A question about load line calibration level 1 on asrock mobo

[coyotethunderhawk]

My question is : Is level 1 that dangerous on a voltage of 1.31v? I have my 2500k OC'd on a Asrock Fatal1ty P67 performance mobo to 4.5 ghz stable in both IBT and Prime95. Ive messed around with different settings and the only way it seems to stay stable is at lvl 1 llc. Otherwise i have to pump about 1.45 vcore into it which makes me extremely nervous (having read that 1.4 and over degrades SB cpus quickly). Ive looked at cpu-z during IBT running, and the core never seems to go above 1.336. Is this a correct reading? Or do I really need an oscillator to determine the true voltage?

P.s. Temps never go above 76 in ibt or 80 in prime(24 hrs). From what ive read this seems to be acceptable as temps will never sustain this high in normal applications.

 

[coyotethunderhawk]

Also forgot to mention 1.31v is a fixed voltage not an offset.

 

[coyotethunderhawk]

hmmm I just noticed something else in coretemp it shows the vid voltage hitting 1.406v or so. Is this the accurate voltage or is the core voltage of 1.336v in cpuz more accurate?

 

[steddora]

vdroop is a pain in the rear for some of us. What's happening is this. You're voltage of 1.31 is dropping to say 1.29 or so during load. That's the vdroop. LLC is designed to help eliminate that drop to keep the voltage closer to a constant number.

HOWEVER, from what I have read, using high values of LLC can be hard on the VRM's of your board. Windows voltage readings and BIOS settings almost NEVER match up perfectly.

Now for what's actually happening in the instability without the high level of LLC.... The processor going from idle to load is probably dropping the input voltage so an extreme low which the processor can't handle causing the "pop" and when the VRM compensates it skyrockets... so you may have actual minimum values of 0.7v and clear to 1.7v; you just don't know. LLC also helps with that as it settles that "spike" voltage a bit. As for actual results on if LLC is really harmful to the VRMs, I'm not perfectly but I don't worry too much about it. I am one of those lucky SB owners who can easily hit 4.4Ghz on an offset voltage and run all the powersaving with an extra Ghz on the processor.

 

[coyotethunderhawk]

Well this is my first build and first overclock but i can say two things for sure it's fun but also stressful. I guess ill just try not to worry about my voltage too much, it seems to be stable and doesn't run too hot. Another question i have is are temps of around 80c in ibt/prime95 normal with a hyper 212 evo and artic silver 5 themal paste at normal? ive been curious if ive set the heatsink and thermal paste on correctly. Especially since one core runs about 11c hotter than another.

 

[steddora]

Methods for the 212 are all different. But the same generic idea remains. Before installing you should try to fill the gaps between the aluminum blocks and the heatpipes with thermal paste before ever putting any onto the processor. Use a credit card to flat sweep and fill those small crevices, and yes it makes a difference. After that I use a small pair of lines of artic silver MX-4 that actually cross each heatpipe where the CPU would be sitting. That was the best method for me. I suggest you try it a few times to make sure you have a good spread. One core running that much hotter than the rest show that the cooling isn't uniform and therefore letting one core get less cooling through the heatspreader. Also, just for reference, though I have two high performance fans on my 212, I run IBT at 4.4Ghz running 1.25 volts and I don't break 65C. So you have something with your cooling. I'd also picking up two nice fans and running them on the 212 if you can get a couple. The stock fan isn't very impressive to be honest.

And by the way, I ditched AS5 a long time ago for MX-4 I get a LOT better results with MX-4 comparingly. Also, it spreads so much better in my opinion. I used AS5 for years, and once I tried MX-4... well you know what happened LOL

 

[coyotethunderhawk]

Best answer selected by coyotethunderhawk.

 

[coyotethunderhawk]

Well thanks for the info. Im off to research MX-4 paste

 

[steddora]

Happy clocking my friend and don't forget; learning by others mistakes is a good way not to make that mistake for yourself. So if you have a question, someone here has the answer!