How to overclock my CPU while still letting it drop voltage/clock at idle

[Blake_24]

I am trying to overclock my i7-4790k on my asus z97 pro-gamer motherboard. I am not going for a crazy overclock but just a little bit, maybe like 4.5 at the max. I was trying to overclock a little bit using AIsuite and the bios, but whenever I did this it seemed like the voltage would stay rather high (1.30-1.32v) and the clock speed would not seem to drop much at idle. Is this something overclockers just have to deal with? I would like to lower the voltage to save power since my computer will often stay at idle for a few hours at a time.

 

[ShadyHamster]

Use an offset voltage instead of a manual voltage and make sure all the power saving features are still enabled, or enabled them if it's set to auto.
You shouldn't have any issues with the CPU going into lower power states with an overclock.

Avoid using AIsuite for overclocking and just focus on the bios.

 

[Blake_24]

Use an offset voltage instead of a manual voltage and make sure all the power saving features are still enabled, or enabled them if it's set to auto.
You shouldn't have any issues with the CPU going into lower power states with an overclock.

Avoid using AIsuite for overclocking and just focus on the bios.

Should I unstall AiSuite because sometimes it seems to overwrite the bios voltage. Secondly, How do I go about setting an offset voltage?

 

[ShadyHamster]

Not sure about uninstalling AIsuite, if you don't use it for anything else then it might be a good idea to, or try reset default settings.
I have it installed for custom fan profiles and that's all i touch and it doesn't interfere with my overclocks.

In the bios, under voltage, there should be a few options, auto/manual/offset.
After you set it to offset be prepared to re-adjust your voltages as it will essentially reset it to stock, you will then need to increase it to regain stability.
Take note of your current voltage in the bios, enabled offset, restart and go back into the bios, grab a calculator and work out the difference between your manual set voltage and the stock voltage then increase the offset by that amount, you will need to stress test and fine tune the voltage to get it back to where it was stable.

 

[tsnor]

+1 above, my OC (on a different MB) has no problem reducing voltage and frequency when not pushed. You should be able to get this working.

 

[Blake_24]

Not sure about uninstalling AIsuite, if you don't use it for anything else then it might be a good idea to, or try reset default settings.
I have it installed for custom fan profiles and that's all i touch and it doesn't interfere with my overclocks.

In the bios, under voltage, there should be a few options, auto/manual/offset.
After you set it to offset be prepared to re-adjust your voltages as it will essentially reset it to stock, you will then need to increase it to regain stability.
Take note of your current voltage in the bios, enabled offset, restart and go back into the bios, grab a calculator and work out the difference between your manual set voltage and the stock voltage then increase the offset by that amount, you will need to stress test and fine tune the voltage to get it back to where it was stable.

Sorry if I am missing something, But can you explain the offset voltage and how I calculate the offset voltage?

 

[tsnor]

offset voltage lets the MB compute what voltage it would have ordinarily used, that ADDs the addional voltage you set as offset voltage.

Ex: If the MB BIOS would have set 0.97 V at idle and 1.05 V at load and the offset is 0.10 then the cpu volts become 1.07 and 1.15.

Suggest you read a few OC'ing guides. They usually explain this plus explain the other setting you need to get a stable OC (e.g. what ring multipler needs to be) that are not at all obvious.

Here is one post the deep-dives on offset voltage https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?2162-Overclocking-Using-Offset-Mode-for-CPU-Core-Voltage

 

[Blake_24]

offset voltage lets the MB compute what voltage it would have ordinarily used, that ADDs the addional voltage you set as offset voltage.

Ex: If the MB BIOS would have set 0.97 V at idle and 1.05 V at load and the offset is 0.10 then the cpu volts become 1.07 and 1.15.

Suggest you read a few OC'ing guides. They usually explain this plus explain the other setting you need to get a stable OC (e.g. what ring multipler needs to be) that are not at all obvious.

Here is one post the deep-dives on offset voltage https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?2162-Overclocking-Using-Offset-Mode-for-CPU-Core-Voltage

You said that the offset voltage changes all normal voltage levels by a specific amount. Does that mean that my idle voltage and temps will be higher even though it is not being utilized any more than it would have been before the overclock?

