8700K Gigabyte Z370 HD3 and CPU Cooler Upgrade

[Mamut]

EDIT / / /

Upgraded to :
MSI Z390 MPG GAMING EDGE AC
Corsair H115i PRO


Hello guys, my current rig is
8700k with Cooler Master Hyper EVO 212
mobo - Gigabyte Z370 HD3
Corsair 2600MHz 16 GB RAM .
PSU Corsair 750W

I tried to play with overclocking on this motherboard but before the actual i aint done my homework, therefore didn't realize the motherboard has horrible VRM section, high temperatures along with Vcore fluctuating, horrible LLC settings and quite confusing BIOS settings.
Similar situation with CPU Cooler, didn't realize it won't be able to manage the huge amounts of heat generated by 8700k.
Ahh also next month, the plan is to delid the CPU . hooray !
Now then,
I don't want to spend too much money as I'm not a huuuge OC lover, I'm aiming in Max 5GHz, well stable 4.8GHz should be fine.
What i found interesting is :

MOBO :
Asrock Z370 Taichi Socket LGA1151-V2 ATX Motherboard £203.96
https://www.novatech.co.uk/products...et-lga1151-v2-atx-motherboard/z370taichi.html

now, this mobo is knows as a superb for overclocking, it's also very expensive, the only one more expensive is fatality one. Do i really need that TAICHI motherboard if I'm aimng in STABLE Vcore values ? Any cheaper suggestions guys ?

CPU COOLer :
BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 Air Cooler £79.98
https://www.novatech.co.uk/products/bequiet-dark-rock-pro-4-air-cooler/bk022.html

and same again is it worth to pay that much money for this cooler?

Thanks in advance,

 

[EarthDog]

I don't see how your current board isn't allowing for a 5 Ghz overclock... it should.

As far as cooling, you will want some of the top air coolers to achieve 5 Ghz, prefeably though, a good 2x120mm water setup.

 

[Mamut]

Hi there I'm just about to start me last shift at work. When I got back tonight, or tomorrow I'll run some stress test at stock showing quite high temperatures, strange voltages and stuff, along with slightly overclocked to 4.5ghz with avx offset 2. The problem with board is it doesn't allow me a stable Vcore, fluctuating a lot.

- - - Updated - - -

U said prior to achieve 5ghz I'll need water cooling. What's the Max achievable on sir cooling? Roughly.

 

[Johan45]

Like E_D said, your board should be capable of a decent overclock. When the cooler you are using allows the CPU to heat that heat is transfered through the board to the other components which compounds the heat to the VRM. Personally I would start with a new cooler and yes top end coolers are expensive compare that DR Pro4 to a similar if not slightly better (1-2 degrees) cooler the NH-D15 https://www.novatech.co.uk/products/noctua-nh-d15-se-am4-cpu-cooler/nh-d15se-am4.html You'll see they're the same price.
Replace the cooler and try overclocking again could save yourself another 200 pounds.
EDIT: the 212 is a decent cooler but will run out of gas, voltage typically does fluctuate if you have EIST or similar active in BIOS. You may need to look at your overall cooling as well meaning the case and fans moving air through it. If you take the side panel off your case and the temps drop during testing then you have an air flow issue.

 

[wingman99]

I have seen other folks with the same Z370 Gigabyte VRM overclock fine to 5.0GHz with a i7 8700k. I would not waste money on getting a new motherboard unless you go with liquid cooling, delid the processor and run prime95 FMA3.

If you use DVID offset Vcore, the voltage will adjust according to utilization and clock speed. Fixed Vcore with LLC trubo will fluctuate a little.

 

[Mamut]

Good morning/evening guys.
Ok , last night i did some research, first of all i red this article :
https://www.tweaktown.com/guides/8481/coffee-lake-overclocking-guide/index.html

and i see things differently now and understand bios settings better, however there are still some confusions.

what i did last night .

1. Set Bios to default settings, everything set to "Auto" .
I believe Vcore has been set to 1,250V, everything else auto. All on stock settings.. Along with AVX being set to 4300MHz.
I've ran LinX test with around 10GBs RAM used, and what ? Linx fails at first run..( where Intel Burn runs ok with lower temps) is it normal that stress test fails at stock settings? Well, personally i dont trust LinX anymore all i use it for is to see max tempratures, that's it. Vcore while running Linx with AVX was between 1,104V - 1,260V , where mostly it was on the lower Voltage, temps not exceeding 75-79 celsius.
Cinebench Scores: 1380, 1380, 1380, Voltage was stable at 1.140V.
Vcore while in idle 1.188V - 1.272V.
Vcore while in [email protected] around 1.110 - 1.150V - and that is where my problem with extremely high temps is. In this case AVX at 4.3 is running on low voltage therefore temp is acceptable, however when set up to 4,5GHz manually on all cores and same Voltage, it wont drop as low as 1.15V and is running at 1,25V which is bringing high temperatures.
2. I still have some difficulties whith setting DVID manually, and it looks like mobo is setting up VCore very randomly, for example Ive tried to use that Enhanced Multi-Core Performance option that brings all cores to Turbo ( 4.7GHz ) value, the voltage was still 1,250V, firstly it crashed the boot up, but i didnt realise there is no avx offset, immediate crash after Linx. Then i made some changes in bios, computer shut down hardly popping in with some bios issue asking for resetting to defaults, and guess what. the freq was 4700, and motherboard set up a voltage of 1,50V
, where in BIOS temp was already 51celsius...
3. Wingman, regarding your post :

