Question i7-8700k 4.5ghz OC at 1.23v is it safe?

[kinggaming60]

So recently i had my i7-8700k at 4.4ghz at 1.28v and realised i was hitting temps at like 82c per core being the highest, i knew straight away that i must have been over-volting the oc cause the oc was quite mild, so in turn i decreased the voltage to 1.23v and increased oc to 4.5ghz and saw my highest CPU temps after roughly 1 hour of AIDA hit 74c per core. My cooling is just a simple CoolerMaster Hyper212 Evo. Should i consider getting a new cooling solution or even change my overclock or do something else. The help would be very much appreciated

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I would turn off the OC or get a good cooler.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Aida is USELESS for thermal compliance testing, unless you simply want a false sense of security. If you want to test an overclock CORRECTLY, use the methods indicated below. I would also definitely consider getting a higher performance cooler than that entry level 212 EVO. That's pretty much bottom of the barrel when it comes to aftermarket cooling solutions that are even remotely recommendable.

Quick and dirty overview of overclocking/stability validation procedure.

Set CPU multiplier and voltage at desired settings in BIOS. Do not use presets or automatic utilities. These will overcompensate on core and other voltages. It is much better to configure most core settings manually, and leave anything left over on auto until a later point in time if wish to come back and tweak settings such as cache (Uncore) frequency, System agent voltage, VCCIO (Internal memory controller) and memory speeds or timings (RAM) AFTER the CPU overclock is fully stable.

Save bios settings (As a new BIOS profile if your bios supports multiple profiles) and exit bios.

Boot into the Windows desktop environment. Download and install Prime95 version 26.6.

Download and install either HWinfo or CoreTemp.

Open HWinfo and run "Sensors only" or open CoreTemp.

Run Prime95 (ONLY version 26.6) and choose the "Small FFT test option". Run this for 15 minutes while monitoring your core/package temperatures to verify that you do not exceed the thermal specifications of your CPU.

(This should be considered to be 80°C for most generations of Intel processor and for current Ryzen CPUs. For older AMD FX and Phenom series, you should use a thermal monitor that has options for "Distance to TJmax" and you want to NOT see distance to TJmax drop below 10°C distance to TJmax. Anything that is MORE than 10°C distance to TJmax is within the allowed thermal envelope.)

If your CPU passes the thermal compliance test, move on to stability.

Download and install Realbench. Run Realbench and choose the Stress test option. Choose a value from the available memory (RAM) options that is equal to approximately half of your installed memory capacity. If you have 16GB, choose 8GB. If you have 8GB, choose 4GB, etc. Click start and allow the stability test to run for 8 hours. Do not plan to use the system for ANYTHING else while it is running. It will run realistic AVX and handbrake workloads and if it passes 8 hours of testing it is probably about as stable as you can reasonably expect.

If you wish to check stability further you can run 12-24 hours of Prime95 Blend mode or Small FFT.

You do not need to simultaneously run HWinfo or CoreTemp while running Realbench as you should have already performed the thermal compliance test PLUS Realbench will show current CPU temperatures while it is running.

If you run the additional stability test using Prime95 Blend/Small FFT modes for 12-24 hours, you will WANT to also run HWinfo alongside it. Monitor HWinfo periodically to verify that no cores/threads are showing less than 100% usage. If it is, then that worker has errored out and the test should be stopped.

If you find there are errors on ANY of the stability tests including Realbench or Prime95, or any other stress testing utility, you need to make a change in the bios. This could be either dropping the multiplier to a lower factor or increasing the voltage while leaving the multiplier the same. If you change voltage or multiplier at ANY time, you need to start over again at the beginning and verify thermal compliance again.

A more in depth but general guide that is still intended for beginners or those who have had a small amount of experience overclocking can be found here:


*CPU overclocking guide for beginners

 

[Gmoney06ss]

Why is aida useless? I've seen it recommended as a thermal stability test until recently. And have used it myself. But now after reading a few of your posts and your oc guide, am questioning my oc stability. Especially with the bsods I've been getting, which are seemingly ram related, but pass several windows memtests. I will be redoing my oc and stability tests now, following this.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'm aware of 5 utilities with steady-state workloads. In order of load level they are:

(1) P95 v26.6 - Small FFT's
(2) HeavyLoad - Stress CPU
(3) FurMark - CPU Burner
(4) Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool - CPU Load
(5) AIDA64 - Tools - System Stability Test - Stress CPU

AIDA64's Stress CPU fails to load any overclocked / overvolted CPU to get anywhere near TDP, and is therefore useless, except for giving naive users a sense of false security because their temps are so low.​

HeavyLoad is the closest alternative. Temps and watts are within 3% of Small FFT's.

