Question overclocking my i7-12700k

[tbowly]

so i have i7 12700k and asus rog z690-a wifi gaming d4. my cpu core frequency can go up to 4900Mhz, with 1.25 core voltage and 34°-42°c temp. (normal workload)

when i enable asus ai overclocking feature it goes up to 5200 Mhz with 1.46 voltage and 40-47°c temp (normal workload).

my questions:

is it ok to get 1.46 voltage? not dangerous? i am a little bit worried so i turned overclocking off for now

do i really need to overclock i7 12700k from 4900 to 5200 Mhz? how good will it be

spec:

Case: Lian Li LANCOOL II mesh atx mid tower

Case Fans: Cooler Master Masfterfan MF 120 Halo 3-pack

motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K

CPU cooler: Rog strix LC ii 240 ARGB

Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) 3600MHZ CL18

gpu: Asus ROG RTX 3070Ti oc gaming 8gb

power supply: Corsair 1000Hx 80+ platinum 1000w

 

[Aeacus]

is it ok to get 1.46 voltage? not dangerous?

A bit too much voltage. Highest i'd go, is 1.45V.

when i enable asus ai overclocking feature

Many MoBo manufacturers offer that lazy man's OC feature, with one click/flip. And to get the OC stable, those OC profiles are often configured with more than enough + then some voltage to CPU.

Since each CPU is different (silicone lottery), that overprovisioning with voltage works with most CPUs and hence why voltage is that high.

do i really need to overclock i7 12700k from 4900 to 5200 Mhz?

CPU OC is comparable to passenger car's engine RPM.
And answer to your question is same as answer to this question: Do you need to keep car engine RPM at 4000 RPM at all times when driving around?

All-in-all, keeping CPU frequency at max level (or beyond that), will reduce CPU lifespan considerably.

CPU lifespan vs CPU OC, more or less goes like so:
Not touching the CPU frequency and let it jump around as needed, while CPU idles at ~800 Mhz = CPU can last easy 10+ years. Perhaps even 20 years.
With CPU OC, keeping all cores minimum of base clock (P core 3.6 Ghz, E core 2.7 Ghz) without letting CPU to "rest" = ~5 year lifespan or so.
With CPU OC, keeping all cores at max frequency at all times (P core 5 Ghz, E core 3.8 Ghz) = ~2 year lifespan or so.
With CPU OC, keeping all cores at the max what they possibly can do (P core 5+ Ghz, E core 4+ Ghz) = ~1 year lifespan.

The higher the CPU OC - the faster CPU will be worked out and the sooner it will die.

 

[faalin]

A bit too much voltage. Highest i'd go, is 1.45V.



Many MoBo manufacturers offer that lazy man's OC feature, with one click/flip. And to get the OC stable, those OC profiles are often configured with more than enough + then some voltage to CPU.

Since each CPU is different (silicone lottery), that overprovisioning with voltage works with most CPUs and hence why voltage is that high.



CPU OC is comparable to passenger car's engine RPM.
And answer to your question is same as answer to this question: Do you need to keep car engine RPM at 4000 RPM at all times when driving around?

All-in-all, keeping CPU frequency at max level (or beyond that), will reduce CPU lifespan considerably.

CPU lifespan vs CPU OC, more or less goes like so:
Not touching the CPU frequency and let it jump around as needed, while CPU idles at ~800 Mhz = CPU can last easy 10+ years. Perhaps even 20 years.
With CPU OC, keeping all cores minimum of base clock (P core 3.6 Ghz, E core 2.7 Ghz) without letting CPU to "rest" = ~5 year lifespan or so.
With CPU OC, keeping all cores at max frequency at all times (P core 5 Ghz, E core 3.8 Ghz) = ~2 year lifespan or so.
With CPU OC, keeping all cores at the max what they possibly can do (P core 5+ Ghz, E core 4+ Ghz) = ~1 year lifespan.

The higher the CPU OC - the faster CPU will be worked out and the sooner it will die.

I dont think there has ever been a study of degradation between a non OC'd cpu and a OC'd cpu. With that being said my 8700k was bought Feb 2018, de lidded, and has been OC'd to 5.1Ghz 24/7 with maybe a month of off time since i built the computer. It still benches just as good as the day i built it, maybe i got a golden CPU with better silicon the others. I have my first i7 950 that beat the living p!ss out of 4.6Ghz 24/7 with the winter OC at 4.9Ghz, had that for a few years at home for my gamer and when replaced took it to work and replaced it in 2020 with a AMD 3600x. That was over 10 years with a high overclock on it, that same CPU is still work in my server rack as a storage server..... still OC'd at 4.6GHz.

 

[Aeacus]

I dont think there has ever been a study of degradation between a non OC'd cpu and a OC'd cpu.

While i couldn't find a white paper about it, there are plenty of articles about it in the net.

With CPU OC, the main thing that can kill it, is heat. Due to that, great cooling is needed. Some even delid their CPUs (like you did), to get even greater thermal headroom.

Over time, there's also heat degradation, which would be the main cause. E.g there's a diff if CPU is kept running at all times at 40C or 89C (barely at the level of thermal throttle, just to keep the high level OC).

Besides heat, there is also increased power draw due to OC. Nowadays, electricity costs far more than it ever has (due to some slavs) and there is quite a bit of impact if to run the CPU at stock power levels (125-190W for OPs i7-12700K, depending on workload) or higher power levels to maintain the OC (220+W at all times).

While the benefit from CPU OC is questionable. Sure, CPU tasks may be milliseconds faster (which isn't noticeable) but for gaming, where most games are GPU bound, CPU OC, at best, gives you single digit FPS increase, if even that.

IMO, CPU OC, for the most part, is for bragging rights.

Oh, one more thing. If you OC the CPU, you'll void CPU's warranty. Intel or AMD will not cover for you, when you OC your CPU and it dies during warranty period. Same goes to the RAM OC (XMP) that can also automatically OC the CPU.
Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/394...g-are-ok-even-if-they-void-your-warranty.html

 

[Phaaze88]

https://www.tomshardware.com/features/inside-intels-secret-overclocking-lab/7
From Intel's own engineers, no less.