i7-6700k Idle vs Full Load

[iceddonut]

Hi Guys,
Greatly appreciate some help with this one.

Setting up my new system on Asus Maximus VIII Hero with i7-6700k. I use a Noctua NH-D15 for my CPU cooler.

Intel says maximum vcore for 6700k should not exceed 1.45v and in my books, anything over 1.400v is bad for 24/7 use.

Question 1.
For my CPU after a lot of testing, it requires 1.38v at 4.6GHz to get a stable overclock. AIDA64 running for 24hrs+ (The is in vcore manual mode) This is well under the 1.400v threshold I don't want to cross. However when under load (aka stress-testing) the vcore is up about 1.434 at about 75-80 deg temps. Is this okay for the chip?

Is the maximum vcore recommendations referring to the minimum voltage (what is set in manual in bois) or under maximum load?

Question 2
I have decided to overclock at 4.5GHz, as I only require 1.28v. When under load the vcore is only 1.35ish and at 60 deg temp. How can just 1000 MHz more require so much more voltage!!?

Thanks guys.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Question 1: Up to 1.45V you're totally fine. Keeping temperatures low should be more important than limiting Vcore as heat is the main factor in chip degradation, and it affects chip lifespan exponentially, so lowering by 5C will extend chip lifespan by a lot. That said, stress test temperatures and voltages are never seen in real world use so don't worry about them.

Question 2: The voltage required to increase stable core clock is also exponential. You could probably get away with something like sub-1V Vcore running a 6700k lower than 3GHz, while requiring liquid nitrogen to deal with the heat when going above 5GHz (well, you could probably also deal with it using a custom water cooling loop).