stock i7 6700k sitting at 1.4v without any modifications

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Neebla

Commendable
Jun 19, 2016
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I built my PC a couple months ago, and everything has been performing fine up until recently. Temps were in the mid 20's and CPU voltage range appeared to be normal. However, without any action on my part (that I can recall) the CPU nowadays always sits at about 1.4v no matter the load, however the temps have been more or less consistent (maybe a bit warmer) and performance is seemingly unaffected. This morning I turned on the PC, started Chrome and began watching a video before realising that the temp. had gone up to the 50's out of nowhere, before going on to 75 and at that point I panicked and shut it down. Upon start up after school, everything seems back to normal (except for that voltage). I've read that 1.4v is close to the limit for overclocking, let alone a stock i7 so I would appreciate any help because this is starting to worry me.
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
Automatic settings run with FAR higher voltages than what is strictly necessary, even when overclocking. The system will automatically adjust voltage to clock speed so when the turbo boost is engaged it will increase voltage drastically. If you want to refine the settings but do not wish to overclock, I might suggest that you mouse click into the CPU core voltage field in the bios and manually set the voltage by typing the desired maximum voltage into the field.

Do not be confused by the fact that the word "Auto" does not immediately disappear when you click into the field. Simply type the voltage, and I think something like 1.325v should be plenty for the stock configuration as it's plenty for my 6700k@4.5Ghz, then hit enter to...
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Automatic settings run with FAR higher voltages than what is strictly necessary, even when overclocking. The system will automatically adjust voltage to clock speed so when the turbo boost is engaged it will increase voltage drastically. If you want to refine the settings but do not wish to overclock, I might suggest that you mouse click into the CPU core voltage field in the bios and manually set the voltage by typing the desired maximum voltage into the field.

Do not be confused by the fact that the word "Auto" does not immediately disappear when you click into the field. Simply type the voltage, and I think something like 1.325v should be plenty for the stock configuration as it's plenty for my 6700k@4.5Ghz, then hit enter to enforce the change, then save settings.

I'd also make sure Intel speed step is enabled in the bios and then go into the control panel power options and see what the profile is set to. I'd set it to performance, then click on change plan settings, click on "change advanced power settings", scroll down to processor power state and make sure the minimum value is set to between 5-10% and the maximum is set to 100%.

Before doing ANY of that though, I'd make sure you are on the most recent bios version for your motherboard. Do not rely on any automatic utilities to check on this. Manually go to the product page for your motherboard and compare the most recent bios version against the version you currently have installed. If you do not have the most recent version, update. There can be major differences is voltage and other settings from one bios version to another.

You don't mention what CPU cooler you are using, but I'd make absolutely sure it's still firmly and completely seated and hasn't moved, and that all fasteners are still tight, including any hardware that retains/fastens the backplate throught the motherboard. If a backplate fastener somehow gets loose, it can cause a loss of mounting pressure that will affect cooling performance.
 
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Solution


Hey man thanks for the comprehensive reply, but it seems (after about 15 mins) that all I needed was a bios update. It isn't 'locked' at 1.4v anymore but the voltage sometimes gets rather close, would you recommend that I put a max limit on it through the bios? Oh, I use a cooler master nepton 240m AIO
 
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I think I would. I see rock solid stability at 1.325v core voltage on the three 6700k systems I've built so far, with the clock speed at 4.5Ghz, so I'd think that with a maximum 4.2Ghz turbo speed that should be plenty. With Intel speed step enabled and the advanced power options set as I've explained the system can still vary the voltage, it just won't be able to go much past 1.325v. It might go slightly past that even with that manually set, and that's normal, but it should remain well below the 1.4v you were seeing.

 
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I forgot to mention that before I made this thread, I had tried to manually adjust the voltage to 1.3 and everything was stable (well I stress tested for 5 mins) . I had read that I should adjust the voltage using manual mode first and when I was convinced it was stable switch to adaptive mode, however when I tried this the PC kept saying overclocking failed and the CPU was at 1.8 GHz speed. Is there something I forgot to do?

I have a separate question: I mainly use my computer for gaming, but I consider myself a bit of a PC enthusiast so I'm keen to try new things with it. Would it be worth it to overclock from that perspective? I've read that I won't see huge benefits, but idc as long as I can still use the thing for at least 5 years.
 
