Sandy Bridge Voltage Recommendations from OCUK

woppy1 · 01-10-11, 06:52 AM

beware those with sandybridge linked is a thread from overclockers uk
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...php?t=18227652

Hi there

Right guys myself and our technical guys have spent the entire weekend and this morning in discussions with Intel regarding the alarming amount of reports of Sandybridge CPU's dying and have been conducting our own testing as have Intel to find out what is a definite no no.

Sandybridge maximum safe voltages

Core Voltage - Not recommended too exceed 1.38v, doing so could kill the CPU, we therefor recommend a range of 1.325-1.350v if overclocking.
Memory Voltage - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means upto 1.58v is the safe recommended limit. In our testing we have found 1.65v has caused no issues.
BCLK Base Clock - This is strictly a NO, anyone using base clock overclocking could/will cause damange to CPU/Mainboard. (Set manually to 100)
PLL Voltage - Do not exceed 1.9v!!

Processor - Basically we recommend customers not to exceed 1.35v to play it safe, all our bundles are set at 1.3250v or lower, any competitors offering bundles above 4.6GHz you should be enquiring as to what voltage they are using as we believe anything over 1.38v will limit CPU lifespan and anything over 1.42v will likely kill the CPU or severely limit its lifespan.

Memory - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means 1.60v is the ideal safe maximum, but we have found in our testing all 1.65v memory is fine. We have also found most new 1.65v like Corsair XMS3 will run at its rated timings with just 1.50-1.55v which is well within Intel specifications. So people upgrading to Sandybridge you can still use your old DDR3, but we do recommend you run it at 1.60v or less. We are shipping most of our bundles which feature Corsair XMS at 1.50v-1.55v at rated timings. We've also discussed with Asus and MSI regarding voltages for memory and they also confirm in their testing 1.65v caused no issues with reliability.

Base Clock - To put it simple if you value the life of your components, do not overclock using base clock!

PLL Voltage - Again do not exceed 1.9v!

David · 01-10-11, 07:05 AM

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

Castiel · 01-10-11, 07:56 AM

I know people with ES's that have been running 1.45v and 5ghz daily for over a month. I can't believe retail chips are that weak and can only take 1.35v.

hokiealumnus · 01-10-11, 08:13 AM

woppy1, you forgot the important closing remarks of that quote!

Quote:

These are just guidelines we recommend you follow, if you want to push more voltage through your CPU's then just be aware they could die on you. Your warranty is un-affected and we will honor any CPU's that die, we just won't ask questions as to how you killed them.

Not all CPU's are as fragile as others, we have experimented upto 1.50v Vcore and 1.70v memory and had zero issues with reliability, so it seems some of fine when pushing hard.

Thanks for sharing.

Castiel, if these numbers came from Intel as they say, then they are likely relatively close to bulletproof. They seem quite conservative if going for max clocks and benchmarking, but for 24/7 use by the average user they appear reasonable.

EDIT - Changed the topic title to make it a bit more descriptive.

dazz. · 01-10-11, 08:32 AM

woah, those brits in OcUK are amazing. How I wish they shipped to Spain or we had something like that... pipedreams

PolRoger · 01-10-11, 09:09 AM

The dynamic vcore of Sandy Bridge is quite different from the previous Bloomfield generation. I can disable Turbo and run stock 34 multi (3.4GHz) for a 2600K and the chip/mobo will run one vcore ~1.26v and if I enable Turbo and set the turbo multis to 44 or 4.4GHz it will run another vcore ~ 1.30v load.

hokiealumnus · 01-10-11, 09:13 AM

It's user-selectable on certain boards too. That way you can raise the turbo multi and set only the Vcore it's stable at. One Vcore non-turbo, one turbo.

This is an interesting new generation; a whole new world if you will. Fun stuff. Love new tech! (Just hope it's not too fragile as I just got my water loop ready for sandy and plan to have some fun.

)

D33PJackal · 01-10-11, 09:20 AM

Oh Jesus.

I know a guy who has his OC'd to 5Ghz at like 1.46v or something. The moron heard 1.5v from a different guy. I gotta call him, I bet he bricked his CPU lol.

hokiealumnus · 01-10-11, 09:25 AM

Please mind the language D33PJackal.

