Step by step Offset Overclock i5-3570k. VID question too.

[animositygamers]

Hardware incase someone wants to know:
i5-3570k ivy bridge trying to OC to 4.5ghz
coolmaster 212 evo with Noctua F12 on it
New 80+ gold EVGA psu 650w
asrock Z77 extreme 4 mobo
8gb ram 1600mhz

Asrock Z77 extreme 4 UEFI settings under OC tweaker:
**IF not mentioned, then I left it as it's default **
CPU ratio: All Core
All core: 46
House clock (BCLK): 100.0
Spread spectrum: Disabled
Intel Speedstep Tech: Enabled
Additional Turbo voltage: X (i'm changing it still for my OC) started at +0.051
PLL Overvoltage: Disabled
Long and short power limit: 300
Primary and secondary plane limit: 300
Ram is set to 9-9-9-24 timings, 1600mhz and 1.5v (all labeled on my ram)
Power saving mode: disabled
CPU core voltage: Offset mode
Offset voltage: X (still changing) I started at -0.010v
Load line Calibration: level 3

settings under advanced tab, cpu config:
**IF not mentioned, then I left it as it's default **
Active processor core: ALL
Enhanced Halt State (C1E) : Enabled
CPU C3: Disabled (I don't use sleep mode)
CPU C6: Disabled (I don't use sleep mode)


So as the title says i'm doing a step by step offset overclock of my i5-3570k because I cant find alot of info on offset overclocks so this may help someone maybe and It doubles are keeping track of my volts/temps to compare. I do have a question though, I am getting some fair differences in the core voltage from CPU-Z and HWMonitor. Under full load with blend test (prime 95) HWMonitor is reporting under the VID max 1.371 (hovering around 1.36-1.37) and cpu-z is reporting 1.312v-1.320v. I'm just wondering whats on the go between the 2 of them? Is hwmonitor reporting my straight voltage with no droop? and cpu-z picking up my actual cpu voltage after drooping? (I have my LLC set to 3)

It's just a general question anyways because my temps are higher than I want (high 80's max recorded) with the blend test so i'm reducing voltage anyways. Still would be nice to know which is actually correct although I believe it's CPU-Z.

TEST 1 listed above was with a Offset of -0.10v and a turbo offset of +0.051v

TEST 2 because temps were too high:
-Still going for 4.5GHz but now with a offset of -.20v and a turbo offset of +0.043v.
-New readings under load on cpu-z is 1.288v and HWmonitor is at 1.361v.
-Temps seems to have reduced down to mid 80's on max column but I think thats because my fan took a second to cool the heatsink because [strike]it's sitting at about 70-73 celcius in it's actual value column. [/strike] now up to 78-82 after 20 mins of blend test. Prob going to try reducing offsets again.

TEST 3 because load temps were still high:
- Still going for 4.5GHz. Didn't change offset from -.20v because idle voltage is at 1.056v compared to the stocks 1.061v. Did change the turbo offset to +0.039v.
-New readings under load on cpu-z is 1.280v and HWmonitor is at 1.356v.
-Temps so far are at low 80's, which isnt much of a change. only 2 hours into blend test, I can do better I think

TEST 4 because I think I can lower voltages a bit.
- Still going for 4.5Ghz. Offset is now set to -0.06v and turbo is at +0.059v.
- New readings in CPU-Z: Idle is 1.016v and load is 1.264v-1.272v (usually 1.264v) HWM is at 1.371v and i think its way off.
- into a 1 hour blend test now and temps have peaked to 80 celcius but usually hover around 65-72 celcius. I have had no failures on Prime95 blend so far. I will let this run overnight 8 hours to make sure it's stable but i think it is. Also will test with real life applications like gaming tomorrow.

Final thoughts: i like the fact that i'm not bombarding my cpu with 1.2+ volts under no load with a offset overclock. It honestly isn't that hard to setup, idk why more people don't do it. Hope this helps someone and if anyone can tell me whats up with HWMonitor's VID readings that would be cool. Thanks.


EDIT: So appearently all my voltages are wrong because asrock is awesome. So i'm scrapping this OC and starting again because my voltages are a fair amount higher than the actual CPU-Z readout. Settings and method is still the same for anyone who wants to try OCing with offset mode.

 

[AdmiralDonut]

The problem with the VID readings is a known issue with almost all of the ASRock Extreme series motherboards. All the voltage readings you see in the BIOS, as well as in 3rd party programs are actually wrong. You can test this by using a multimeter on the appropriate points on the rear of the motherboard.

 

[thequn]

Interesting I didn't know this about asrock hahahaas for me I am under volting my i5 and still hit 4.5 and 5.0 but I have a sub ambient system.

 

[AdmiralDonut]

Interesting I didn't know this about asrock hahahaas for me I am under volting my i5 and still hit 4.5 and 5.0 but I have a sub ambient system.

It's been a major pain in the ass for a number of years, and covers almost all of the ASRock Z77 range:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1360404/asrock-z77-series-vcore-reading

I got lucky with my i5 3570K as I can hit 4.5GHz at stock voltages, and 4.7GHz at 1.208v on air with ambients of 23°c. I just had to readjust a few things when I moved from my old MSI board to this ASRock Extreme4 to take the VID issue in to account.

 

[animositygamers]

Interesting I didn't know this about asrock hahahaas for me I am under volting my i5 and still hit 4.5 and 5.0 but I have a sub ambient system.

