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Messing with voltages makes the OC less stable and even causes BSOD.

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surensm

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Joined
Feb 10, 2017
For starters, the computer is a fresh build from August of last year. It's rocking a 6700k in a Gigabyte G1 Gaming 6 motherboard, a GTX1080, and a G.Skill 3200mhz 16gb x1 ram stick, and a Corsair H100i GTX cooler. It's been nothing but headaches for me. This is my second 6700k, as the first one kicked the bucket for no apparent reason (came back to use the computer after about a week of not using it, powered it on, and 6 beeps of death).

After replacing the CPU, I noticed that the computer wouldn't go past POST. I dialed the RAM frequency down, and problem was solved. So now that I have my newly warrantied G.Skill in there, the computer boots in XMP no problem.

Here's the real issue- I can't keep a stable overclock of over 4.3 GHz. I left the V-Core setting in "Auto" mode, just to see how it would fare. At 4.4, the computer lasted for 3 hours and 30 something minutes in OCCT, and then threw an error. I figured that's fine, so I went and switched the voltage to manual, and set it to 1.375V (it was peaking at 1.37, so I figured the extra 0.005 will solve my problem). Nope, it now won't test for more than 5 seconds. When switched back to auto, it now lasts for maybe 10 minutes, sometimes less. Can it be that I have a faulty motherboard? I can probably still send it in for an RMA, since it hasn't been a year since buying it. Same story with Prime95. I tried stress testing on factory settings, and left it on for a couple of hours with no problems. I'm now stress testing on factory settings to see if it can go for 4 hours without errors. I'm in a bit of a bind here and can't help but feel like I'm not getting my money's worth. Also, I ran the OCCT test on factory BIOS settings with no issues for over 5 hours. The biggest annoyance is that my temps are more than fine, I wasn't even touching 70* at 1.385V and 4.5 ghz (i know, normally 1.385 is overkill for 4.5, but at the time it was the only way to keep it stable).

The most recent BSOD was a SYSTEM_(something)_EXCEPTION after trying 4.5 GHz at 1.35V. I could really use the assistance.
 
Auto settings add voltage to little things you may not be aware of that just setting the core ratio and vcore to manual will not. You may need to add a little voltage to the system agent (memory controller) for instance to get it stable using 3200 mhz RAM.

I suggest you try this. Leave everything on Auto except the overclocked core speed ratio (44x?)and the RAM frequency. Choose XMP for the RAM speed. Then go into Windows and take a look at the various voltage readings in this section while loading the CPU. Check it with HWMonitor non pro version and capture an image of it for later reference with Snipping tool.

Then repeat the exercise with the CPU core voltage set to manual and 1.375. Pay particular attention to the changes in the section I have circled. I think you will see when the core voltage is set to Auto there are some other voltages that are supplemented with offsets that aren't when you have the vcore on Manual. This will give you some guidance for supplementing some of the secondary voltages.
 

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If your memory is doing fine I would not mess with the memory controller or memory. How well did the other CPU overclock in that motherboard?
 
Auto settings add voltage to little things you may not be aware of that just setting the core ratio and vcore to manual will not. You may need to add a little voltage to the system agent (memory controller) for instance to get it stable using 3200 mhz RAM.

I suggest you try this. Leave everything on Auto except the overclocked core speed ratio (44x?)and the RAM frequency. Choose XMP for the RAM speed. Then go into Windows and take a look at the various voltage readings in this section while loading the CPU. Check it with HWMonitor non pro version and capture an image of it for later reference with Snipping tool.

Then repeat the exercise with the CPU core voltage set to manual and 1.375. Pay particular attention to the changes in the section I have circled. I think you will see when the core voltage is set to Auto there are some other voltages that are supplemented with offsets that aren't when you have the vcore on Manual. This will give you some guidance for supplementing some of the secondary voltages.

Will try. I used the OTTC monitors when I did one of the initial tests (leave everything on Auto, set clock speed to 4.4 and set RAM to XMP), and the numbers were around 1.36-1.37, hence why I tried 1.375, but to no avail.

What about temps? What are you cooling the CPU with?
Temps are fine, barely go above 68, occasionally peak at 75. I use the H100i GTX cooler by Corsair.

If your memory is doing fine I would not mess with the memory controller or memory. How well did the other CPU overclock in that motherboard?
As in leave in XMP? The other CPU wasn't much to write home about either, I never tried stress testing with Prime95 or OTTC at the time but I bet it would fail them as well. The best I ever got without crashing cinnebench was 4.8 GHz at 1.41 V, and even then it would BSOD occasionally. I kept it at 4.5 GHz and 1.385V iirc, and then dropped it to 4.4 just to be safe (1.375V).
 
I got some suggestions from another site that the issue could possibly be with the RAM. One thing I failed to mention is that if I leave everything on Auto, and not even bother messing with the CPU multiplier, but I try and set my RAM to 3200MHz without selecting the XMP profile, it won't boot into Windows. It just requests to go back to optimal settings, due to a boot failure. The stick before this stayed at 3200 no problem when new. Could it be RAM AND Motherboard?
 
Yes, it could be the RAM. Test it with Memtest86+.

Will do, thank you sir. I'll post an update tomorrow when I get to test it.

P.S. stole your signature style- really efficient.
 
I think you need to move away from using so much "Auto" to overclock the CPU.
 
I think you need to move away from using so much "Auto" to overclock the CPU.

Right, the only reason I left it there was to see if the issue would get resolved. Normally I enter the voltages manually, but having such poor luck with stability tests, I figured might as well give it a try in Auto. I was and wasn't disappointed at the same time, if that makes sense.
 
Okay. Every motherboard is different and some (like mine) are pretty quirky when it comes to implementing the OC settings.

