Safe over clocking for i7 8700K

[n_g_c_3]

I'm fairly new to over clocking and am wondering if 5ghz is safe for my cpu. This rig is mainly converting and editing video and audio files, just want it to be as fast as it can.

MB- MSI Z370 Gaming M5
CPU- i7 8700K stock 3.7ghz
GPU- Gigabyte GTX 1050
Ram- 16gb Gskill

Idle temp is around 25c
Running at 100% never goes above 50c

It is currently locked at 3.7ghz @ 1.024V


UPDATE-

So I've looked into it a bit more, ran some CPU-Z tests, and found what it's doing.

Under full load the VCore drops to 1.288 from 1.304. The frequency is constantly changing, but always staying in the 5020 MHz (meaning it never hits 5019 or 5030), it doesn't change under full load. Temps stop at 73/74c. I haven't had any issues with crashing, freezing, performance drops, etc. I just want to be sure my system is stable.

 

[2sidedpolygon]

The 8700K can hit 5GHz with relative ease as long as you have sufficient cooling. You'd probably need an AIO or a premium air cooler to do it.

 

[n_g_c_3]

The 8700K can hit 5GHz with relative ease as long as you have sufficient cooling. You'd probably need an AIO or a premium air cooler to do it.

I have the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo and like I mentioned, it keeps it fairly cool compared to other air cooled 8700K temps I've seen. Do you have any recommendations for guides I could use as reference?

 

[geofelt]

How high you can oc a 8700K is determined by your luck in getting a good chip.
as of 3/22/2018
What % of I7-8700k chips can oc
at a aggressive vcore near 1.4 or so and delidded
4.9 99%
5.0 88%
5.1 54%
5.2 22%

Not the delidded caveat. That allows the processor to be cooled better.

Raise your multiplier gradually.
Monitor your vcore with cpu-Z. Do not let vcore get to 1.4 or perhaps a bit less.

Keep your stress test temperatures limited to 85c.

Implement speedstep and adaptive voltage.
That will lower your multiplier and vcore when there is little to do.

 

[n_g_c_3]

How high you can oc a 8700K is determined by your luck in getting a good chip.
as of 3/22/2018
What % of I7-8700k chips can oc
at a aggressive vcore near 1.4 or so and delidded
4.9 99%
5.0 88%
5.1 54%
5.2 22%

Not the delidded caveat. That allows the processor to be cooled better.

Raise your multiplier gradually.
Monitor your vcore with cpu-Z. Do not let vcore get to 1.4 or perhaps a bit less.

Keep your stress test temperatures limited to 85c.

Implement speedstep and adaptive voltage.
That will lower your multiplier and vcore when there is little to do.

Ok, thank you. I will attempt 5ghz (as I don't want to risk it's life expectancy) and will report back when I've succeeded.

 

[geofelt]

Your key to safety is vcore.
The processor will throttle or shut down if it detects a dangerous temperature. That is around 100c.

 

[n_g_c_3]

Your key to safety is vcore.
The processor will throttle or shut down if it detects a dangerous temperature. That is around 100c.

I have successfully gotten to 5ghz while staying stable. But I noticed the VCore does change a few decimals under load. I have it set to 1.304V and it typically goes to 1.2__V under load, is that normal? The temps level out at 73c while running the stress test on CPU-Z.

 

[geofelt]

If you are stable and vcore is not high, that is all that counts.
I am not into the minutae of overclocking.
I think what you are seeing is called vdroop.

 

[n_g_c_3]

If you are stable and vcore is not high, that is all that counts.
I am not into the minutae of overclocking.
I think what you are seeing is called vdroop.

Awesome, thank you for your help in this.

 

[thtran6]

Your key to safety is vcore.
The processor will throttle or shut down if it detects a dangerous temperature. That is around 100c.

I have successfully gotten to 5ghz while staying stable. But I noticed the VCore does change a few decimals under load. I have it set to 1.304V and it typically goes to 1.2__V under load, is that normal? The temps level out at 73c while running the stress test on CPU-Z.

First of all, good job on the overclock.
1.304 Vcore for 5.0 Ghz is typical, you shouldn't have any problem with this.
Now when you say under 100% cpu load and the vcore goes down to 1.2V, I feel like there are 2 possibilities here:

Case 1: It could be Vdroop, as geofelt pointed out above. Vdroop basically refers to the phenomenon wherein your Vcore drops below your manually input Vcore value when cpu is put under high load. The greater the cpu load, the greater the drop.

