voltage question...

[Erdrick]

Hey, I'm running an Asus p4p800 deluxe with a 2.4c OC'ed to 3.0ghz. It runs perfectly stable, and I have the voltage set in the bios to "auto". My readout on the voltage is a fluctuate of 1.58-1.63. I think that these are safe values, but I wanted to be sure.
I know that 1.7 is bad for the proc, but are values that are too low also bad for it?
What is the intel recommended voltage for the 2.4c? I couldnt find anything about it on their website.. figures, they had all the info about the chip except for voltage...

On a side note, I tried manually adjusting the voltage to 1.6 in the bios, and it actually started to run at 1.7 constant. Manually setting it for 1.58 also brought in around 1.65s. When its set for "auto" the chip runs at the 1.58-1.63.

[Edward2]

Yes, your current voltage readings are fine and safe. It is normal for the Asus CPU voltage to read high, while the CPU voltage reads low on Abit mobo's. Depending on your CPU and other parts, you might even be able to increase your CPU speed some more without increasing your CPU voltage.

[Erdrick]

yeah, i havent hit a snag yet. i just figured that 3.0ghz was a nice even number so i stopped there. im sure i could push it further if i wanted to...

[NovaShine]

IMO, it starts getting hard after 3GHz. This is where you need to use some tricks to get it higher. Unless you have v good cooling, i dont reccomend you going over 3GHz for normal use. Only do it when ur benching. 3GHz is more than enough to handle normal use, eg. games, office, web surfing etc.

Asus boards tend to have widly fluctuating voltages, my board always reads that it's undervolting. I reccomend you set the voltage (vcore) to roughly 1.55v. The higher the voltage, the shorter your CPU life, but it's not like it's chopping years off it's life, it's more like months or days while an average CPU's life expectancy is roughly 10 years, give or take depending on how much you use your computer and how you use it. The higher the voltage, the higher the heat, which translates into instability and a shortened lifespan.

[ILikeMy240sx]

Would actively cooling MOSFET help the voltage fluctuation?

[deathman20]

Cooling MOSFETs actually can improve the OC because it stabilizes the voltage. The kicker is though the front of them isn't what really needs to be cooled its the back of the board where they sit against the PCB that needs to be cooled. Someone did this recently with water cooling, original temps where around 70C+ then dropped to 35C with the cooling.