 

[tsnor]

offset voltage lets the MB compute what voltage it would have ordinarily used, that ADDs the addional voltage you set as offset voltage.

Ex: If the MB BIOS would have set 0.97 V at idle and 1.05 V at load and the offset is 0.10 then the cpu volts become 1.07 and 1.15.

Suggest you read a few OC'ing guides. They usually explain this plus explain the other setting you need to get a stable OC (e.g. what ring multipler needs to be) that are not at all obvious.

Here is one post the deep-dives on offset voltage https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?2162-Overclocking-Using-Offset-Mode-for-CPU-Core-Voltage

You said that the offset voltage changes all normal voltage levels by a specific amount. Does that mean that my idle voltage and temps will be higher even though it is not being utilized any more than it would have been before the overclock?

I oversimplified. It works roughly the way I described. A more complex explanation was in the post I linked:

"...If we wish to add voltage to the full load VID, we simply use the + offset and increase to increase the voltage level. The “+” offset scale isn’t as direct as the” –“ scale when it comes to changing voltage, that’s because one of the features of SVID (serial VID) is that it allows the processor to request voltage based upon operating frequency, current draw and thermal conditions- hence adding 0.05V to 1.376V results in a full load voltage of 1.40V. Similarly the idle voltage is increased by only 0.025V, too:

"That’s why we recommend getting a feel for how the offset range works with your processor, before pushing the system hard. Offset Mode may appear to be an overly complex way to overclock initially, but once you get the hang of it the results are very worthwhile."

 

[Blake_24]

offset voltage lets the MB compute what voltage it would have ordinarily used, that ADDs the addional voltage you set as offset voltage.

Ex: If the MB BIOS would have set 0.97 V at idle and 1.05 V at load and the offset is 0.10 then the cpu volts become 1.07 and 1.15.

Suggest you read a few OC'ing guides. They usually explain this plus explain the other setting you need to get a stable OC (e.g. what ring multipler needs to be) that are not at all obvious.

Here is one post the deep-dives on offset voltage https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?2162-Overclocking-Using-Offset-Mode-for-CPU-Core-Voltage

You said that the offset voltage changes all normal voltage levels by a specific amount. Does that mean that my idle voltage and temps will be higher even though it is not being utilized any more than it would have been before the overclock?

I oversimplified. It works roughly the way I described. A more complex explanation was in the post I linked:

"...If we wish to add voltage to the full load VID, we simply use the + offset and increase to increase the voltage level. The “+” offset scale isn’t as direct as the” –“ scale when it comes to changing voltage, that’s because one of the features of SVID (serial VID) is that it allows the processor to request voltage based upon operating frequency, current draw and thermal conditions- hence adding 0.05V to 1.376V results in a full load voltage of 1.40V. Similarly the idle voltage is increased by only 0.025V, too:

"That’s why we recommend getting a feel for how the offset range works with your processor, before pushing the system hard. Offset Mode may appear to be an overly complex way to overclock initially, but once you get the hang of it the results are very worthwhile."

So I think I am understanding, but won't that still increase my idle voltage too even though the idle clock speed doesn't require the increased voltage?

 

[tsnor]

offset voltage lets the MB compute what voltage it would have ordinarily used, that ADDs the addional voltage you set as offset voltage.

Ex: If the MB BIOS would have set 0.97 V at idle and 1.05 V at load and the offset is 0.10 then the cpu volts become 1.07 and 1.15.

Suggest you read a few OC'ing guides. They usually explain this plus explain the other setting you need to get a stable OC (e.g. what ring multipler needs to be) that are not at all obvious.

Here is one post the deep-dives on offset voltage https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?2162-Overclocking-Using-Offset-Mode-for-CPU-Core-Voltage

You said that the offset voltage changes all normal voltage levels by a specific amount. Does that mean that my idle voltage and temps will be higher even though it is not being utilized any more than it would have been before the overclock?