He's probably fine short-term. That setting is probably not a great idea for 24/7 use. It's tempting to try for a 5GHz 24/7 system with these for sure, but may end up being less than practical before all is said and done.

eva2000 · 01-10-11, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Castiel

I know people with ES's that have been running 1.45v and 5ghz daily for over a month. I can't believe retail chips are that weak and can only take 1.35v.

remember the cpu may have 3yr warranty but it's life time could be 5 to 15 yrs, so shortened life at higher than safe volts maybe 2-5yrs versus 5-15yrs hehe

Castiel · 01-10-11, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eva2000

remember the cpu may have 3yr warranty but it's life time could be 5 to 15 yrs, so shortened life at higher than safe volts maybe 2-5yrs versus 5-15yrs hehe

I only need to keep this 2600K till Ivy Bridge rolls out

woppy1 · 01-10-11, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hokiealumnus

woppy1, you forgot the important closing remarks of that quote!

Thanks for sharing.

Castiel, if these numbers came from Intel as they say, then they are likely relatively close to bulletproof. They seem quite conservative if going for max clocks and benchmarking, but for 24/7 use by the average user they appear reasonable.

EDIT - Changed the topic title to make it a bit more descriptive.

thanks i was hoping someone would do that

woppy1 · 01-10-11, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazz.

woah, those brits in OcUK are amazing. How I wish they shipped to Spain or we had something like that... pipedreams

im sure this has been asked before and they will ship there as long as you pay the extra (could be wrong )

DaveHCYJ · 01-10-11, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woppy1

Memory Voltage - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means upto 1.58v is the safe recommended limit. In our testing we have found 1.65v has caused no issues.

Wow that seems like a pretty harsh limit from Intel. Its wouldn't be surprising at all for unaware users to the fairly common 1.65v their memory requests. Even though it sounds like that isn't a problem it seems strange that Intel wouldn't plan to be able to handle it. I'm glad the sticks I already bought are only 1.6v.

Quote:

BCLK Base Clock - This is strictly a NO, anyone using base clock overclocking could/will cause damange to CPU/Mainboard. (Set manually to 100)

Thats a bummer. I had hopes mobo manufacturers would come out with some "robust" boards that could tollerate some small amount like 110 or 115 or so.
Maybe the market just needs time. Realtek, marvel, etc. need time to create some overclocking tollerant 3rd party chips.

hokiealumnus · 01-10-11, 10:48 AM

In this case, I really don't think it's possible. Everything is on-die. Adjusting it just adjusts too many other things. It's ok to toy with for max clocks, but for 24/7 use I'd stick that at 100 and forget it exists.

Bobnova · 01-10-11, 10:50 AM

I haven't heard of a single SB dying, let alone alarming numbers of them!

Keep in mind that Intel is giving numbers for 99% of cpus to last 10 years, as they always do.

dazz. · 01-10-11, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woppy1

im sure this has been asked before and they will ship there as long as you pay the extra (could be wrong )

That would be awesome woppy! I'll search their forums for info now. Thanks so much!

batboy · 01-10-11, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveHCYJ

Thats a bummer. I had hopes mobo manufacturers would come out with some "robust" boards that could tollerate some small amount like 110 or 115 or so.

From the reviews I've seen, anything over about 105 to 106 BCLK won't work as it throws things too far out of spec. I suspect 102-104 will probably work okay, but as usually, do so at your own risk. Who knows what all this will do when combined with high voltage. Again, if it boils down to a safe 24/7 O/C, then you might leave it locked to 100 mhz.

DaveHCYJ · 01-10-11, 12:02 PM

Yeah I'm O/Cing for 24/7 use so I won't be touching bclk, but its still fun to read about what other people manage to do in benching type scenarios.

wingman99 · 01-10-11, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woppy1

beware those with sandybridge linked is a thread from overclockers uk
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...php?t=18227652

Hi there

Right guys myself and our technical guys have spent the entire weekend and this morning in discussions with Intel regarding the alarming amount of reports of Sandybridge CPU's dying and have been conducting our own testing as have Intel to find out what is a definite no no.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobnova

I haven't heard of a single SB dying, let alone alarming numbers of them!

Keep in mind that Intel is giving numbers for 99% of cpus to last 10 years, as they always do.

This is where the report of them dying is above.

Also you can't say the voltages above will be safe for 10 years of use, unless you can prove intel said that.