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I'm using less voltage with a 4.5Ghz overclock than the system comes configured with for the stock configuration. To the best of my knowledge, reduction of voltage equates in a LONGER lifespan, not a shorter one. With a 4.5Ghz overclock and Intel speed step enabled, along with the control panel power settings that I explained with minimum at 5% and maximum at 100%, your CPU should last just as long if not longer than with the stock configuration running the voltage up to 1.4v, even if it's infrequently.

If you can get by on the stock clock with only 1.3v, that's great. Even better. Undervolting can definitely increase the expected lifespan so long as the system is still stable at a reduced voltage. 5 minutes isn't even enough to verify thermals though, much less stability. You need to run Prime95 version 26.6, and ONLY version 26.6, for a minimum of 15hrs and preferably the recommended 24hrs, plus a mixture of games and various applications or other stress tests, to determine stability.

If it's stable enough for 15-24hrs of Prime95 version 26.6 on Small FFT, it's likely good though.
 
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Right, I'll test it overnight. Would you be able to give me an idea of how much of the lifespan I'd be taking off if I increased my voltage by 0.5v (if I overclock later) after I find the min. stable one?
 
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So long as you remain under 1.35v, there should be NO reduction in lifespan. Considering it WAS overvolting to 1.4v, I'd think there might even be an INCREASE in lifespan, especially with the power saving settings outlined above enabled.

Section 9 - Overclocking and Voltage

Overclocking should not be attempted with Core voltage (Vcore) settings in “Auto” because BIOS will apply significantly more voltage than is necessary to maintain stability. Voltage translates into Power (Watts), which is dissipated as heat.

Overclocked processors can run up to 50% over TDP even when using manual Vcore settings, so high-end air or liquid cooling is critical. Every processor is unique in overclocking potential, voltage tolerance and thermal behavior.

Excessive Vcore and temperatures will result in accelerated "Electromigration" - https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Electromigration - which prematurely erodes the traces and junctions within the processor's layers and nano-circuits. This will eventually result in blue-screen crashes, which will become increasingly frequent over time.

CPU's become more susceptible to Electromigration with each Die-shrink. However, Intel has improved the voltage tolerance on their 14 nanometer architecture.

Here’s a list of the maximum recommended Vcore settings:

-> Core i

6th Generation 14 nanometer ... 1.35 Vcore
5th Generation 14 nanometer ... 1.35 Vcore
4th Generation 22 nanometer ... 1.30 Vcore
3rd Generation 22 nanometer ... 1.30 Vcore
2nd Generation 32 nanometer ... 1.35 Vcore
Previous Generation 32 nanometer ... 1.35 Vcore
Previous Generation 45 nanometer ... 1.40 Vcore

-> Core 2

Legacy 45 nanometer ... 1.40 Vcore
Legacy 65 nanometer ... 1.50 Vcore

When tweaking your processor near it's highest overclock, keep in mind that for an increase of 100 MHz, a corresponding increase of approximately 40 to 50 millivolts (0.040 to 0.050) is required.

Remember to keep overclocking in perspective. For example, the difference between 4.4 GHz and 4.5 Ghz is less than 2.3%, which simply isn’t worth pushing your processor beyond recommended Core voltage and Core temperature limits.
Click to expand...


http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1808604/intel-temperature-guide.html
 
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Cool, thanks for all your help.
 
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Hey man, do you mind if I keep asking you questions on this thread? I'd prefer the personal advice, instead of trawling through forums all the time. Or could/should I PM you instead
 
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Sure, it's fine. Just ask them here. Better than by PM because almost certainly there will be others that come along who can benefit from them. I can't promise fast answers all the time though, as I'm in my busiest part of the season right now and have a bunch of work going on. Usually I check in every morning and every evening though so if I'm able to answer, I certainly will.
 
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Sounds good. Now, I am currently stress-testing my CPU on prime95 on a 4.5 GHz overclock. I have set the voltage in the bios to 1.30v, however both CPU-Z and HWmonitor are reporting the core VID at around 1.35 (constantly changing), and HWmonitor is saying that the VID has even gone up to 1.44v. So do I trust the voltage that I have set in my BIOS or what?
 
