[SOLVED] Incorrect Voltage Displayed

[one-called-kane]

So in the process of setting up my Overclock the voltages that I am setting do not match the voltages being reached during my stress tests. For example when I set the voltage to 1.2 the the voltages will spike to 1.4 during testing, 1.3 reaches 1.5, etc.

At first I thought the Intel XTU utility I was using was the problem, but it happens when I make the changes in the BIOS too. I can change the voltage to any number and it's like the system takes it as a suggestion and then does whatever it pleases. Right now I'm running at 4.5GHz with what it says is 1.20V but is actually 1.41V according to HWiNFO. Even the idle voltage is ~1.35.

My motherboard is an AsRock Z270 Extreme4 and the CPU is an i7 6700k. What I have right now is technically stable at least thermally, but the voltage makes me nervous. I'd be a lot more comfortable if it would just do as I tell it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is your graphics card model?

 

[one-called-kane]

Gigabyte 2060 Gaming OC Pro 6GB

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, that's kind of what I thought is that you had an Nvidia card.

So your errors in Realbench are probably, possibly, maybe, lol, not related to stability but are about the graphics card. IDK what's up with that but I'm trying to find out more as this isn't the first I've heard of it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You are running the stress test and not the benchmark, right?

 

[one-called-kane]

You are running the stress test and not the benchmark, right?

Yep. Running for 1 Hr at 8GB which is half of my RAM.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I can't find anything definitive, but I've seen several people throwing GPU errors with Realbench when using Nvidia cards, especially Pascal and Turing.

Is your graphics card currently overclocked? If so, try putting it back to the stock configuration until you've settled on a stable overclock for the CPU and completed any required memory testing.

 

[one-called-kane]

Is your graphics card currently overclocked? If so, try putting it back to the stock configuration until you've settled on a stable overclock for the CPU and completed any required memory testing.

It's clocked slightly higher by default but I haven't done anything to it, yet. Today is my Friday so hopefully tomorrow I should be able to get some good testing in.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Do you have a tuning program installed at all, for the graphics card, like Afterburner, Trixx or anything like that?

Are you using GeForce experience?

I know you said slots 2 and 4, but let's be clear. Is the memory installed in THESE exact slots?

 

[one-called-kane]

I have afterburner installed but it's not active when I run the tests. I even disable steam and origin before I run anything.

Just tested 4.5 at 1.38V, passed prime, ran for ~30 min of Realbench before BSOD with a system service exception for dxgkrnl.sys. The whole prime test the Vcore was rock solid at 1.248V, which is exceptionally annoying since it's not stable anywhere near that voltage.

I am using GeForce Experience, should I disable thatwhen I run tests? RAM is indeed in A2-B2 per the BIOS hardware scanner.

Update: ran the exact same settings with prime95 in blend overnight and it passed.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Boy, 1.38v seems excessively high. I'd try 1.35v with LLC on 4. You could be right, it could just be a really poor sample though.

Are you staying below 80°C with that voltage in Prime95 version 26.6 Small FFT for fifteen minutes?

I hate to re-ask something that I probably already did, but you are doing all this testing with the memory at 2133mhz, right? Not with the memory XMP enabled?

I'm thinking most of this might honestly be the board. Those ASRock Pro4 and Extreme4 boards really were not very good past the stock operating frequency.

 

[one-called-kane]

81C max both for the 15 min FFT as well as an overnight test with Blend. Memory is default 2133, no XMP. I agree, it seems like everyone and their sister can get stable 4.5-4.7 with a tithe of what mine needs. Most of the test is spend somewhere south of 1.3-ish, I'm assuming it spikes up at certain times, I just have no idea when, the Vcore graph in HWi is basically a straight line of 1.248 after the bump when the test starts, but even then it only goes up to ~1.34, so I don't understand why it isn't stable lower.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Try 1.35v with an LLC value of 5.

What is your LLC set to now? I think we need to look at some other settings as well.

What are you uncore and system agent voltages set to? Auto?

What is your uncore frequency set to? Auto?

I'm going to have to have a look at exactly what settings are available for that bios as well. Do me a favor, go into the BIOS, stick a thumb drive in any USB port, press F12 and see if that board allows you to take screenshots of the BIOS windows like my boards do. Some do, some don't.

 

[one-called-kane]

My LLC doesn't go any higher than 4. I can try dialing the voltage down but it has crashed every time in Realbench so far.

Here are some pics from the BIOS, there are a bunch of settings in the DRAM section that I haven't touched at all, but I put them in anyways in case they're important. I don't think I left anything out, but please let me know if you want anything expanded on at all.

https://ibb.co/album/dt4gqa

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you SURE that's the highest they go to. Have you tried using the down arrow key to scroll past LLC setting of 4? Often, there are settings in the bios that you can't just "click" on because you can't see them without scrolling the options. Not saying yours is that way, but LLC only 1-4 is pretty odd, but again, not really a great overclocking board.

I'll look into the options on that board after while.

 

[one-called-kane]

Yeah, it only goes to 4, I double checked just to be sure.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I think you're going to have to either be happy where you leveled out at, or look at maybe getting a better board.

 

[one-called-kane]

That's my thought as well. I really appreciate the help though, mate.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For sure. If you decide to get another board, let me know. I'll look around and see what looks good. I saw quite a few of the Z170X-Gaming 5 Gigabyte boards for less than 90 bucks on Ebay the other day, and I had very good success with my overclock on my Gaming 5, I just wanted the more granular control of the memory voltage which is why I picked up a Hero VIII and switched.

 

[one-called-kane]

I just bought this board and gpu since my last ones died so I'm probably gonna stick with what I've got for now until the next upgrade cycle comes around, haha.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I totally understand that, for sure.