Dialing in 6600k

[berfles]

I built this system a couple years ago and tried to overclock it before deeming it was a crappy chip because I had to crank the voltage quite a bit to get to 4.6GHZ, which is pretty much the benchmark for this chip from what I can tell. Anyway, my specs are as follows:


CPU - Intel 6600K

Motherboard - Asus Z170-AR

RAM - 2x8GB Gskill 2666

GPU - GTX 1070 G1 Gaming

Cooler - Noctua NH-D14

PSU - Seasonic 850W Gold



Now, pretty much all I've done is change the ratio to 47 and my RAM to 3100MHZ at 1.28v. I have the voltage set manually for my CPU at 1.4. My temps are at most low 70s as seen below (This was before I manually set the voltage so disregard those readings):





Here are current CPU-Z screens:







With these settings it's stable with MemTest86 at 14 hours and Aid64 for 4 hours. I've also run RealBench for a few 15 minute sessions without issue.

What I'm wondering how exactly I have to set Offset or Adaptive mode for the voltage as I am aware having it set to a static voltage isn't ideal. Anything else I can dial in?

 

[trents]

Take note of what the max vcore hits under stress as things are. Then temporarily lower your overclock frequency and vcore and start adding offset in small amounts. Stress test again and see what the vcore peeks at. Then add more offset as necessary until you get it back to where it was peaking originally. Then restore your OC CPU frequency.

 

[berfles]

I have it set to 1.42 in my BIOS and the max it ever gets to is that 1.408 in the CPU-Z above. Is 1.4ish already the "safe limit" for Skylake or should I see if I can get say 1.45v and a little more of an overclock given my cooling seems up to par?

Also, the offset confused me because I see the place to add the +/- offset value, but it doesn't seem to give me a place to specify what I want the voltage to start out at, or isn't that how offset works? Does it just sort of pad what the voltage naturally goes to?

 

[EarthDog]

The offset starts out at your default voltage. This is why he mentioned to get the reading of your load voltage and go on from there. Like you said, it pads (adds to) the stock voltage. You could need more for a given clock, could need less! Depndson what you set.

 

[trents]

I have it set to 1.42 in my BIOS and the max it ever gets to is that 1.408 in the CPU-Z above. Is 1.4ish already the "safe limit" for Skylake or should I see if I can get say 1.45v and a little more of an overclock given my cooling seems up to par?

Also, the offset confused me because I see the place to add the +/- offset value, but it doesn't seem to give me a place to specify what I want the voltage to start out at, or isn't that how offset works? Does it just sort of pad what the voltage naturally goes to?

Not sure what's going on there but ED is correct, you enter the amount you want to add to VID. I believe the increments are .01. So if, for instance, you declare a VID of 1.25 as baseline and you want it to ramp up to 1.3 under load you would enter a value of +.05 in the offset option. The one thing to keep in mind is that your baseline VID must still be substantial enough for the system to reliably boot into Windows at the given overclock level. You may also find that the baseline VID and or the offset needs to be larger than you expect to be stable in order to cover the rapid slingshot changes in voltages.

 

[berfles]

Ok, I got confused because he said to test it as is to get the baseline voltage... doing that as it is now will just give me what I manually set (1.42v), wouldn't it? So I should lessen the OC, set the voltage back to whatever my CPU says it should be, and then go from there? I was looking for an actual field to enter the VID into, but I see now that's what the CPU deems is the necessary voltage for a given clock speed.

Anyway, this is what the BIOS looks like when offset mode is enabled, there's no place to specify what I want the voltage to be so that's why I guess it just offsets what it comes with from factory:

 

[EarthDog]

It needs to be set to AUTO(default) to get your BASE voltages.

The offset starts out at your default voltage.

If you have something set manually it will read what you set and is not 'default'.

so that's why I guess it just offsets what it comes with from factory:

Correct... if you have a voltage set manually, that isn't default.

Set it all back to auto... get into windows and see what your load voltage is. The offset will play off that.

 

[wingman99]

From the BIOS screen shot your in AUTO offset.

 

[berfles]

From the BIOS screen shot your in AUTO offset.

I know, that's before I starting messing with it. I finally get what to do, in the process of getting it to peak around 1.42 again and then I'll test it all over.

 

[wingman99]

Your processor has a high VID 1.42 probably not going to be a good overclocker.

 

[berfles]

Your processor has a high VID 1.42 probably not going to be a good overclocker.

It's stable at 4.7 with that voltage, I'm just trying to set the offset.

It's not going well either, I have it peaking at 1.408@4GHZ which shouldn't be crazy for it since it was stable at [email protected] and it keeps crashing in RealBench. What do I do when that happens?

 

[wingman99]

It's stable at 4.7 with that voltage, I'm just trying to set the offset.

It's not going well either, I have it peaking at 1.408@4GHZ which shouldn't be crazy for it since it was stable at [email protected] and it keeps crashing in RealBench. What do I do when that happens?

Are you running load line calibration on AUTO? If so you need to increase the offset by 20 millivolts.

 

[berfles]

Are you running load line calibration on AUTO? If so you need to increase the offset by 20 millivolts.

Is this the setting?



Either way, I have the offset to a point now where it just peaked at 1.44v which is too high, higher than what I had it set when it was static. The idle voltage is still 1.392v, so it's not even lowering the voltage enough to make it worthwhile, plus I haven't even gotten it stable this way yet. It was stable at a static 1.42v. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but if it crashed at an offset that brought voltage to 1.4v and 4GHZ I'm not sure what's going on.

 

[wingman99]

Your at a overclocking limit and doing everything for overclocking fine.

 

[berfles]

Well, I guess I'll just leave it manually set to 4.7GHZ@ 1.42v and call it job done. It's totally stable, I'd prefer it not be sitting at 1.408v under normal usage but it is what it is. Highest temp was 85c on a couple cores after 30 minutes of RealBench testing, AIDA64 only got into the high 60s low 70s, and I doubt games will be any higher. If the CPU burns out in a couple more years so be it.

 

[wingman99]

It will last for 7+ years from other folks with the same core voltage.

 

[berfles]

My only other issue is a fairly well known issue I believe, audio crackling. Seems a lot of people with this board have the issue and some reported that upping the PCH voltage to 1.1v fixed it, so I tried that and it made it a little better but there is still obvious crackling any time I play games or the CPU usage goes up. Any idea on that? I'm using the latest BIOS and an Asus XonarDX sound card. Did the PCI-E somehow get affected by the overclock as well?

 

[wingman99]

Return the PC back to default and check and see if it is still crackling.

 

[berfles]

It's not, I used the PC stock for a long time and only noticed it when I pushed the overclock. Lots of other people have the same issue but results are mixed with the PCH