Is undervolting a bad thing?

[DustyWolfe]

i was just curious if undervolting has any downsides other than stability. my processor is overclocked a little and also undervolted but i noticed in sandra lite that the power is dropping kinda low at times when runnin. my cpuz is outdated so it wont let me validate so i took a ss does this seem ok? its seems stable and is running way cooler.( i had to crop and resize the picture so hopefully it comes out right)
Edit:.... 3rd try i think i got it

 

[Mjolnir]

Not sure how lowering voltage could be bad lol. Assuming its stable, undervolting is great!

 

[Bobnova]

I concur! If it's stable undervolted, be happy!
It won't hurt anything.

 

[tikithorsen]

I think what he meant is that his Motherboard automatically sets his processor to the max vcore (like mine).

 

[caddi daddi]

the cpu tells the board what voltage to use, if you can go lower at the clock speed you like it's all good....

 

[RGone]

Depends on what one calls 'undervolting'...

All AMD Processors Have Voltage ratings like as below. Cool N Quiet will drop voltages as should occur and they can drop as low as the lowest shown.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - HDZ955FBK4DGM / HDZ955FBGMBOX
C3 > 125W > 0.85V - 1.4V Stock operating range from AMD

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - HDZ955FBK4DGI / HDZ955FBGIBOX
C2 > 125W > 0.85V - 1.425V Stock operating range from AMD

 

[tikithorsen]

All AMD Processors Have Voltage ratings like as below. Cool N Quiet will drop voltages as should occur and they can drop as low as the lowest shown.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - HDZ955FBK4DGM / HDZ955FBGMBOX
C3 > 125W > 0.85V - 1.4V Stock operating range from AMD

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - HDZ955FBK4DGI / HDZ955FBGIBOX
C2 > 125W > 0.85V - 1.425V Stock operating range from AMD

Can you put the ones for the 965, please? Thanks.

 

[EarthDog]

Can you put the ones for the 965, please? Thanks.

The 965 should be the same as the above...im trying to find the white sheets on the AMD site, but havent had any luck so far.

I think what he meant is that his Motherboard automatically sets his processor to the max vcore (like mine).

I dont think he meant that. He didnt say that! As was mentioned above, the VID (stock voltage) comes from the CPU. If the CPU needs 1.4v, then thats what the board sets it at.

 

[RGone]

Can you put the ones for the 965, please? Thanks.

Pretty easy to find for one's ownself, but here they are. You have to know which of the three processors you actually have in your cpu socket. But here are all three 965's.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition - HDZ965FBK4DGI / HDZ965FBGIBOX
C2 > 140W > 0.85V - 1.425V Voltage range for that AMD processor.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 - HDX965FBK4DGM NOT UNLOCKED MULTIPLIER VERSiON.
C3 > 125W > 0.825V - 1.4V Voltage range for that AMD processor.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition - HDZ965FBK4DGM / HDZ965FBGMBOX
C3 > 125W > 0.825V - 1.4V Voltage range for that AMD processor.

 

[Lordred]

Lowering the voltage will only lead to the following:

1. Lower temps
2. Lower power draw
3. Cooler rooms
4. Slightly lower bills
5. Chance of instability
6. ?????????
7. Profit.

 

[Kosay1991]

Always try to get the lowest voltage possible while keeping it stable thats the best practice when overclocking. So no I guess its the exact opposite of bad its the goal

 

[tikithorsen]

@EarthDog
I made the assumption that his case was like mine, were at stock, I can set it at 1.275v. My Motherboard by default, set the voltage to 1.475v. That is what my brain directly assumed of that post.
Either that or I'm totally off the subject here, in which case, I apologize.

@RGone
Thank for the information.
HDZ965FBGMBOX is the one I have.

I found something to be peculiar; when I got the box out of my processor to check the model, I saw that on the sides of the fan in the heatsink, it reads "Cooler Master".

 

[tikithorsen]

Hey Kosay1991, I'm curious on which exact model of kit on those RipjawsX are, because mine refuse to run at any lower then 9-9-9 @ 1600MHz.
The model on mine are the F3-12800CL9-4GBXL

 

[DustyWolfe]

The 965 should be the same as the above...im trying to find the white sheets on the AMD site, but havent had any luck so far.

I dont think he meant that. He didnt say that! As was mentioned above, the VID (stock voltage) comes from the CPU. If the CPU needs 1.4v, then thats what the board sets it at.

you are right basically all i was asking was since i overclocked 400 mhz and dropped the voltage from 1.335 to 1.308 if there was any negative side effects other than instability(like some crazy volt spikes or something im not very knowledgable here) its perfectly stable there in fact im fairly sure i can go farther

Edit: thx everyone btw

 

[DustyWolfe]

i never did find the bottom unless not reading the usb counts as unstable (which happened at 1.213) i decided to leave it at about 1.236 just to give it some playing room. thanks for your responses

 

[Bobnova]

If it stops functioning correctly I'd call it unstable in the 24/7 meaning of the word. Unusable would be better I suppose.

Glad we could help.

 

[Lordred]

I actually undervolt all the time, almost every part in my systems are running below shipped values when it comes to voltage values.

Results in very cool running computers.

 

[Kosay1991]

Hi tikithorsen! That is strange is yours the blue or the red version? My understanding is that the latter has a stock CAS rating of 9.

My model number is F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM. Mine are the blue ones though, their "XMP profile timings" are 8-8-8-24. That being said I do have a very slight voltage over clock on the memory and north bridge.

Try running your command line at T2 instead of T1. I believe that helps with stability.

Here is a picture of my CPU-Z for reference! If needed I can pull out the full set of timings I used in my bios .

 

[DustyWolfe]

I actually undervolt all the time, almost every part in my systems are running below shipped values when it comes to voltage values.

Results in very cool running computers.

i noticed so far about 5*c difference both idle and load

 

[tikithorsen]

Hi tikithorsen! That is strange is yours the blue or the red version? My understanding is that the latter has a stock CAS rating of 9.

My model number is F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM. Mine are the blue ones though, their "XMP profile timings" are 8-8-8-24. That being said I do have a very slight voltage over clock on the memory and north bridge.

Try running your command line at T2 instead of T1. I believe that helps with stability.

Here is a picture of my CPU-Z for reference! If needed I can pull out the full set of timings I used in my bios .

I have the red ones, but I can see it in the model name of yours that they are CL8, that's why.
Thanks anyways, I'll stick with running them at 1333 CL7.