I oversimplified. It works roughly the way I described. A more complex explanation was in the post I linked:

"...If we wish to add voltage to the full load VID, we simply use the + offset and increase to increase the voltage level. The “+” offset scale isn’t as direct as the” –“ scale when it comes to changing voltage, that’s because one of the features of SVID (serial VID) is that it allows the processor to request voltage based upon operating frequency, current draw and thermal conditions- hence adding 0.05V to 1.376V results in a full load voltage of 1.40V. Similarly the idle voltage is increased by only 0.025V, too:

"That’s why we recommend getting a feel for how the offset range works with your processor, before pushing the system hard. Offset Mode may appear to be an overly complex way to overclock initially, but once you get the hang of it the results are very worthwhile."

So I think I am understanding, but won't that still increase my idle voltage too even though the idle clock speed doesn't require the increased voltage?

I think the answer is YES, however I don't know your board at all and would not be surprised if the BIOS special cased idle and the voltage did not go up.

My CPU i5-4960K sits at 0.817V at idle and rises to 1.193v at load at 4.2 ghz (mild overclock) using offset voltage. This was close enough to the idle voltage that i did not notice a difference, but there could have been one and this is on a different board. Suggest you add in a mild offset voltage to your pc and run it and see how much idle voltage changes.

 

[Karadjgne]

No. The cpu will only use what it needs. You could set offset voltage for a full 1.0v and it'll still only use what it needs, not what you give it at idle. The difference comes with loads, as you increase the OC, the cpu thinks it'll need slightly more to remain stable, but there's no way of guessing just how much it'll actually use. That's what makes programs such as CPU-Z so important to use when looking at voltages. My i5 stock, sets @1.25v as max under load, uses 1.108v, so I can lower vcore down to 1.114 and still be good. Lowering it to 1.108 and the cpu thinks it needs less to run, so actually runs at 1.004v and sits there happily unless I push the cpu, in which case it bluescreens since reality is it needs 1.108v for stability. Most of what OC is about isn't just adding voltage to get higher speeds, it's about lowering voltages to accommodate higher speeds. Lower vcore = lower temps.
At stock settings, with stock voltages and speed step etc still active, for a small OC generally you'll require nothing more than setting the multiplier higher and setting it across all the cores.

I've found with my Asus pc, AiSuite is next to worthless except for 1 thing, fanXpert. It's the best by far fan control software there is for most pc's, far easier to use than SpeedFan, although with its tailor ability, SpeedFan can do things fanXpert can't. That's if you can figure out how to use it.

 

[synphul]

I've got my haswell cpu oc'd without using offsets and it drops clockspeed. I set voltage manually in the bios for vcore, left speedstep enabled (sometimes labeled eist), then under the power plan in windows I selected 'balanced'. Under power plan, advanced settings, processor power management I've got it set to a min state of 5% and max of 100%. If your power plan is set to max performance double check and see what the min state is. It's possible that max performance has min state set to 95-100% so it won't allow speedstep to work.

At idle my cpu drops to 800mhz, as load increases it ramps up to 4.5ghz.

 

[Karadjgne]

And the reason (partly) why psus for Haswells really should be DC-DC, not group regulated. Synful's pc will drop down to 800MHz at idle, which a DC-DC psu can handle, those low power requirements. I have Ivy-Bridge cpus, they'll only drop to 1600MHz at idle so I'm fine with having a group regulated psu.

If you are going to OC, I'd personally drop any and all eco settings other than speedstep (eist) and maintain c-states of c-0 through c-3 at best. Be sure hibernation is terminated (totally removed is better) just use regular sleep, not hybrid. Also, if possible, disable any cpu power phase settings as these will enable/disable levels of cpu power phases according to assumed usage and can create instability. Good for stock energy savings, bad for OC stability. OC is all about max performance from a cpu with minimal needs, which is counter to eco demands of minimal performance needs and maximum savings.

A good place to get ideas, terminology, research etc is at the Asus ROG forums. They easily have the most extensive amount of OC users, ranging from mild to extreme and following their theories can get you much further than blind testing.