Question i5 2500k @ 4.8Ghz results in CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT

[Xenone]

For some reason I get BSOD regarding "CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT " in Win 10 with my OC'ed i5 2500k from time to time. It seems pretty weird, what I noticed is, if I'm playing a game, I will get CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT randomly from time to time, like once a day, sometimes once every two days, but if I have a game opened and idling (not paused) and I walk away, I will get CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT after like 10-15 minutes, I was able to replicate this about 5 times now so it's not a fluke. I had my i5 2500k at stock speed (3.3Ghz and 3.7Ghz turbo) for about a month and had no issues but recently decided to re-overclock it after I experienced random stuttering and OC helped. 4.8Ghz is duable with my chip, when I got this CPU about two years ago, I immediately tested it and it was even able to hit 5Ghz but it was only like 95% stable so I went with 4.8Ghz to compensate for stability and degradation which I may get over time. I though it was C-state, but with it on or off, it doesn't seem to make any difference and I don't think it actually works when I have it on anyway, I don't see any difference. I do have EIST on and things regarding Intel Turbo boost and stuff, if you need more info on what I have enabled/disabled in BIOS, just ask. I plan to upgrade to LGA 1151 and an I7 8700k soon but I recently bought an HTC Vive so I just want to use what I have rn until I get my next paycheck to get new CPU and mobo. My specs are:

i5-2500k @ 4.8Ghz & 1.32v Vcore (water cooled with an open loop, 40C idle, max 60C under load)
Asus Strix GTX 970 OC (Factory OC + my OC)
MSI P67A-GD55 B3 Mobo
4x4GB HyperX Fury RAM
120GB Samsung SSD for Windows
1TB Toshiba HDD for Storage
Corsair 750W PSU

P.S Not sure if this is relevant but task manager reports my CPU speed at 6.96Ghz so I'm not sure if it's Windows doing some funky stuff with my OC but both CPU-Z and MSI Afterburner report back correct speed which is 4.8Ghz.

 

[SgtScream]

Max voltage for that chip is 1.52. Up the voltage and set load line calibration to extreme. As long as you don't run your computer 24/7 and shut it off when you aren't using it, you won't have to worry about degradation too much. Degradation takes a lot longer than people think imo and if you don't exceed max voltage, it is a non issue. I'm running one at 4.9ghz now with voltage creeping between 1.5 and 1.52. I just slapped a better cooler on mine so i'm thinking about going for 5ghz again.

 

[Xenone]

Max voltage for that chip is 1.52. Up the voltage and set load line calibration to extreme. As long as you don't run your computer 24/7 and shut it off when you aren't using it, you won't have to worry about degradation too much. Degradation takes a lot longer than people think imo and if you don't exceed max voltage, it is a non issue. I'm running one at 4.9ghz now with voltage creeping between 1.5 and 1.52. I just slapped a better cooler on mine so i'm thinking about going for 5ghz again.

How much do you think I should start off with? 1.4? or start with 1.5 and slowly lower it every week or so if I don't get watchdog time out until I start getting it again and stop? My CPU is watercooled with an open loop and a 360mm radiator so I'm not worried about high voltages and potential overheating.

 

[SgtScream]

The latter (1.5). Use prime 95 small ffts with avx disabled to try and force instability.

 

[Xenone]

The latter (1.5). Use prime 95 small ffts with avx disabled to try and force instability.

Alright, thanks for your input, I did as you said, running on 1.5 vcore right now with 55C on idle, on top of that, I also re-disabled C-State incase it attempts to do something funky and I also disabled OverSpeed protection to eliminate instability. I will follow up in few days unless I keep getting clock watchdog timeout or encounter something else.

 

[SgtScream]

Prime 95 is a stress test on the cpu. It will allow you to speed up the process.