the i7 4790k shows an unexpectedly high stock cpu voltage
the i7 4790k shows an unexpectedly high stock cpu voltage
I constructed my 4790k system a while back, but didn’t focus much on pushing it overclock. Most reviews I came across mentioned stable speeds around 4.6 and 4.7 GHZ, with only minor increases beyond that. A 200 to 300 MHZ boost didn’t seem worthwhile. Recently, out of pure curiosity, I wanted to test how far I could take my machine (what a lucky draw it was for the chips!).
All settings were left in auto mode except for my RAM XMP 1866. I ran some benchmarks to establish a baseline, and to my surprise, when I ran AIDA64, the voltage increased under load to between 1.352 and 1.360 V.
I’m aware that some enthusiasts manage 4.8 GHZ with similar voltages, while standard voltages are around 1.250 V for others. I’m not too concerned about heat; temperatures stay around 70-74°C under load. I’m using a Corsair H80i with quiet SP fans.
This post isn’t really meant to be solved directly—I’ve been using this setup for over a year without major problems. Still, I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on the unusually high voltage and whether other 4790k users have similar experiences. What voltages are you seeing under load?
The presets are chosen by the motherboard manufacturer.
Here's an example of what you're looking for (see chart):
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devil...i5-4690k/2
For example, at 4.7GHz it was up to 1.45Volts.
(Seems to be a pretty big jump from 4.5GHz at 1.25Volts. Not sure if it's silicon lottery, motherboard or what but seems to be rapidly rising power draw to ensure stability)
Other:
*It's worth noting that the frequency often DROPS as more cores get utilized. For example, if set to 4.4GHz max turbo you might only have 4.1GHz (approx) when all four cores are used.
So interestingly you may be able to tweak to say 4.3GHz (normal 4.4GHz max turbo settings and ONLY adjust the 1,2,3,4 core...
The presets are determined by the motherboard maker.
Here’s an example you can refer to (see chart):
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devil...i5-4690k/2
For instance, at 4.7GHz it reached up to 1.45Volts.
(It looks like a significant increase from 4.5GHz at 1.25Volts. It’s unclear if this is due to silicon variation, motherboard design, or just a rapid rise in power consumption to maintain stability)
Other:
*It’s important to mention that the frequency often decreases when more cores are used. For example, at maximum turbo of 4.4GHz you might only hit around 4.1GHz (approx) when all four cores are active.*
So interestingly, you could adjust to around 4.3GHz—keeping the standard 4.4GHz max turbo settings and just changing the multipliers for cores 1 through 4—while still handling full load. This would be comparable to an overclock of about 4.6GHz under full load.
In short, it’s feasible to achieve similar or better results by fine-tuning usage per core rather than just increasing the overall overclock value.