What's the relation between VID, VCORE, LLC and SpeedStep?

[utisz]

I'm trying to balance the OC of my machine, I think I need to know the logic between those values.

First of all, VID and Vcore - how are they related? When I set my vcore to fixed values, I can still see that my vid is changing.

Secondly, LLC -- should I use it? Some say yes, some say no, what's the overall relation of this to the first two values?

And lastly, the SpeedStep. I always kept that enabled - is that illogical? Can I just turn off LLC and use SpeedStep instead, for the OS to control the voltages?

How does it work? It's hard to find up to date information about all this, mostly I see terms like "vdrop" or "vdroop" (which I don't know) - that does not exist on my Asus motherboard..

 

[ihog]

VID is what Intel thinks the processor needs to run at certain frequencies. You don't even need to pay attention to this.

LLC is kind of necessary. You can leave it at the default, though some OCs will necessitate more extreme settings. It basically lets your processor's voltage sit at lower voltages until higher voltages are necessary. My LLC setting leaves voltage at max.

SpeedStep is not really connected to LLC. It just lets the processor downclock when higher frequencies aren't necessary. You can't really disable LLC, as far as I know.

Vdroop is a phenomenon that happens when at full load, the voltage drops below what you set the voltage to. Vdroop is basically inevitable. As long as it isn't an extreme drop in voltage, don't worry about it.

 

[utisz]

VID is what Intel thinks the processor needs to run at certain frequencies. You don't even need to pay attention to this.

LLC is kind of necessary. You can leave it at the default, though some OCs will necessitate more extreme settings. It basically lets your processor's voltage sit at lower voltages until higher voltages are necessary. My LLC setting leaves voltage at max.

SpeedStep is not really connected to LLC. It just lets the processor downclock when higher frequencies aren't necessary. You can't really disable LLC, as far as I know.

Vdroop is a phenomenon that happens when at full load, the voltage drops below what you set the voltage to. Vdroop is basically inevitable. As long as it isn't an extreme drop in voltage, don't worry about it.

So simply to say, when I'm overclocking, I only need to focus on vcore and LLC in this case?
What about fixed and offset values, does it make any type of difference for LLC and such?

 

[ihog]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that LLC is really only something you mess with when you use fixed voltages rather than offsets.

 

[utisz]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that LLC is really only something you mess with when you use fixed voltages rather than offsets.

Oh! That's a BIG clarification!

 

[utisz]

One another question though: Normally, is the vcore always fixed? What I see is, when I set my vcore manually, it's always fixed, but when it's auto it's always changing up and down. It feels like it's increasing when it's needed.
Is it possible to create this behavior when OCing?

 

[ihog]

When you set your vcore manually, LLC controls this voltage changing (barring the change in voltage that SpeedStep does when it downclocks the CPU). Different levels of LLC will allow the voltage to drop to different levels.

LLC settings, as far as I know, have different names on different motherboards/bioses. For my ASRock Z77 OC Formula, the settings range from Level 1 to Level 5; Level 1 keeps the voltage as close to the set voltage as possible, while Level 5 lets it drop the most. More extreme OCs usually necessitate Level 1 settings.

 

[utisz]

Hmm, I'm still habing difficulty to understand one point:
Normally, when cores are fully loaded, voltage drops (right?) - LLC, as far as I know, is there to balance out this drop. In other words, LLC should be a setting to balance the drop of voltage for high load, not dropping it back for low load.

I'm having difficulty to understand how it can be used to bring the voltages down when the CPU is not fully loaded (that's whaat I'm trying to achieve) -

I'm currently using medium LLC settings (called "High" profile on my Asus board) which is 50% LLC; it does not help drop the idle voltage (idle voltage stays as what I entered to fixed vcore) but it only helps to balance out the drop of the max load voltage.

Needing a clarification here..