Intel i7-4790K Voltages

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InfernoxCJC

InfernoxCJC

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Sep 21, 2014
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Hey Toms!
Sorry to make another thread but my new build is being a real pain in the backside at the minute...

CPU: Intel i7-4790K
MoBo: ASUS 797-A
RAM: 16GB Kingston Hyper-X Beast
PSU: Corsair RM 850

----------------------------------------

I am still very new to overclocking as my previous and first decent CPU, an i5-2500K, was obviously an absolute gem and ran perfectly for two years with a 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz overclock using "Auto" voltages.

Anyway, I've been reading around and everyone says 1.3V Core Voltage is the maximum for safe, everyday use and on the BIOS Default settings I am getting 1.154V at 100% utilisation (4.0GHz) but it rockets to 1.281V when using its Turbo clock of 4.4GHz. I need this CPU to last so I need to lower these voltages but I have no idea what I am doing in this regard. Looking at the BIOS there are so many different voltages each with different settings and +/- offset values and I don't want to touch anything and risk frying it but equally I know stuff is too high. I would like to overclock, nothing major, but first I need to understand these voltages, get the thing safe at stock speeds and then move on from there.

My question is, can anyone point me in the right sirection as to what all of these voltages are and do (I'm using an ASUS Z97-A in case you missed that) and what safe, sensible values would be for each one using stock values with and without Turbo mode?

Thanks in advance for all your help.
Conor
 
Solution
mr91
It's my pleasure to help a fellow enthusiast...

Manual is safe however it "might" reduce the lifespan of your CPU.

I wouldn't worry about it because you will probably upgrade before the CPU dies.
Intel makes very high quality products.

I suggest you call Asus and ask them to help you configure adaptive mode so that the voltage doesn't exceed 1.25v.

Good luck!

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Hey

The CPU die was soldered to the IHS that's way the Sandy Bridge or 2500k were really good for overclocking.
The devils canyon has a good TIM but it's not as good soldering... You CPU has extra transistors for improved overclocking.

1.3 V is safe however if you use 1.3 V with the EVO your temps will be very hot! I recommend Liquid for those voltages... The max I would use with your cooler is 1.23...

I strongly suggest you watch the overclocking video below done by a guy that works for Asus for Newegg because most of the answers you're looking for are there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub6WnHmiIOs

Good luck!


 
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Hey man, thanks for your help yet again! I got the BIOS working properly but thought I'd leave you in piece!

Okay. After watching that video, which didn't really explain what the voltages were actually doing I CPU Core Voltage to 1.2V (manual) and successfully booted. AIDA 64 showed temperatures in the high 60s to low 70s but it was obviously very toasty on idle as it was still getting 1.2V as such I tried Adaptive Mode, setting the "Total Adaptive Mode Voltage" to 1.2V but when I run I'm getting maximum voltages above 1.3V which has totally confused me. Also, what is CPU Cache Voltage? That is Autoing to almost 1.3V compared to the Auto value of 1.104V for the CPU itself...
 
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Actually. Thinking about it, the video you recommended said something about artificial test software asking for extra voltage?

Does this mean that if the system is stable with a 1.2V manual Core Voltage and I then change it to adaptive with a maximum of 1.2V normal computing software and games will never go abovr 1.2V while AIDA and Prime95 for instance will grab for more and send it above 1.3V?
 
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You're Welcome!

Voltages supply power to your CPU...

" If not enough voltage is supplied your CPU becomes unstable"

CPU Core offset voltage should be set to auto when using adaptive voltage which in my testing will push your voltage to 1.23 when using the stability test in AIDA.

I would try to see if 1.2 v adaptive for your cpu cache voltage with auto cpu core offset voltage is stable for you.
 
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Basically if you set it to 1.2 adaptive with your CPU core offset voltage set to auto when playing a game like BF4, most of the time your voltage will be around 1.2 however sometimes it will go up to 1.23 approximately.

"This is what happens on my Asus Z97 ROG board which should be similar to your board"
 
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I think you're in good shape...

If you can get 4.4 core & 4.4 Cache with 1.2 V Adaptive on both core and cache you're golden...

If you want to do a more hardcore overclock and use 1.25v plus I suggest a more powerful cooling solution.
I'm sure if you play around you can push it some more however at 4.4 on all cores including cache the system will be very fast....
 
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Hey man, thanks again for your help.
How long would you say to leave an AIDA test running for to test stability? And which options.

- Stress CPU
- Stress FPU
- Stress cache
- Stress system memory
- Stress local disks
- Stress GPU

I'm currently running an AIDA test with the first four options selected on a 1.15V manual Core Voltage and an Auto Cache Voltage on 4.4GHz Core and Cache.
Been on for 18m so far with max temps of 66C and averages of ~58C

Also, do I need to worry about anything other than Core and Cache voltages?
 
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Update: I tried lowering the Cache Voltage to 1.15V as well and the system froze after 46s of an AIDA test but I probably left it on for around 20m as I was cooking dinner. Will I have done any damage? :-/
 
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18 Minutes is good enough in my opinion however I suggest you try playing your favorite games for a few hours and make sure everything is stable.
I suggest you download MSI afterburner and enable the CPU monitor in the OSD...

" Add the CPU temperature per core and usage per core"

Did you set your Cache speed to 4.4 or did you leave it at 4.0?

I don't think you did any damage, your system should be okay if it's working...

