Issues with Overclocking 9700k
Issues with Overclocking 9700k
Hey guys. Total OC newb, unfortunately. Either I've lost the silicone lottery bad, or I'm doing something really stupid.
9700k paired with an Aorus Pro Wifi board.
Mugen 5 rev B air cooler
EVGA 2070 and 16gb G.SKILL TridentZ.
On stock, my idle temps are low 30s and run Prime95 in the upper 50s.
I've finally tried to overclock, and everything makes Prime95 freeze my computer almost instantly. I've tried (with AMP on, enhanced multi-core performance off, and uncore at 4.7g. I haven't messed with LLC because every guide I've seen refers to numbers but Aorus uses Auto/Turbo/Extreme?):
5.0g, 1.32v
5.0g, 1.30v
4.8g, 1.30v
4.6g, 1.32v
Then I went back and tried, just for good measure
5.0g, 1.35v, -2 AVX offset
All of them had the exact same conclusion. I boot up HWiNFO64, Speccy, and Prime95. Run it. Temps go up to the upper 50s. I get excited. And then my computer goes totally unresponsive. I wait with bated breath, give up, and restart my PC.
Please tell me I'm doing something monumentally obvious and dumb and I just need to flip a no to a yes or something.
What BIOS version are you using? I experienced a comparable issue with that circuit board due to its old BIOS.
Adjust the cache ratio frequency to 45 and check for stability. Try 43 as well. Don't change the cache until you're confident and stable.
I made sure to update the BIOS and lowered the uncore to 43. It ran around 40c, which is a bit higher than ideal, but it started Prime 95 for 15 minutes before temperatures spiked into the 80cs and I turned it off. Overall, it's a noticeable improvement since nothing else froze for five minutes. What should I do next? Should I extend the Prime95 run despite the heat? Or should I try increasing the uncore again first?
Adjust the vcore voltage and overclock setting for each core. Aida64 serves as an effective stability check and is available via the provided download link. Execute the software for several hours to verify core stability before proceeding. Afterward, fine-tune the uncore settings. It's advisable to maintain vcore below 1.35 volts, which aligns with recommendations for air cooling. The lower the vcore value, the better the temperature performance will be.
For instance, some videos demonstrate setting the uncore to 45 (cache min/max) and core frequency at 5GHz, followed by stability testing typically lasting around eight hours.
Coffee Lake Refresh
SSE Frequency
AVX2 Frequency
Vcore
Capable
9700K
4.90GHz
4.70GHz
1.337V
100%
9700K
5.00GHz
4.80GHz
1.350V
Top 90%
9700K
5.10GHz
4.90GHz
1.362V
Top 38%
9700K
5.20GHz
5.00GHz
1.375V
Top 9%
9700K
5.30GHz
5.10GHz
1.387V
Top 1%
The optimal values for the top two cores would be the targets I aim for during air cooling. Keep in mind your system is equipped with solid air cooling, so expect elevated temperatures. A temperature around 80°C is acceptable, but anything above 95°C should be avoided. Be aware that ambient conditions and case temperatures influence peak temperatures, especially with air cooling. Maintain a buffer between the maximum overclock temperatures and the thermal throttle threshold at 100°C.
Also, monitor the VRM temperatures to ensure they don’t exceed safe limits and verify adequate airflow across the components. Utilize tools such as CPUID HWMonitor or similar software for effective temperature tracking.
80c isn't too bad. Perhaps using water cooling would help. My 9700k runs about 28c when idle, and stays under 100% load at around 70c. I'm running at 5GHz.