks again, Happy 4th of July Weekend.
Honestly Arda, I think this process is being made to seem very complicated when it shouldn't be.
Manually set the ratio in your OC settings in BIOS to 40, this will multiply your core clock speed (100mhz) by 40 making your CPU run at 4.0GHz.
Don't touch your voltage, leave it as it is.
Save and Exit the BIOS and reboot, run prime95 and if you get a BSOD (Blue screen of death) reboot and go back into the bios, increase your voltage by 0.025, rinse and repeat until you can run prime95 stress tests stable for an hour.
Ideally I would run a stress test over night while you're asleep, if you get a BSOD while you're asleep it will be fine, if it reboots from the BSOD by itself it wont damage the PC as the system wont be under load any more. If you notice it has rebooted in your sleep, add another 0.025V and give it another over night stress test. You wont need to reset the clock speed to default whilst waiting for it to become night time again to test it as nothing you do on your PC will stress it anywhere near what prime95 does.
This is the ideal way of getting a perfect stable OC, if in doubt or you'd just like to achieve a stable overclock quickly, I'd say whack the voltage to 1.250 and be done with it, that's not a bad voltage so shouldn't wear your CPU too badly.
I have achieved 4.7GHz on my 4690K with a voltage of 1.250, but I reckon I won the silicone lottery in that respect.
many prefer to focus on overnight testing but honestly I mean 24 hours, which means I run it for two days. So what if it fails at the 25th hour? Or at the 24th and 2 minutes? It fails, it fails. You can't just rely on a stress test because it still applies an extremely unrealistic load. Running something more realistic—like starting to render a bit or FAH or Heaven—and if you like it, that's your original configuration.
At the moment, I was just trying to see how far the auto OC could push it. But after realizing it only adds a very slight amount of voltage, I suggested he set it to auto and check if 1.15v is sufficient. I explained this in my first post, but since he’s likely not very experienced in this area, he might not have grasped it fully.
As for the hardware monitor, as long as you didn’t fail the Very High mode of IBT or run an hour of prime Small FFT, and your core temperatures are below 80°C with stable voltage, it’s fine.
As for the voltage, try leaving it at stock at least—at least then it would consume slightly less power.