Debating setting up a Haswell-E low voltage overclock box

[mackerel]

A long time question I've had was what performance does the quad channel ram really give you. I've worked out a model so I can predict it, but that's obviously not the same as trying it for real. I'm debating setting up a low cost 5820k box to test it out, and I'm working out the economics of it now. It would help to know some things:

What's the typical voltage at stock? (3.3 GHz)
What's the typical voltage at say 4 GHz overclock?

I found an Anandtech review where they were running 5960X at 3.5 GHz at 1.0v, and for two samples at 4 GHz, 1.074 and 1.197v. So a bit of variability there.

Are the budget X99 mobos actually useful for overclocking? Bare in mind I'm not going for absolute highest clock speed at high voltages. I would be targeting 4 GHz+ at lowest possible voltage.

I know, "budget" and X99 shouldn't really be used together but this would be purely a cruncher.

 

[DaveB]

No need to spend big bucks for an X99 setup. At Microcenter, the Gigabyte X99-UD3P is $149 - I picked up an open box for only $89 minus a $20 rebate, they have an open box now for $105. It OC's my i7 5820K to 4.3 GHz using the BIOS "CPU Upgrade" feature (@ 1.25V). I leave it there since my old Coolermaster Hyper 212 would get iffy any higher. The motherboard has all the features to go much higher and to overclock the DDR4. I picked up my i7 5820K used for only $250, they go for $320 new at Microcenter and you get $20 off the motherboard if you buy a combo.

 

[mackerel]

I'm not in the USA so shopping at Microcenter isn't a realistic option for me. What sort of load temps are you getting with the 212? I was thinking of water given this would be a higher TDP at stock than anything else I currently run.

 

[DaveB]

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to your sig - I clearly see the "UK" now. It's early morning here so I'm beginning to run more smoothly on my 2nd cup of coffee. Yes, I was thinking of going to a Corsair H80i if I want to play at a higher OC (I'd have to change cases for a 240mm or 280mm rad so that's out). I get in the high 70s under load, and am sure a torture test would get to the 80s. But it runs totally crash free and is way fast enough so I don't see the need, but then that hasn't stopped me before.

If the Gigabyte X99-UD3P is $149, about the same as a middle of the road Z170, I would think it would be relatively cheap everywhere.

 

[mackerel]

Those temps aren't as bad as I feared. I do have a stock i7-6700k with a 212 at moment, and that's pushing high 60's, going into the 70's when I did OC it. I'm ram performance limited so there was little benefit from OC the CPU, hence I dropped it back to stock. This is also why that quad channel memory is drawing me in... if only they'd skip a generation and go straight to Skylake-E

In a quick search, the X99-UD3P is comparable in cost to premium Z170 boards. Close enough to that of my Asus VIII Hero. I suppose that is mid range given there are some far more expensive models, but a budget Z170 board could be half that though. Given i7-5820k and i7-6700k cost about the same here, it wouldn't have been much different for me to go that route. Trouble is then I start to work out value for money and i5-6600k starts to make more sense...

 

[ssjwizard]

I hear that. Im kinda sitting on this fence myself right now. I WANT to upgrade, and the X99 platform has my eye, but I just cant seem to make a decision.

Dave how is the performance on that 5820K @ 4.3G???