Strange voltage behavior on IP35 pro

[Adrnshw66]

I just recently bought an Abit IP35 pro, Q6600 G0, and a Thermalright 120 Extreme. I fully updated the motherboard with the latest bios.

When I set my CPU voltage in bios, it shows correctly in bios that I set it to 1.375V, but when I open up CPU-Z it shows up as a fluctuating number. One second it can be 1.21V, the next it can go up to 1.32V. When I start prime95, the voltage stays constant at 1.28V to 1.31V.

Is there any reason that my voltage is lower and fluctuating once I get into Vista? I am able to overclock stably with the weird voltage to 3.24 Ghz, but I want to get my 6600 even higher.

Thanks

 

[akhilles]

That's vdroop. Everything board has it. It can interfere with overclocking. The less vdroop, the better. Typically, it can be reduced with a hardware mod that voids the warranty.

 

[BUFF]

the 1.21V reading also suggest that you have C1E/EIST enabled which will drop the CPU corespeed & voltage when full power isn't necessary.