using XMP with 6700k question

[elkido122]

i plan on getting some more ddr4 ram and plan on using XMP. if i simply go into the BIOS and turn on XMP will i be good to go? i dont have to mess with anything cpu related now do i? i thought XMP was as simple as turn it on and reboot your system and you dont need anything else. help appreciated.

 

[why_wolf]

you just go to the RAM settings, sometimes its just on the first page, and turn it on. Often it turns on by default.

 

[engineer5261]

You can select XMP and turn it on from bios and it is very easy to turn on, the memory you buy should support XMP.

 

[elkido122]

what about do i need to change anything with the cpu settings or leave them default?

 

[engineer5261]

Your motherboard has to support XMP too. What exact motherboard do you have?

 

[elkido122]

msi z170a gaming m5. all i need to do is enable it and walk away pretty much right>? no need to touch anything cpu related correct?

 

[engineer5261]

msi z170a gaming m5. all i need to do is enable it and walk away pretty much right>? no need to touch anything cpu related correct?

Correct. You may have to enable XMP, then the motherboard will optimize the rest of it.

 

[elkido122]

i just find it weird that the ring frequency it at 4.1 but when i look in cpu-z my cpu is constantly at 4.2 like there is no idle clock speed lol. thats fine its not that much stress on it now is it?

 

[engineer5261]

Ring frequency is different from CPU Core frequency.

 

[engineer5261]

Wait sorry, re-read your post. Try enabling intel speedstep in bios, see if that helps.

As long as you are cooling it sufficiently you should be okay.

 

[elkido122]

its not bad if my system is constantly running 4.2ghz and that there technically isnt an IDLE speed correct? temps are fine

 

[elkido122]

also the clock speed is always at 4.2 on my 6700k. and the voltage changes like when i have no programs open its at like 0.792 or so volts then around 1.25-1.26 when i play a game or something intensive. wouldnt 4.2 always need more then 0.792 volts? weird

 

[engineer5261]

Intel Markets and sells these CPU's as unlocked overclockable 'K' versions. Therefore, these 'should be' safe to be overclocked as long as you keep it in thermal limits by using a good cooler.

CPU's mostly fail due to overvoltage or thermal stress
CPU failure rate due to heat is directly tied to the difference b/w CPU & ambient temp as well as number of thermal cycles.
CPU failure rate due to overvoltage/current, well this also causes more heat than the part is rated for and destroys the silicon.

Here is my theory - we really can not see/say what is happening to the 14nm chip at a transistor level during constant high frequency use. One would think that current/voltage pulses would be passing faster and more frequently through the silicon. I would think that it would certainly take some time off the life of your chip - how much? perhaps even the ASIC engineers who designed the chip could not say for certain.

I do see that these chips seem to have a good service life, seeing as how I was still using my sandy bridge till 2-3 weeks ago. There are still many people with overclocked nehalem and sandy builds, which says something about the service life of these chips.

In short, yes overclocking probably wears out the transistors/silicon a tad bit more but as long as you are keeping your cpu well within safe operating thermal limits and voltage/current ratings you should be able to squeeze a good amount of life out of your 6700k.

 

[engineer5261]

also the clock speed is always at 4.2 on my 6700k. and the voltage changes like when i have no programs open its at like 0.792 or so volts then around 1.25-1.26 when i play a game or something intensive. wouldnt 4.2 always need more then 0.792 volts? weird

I would certainly think so. Did intel speedstep not help at all?