cpu ring voltage (i7 4790k)

[Destim]

Hello fellow overclockers!


I recentely started oc'ing my chip and got it stable at 4.5 ghz @ 1.2 cpu core voltage.
Now i'm just really curious what cpu ring voltage does, i left it on auto in my BIOS but i want to know if it could improve overclocking, right now it's a mild overclock but good enough for the moment.

Also when monitoring my system i sometimes see my cpu frequency jumping to 4.4 ghz and 4.6 ghz.. Any ideas??

Thanks!

 

[iamacow]

I wrote this for another guide but it still stays true for this chip. Basically you will raise the Ring Ratio as the CPU Multi goes up. It does have a limit however. Like my chip won't go above 43x on the ring ratio without crashing.

CPU Ring / CPU Cache & Voltage BIOS Options:

The CPU Ring / CPU Cache, formally known as "Uncore," controls the CPU cache and can be run in "Synchronous" or "Asynchronous," meaning it does not have to match the CPU frequency. It is, however, best to keep as close to the current CPU frequency as possible to get the best results. From my research people are receiving mixed results; some can run it higher than the CPU frequency, others cannot rise it as high. It seems the Haswell CPUs are all over the place, so you will really need to play around with the CPU Ring for the best results. Last up is the CPU Ring Voltage. You are going to want to keep this below 1.2v and, generally when reaching about 4.5GHz, you will have to raise both the CPU Ring and Voltage to stabilize it.

 

[Destim]

I wrote this for another guide but it still stays true for this chip. Basically you will raise the Ring Ratio as the CPU Multi goes up. It does have a limit however. Like my chip won't go above 43x on the ring ratio without crashing.

CPU Ring / CPU Cache & Voltage BIOS Options:

The CPU Ring / CPU Cache, formally known as "Uncore," controls the CPU cache and can be run in "Synchronous" or "Asynchronous," meaning it does not have to match the CPU frequency. It is, however, best to keep as close to the current CPU frequency as possible to get the best results. From my research people are receiving mixed results; some can run it higher than the CPU frequency, others cannot rise it as high. It seems the Haswell CPUs are all over the place, so you will really need to play around with the CPU Ring for the best results. Last up is the CPU Ring Voltage. You are going to want to keep this below 1.2v and, generally when reaching about 4.5GHz, you will have to raise both the CPU Ring and Voltage to stabilize it.

Thanks for responding so quickly! The thing about my ring voltage is, is that my motherboard put it at 1.196* already i think and on "auto", so if i understood correctly my ring is already at his limit??? What if i'm going to increase voltage of my cores? Also if i put ring on fixed will it improve temperatures?

 

[iamacow]

1.2v on the ring ratio is recommended. I haven't really heard of many people going above that, so I don't have an answer of how high it can go before damaged. My information came from an offical intel overclocking guide intended for the launch of the CPU for reviewers. If they say 1.2v is the limit, I would suspect .5v more volt being the upper limit.

If you limit your ring to 1.2v it may help your temps, but really it shouldn't make a major difference. My Asus board puts it at 1.1 for stock. I fix it at 1.2v for my own piece of mind.