It's been a major pain in the ass for a number of years, and covers almost all of the ASRock Z77 range:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1360404/asrock-z77-series-vcore-reading

I got lucky with my i5 3570K as I can hit 4.5GHz at stock voltages, and 4.7GHz at 1.208v on air with ambients of 23°c. I just had to readjust a few things when I moved from my old MSI board to this ASRock Extreme4 to take the VID issue in to account.

This really helps. I failed test 4, so I upped the voltage was reading out at 1.272v on load with blend test. I was considering dropping to 4.4Ghz because I need to up my turbo offset from the +0.062v to make it stable but I don't want to go over 1.3v under load but now i'll retest with my multimeter (i have a good one with me because I'm a electrician) and see what actual voltages are at and then it may make me feel better about the overclock. It also kind of screws my documented numbers apparently so I may be starting again somewhere in the realm of where I left off.

Just checked with multimeter and I read 1.306v with load instead of the 1.264v I was getting on CPU-Z. I'm starting over with the OC and just using HWMonitor for temps and my multimeter for voltages.

 

[AdmiralDonut]

Interesting I didn't know this about asrock hahahaas for me I am under volting my i5 and still hit 4.5 and 5.0 but I have a sub ambient system.

It's been a major pain in the ass for a number of years, and covers almost all of the ASRock Z77 range:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1360404/asrock-z77-series-vcore-reading

I got lucky with my i5 3570K as I can hit 4.5GHz at stock voltages, and 4.7GHz at 1.208v on air with ambients of 23°c. I just had to readjust a few things when I moved from my old MSI board to this ASRock Extreme4 to take the VID issue in to account.

This really helps. I failed test 4, so I upped the voltage was reading out at 1.272v on load with blend test. I was considering dropping to 4.4Ghz because I need to up my turbo offset from the +0.062v to make it stable but I don't want to go over 1.3v under load but now i'll retest with my multimeter (i have a good one with me because I'm a electrician) and see what actual voltages are at and then it may make me feel better about the overclock. It also kind of screws my documented numbers apparently so I may be starting again somewhere in the realm of where I left off.

Just checked with multimeter and I read 1.306v with load instead of the 1.264v I was getting on CPU-Z. I'm starting over with the OC and just using HWMonitor for temps and my multimeter for voltages.

Glad to be of help

 

[animositygamers]

Interesting I didn't know this about asrock hahahaas for me I am under volting my i5 and still hit 4.5 and 5.0 but I have a sub ambient system.

It's been a major pain in the ass for a number of years, and covers almost all of the ASRock Z77 range:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1360404/asrock-z77-series-vcore-reading

I got lucky with my i5 3570K as I can hit 4.5GHz at stock voltages, and 4.7GHz at 1.208v on air with ambients of 23°c. I just had to readjust a few things when I moved from my old MSI board to this ASRock Extreme4 to take the VID issue in to account.

This really helps. I failed test 4, so I upped the voltage was reading out at 1.272v on load with blend test. I was considering dropping to 4.4Ghz because I need to up my turbo offset from the +0.062v to make it stable but I don't want to go over 1.3v under load but now i'll retest with my multimeter (i have a good one with me because I'm a electrician) and see what actual voltages are at and then it may make me feel better about the overclock. It also kind of screws my documented numbers apparently so I may be starting again somewhere in the realm of where I left off.

Just checked with multimeter and I read 1.306v with load instead of the 1.264v I was getting on CPU-Z. I'm starting over with the OC and just using HWMonitor for temps and my multimeter for voltages.

Glad to be of help

Is this problem only with asrock boards? If so I don't think i'll be buying an asrock board again, this could of been seriously dangerous if I had watercooling already. I would of pushed much harder with the proper cooling and could of gotten into 1.5v without even knowing.

 

[AdmiralDonut]

Interesting I didn't know this about asrock hahahaas for me I am under volting my i5 and still hit 4.5 and 5.0 but I have a sub ambient system.

It's been a major pain in the ass for a number of years, and covers almost all of the ASRock Z77 range:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1360404/asrock-z77-series-vcore-reading

I got lucky with my i5 3570K as I can hit 4.5GHz at stock voltages, and 4.7GHz at 1.208v on air with ambients of 23°c. I just had to readjust a few things when I moved from my old MSI board to this ASRock Extreme4 to take the VID issue in to account.

This really helps. I failed test 4, so I upped the voltage was reading out at 1.272v on load with blend test. I was considering dropping to 4.4Ghz because I need to up my turbo offset from the +0.062v to make it stable but I don't want to go over 1.3v under load but now i'll retest with my multimeter (i have a good one with me because I'm a electrician) and see what actual voltages are at and then it may make me feel better about the overclock. It also kind of screws my documented numbers apparently so I may be starting again somewhere in the realm of where I left off.

Just checked with multimeter and I read 1.306v with load instead of the 1.264v I was getting on CPU-Z. I'm starting over with the OC and just using HWMonitor for temps and my multimeter for voltages.

Glad to be of help

Is this problem only with asrock boards? If so I don't think i'll be buying an asrock board again, this could of been seriously dangerous if I had watercooling already. I would of pushed much harder with the proper cooling and could of gotten into 1.5v without even knowing.

I haven't heard of this problem, on this scale, on any other companies boards. Some of the MSI Z77 boards are pretty crap for overclocking owing to the lack of decent offset OC support (my main reason for switching to ASRock amusingly enough), so you might want to look toward ASUS or Gigabyte boards for your OC needs.