[SOLVED] How would i know motherboards OC limit?

[ZippyDoodah]

Hi,


I have an i5-9600k and a Gigabyte Z390 UD.

If i wanted to overclock this, how would i know when to stop because of the VRM's affecting it? Would i tell based on heat or something else?

Would it be possible to get this to 5GHz at a safe voltage?

Thanks in advance.

 

[thx1138v2]

Heat and/or stability. 5 GHz? That's the thing about overclocking - you can't know until you get there because the end result is dependent on the specific cpu you are using.

 

[USAFRet]

You increase incrementally, testing at each step.
When it fails, back off to the last setting.
That's the limit on that particular equipment.

CPU overclocking guide and tutorial for beginners

Covering the basics If you found your way here it's likely you are looking for help with basic overclocking. Either that or you're a long time overclocker interested in seeing whether I had any eye opening insights that you may have been lacking. Rest assured, I don't. This is only intended as...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Karadjgne]

Every cpu is different, even if just slightly. Some will get 5.0GHz at 1.308v, some get 4.9GHz at 1.375v before losing stability. And that's with identical settings. Even a small change to LLC could reverse those or make both now unstable.

OC limits are set by 3 things.

1. The components themselves, some combinations just OC better. And generally cost a lot more as a result, either intentional or not by design.
2. The Lottery. That's a general statement that'll cover basically everything from gpus to cpus to ram to motherboards. You could take 2 identical pc's and one will OC better than the other, for no apparent reason, just does.
3. You. Your knowledge, your research, your persistence, patience, adaptability, or lack thereof.

OC is like walking up a hill while looking at your feet only. You won't know you hit the top, until you do. You also won't know you just ran into a tree either, until you do. And that's when #3 really takes affect, do you try and get around the tree or quit, believing that you are done.

 

[ZippyDoodah]

Thanks guys, appreciated!

 

[ZippyDoodah]

Every cpu is different, even if just slightly. Some will get 5.0GHz at 1.308v, some get 4.9GHz at 1.375v before losing stability. And that's with identical settings. Even a small change to LLC could reverse those or make both now unstable.

OC limits are set by 3 things.

1. The components themselves, some combinations just OC better. And generally cost a lot more as a result, either intentional or not by design.
2. The Lottery. That's a general statement that'll cover basically everything from gpus to cpus to ram to motherboards. You could take 2 identical pc's and one will OC better than the other, for no apparent reason, just does.
3. You. Your knowledge, your research, your persistence, patience, adaptability, or lack thereof.

OC is like walking up a hill while looking at your feet only. You won't know you hit the top, until you do. You also won't know you just ran into a tree either, until you do. And that's when #3 really takes affect, do you try and get around the tree or quit, believing that you are done.

What is load line calibration and how does it work?

 

[Karadjgne]

LLC is basically supplementary voltage. Cpus are almost never under a constant load, it varies multiple times per second. Each change will show up on a graph as ups and downs, this is vdroop, the difference between the peaks and valleys. If the valley droops too far, there's not enough voltage for the load the cpu is trying to work and you get instability. LLC is a supplement to the droop, pre-emptive, so the cpu will actually get what it's needs to use.

But it's very touchy, too much LLC is just as bad as too little, can't just stick it on level 5 or extreme or 100%. There's 2 major voltages associated with a cpu. Vcore and VID. LLC affects both. VID is what the cpu demands from the motherboard VRM's, vcore is what it actually uses, so vcore and VID should be within about 0.05v of each other. Adding LLC too high means overall the cpu uses more than what's demanded and you get instability. Setting VID high to compensate means you cook the VRM's in attempting to supply that voltage.

So most OC will happen around level2-3 or med-high or 50-66%. Extreme/100% is basically only for those doing extreme OC, LN² off the charts kinda stuff.

It's a balancing act, combined with the ripple from the psu, you just want to compensate, not replace.

 

[ZippyDoodah]

LLC is basically supplementary voltage. Cpus are almost never under a constant load, it varies multiple times per second. Each change will show up on a graph as ups and downs, this is vdroop, the difference between the peaks and valleys. If the valley droops too far, there's not enough voltage for the load the cpu is trying to work and you get instability. LLC is a supplement to the droop, pre-emptive, so the cpu will actually get what it's needs to use.

But it's very touchy, too much LLC is just as bad as too little, can't just stick it on level 5 or extreme or 100%. There's 2 major voltages associated with a cpu. Vcore and VID. LLC affects both. VID is what the cpu demands from the motherboard VRM's, vcore is what it actually uses, so vcore and VID should be within about 0.05v of each other. Adding LLC too high means overall the cpu uses more than what's demanded and you get instability. Setting VID high to compensate means you cook the VRM's in attempting to supply that voltage.

So most OC will happen around level2-3 or med-high or 50-66%. Extreme/100% is basically only for those doing extreme OC, LN² off the charts kinda stuff.

It's a balancing act, combined with the ripple from the psu, you just want to compensate, not replace.

Right I get it, so if the motherboard does become the limiting factor in the overclock, will my pc just blue screen or will the VRM’s be damaged irreversibly because let’s say I set the voltage to more than it could handle?