01-10-11, 06:52 AM	Thread Starter #1
woppy1 Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: newcastle	Sandy Bridge Voltage Recommendations from OCUK beware those with sandybridge linked is a thread from overclockers uk http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...php?t=18227652 Hi there Right guys myself and our technical guys have spent the entire weekend and this morning in discussions with Intel regarding the alarming amount of reports of Sandybridge CPU's dying and have been conducting our own testing as have Intel to find out what is a definite no no. Sandybridge maximum safe voltages Core Voltage - Not recommended too exceed 1.38v, doing so could kill the CPU, we therefor recommend a range of 1.325-1.350v if overclocking. Memory Voltage - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means upto 1.58v is the safe recommended limit. In our testing we have found 1.65v has caused no issues. BCLK Base Clock - This is strictly a NO, anyone using base clock overclocking could/will cause damange to CPU/Mainboard. (Set manually to 100) PLL Voltage - Do not exceed 1.9v!! Processor - Basically we recommend customers not to exceed 1.35v to play it safe, all our bundles are set at 1.3250v or lower, any competitors offering bundles above 4.6GHz you should be enquiring as to what voltage they are using as we believe anything over 1.38v will limit CPU lifespan and anything over 1.42v will likely kill the CPU or severely limit its lifespan. Memory - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means 1.60v is the ideal safe maximum, but we have found in our testing all 1.65v memory is fine. We have also found most new 1.65v like Corsair XMS3 will run at its rated timings with just 1.50-1.55v which is well within Intel specifications. So people upgrading to Sandybridge you can still use your old DDR3, but we do recommend you run it at 1.60v or less. We are shipping most of our bundles which feature Corsair XMS at 1.50v-1.55v at rated timings. We've also discussed with Asus and MSI regarding voltages for memory and they also confirm in their testing 1.65v caused no issues with reliability. Base Clock - To put it simple if you value the life of your components, do not overclock using base clock! PLL Voltage - Again do not exceed 1.9v! __________________ i7 930@4.4ghz cooled by HeatKiller CU BioStar Tpower X58A ATI5870 6 gig crucial ballistix Corsair HX850, corsair 800D
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 07:05 AM	#2
David Forums Super Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Hiding from Americans and making pretty colours in a drybox in St Andrews	Very interesting, thanks for sharing. __________________ David J. Nelson MChem(Edin) PhD(Strath) AMRSC [Academia Profile] OC Forums Super Moderator // Overclockers.com Editor The Workhorse: [Lenovo W510] Intel Core i7-720QM / 8 GB DDR3 / nVidia Quadro FX880M / Crucial M4 256 GB SSD / Windows 7 The HTPC/Server: AMD Phenom X4 9650 / 6 GB DDR2 / nVidia 8300 / 5 TB of HDDs / Antec Solo II Case / Windows 7 The Gaming Rig: AMD Llano A6-3650 / 4 GB DDR3 / nVidia GTX260 / 2x 500 GB HDD in RAID0 / Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Case / Windows 7 The Benchmarking Setup: Various LGA775 chips / Asus Rampage Formula / 2 GB OCZ 1066 MHz DDR2 / nVidia Quadro NVS 285 / 320 GB HDD / Windows 7 My research fellowship is eating all my time, so I may be slow to reply to emails and private messages.
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 07:56 AM	#3
Castiel Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: East Coast	I know people with ES's that have been running 1.45v and 5ghz daily for over a month. I can't believe retail chips are that weak and can only take 1.35v. __________________ Core I7 2600K - 4.6Ghz 1.320v Asus ROG Maximus IV Extreme Corsair 4GB Dominators - 8-9-8-24, DDR3 2090 1.58v Sapphire HD 5870's 1100c/1300m XFX 850W Black Edition
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 08:32 AM	#5
dazz. Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Palma de Mallorca	woah, those brits in OcUK are amazing. How I wish they shipped to Spain or we had something like that... pipedreams __________________ P8P67 Pro \| I7 2600K @ 4.8GHz HT off / 4.7GHz HT on\| 8GB Mushkin Blackline / Exceleram @ 2133MHz CL8 \| Noctua NH-D14 \| Cooler Master CM-690 \| Gigabyte GTX480 Windforce 3 @ 860/2000MHz \| Corsair HX850 \| WD 300GB Velociraptor \| WD 1TB Caviar Green \| W7 64b
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01-10-11, 09:09 AM	#6
PolRoger Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Atlanta	The dynamic vcore of Sandy Bridge is quite different from the previous Bloomfield generation. I can disable Turbo and run stock 34 multi (3.4GHz) for a 2600K and the chip/mobo will run one vcore ~1.26v and if I enable Turbo and set the turbo multis to 44 or 4.4GHz it will run another vcore ~ 1.30v load. __________________ 3770K/3570K on a Dimastech Bench table.
	QUOTE Thanks