However, in my experience overclocking, Vdroop doesn't usually drop down that much. 1.304 to 1.2 is a big big drop that could instantly cause your system to go unstable - aka crash - in a few minutes or even a few seconds into stress testing. To confirm this, I strongly suggest running Prime95 version 26.6 Small FFT test (a quick google will point you to the download link).

Case 2: Due to some reasons, your cpu throttles, reducing its clock speed. With adaptive setting and speedstep, your vcore probably follows and reduces itself too. The cause of throttling can vary. Not saying this is the cause, but it could be insufficient power (you haven't told us what your PSU is). Also for MSI mobo, the short & long duration power limit in the BIOS might need to be manually adjusted.

To double check to see whether or not your cpu is throttling, use HWmonitor side by side with Prime95 running.
If it turns down that your cpu is actually throttling and dropping frequency as well as vcore, you can isolate the cause of throttling by using Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel XTU). It will highlight whatever is causing your cpu to throttle.


Now, if you find out that it is indeed Vdroop, then there is a way to overcome this. In your BIOS setting, somewhere near the Vcore input, you will find a feature called LLC (load line calibration). Go in there and select the appropriate mode. Usually Mode 4 (a straight horizontal line) means you'll be supplying a constantly voltage to your chip under 100% load. To compensate Vdroop, people typically select Mode 3 to 1 (with 1 being the most agressive). Basically these modes will raise your Vcore as the load gets higher. This way you don't have to have a high Vcore when computer is just idling.

Hope this helps!

 

[n_g_c_3]

Your key to safety is vcore.
The processor will throttle or shut down if it detects a dangerous temperature. That is around 100c.

I have successfully gotten to 5ghz while staying stable. But I noticed the VCore does change a few decimals under load. I have it set to 1.304V and it typically goes to 1.2__V under load, is that normal? The temps level out at 73c while running the stress test on CPU-Z.

First of all, good job on the overclock.
1.304 Vcore for 5.0 Ghz is typical, you shouldn't have any problem with this.
Now when you say under 100% cpu load and the vcore goes down to 1.2V, I feel like there are 2 possibilities here:

Case 1: It could be Vdroop, as geofelt pointed out above. Vdroop basically refers to the phenomenon wherein your Vcore drops below your manually input Vcore value when cpu is put under high load. The greater the cpu load, the greater the drop.

However, in my experience overclocking, Vdroop doesn't usually drop down that much. 1.304 to 1.2 is a big big drop that could instantly cause your system to go unstable - aka crash - in a few minutes or even a few seconds into stress testing. To confirm this, I strongly suggest running Prime95 version 26.6 Small FFT test (a quick google will point you to the download link).

Case 2: Due to some reasons, your cpu throttles, reducing its clock speed. With adaptive setting and speedstep, your vcore probably follows and reduces itself too. The cause of throttling can vary. Not saying this is the cause, but it could be insufficient power (you haven't told us what your PSU is). Also for MSI mobo, the short & long duration power limit in the BIOS might need to be manually adjusted.

To double check to see whether or not your cpu is throttling, use HWmonitor side by side with Prime95 running.
If it turns down that your cpu is actually throttling and dropping frequency as well as vcore, you can isolate the cause of throttling by using Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel XTU). It will highlight whatever is causing your cpu to throttle.


Now, if you find out that it is indeed Vdroop, then there is a way to overcome this. In your BIOS setting, somewhere near the Vcore input, you will find a feature called LLC (load line calibration). Go in there and select the appropriate mode. Usually Mode 4 (a straight horizontal line) means you'll be supplying a constantly voltage to your chip under 100% load. To compensate Vdroop, people typically select Mode 3 to 1 (with 1 being the most agressive). Basically these modes will raise your Vcore as the load gets higher. This way you don't have to have a high Vcore when computer is just idling.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, I will look into all of this when I have the PC in front of me (not my home PC). When I said it was dropping down to 1.2V, I wasn't sure exactly what the voltage was, but I later found out it was dropping down to 1.296V, not sure if that small of a drop is ok or not. I did notice the frequency would drop sometimes under half load (50%) so throttling is actually quiet likely. That being said, it never dropped below 5000, it was also not noticeable performance wise.

My PSU is an Evga 750, 80 Gold+ rated. I ran the CPU-Z stress test for about 10 minutes and never noticed a problem, but that doesn't mean it didn't throttle during that test. I honestly wasn't watching the screen the entire time. I do know that it didn't crash though. Just want to be sure I did it right and that my CPU won't suffer because I messed up. Thanks for your help.