Question How do you validate a thermally limited OC?

[MCH170]

This is mostly a theoretical question: Lets say I have a CPU that I want to overclock. I mainly use Prime95 to test for stability because, in my experience, if an overclock will fail it will probably do so pretty quickly if not immediately. The problem is that p95 with small ffts pushes the CPU to the absolute limit in terms of power draw (which is kind of the point i guess), so an oc that may or may not be stable in normal workloads (meaning normal power draws and temps) can't be tested properly because the CPU is at TJmax and throttles down.

What do you guys think?

 

[KingLoki]

What cpu do you have?

 

[MCH170]

What cpu do you have?

13600KF

 

[KingLoki]

This utility has some good data and tuning tools that may be of interest.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/17881/intel-extreme-tuning-utility-intel-xtu.html

 

[Flayed]

This is mostly a theoretical question: Lets say I have a CPU that I want to overclock. I mainly use Prime95 to test for stability because, in my experience, if an overclock will fail it will probably do so pretty quickly if not immediately. The problem is that p95 with small ffts pushes the CPU to the absolute limit in terms of power draw (which is kind of the point i guess), so an oc that may or may not be stable in normal workloads (meaning normal power draws and temps) can't be tested properly because the CPU is at TJmax and throttles down.

What do you guys think?

I think you would need to get a better cooling solution.

 

[geofelt]

I think CPU-Z bench/stress test comes closer to a realistic workload.
Monitor the temperatures with hwmonitor.
You may see one or two cores touch 100c. in red, indicating temporary throttling, but that is normal.

For certain, first update your bios to currency to avoid the dreaded 13/14th gen issues.

Then, if you are a gamer, reconsider the urge to overclock.
There will be very little stable headroom.
Chips are binned, and a higher quality chip would have been used in an i7-13700K
Games do better to rely on the thermal boost which may well get you a better clock for a couple of cores than an all core overclock.

 

[MCH170]

I think you would need to get a better cooling solution.

I see your point but during normal workloads my CPU will max at 65°C so there is some headroom to push it further. It would be wasteful to buy a better cooling solution just to be able to run p95 once.

 

[MCH170]

For certain, first update your bios to currency to avoid the dreaded 13/14th gen issues.

Yes, I already did that.

Then, if you are a gamer, reconsider the urge to overclock.

I understand there is little practical gain but I did it mostly for the experience.

I think CPU-Z bench/stress test comes closer to a realistic workload.
Monitor the temperatures with hwmonitor.
You may see one or two cores touch 100c. in red, indicating temporary throttling, but that is normal.

In CPU-Z the CPU stays at 75°C indefinitely, nothing to worry about there.

 

[Flayed]

This is mostly a theoretical question: Lets say I have a CPU that I want to overclock. I mainly use Prime95 to test for stability because, in my experience, if an overclock will fail it will probably do so pretty quickly if not immediately. The problem is that p95 with small ffts pushes the CPU to the absolute limit in terms of power draw (which is kind of the point i guess), so an oc that may or may not be stable in normal workloads (meaning normal power draws and temps) can't be tested properly because the CPU is at TJmax and throttles down.

What do you guys think?

Run your normal workloads with the OC and if you get issues dial down the OC a notch and repeat.