Issue with I7 9700k performance not stabilizing.
Issue with I7 9700k performance not stabilizing.
Hello everyone. Recently, I upgraded most of my hardware on my PC. I now have an i7 9700K, a Scythe Ninja 4, a Gigabyte Aorus Pro board, a GTX 1080 Ti, a 750W PSU, a Samsung 1TB NVMe SSD, and 16GB of DDR4 2400MHz RAM. Everything is housed in a NZXT case with solid cable organization. I’ve installed the latest BIOS update. I’m running games at 1440p and 144Hz.
I attempted to overclock the CPU by tweaking BIOS settings based on some online guides. I disabled various options like AVX Offset, SVID offset, VT-d, and others. The default BIOS settings were also applied: CPU Core Voltage Calibration, ring ratio 100.00MHz, base clock auto, IGP ratio 30.00, and so on.
I started with a base speed of 4.8GHz at 1.26V, which worked well in Prime95 for about an hour with stable temps around 90°C on two cores. However, during gaming, I encountered blue screens until I increased the voltage to 1.30V in steps of 0.01V. Temperatures peaked at 75°C, but stability remained an issue even at 1.30V.
After that, I tried 4.9GHz starting at 1.31V. It performed fine in Prime95 for over an hour without issues, with temps near 95°C on a few cores. Still, gaming introduced blue screens again at 1.35V, with temps reaching about 78°C.
I played FIFA 20 and CS:GO initially without problems, but once I moved to Ghost Recon Breakpoint, I experienced frequent blue screens after 15–30 minutes. I also tried FIFA 20 and CS:GO, which were stable for a while, but Ghost Recon Breakpoint was problematic.
I attempted to set the uncore ratio manually to 46, but it caused some random freezing. I decided to leave it auto.
In my previous i7 7700K, stability issues were frequent when trying to reach higher speeds. For everyday use, I think 4.9GHz @ 1.36V or higher is manageable, but I’m unsure if adjusting further will help. I’d appreciate any advice or guidance you can offer. Thank you!
Probably just a silicon lottery. The 4.9 AVX isn't guaranteed on every CPU. This model is a 4.9 AVX OC, but only about 38% of CPUs support it.