A AC/DC set to 1 allows to run positive DVID core voltage instead of negative on a i7 8700k. When running DVID core voltage I use AUTO LLC to keep the Vcore lower and prevent BSOD.

Prime95 AVX disabled.
Overclocking 5.0GHz LLC AUTO, DVID +0.080 = 1.260v to 1.332v
Max temperature 93c ambient 75F


Prime95 AVX off, Vcore 1.260v Minimum for all 3 setups.
Web browsing for 2 hour BIOS DVID 0.080v Minimum and Maximum Vcore 0.768v to 1.392v
Web browsing for 9 minutes IA AC/DC = 1, BIOS DVID 0.0130 LLC Turbo = BSOD
Web browsing for 2 hours Fixed Vcore BIOS 1.260v LLC Turbo Minimum and Maximum Vcore 1.212v to 1.332v

The Hyper 212 does twist a little.

I still don't know what option/value u talking about saying IA AC/DC do you mean the first option in power settings in bios, however theres no such a value as "1" ..

Also u said u running 5GHz at 1,26V ( i8700k? )... where mine won't even run at 4.7GHz, u clearly see something is not right here..
I'll post some screens from my UEFI later .

I;m goin back to reading articles first, then Ill give it another try.

 

[trents]

What level do you have LLC ("Load Line Calibration") set to? LLC supplements voltage under load so as to compensate for voltage drop.

With modern CPUs there are a number of different power regulating technologies in operation that change processor voltage dynamically according to load and temperature. Controlling processor voltage can be like trying to "heard cats", as the saying goes.

Try:

1. returning everything to stock default. Then set vcore manually to 1.25 and LLC to the next to highest level. That is a very safe increase over stock voltage that still should allow you some room for a modest overclock without excessively high stress test temps.

2. Try using the Realbench stress test to check overclock stability. It is a very "real world" stress tester that shouldn't drive temps up drastically. I run it for four hours when I think I have my overclock dialed in but you can use shorter tests of say 1 hr. in preliminary stages of overclocking. Realbench also tracks temps for you.

3. To begin with, run a 15 minute Realbench stress test to get a baseline on temps with the settiings outline in 1. above.

4. Start increasing the CPU frequency multiplier in 1x increments until you cannot pass the Realbench stress test for 1 hr. Then increase the vcore by 0.01 and retest.

5. You can continue increase the CPU frequency multiplier in 1x increments and add vcore as necessary to stabilize until you start getting max temps of 90c.

6. Realbench, like a number of other stress tests, uses AVX instruction sets. Very few real world apps use AVX, at least to any degree. AVX instruction sets are brutal. Therefore, you probably will be able to achieve a higher stable overclock for non AVX apps by setting the AVX offset in bios. Setting it to "2" is a common value used. That way, when and if you encounter apps that use AVX, the CPU frequency multiplier will be downclocked by 2x. When running apps that that don't use AVS the CPU will run at the full multiplier value. To make sure you are also stable at the higher "non AVX" frequency, stress test with a non AVX stress tester like Prime95 v.26.6 (an older version of the program). I generally run Prime95 stress tests for two hours.

Hope this helps.

 

[wingman99]

IA AC/DC set to 1 lowers the DVID. Dynamic Vcore DVID is for use with all the power saving features. I have been using adaptive/dynamic voltage with all the power saving features since 2011, I find It is best to also use Auto LLC when using dynamic DVID so you don't have crashes at varying loads and voltages. Using Auto LLC with DVID allows a lower Vcore under full utilization than with Turbo LLC. I don't know why it works that way. However, that is how it's designed to work. Fixed Vcore bypasses all Vcore power saving features. If your going to use Fixed Vcore with Turbo LLC it will keep the voltage under load close to what you set in BIOS.

Go to processor internal voltage regulator control and you will find IA AC/DC.

 

[Alaric]

I'm late to the party, and wingman is already here, but good stuff here http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...0-HD3-enjoying-a-good-overclocking-experience for your mobo.

