Trying to overclock my 6700K but facing voltage issues.
Trying to overclock my 6700K but facing voltage issues.
Hi everyone, I have an i7 6700K built with a Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 motherboard. I have a few questions about my setup.
I adjusted the CPU clock ratio to 44 and enabled the RAM XMP profile. That’s essentially all I did. The Vcore was left as auto, but the base voltage is set at 1.280V – it seems that’s the standard setting. My main concern is whether these voltages are safe. According to HWmonitor, the CPU Vcore reaches a maximum of 1.390V, which is quite high. However, when under load, it often stays around 1.275V, and the VID voltage is even higher, sometimes peaking at 1.42V or more. The temperatures stay within the 72°C max.
I’ve heard that setting Vcore manually is better than leaving it auto, since it prevents the CPU from lowering its own clock when idle. In my BIOS, I don’t see any options for adaptive Vcore or offset adjustments. What should I do?
Sorry man. I'm not up to date with that bios and just read through its manual—it didn't mention voltage offset. I had this issue with a z77 EVGA board a couple of years back, which made me frustrated at first but eventually led me to use fixed voltage. I set my i7 to 4.4 (around 1.31v) and it worked fine. Never had any problems and sold that CPU for half the price I paid.
Auto voltages tend to be high, so we usually avoid them. Still, if you're only increasing voltage briefly, it's not a big deal. Your temperatures under load are a bit high but not dangerous unless you're consistently in the 70s. If you're only reaching the 70s during synthetic tests, you're all set.
Don't worry about the VID...
I frequently question whether adaptive voltage equals automatic control, especially since Intel removed their built-in voltage regulator with Skylake. If automatic means it can adjust freely to any voltage, it might lead to serious harm to hardware without the user ever realizing; therefore, manual control likely remains safer. However, without the ability to lower the voltage when not needed, it seems counterintuitive.
When using CPUz on Windows, it displays the actual CPU clock speed it detects. It typically shows a value like 4400 or higher, depending on the processor being monitored.
Sorry man. I'm not familiar with that bios and I just went through its manual and didn't find anything about voltage offset. I had this happen with a z77 evga board I picked a couple years ago and was upset at first but eventually settled for fixed voltage, clocked my i7 to 4.4 (at 1.31v) and it worked fine. Never had an issue and just sold that CPU for half of what I paid for it.
Auto voltages are always going to be high. That's why we don't use them. Still, if it's only increasing voltage briefly, I wouldn't mind. Your temperatures under load are a bit high but not dangerous unless you're consistently in the 70s. If you're only reaching the 70s during synthetic tests, then you're all set.
Don't worry about the VID. That's not the real voltage of your CPU.
Personally, I'd just lock the voltage and maybe check some gigabyte forums for better advice.
Sorry man, I'm not really familiar with that bios. I just went through its manual and didn't find anything about voltage offset. I had a similar issue with a z77 EVGA board a couple of years ago—I was initially frustrated but eventually settled for fixed voltage. I clocked my i7 to 4.4 (at 1.31v) and it worked fine. Never had a problem, and I sold that CPU for half the price I paid. Auto voltages tend to be high, which is why we usually avoid them. If you're only boosting voltage briefly, it's not a big deal. Your temperatures under load are a bit high but not dangerous unless you're consistently in the 70s. But if you're only reaching the 70s during synthetic tests, everything should be fine. Don't worry about the VID—it's not the actual CPU voltage. Personally, I'd set your voltage fixed. Maybe check some gigabyte forums for better advice. Thanks for the reply, mate.