I have been reading other forums regarding Sandybridge as well as this forum. People have been reporting issues with overclocking sandybridge CPU’s. Some people have reported totally killing the CPU. IT has been happening with various motherboards. Apparently one shop that sells PC components and overclocked PC’s got in touch with Intel regarding overclocking sandybridge. Here are Intel’s recommendations apparently. I have read many debates about what might be killing the CPU when overclocking.
I am not the most technical person at overclocking so use these figures at your own risk. You more experienced overclockers will be able to judge if the figures are safe and correct. So far I have not seen these figures being questioned by anybody.
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 as of yet.
BCLK Base Clock - This is strictly a NO, anyone using base clock overclocking could/will cause damage to CPU/Mainboard. It may also kill other components. Set it manually to 100 as some boards auto set it slightly too high at 100.3. To put it simply if you value the life of your components, do not overclock using base clock.
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. 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.
PLL Voltage - Again do not exceed 1.9v!
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. Not all CPU's are as fragile as others, we have experimented up to 1.50v Vcore and 1.70v memory and as of yet we have had zero issues with reliability, so it seems some sandy bridge CPU’s are fine when pushing hard.
I am not the most technical person at overclocking so use these figures at your own risk. You more experienced overclockers will be able to judge if the figures are safe and correct. So far I have not seen these figures being questioned by anybody.
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 as of yet.
BCLK Base Clock - This is strictly a NO, anyone using base clock overclocking could/will cause damage to CPU/Mainboard. It may also kill other components. Set it manually to 100 as some boards auto set it slightly too high at 100.3. To put it simply if you value the life of your components, do not overclock using base clock.
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. 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.
PLL Voltage - Again do not exceed 1.9v!
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. Not all CPU's are as fragile as others, we have experimented up to 1.50v Vcore and 1.70v memory and as of yet we have had zero issues with reliability, so it seems some sandy bridge CPU’s are fine when pushing hard.
