My i7 8700k is getting unstable when I try to speed it up, and things are going wrong lately.
My i7 8700k is getting unstable when I try to speed it up, and things are going wrong lately.
I have an Intel Core i7 8700K processor on an ASRock Z370 Extreme4 board. I've been running a stable overclock at 4.8Ghz with a -30 offset for years without any problems. My main use is encoding videos with ffmpeg or handbrake. Recently, when using handbrake, my computer starts locking up or crashing. Could this be an issue? Should I re-install the CPU and put new thermal paste on it? I'm already using an Arctic Air 300 as a cooler.
Here it is again ... 64mv. When the main battery voltage drops at the same time that a busy task spikes up, this is when the processor is most likely to crash with an error screen. There are two ways to fix this: • Raise the Vcore voltage just enough to handle the changing workload better. • Swap out the motherboard for one with stricter voltage control. Just as extra info, back in the 4th generation days, Intel put regulators right on the chip itself, so the voltages stayed very steady at only 8mv, maybe going up a bit to 16mv; that's like an error code of 1 bit. Other motherboards for older and newer processors had regulation ranges from 16 to 32mv, but they were as bad as...
Hey there, I've had some trouble with my 1600x (yes, it's not one platform). After running an overclock for a few years, it suddenly became unstable. You might just pump up the CPU power a bit more, which is what I did, and then test again to see if things hold up. I like to let things sit overnight for about 8 hours so I can be sure everything is stable. I use Prime95 with small FFTs to check it out. With an overclock, there will be some drop in performance over time. The fix here is just bumping the vcore a little higher. You might need to readjust later if you want something else for years to come. Normal enough stuff. Good luck!
Hey, thanks for getting back to me. I changed the offset down to -20 and will check how it looks. I think my idle temps are a bit higher than I thought last time, so maybe I should wipe down the heat sync and put some new paste on just to make sure things work right.
Yeah, it's probably worth trying to paste again. How hot does your computer get when you stop using it? Ideally, you should see around thirty-five to thirty-six degrees when the machine just sits there (depending on what the room feels like). When you play games, aim for fifty-five to sixty-five degrees. And if you run stress tests, try to hit sixty-five to eighty degrees. Just remember, these numbers are a rough guide and every computer is different.
My idle temperature is sitting around 40 degrees, which makes me worried. When I run it under load, it climbs up to about 80. That feels okay based on what others have said. Edit: The system looks a bit more stable now that I changed the offset setting.
Hmmmm. 40 degrees feels a little high. Give me some paste back and let us know what happens. Over time, the paste degrades, which is likely causing those high idle temps. A good amount of paste can lower temps by about 5 degrees. If you haven't re-applied it yet, you might see a big drop in idle temps just from using fresh paste. If your system feels more stable after you add some offset, that's great. You could try testing again with Prime/OCCT or something like that to check for stability.
You might also try LLC. This setting is often used for a higher overclocking speed and helps fix "vdroop" issues. Usually, you set this to auto for normal speeds. If you change it to manual, start testing at the first two levels or maybe the third one. It can make things more stable, but if you go too high on that setting, your CPU might get overheated. So be careful with temperatures and check out those first two levels to see if they work well for you.
I think something might be wrong with my setup right now. Prime95 is failing fast no matter how much I try to boost the speed. Even at a 4.8 gigahertz clock, the -20 offset setting makes it heat up way too hot and cause errors. When I slowed it down to 4.7 and 4.6 ghz, the problems got worse and kept happening. Since I can't find my thermal paste anywhere else, I've bought more from Amazon now.
Do you know your CPU cooler works fine for about 160 watts, but Prime 95 can get way more heat? Especially when AVX isn't turned off. I don't see anything in the post about what your Vcore is set to, so let me tell you... I just see the offset number, not how high the voltage gets on the chip itself. If the offset plus LLC has been pushing past 1.4 volts, it's totally possible that what you're seeing right now is just bad power coming through from the voltage source.