Sandy Bridge Voltage Recommendations from OCUK

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01-10-11, 09:13 AM	#7
hokiealumnus Water Cooled Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC	It's user-selectable on certain boards too. That way you can raise the turbo multi and set only the Vcore it's stable at. One Vcore non-turbo, one turbo. This is an interesting new generation; a whole new world if you will. Fun stuff. Love new tech! (Just hope it's not too fragile as I just got my water loop ready for sandy and plan to have some fun. ) __________________ Enjoy benchmarks? Join the benching team! \| New to water cooling? Read the Beginner's Guide to Water Cooling Your PC. xsuperbgx - "As a wise man once said: "Less talky. More clocky."" \| cyberfish - "When overclocked, it's undefined behavior." I.M.O.G. - "Vaseline on Ivy Bridge is a bad idea. But not so bad of an idea that it can't be fixed with a torpedo heater, a dishwasher, an oven, and a few hours. " \m/ OverClockers mATX L33T Club \m/ - Join Now! - My mITX Build
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 09:20 AM	#8
D33PJackal Member Join Date: Mar 2010	Oh Jesus. I know a guy who has his OC'd to 5Ghz at like 1.46v or something. The moron heard 1.5v from a different guy. I gotta call him, I bet he bricked his CPU lol. __________________ CPU: Intel 980x 3.33Ghz Motherboard: Asus Rampage III Extreme RAM: 6GB's of 2GB Super Talent Chrome 8-8-8-24 GPU: EVGA 580 GTX x 2 SSD: 160GB OCZ IBIS HDD: Three 1TB Samsung Spinpoint 7200 PSU: BFG 1200w SC: X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty DD: Samsung Blu-Ray Combo Drive Case: Antec Lanboy Air Keyboard: Das Keyboard Mechanical Original Mouse: R.A.T. 7 Last edited by hokiealumnus; 01-10-11 at 09:23 AM. Reason: Language
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 09:25 AM	#9
hokiealumnus Water Cooled Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC	Please mind the language D33PJackal. He's probably fine short-term. That setting is probably not a great idea for 24/7 use. It's tempting to try for a 5GHz 24/7 system with these for sure, but may end up being less than practical before all is said and done. __________________ Enjoy benchmarks? Join the benching team! \| New to water cooling? Read the Beginner's Guide to Water Cooling Your PC. xsuperbgx - "As a wise man once said: "Less talky. More clocky."" \| cyberfish - "When overclocked, it's undefined behavior." I.M.O.G. - "Vaseline on Ivy Bridge is a bad idea. But not so bad of an idea that it can't be fixed with a torpedo heater, a dishwasher, an oven, and a few hours. " \m/ OverClockers mATX L33T Club \m/ - Join Now! - My mITX Build
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 10:48 AM	#15
hokiealumnus Water Cooled Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC	In this case, I really don't think it's possible. Everything is on-die. Adjusting it just adjusts too many other things. It's ok to toy with for max clocks, but for 24/7 use I'd stick that at 100 and forget it exists. __________________ Enjoy benchmarks? Join the benching team! \| New to water cooling? Read the Beginner's Guide to Water Cooling Your PC. xsuperbgx - "As a wise man once said: "Less talky. More clocky."" \| cyberfish - "When overclocked, it's undefined behavior." I.M.O.G. - "Vaseline on Ivy Bridge is a bad idea. But not so bad of an idea that it can't be fixed with a torpedo heater, a dishwasher, an oven, and a few hours. " \m/ OverClockers mATX L33T Club \m/ - Join Now! - My mITX Build
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 10:50 AM	#16
Bobnova Air Superiority Senior Member Benching Team Leader Join Date: May 2009 Location: Humboldt	I haven't heard of a single SB dying, let alone alarming numbers of them! Keep in mind that Intel is giving numbers for 99% of cpus to last 10 years, as they always do. __________________ "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." -- Einstein (maybe) How to check your PSU with a multimeter. 17bXw5t51rEBXGavJFMJsC8g7HQgThUGc7 Heatware.
	QUOTE Thanks

01-10-11, 12:02 PM	#19
DaveHCYJ Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Diego	Yeah I'm O/Cing for 24/7 use so I won't be touching bclk, but its still fun to read about what other people manage to do in benching type scenarios.
	QUOTE Thanks

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