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HWmonitor sucks. Don't pay any attention to it, and in fact, I never use it at all because it's so unreliable IMO. Use HWinfo instead.

http://www.hwinfo.com/download.php


Some fluctuations are going to happen no matter what, so long as Intel speed step is enabled and the min/max power ratios in control panel advanced power options are set to 5/100% as they generally ought to be. If you prefer the system to stay at max clock speed all the time, which uses more power and creates a higher average thermal condition, you can set both min and max to 100%.

Also, did you remember to disable Turbo boost?
 
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To be honest I haven't heard anything about disabling turbo boost until you mentioned it. I've done everything you've said now, and the bios has changed from saying target turbo frequency is 4.5 to target frequency is 4.5. However, I haven't seen the frequency go above 4.0. Could you explain what exactly I've done by disabling turbo boost?
 
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If you have the base clock set to 45 as you said you did, then the CPU core speed should run at 4.5Ghz under a load.

I'm not seeing where you said what motherboard you have. Just so I don't need to ask later, or again, please list out your full hardware specs.

CPU is already known.
Motherboard
RAM
PSU
Case
Fans
Etc.


Turbo boost is a temporary feature of the automatic system controls that boosts core frequency under a load for a short time to boost performance. With a manual overclock configured there should be no need for that, and turbo boost, much like all other automatic settings, tends to over exaggerate the voltage leading to higher temps and other issues, potentially.

With a manual overclock set to 4.5Ghz, but Turbo boost enabled, the CPU can alter the voltage and frequency settings based strictly on it's own whims, rather than according to the specific settings which you've configured. I recommend one or the other. Either a manual overclock with the multiplier and voltage set manually, or a stock configuration with Turbo boost enabled. Never both.
 
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Mobo: Asus Maximus VIII Ranger
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 2400MHz
PSU: Cooler Master V750
GPU: Asus Strix 960 (getting uber hyped for the 1070)
Case: Cooler Master Mastercase 5 Pro with 3 Jetflo fans
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M
Storage: OCZ Trion 150 240GB and WD Blue 1TB

So are you saying that once I disable turbo boost the CPU should ramp up to 4.5 GHz after the overclock the same way that it used to go to 4.0 GHz when it was stock? If you get what I mean lol. But if I've set the voltage to adaptive and 1.3v with an offset of 0.02v (after confirming stability in manual mode), isn't the turbo boost voltage confined to that anyway?


 
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Yep, I've synced all cores and set the core ratio limit to 45. I forgot to mention though that in the advanced tab, just above the CPU power management settings where I initially disabled turbo boost, there is a boost performance mode thing with options of max battery, max non turbo performance, turbo performance and auto (I've set it to turbo perf for now). HWinfo is reporting the min freq. at 800, the max at 4000 and turbo at 4500.Also the CPU now seems to be idling at 4.0 GHz @ 1.2v. What do I make of these?
 
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Yes, I did. The "problem" was that my motherboard on auto allowed 1.4V, which is default and ok according to Asus support. After setting a lower vcore voltage at 1.26V the systems runs cooler.
And by the way, i could run 4.5 GHz, at 1.4V, maxing the core temps at 80C.
 
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Are you on BIOS version 1701?

I'd set that that to max non turbo performance. Something isn't set right if it's not achieving 4.5Ghz.


I'd manually set the core ratio limit to per core and set them all to 4.5Ghz.

Make sure you have the AI overclock tuner setting set to Manual and then set frequency to 4.5Ghz.

I'll look into this further this evening as I'm not very familiar with this particular bios configuration. Lots of things changed in the UEFI BIOS with Skylake and the settings on my Gigabyte Gaming 5 are setup much different than on that ASUS board.
 
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Alright, I've done everything you've said. I am on 1701, in fact the update to that version was what kind of fixed my original problem. The CPU is still idling at 4000MHz though.
 
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We don't care what it idles at. We care what it peaks at. When you run it under a load, does it go up to 4500mhz? If you made the change in control panel power options to the minimum and maximum processor power management setttings, it should actually sit at about 800mhz when it's TRULY at idle, and jump to 4.5Ghz under a load.

If you want it at full time 4.5Ghz at all times, and care nothing about power consumption, then set the power profile to performance and leave the processor power settings both at 100%.
 
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