 

[Mamut]

Evening guys
Im back in town.
Changed, the case, cooler and did the delid this morning myself ! So happy cuz temps dropped up to 25 celsius under heavy stress tests.
I did it the way where you place the IHS loosely on the processor .

Although my cpu temps dropped dramatically , VRM temps are reaching 123 celsius where thats the motherboard throttling and CPU is dropping clocks down to 800MHz.

Current settings are:
4800MHz on all cores set by multiplier AVX offset is 5, voltage in HWinfo floating minimum 1,248 up to 1,332 ( thats while Linx AVX stress) , Two days ago i forgot to switch the Linx off for the night and it was burning it all night long without delid with temps around 95 reaching 100 celsius oops, therefore im sure that'll be fine with delided cpu where temps are around 70 celsius ( hell yeah) !

The only problem is VRM temp (123c) - I'll be trying to adjust bios voltages accordingly to lower to VRM burning while in Linx.

Would you please advise if increasing VCCSA, DRR Volate and any other voltages is hardly affecting VRM ? If so which one is crucial ( except vcore which is obvious)

Any questions , suggestions guys ?

Well, i know some of u already mentioned some settings - i will followe on the weekend as im on afters this week and in the morning cant do much tests .

Kind regards.

 

[wingman99]

The VRM is mostly effected from CPU cores watts. Since you delidded and went with water cooling that has no cooling over the VRM heatsink and that is a total change in VRM workload and cooling. What you can try is a cooling fan over the VRM heat sink. If that does not work for you then I would purchase 5X2 phase ASRock Z370 Extreme4 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...ignorebbr=1&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

 

[EarthDog]

Its def a change in cooling...but a workload is a workload is a workload. That doesn't change.

+1 for the fan idea on the VRM.

 

[wingman99]

Its def a change in cooling...but a workload is a workload is a workload. That doesn't change.

+1 for the fan idea on the VRM.

He delided so the workload on the VRM is grater do to being able to increase the CPU package watts.

 

[EarthDog]

I see what you mean now, by the increased overclock. How much more of an overclock did that yield? Typically like 100-200 mhz. I dont see in here anything but goals and (im mobile - serious question).

 

[wingman99]

I see what you mean now, by the increased overclock.

Also the stress test watts is greater on the VRM without throttling the processor first.

 

[EarthDog]

At the same clocks and voltage it would be the same. But yes, as alluded to, with a greater overclock and voltage we are assuming the OP has done, its more.

 

[Mamut]

Hello, good afternoon, good morning.

Wingman, i have not change any voltages and stuff since changing the CPU Cooling System, therefore workload remains the same, doesnt it ?

and u also suggesting to replace it eventually with ASRock Z370 Extreme4 , insteaf of taichi. Are you sure it'll handle OC up to 5GHz?

To be fair i just compared both boards and taichi's got just some extra features like wifi, display port , more M.2 Slots, but do u know if its got the same VRM sections as Extreme 4 ?

Well, if Extreme 4 is as good as taichi and it's about 70 pounds cheaper than taichi, then yes its worth it cheers guys

 

[EarthDog]

Wingman, i have not change any voltages and stuff since changing the CPU Cooling System, therefore workload remains the same, doesnt it ?

As i posted, if clockspeeds or voltage hasnt changed, the workload is the same.

The vrm implementation looks different. But without looking at a review or the hardware itself, no idea what those differences are. See if tweaktown reviewed those boards, they discuss vrm. That said, i dont imagine them to be too much different and i would expect both to reach 5 ghz.

 

[Mamut]

Hi Again, im just doing my home ( actaully work ) work and i found something like this.
im just posting it here so u can agree with it or not
cheeeers.

VID is not necessarily Vcore. It's the voltage requested by the CPU but the motherboard does not have to honor it.

If you use offset mode ("Normal" in Gigabyte UEFI), then Vcore will track VID with the following modifiers:

DVID ( +/- VID offset )

External load line ( Vdroop = N mΩ * Acpu ) where Acpu is the current Amperage of the CPU

VID AC/DC load line ( same formula as above )

If you use a manual voltage, the Vcore will be that manual voltage + the external load line Vdroop.

For the Gaming 7, there are two sensors IT8686E and IT8792E that can measure actual Vcore and they should be visible in Hwinfo. IT8686E is completely ****ed and shouldn't relied upon. IT8792E looks to be the more accurate of the two.

The two load lines mentioned above can be modified in the UEFI.

CPU Vcore Loadline Calibration under "Advanced Advanced Power Settings" is the external VRM load line.

IA AC/DC load line under "Internal VR Control" is the VID load line. This also overrides the "CPU internal AC/DC load line setting".

 

[EarthDog]

Seems about right... but I haven't reviewed a Giga board...

What is the source of that? Link plz!