As I posted the other day in another thread, trying to predict what effect on voltages from any manual change in those parameters on my board is like trying to herd cats. It's very unpredictable.

Asus has built in some behind the scenes offsets to this board's bios that I cannot control and that play havoc with voltages.

On my board, using Offset mode plays havoc with stability even when the reporting software says voltages are high enough that they should give stability.

Putting everything on Auto gives wonderful stability but uncomfortably and unnecessarily high voltages. I've tried manually setting the LLC but not with good results.

Finally, I've settled on Manual for the core voltage and putting everything else (except XMP for the RAM) on Auto. That seems to give me the best results.

As I said, Asus has built in some behind the scenes offsets that play havoc with my attempts to control most things manually. Whatever they've done in that regard seems to work pretty good so I've just acquiesced to it. Sounds like you are finding out the same.
 
Okay. Every motherboard is different and some (like mine) are pretty quirky when it comes to implementing the OC settings.

As I posted the other day in another thread, trying to predict what effect on voltages from any manual change in those parameters on my board is like trying to herd cats. It's very unpredictable.

Asus has built in some behind the scenes offsets to this board's bios that I cannot control and that play havoc with voltages.

On my board, using Offset mode plays havoc with stability even when the reporting software says voltages are high enough that they should give stability.

Putting everything on Auto gives wonderful stability but uncomfortably and unnecessarily high voltages. I've tried manually setting the LLC but not with good results.

Finally, I've settled on Manual for the core voltage and putting everything else (except XMP for the RAM) on Auto. That seems to give me the best results.

As I said, Asus has built in some behind the scenes offsets that play havoc with my attempts to control most things manually. Whatever they've done in that regard seems to work pretty good so I've just acquiesced to it. Sounds like you are finding out the same.

Very much so. I may be switching out to another board altogether if this one keeps disappointing. The new Z270 chipset is now out, and hopefully it will be backwards compatible with 6th gen processors (not sure why it wouldn't be, but who knows). Maybe I'll get that ROG board that just came out.
 
Will do, thank you sir. I'll post an update tomorrow when I get to test it.

P.S. stole your signature style- really efficient.

Never thought of it as efficient but thanks. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

- - - Updated - - -

Very much so. I may be switching out to another board altogether if this one keeps disappointing. The new Z270 chipset is now out, and hopefully it will be backwards compatible with 6th gen processors (not sure why it wouldn't be, but who knows). Maybe I'll get that ROG board that just came out.

It should be backwardly compatible. Just check the manufacturer's CPU support list.
 
Never thought of it as efficient but thanks. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

- - - Updated - - -



It should be backwardly compatible. Just check the manufacturer's CPU support list.

Just did, we're good. It's in my newegg cart, but I'm on the fence. I have the Maximus Hero in there, as I'm not planning to do a custom loop to take advantage of a Formula, and I don't need the additional Wi-Fi bundle in the Apex. The problem is, it's more of a want, not a need. Not yet. Maybe I'll give the G1 a month or so, see if I can figure it out. My thought process is, if I'm going to go through the trouble of replacing a motherboard, I might as well switch out to the newer chipset. Maybe even warranty the original unit and sell the new replacement, or just keep it as a spare.
 
IMO, keeping it as a spare may save your bacon someday. Also, there are so many people who join this forum who have only one of anything in their computer and when it comes time to troubleshoot they have no parts to swap out to test different possibilities of what might be bad.
 
I got some suggestions from another site that the issue could possibly be with the RAM. One thing I failed to mention is that if I leave everything on Auto, and not even bother messing with the CPU multiplier, but I try and set my RAM to 3200MHz without selecting the XMP profile, it won't boot into Windows. It just requests to go back to optimal settings, due to a boot failure. The stick before this stayed at 3200 no problem when new. Could it be RAM AND Motherboard?

If the ram works well in XMP just leave it at that setting. I have to use XMP also otherwise if I set Bios manually the PC won't boot.
 
IMO, keeping it as a spare may save your bacon someday. Also, there are so many people who join this forum who have only one of anything in their computer and when it comes time to troubleshoot they have no parts to swap out to test different possibilities of what might be bad.

I'll hold off for now and just troubleshoot the hardware I have atm. Other hobbies are taking precedent this year on spending, so if I don't have to, I'd rather not spend the money. I'll start off with the basics and just do more testing and report on how that all goes. I'm sure there is also a lot to learn on my end as far as the advanced side of stabilizing an overclock is concerned.

If the ram works well in XMP just leave it at that setting. I have to use XMP also otherwise if I set Bios manually the PC won't boot.

Did you ever wonder that maybe you have a faulty RAM? I noticed that you too use Ripjaws V 16GB F4. It could be a manufacturing issue.
 
I'll hold off for now and just troubleshoot the hardware I have atm. Other hobbies are taking precedent this year on spending, so if I don't have to, I'd rather not spend the money. I'll start off with the basics and just do more testing and report on how that all goes. I'm sure there is also a lot to learn on my end as far as the advanced side of stabilizing an overclock is concerned.
I think your just having bad luck with the Processor. All I did for overclocking to 4.5GHz is increase the multiplier to 45 and set the Dynamic DVID to +0.075v left all other settings on Auto. I did not have good luck on my other CPU, could not get it completely stable at 4.5GHz.
 
Did you ever do the Memtes86+ test?

Not yet, won't be back home until tomorrow.

I think your just having bad luck with the Processor. All I did for overclocking to 4.5GHz is increase the multiplier to 45 and set the Dynamic DVID to +0.075v left all other settings on Auto. I did not have good luck on my other CPU, could not get it completely stable at 4.5GHz.

Very possible, with my luck. I'll try and mess with DVID, but I think the setting in my BIOS was greyed out.
 
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