Testing stability of i7-8700K overclocking Help needed
Testing stability of i7-8700K overclocking Help needed
I was aiming to acquire a RTX 3080 and several upgrades. I planned to purchase a new 1TB SSD, add 16GB of RAM, install a fresh sound card, format the SSD, reinstall Windows, update the MB bios, and perform an OC on both CPU and GPU. Yet, I encountered a problem during stability checks for my CPU.
I followed these steps:
- Adjusted memory to XMP profile (3200)
- Ran Memtest86 twice for memory verification
- Configured CPU core ratio for all cores
- Set CPU core voltage to a fixed value
- Applied CPU LLC Level 1
- Executed Prime95 Small FFT (disabling AVX/AVX2) for 15 minutes
- Conducted Realbench stress test with full memory support for 8 hours
- Performed Realbench again with AVX and AVX2 disabled for 8 hours
- Completed Prime95 Blend (disabling AVX/AVX2) for 8 hours
The memory test passed successfully. Eventually, I reached a multiplier of 48, a fixed core voltage of 1.28v, and LLC Level 1. I managed to clear the Prime95 Small FFT test within temperatures around 77-80°C. The Realbench test also passed. However, during the Prime95 Blend test, one of the cores (#4) failed due to rounding errors (0.5 instead of less than 0.4) after about three hours. I increased the core voltage to 1.29v and retested Prime95 Blend, but the issue persisted around the two-hour mark. I’m considering raising the CPU core voltage again to see if it resolves the Prime95 Blend problem.
Once I achieve a stable CPU overclock, I intend to proceed with the GTX 1080 upgrade. I should note that this PC is primarily used for gaming.
System details:
- CPU: i7-8700K
- Motherboard: ASRock z370 Extreme4
- RAM: 4x8GB G.Skill TridentZ DDR4 (3200)
- GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1080 G1
- M.2 SSD: 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus & 500GB Samsung 960 Pro
- Power supply: 850w EVGA SuperNOVA G2 (80+ GOLD)
- Audio: Soundblaster AE-5 Plus
- Case: Nanoxia Deepsilence 5
- Cooling: Custom EK Loop
If you read the entire guide, you'll notice that I suggest setting your CPU overclock first before applying the memory's XMP profile or manually adjusting the memory speed. This ensures any issues are due to the CPU overclock rather than the memory settings. Your XMP profile or manual memory adjustment should occur once you confirm your CPU overclock is stable.
Testing with Memtest isn't useful without performing four complete passes. I've observed many setups failing only after the fourth attempt. A quick check while setting up memory configurations works, but for confirming real stability, you should run four or more passes. (Paid version)
Yes, I followed the guide as a starting point. I’m proceeding with all four passes now. I think if no errors appear, the problem likely lies with my CPU OC and the next step would be to raise the voltage, correct? The blend test is the only one causing issues so far... I haven’t yet run a long prime95 small FFT test.
If you go through the entire guide, you'll notice that I suggest setting your CPU overclock first, before applying the XMP profile or manually adjusting the memory settings. This ensures any issues you encounter are due to the CPU overclock rather than the memory configuration. Your XMP profile or manual memory adjustment should occur once you confirm your CPU overclock is stable.