BTW it seems like you got a good CPU because it's stable with low voltages...

 
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Hey man!
CPU and Cache speeds both set to 4.4GHz just finished an hour test with 1.15V Core (manual) and 1.2V Cache (manual) with no problems. Again using the first four options of AIDA I have temperatures in the mid-50s with a maximum of 65C. Are there any other stress tests you would recommend? I'm gonna play some Project CARS tomorrow (I'd say my most CPU intensive game) to further check stability.

Currently running at the Manual 1.15V Core and 1.2V Cache I am getting idle temps pretty similar to that on Auto where the Core voltages was droping to around 0.8V according to CPU-Z. Would you still recommend using Adaptive with the 1.2V maximum?
Watching the video you posted and others I saw that stress tests like AIDA and Prime95 ask for voltage boosts even when it isn't necessary so, when I use Adaptive with a 1.2V maximum the stress tests will actually get above 1.3V but all other programs, no matter how CPU intensive will only get the maximum of 1.2V

Do you mind checking and confirm this for me? It was in the video...
If this is true, and my system is stable at 1.15V and 1.2V (Manual) respectively can I then change to 1.15V and 1.2V (Adaptive) after doing an overnight test with the Manual values and assume the system will be stable? I obviously don't want to use the stress tests using Adaptive values as they will give unrealistic voltages and temperatures.

Finally, are there any other voltage values I need to be concerned with?
Conor
(I love you mr91)
 
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Hey

I suggest you try passmark and 3dmark to test the performance of your system.

It's up to you, you can leave it like this or enable adaptive.

If you use adaptive just modify the offset so it doesn't go up to 1.3...
The stress tests work your CPU beyond any real world test, when in adaptive is enabled extra voltage is given to the CPU however the extra voltage might not be needed so don't run any stress tests with adaptive.

No other voltage values to be concerned with.

Good luck!


 
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Hey man! Yet again thanks for all your help!
In the end I had to set my CPU Core Voltage to 1.175V and CPU Cache Voltage to 1.2V to stop crashes in 3DMark 11

I put my system through a 30m Thermal Test using AIDA's "Stress FPU"
http://i.imgur.com/VxPbGPo.png

I also put the system through an 8hr 30m Stress Test using AIDA's "Stress CPU," "Stress FPU," "Stress cache," and "Stress system memory"
http://i.imgur.com/vSMtWYF.png

Are there any values in the above images that I should be at all concerned about?

Finally, when I booted up this morning I attempted to change both the Core and Cache voltages to Adaptive, leaving the Offsets on "Auto" and setting the maximum turbo voltages on 1.175V and 1.2V respectively. However, when I loaded up Windows, HWMonitor and CPU-Z were both showing maximum readings of 1.281V, any ideas?
 
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That's great, seems like you're on the right track.

I looked at the photo's and it seems like your ring bus voltage or cache voltage is 1.229 which means the auto adaptive combo works...

Can you Let me know what your cinebench score and fire strike score?

Best Regards


 
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Hey man!

CINEBENCH R15 CPU Test - 864 cb
CINEBENCH R15 OpenGL Test - 140.91 fps
3dMark Fire Strike Test - Score of 10,234

Are those any good? =P
Regarding the Ring Bus Voltage. During those tests both the CPU Core Voltage and CPU Cache Voltage were set to 1.175V and 1.2V Manual, not Adaptive... When I used Adaptive with a maximum of 1.175V on the Core Voltage CPU-Z read 1.281V :-/
 
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Your scores are great!

If you look at the comparisons a 4770k @ 4.4 has a score of 822...

Your Firestrike score is also very good...

I prefer adaptive however you might need to play with the offsets to get everything working properly.
Be careful with the offsets because if you set them to high by accident you might overvolt your chip.

Asus has safety mechanism from preventing this but be careful...

"You can also leave the voltage on manual if you want"
 
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Awesome, thanks again for all your help mate!
I don't know what I'd have done without you these past few days! You might have actually saved my rig! =D

Will manual (non-changing) voltages of 1.175V (1.173V on HWMonitor) for CPU Voltage and 1.2V (1.229V on HWMonitor) do any long term damage to the CPU or am I safe to leave them as they are? I agree with you, Adaptive would be better but I can't figure out why when I set the limit to 1.2V I'm getting so much greater than that! =P
 
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It's my pleasure to help a fellow enthusiast...

Manual is safe however it "might" reduce the lifespan of your CPU.

I wouldn't worry about it because you will probably upgrade before the CPU dies.
Intel makes very high quality products.

I suggest you call Asus and ask them to help you configure adaptive mode so that the voltage doesn't exceed 1.25v.

Good luck!

 
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Solution
Hi guys,

just built a new pc, it overclocks like crazy (maybe I was lucky with the CPU). I simply use the 4.7GHZ automatic overclock setting on my Asrock Fatality Z97, and when I verify using HWinfo64, I see that 1.4 voltage is used. I then tried 4.8....same voltage....then tried 5.0ghz same voltage...and its rock solid. For 5ghz, temps are about 28 degrees and when I play games goes to about 50-65 max. I only play games, browse, listen music, watch movies....thats about it. Is running at 1.4 volts when temps are really low and issue?

4790k at 5ghz
Asrock Fatality Z97
16 GB ram 1866ghz
Samsun 840pro
Corsair Air 540 case
Kraken x61 in push pull.
Gigabyte GTX970
 
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