Which poses greater danger: a high Vcore or a high temperature?
Which poses greater danger: a high Vcore or a high temperature?
Hi All,
I've just assembled my first PC and am trying to overclock the 10900KF CPU. Currently, MSI 'Game Boost' + XMP is delivering a steady 5.3 ghz per core (some cores reach up to 5.5 occasionally) at 1.41 volts during Cinebench 20. My temperatures stay around 75-80 degrees during the test. I'm using HWINFO64 to track voltages, temperatures, and clock speeds.
I plan to manually overclock the CPU, aiming for performance close to what MSI 'Game Boost' provides. Many people warn against voltages above 1.4 volts, but they don't explain why. Could it be that higher voltages cause excessive heat? Or is 1.4 volts inherently problematic even if temperatures stay under 80 degrees?
In short, if I can run 4 hours of prime95 at 5.3ghz with 1.41 volts without any crashes or glitches and keep temperatures below 80 degrees, am I safe? Or is 1.41 volts still too high, even with stress testing under 80 degrees and no failures?
Here are my components for reference:
10900KF
MSI MEG Unify z490
Kraken z73
32gb Corsair Vengeance 3200 ram
Looking forward to your advice : )
wheelingbruce
,
There's a Sticky at the top of the CPUs Forum that you should read:
Intel CPU Temperature Guide 2021
Section 8 - Overclocking and Voltage
has the answers you seek, which includes graphs and detailed explanations concerning Maximum Recommended Vcore, Electromigration, Voltage Threshold (VT) Shift and more.
In addition to
Section 8
, I suggest that you read the entire Guide.
CT
wheelingbruce
,
There's a Sticky at the top of the CPUs Forum that you should read:
Intel CPU Temperature Guide 2021
Section 8 - Overclocking and Voltage
has the answers you seek, which includes graphs and detailed explanations concerning Maximum Recommended Vcore, Electromigration, Voltage Threshold (VT) Shift and more.
In addition to
Section 8
, I suggest that you read the entire Guide.
CT
I was searching for a similar guide.
I’m stuck at 5.1ghz @ 1.3V with temperatures around the mid-70s using prime95 and Realbench.
I aimed for 5.2 @ 1.36 with temps in the low 80s, but I’m seeing L0 cache errors which might mean a failure.
Other than increasing my Vcore, what else could I try for 5.2?
If Ring (Uncore) frequency is at least 300MHz lower than Core frequency, then no.
Be aware that the closing paragraph of Section 8 in the Guide mentions this point:
"Keep in mind that the closing paragraph of Section 8 in the Guide states..."
My i7-3770K could reach 5.0GHz. At 1.42v with the vcore, it stayed stable at 4.9GHz at 1.32v. It was a clear choice—running at 4.9GHz for six years before my AIO fans failed, so I lowered it to 4.6GHz at 1.208v and switched to an air cooler (which gave me the same temperatures as the higher setting).
Using higher voltages means more power consumption, and with the same cooler, temperatures can rise. Increasing voltage just a bit to gain a small extra frequency doesn’t make much difference; the performance boost isn’t worth the cost.
It’s hard to predict exactly how much of the CPU’s lifespan will be affected—it only takes a tiny bit over the transistor voltage limits, and that’s enough to cause failure. Whether you lose 100% or just a fraction is impossible to say, but it’s permanent once a transistor stops working. There are so many transistors in a CPU that you might not notice any dead ones, but if you’re unlucky, all of them could fail. You can push the CPU close to its limit, but one small mistake could leave you with nothing but air under your feet.
5.1GHz is still within safe limits compared to 5.2GHz, and going beyond that risks damage. I’d prefer 5.1GHz for the next six years rather than risking higher voltages and their short-term benefits.
Also, avoid using the MSI Dragon Center game boost. It helps weaker CPUs, but with top-tier chips it often causes them to overheat. The changes it makes are noticeable in the BIOS, yet many values you see aren’t visible or adjustable—like adding nitros to a stock engine. Sure, performance improves, but you might be dangerously close to a breakdown if you push too hard.
Thanks again : ) I decided to keep 5.1 and slept comfortably with prime95 running over night. The max temp was 77 and no whea errors. I ran Timespy to see how much performance I lost from 5.2, but I was surprised that my 5.1 score went UP from the 5.2 score to 16950ish! So close to the 17000 club but I'm happy with 5.1 : )
Thanks again
I appreciate that. I plan to avoid Dragon Center. I really want this PC to remain functional for at least five years, so 5.1 is the right choice. I come from an i7-7700 and I can already tell the performance is improved. Thanks again!