Computronix
Author - Intel temperature guide

That is why. Because Comp has done the testing, gathered the empirical and anecdotal evidence from his own testing and the findings of others, and has said that it is so, and so it is. I have also found that thermal testing with Aida results in much lower temperatures than testing with Prime95 version 26.6 (Which is a non-AVX version, so it is not creating higher temps due to AVX instructions, it is simply a more complete steady state load), Heavyload, Intel burn test or even Furmark for that matter.

I've seen higher core temps on my 6700k running full system malware scans than using Aida.

 

[Gmoney06ss]

Thank you darkbreeze!! I will be going back over my current settings and rerunning all my stability tests now. I want to make sure I have this done the correct way.

 

[kinggaming60]

@Darkbreeze Thank you very much for the help with things, Just thought i was going to get a simple yes or no but you've definitely helped a lot

 

[kinggaming60]

Aida is USELESS for thermal compliance testing, unless you simply want a false sense of security. If you want to test an overclock CORRECTLY, use the methods indicated below. I would also definitely consider getting a higher performance cooler than that entry level 212 EVO. That's pretty much bottom of the barrel when it comes to aftermarket cooling solutions that are even remotely recommendable.

Quick and dirty overview of overclocking/stability validation procedure.

Set CPU multiplier and voltage at desired settings in BIOS. Do not use presets or automatic utilities. These will overcompensate on core and other voltages. It is much better to configure most core settings manually, and leave anything left over on auto until a later point in time if wish to come back and tweak settings such as cache (Uncore) frequency, System agent voltage, VCCIO (Internal memory controller) and memory speeds or timings (RAM) AFTER the CPU overclock is fully stable.

Save bios settings (As a new BIOS profile if your bios supports multiple profiles) and exit bios.

Boot into the Windows desktop environment. Download and install Prime95 version 26.6.

Download and install either HWinfo or CoreTemp.

Open HWinfo and run "Sensors only" or open CoreTemp.

Run Prime95 (ONLY version 26.6) and choose the "Small FFT test option". Run this for 15 minutes while monitoring your core/package temperatures to verify that you do not exceed the thermal specifications of your CPU.

(This should be considered to be 80°C for most generations of Intel processor and for current Ryzen CPUs. For older AMD FX and Phenom series, you should use a thermal monitor that has options for "Distance to TJmax" and you want to NOT see distance to TJmax drop below 10°C distance to TJmax. Anything that is MORE than 10°C distance to TJmax is within the allowed thermal envelope.)

If your CPU passes the thermal compliance test, move on to stability.

Download and install Realbench. Run Realbench and choose the Stress test option. Choose a value from the available memory (RAM) options that is equal to approximately half of your installed memory capacity. If you have 16GB, choose 8GB. If you have 8GB, choose 4GB, etc. Click start and allow the stability test to run for 8 hours. Do not plan to use the system for ANYTHING else while it is running. It will run realistic AVX and handbrake workloads and if it passes 8 hours of testing it is probably about as stable as you can reasonably expect.

If you wish to check stability further you can run 12-24 hours of Prime95 Blend mode or Small FFT.

You do not need to simultaneously run HWinfo or CoreTemp while running Realbench as you should have already performed the thermal compliance test PLUS Realbench will show current CPU temperatures while it is running.

If you run the additional stability test using Prime95 Blend/Small FFT modes for 12-24 hours, you will WANT to also run HWinfo alongside it. Monitor HWinfo periodically to verify that no cores/threads are showing less than 100% usage. If it is, then that worker has errored out and the test should be stopped.

If you find there are errors on ANY of the stability tests including Realbench or Prime95, or any other stress testing utility, you need to make a change in the bios. This could be either dropping the multiplier to a lower factor or increasing the voltage while leaving the multiplier the same. If you change voltage or multiplier at ANY time, you need to start over again at the beginning and verify thermal compliance again.

A more in depth but general guide that is still intended for beginners or those who have had a small amount of experience overclocking can be found here:


*CPU overclocking guide for beginners

Whilst doing the test I notices that my core clock only capped out at 4.2ghz with 1.2v draw being the highest does this mean that my overclock isn’t getting enough voltage?

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you manually have the CPU set to 4.4Ghz for all cores, and it's capping out at 4.2Ghz, then there is a configuration problem or the CPU or VRMs are getting too hot and the system is throttling back the clock to stay within the allowed temps. I'd re-check my settings in the BIOS.