First TIme in OC and some troubles

[Ros]

Hello people!!

First of all I want to say Hi and Thanks in advance for all the help that I can find.

So as I said this is my first attempt to OC my rig in a proper way, so I read, read and read a lot... and then tested all that stuff with no satisfactory results, let me explain.
First My Rig:
-BeQuiet Silent 801 case
-CPU i7 6700K (yes a bit old but, but for starters I think it worth it)
-Corsair H150i Pro AIO cooler
-32Gb Kingston Hyper Fury DDR4 2400 (4x8gb)
-MSI Armor GTX 1080
-Asrock Z270 Gaming K4 Motherboard

OK the first thing that I was trying was the auto OC of the Mobo (Yes I know that's not the way, but I was curious about the performance), so I hit 4.6Ghz, and then launched AIDA64, and OCCT... both test passed for more than 5 hours working with 0 errors.
So I decided to go on full manual to tunning the proper way, and then the problems appear.
I started from 46x on CPU and 43xCache and with Vcore of 1.38 and LLC1-> OCCT fails within 3 minutes, with Vcore01 error or simply error or a BSOD.
So I tryied to cranck up the Vcore, 1.385... 1.39.., 1.395.. all the way to 1.42 (no interested in going up much more) with no luck... same results.
Then I tried to put cache in auto... fail again.
Other specs like 45x CPU, diffrent Vcore settings results in a direct BSOD, no hangs, no error thrown, while OCCT is working.

Now the only OC speed that seems holding is 44x on CPU and 1.385 on VCore (I think is a bit high for a 44), now is in OCCT for more than 2 hours and doing fine.


So any advice, ho can I get the results of auto OC on the Mobo manually?? I don't know which combination need to do to make it work.
My CPU temps in any OC config I made never reached 80ºC, Cores and CPU get some spike to 77, 78, but normally stays between 57 to 69 degrees. Pretty good I Think!

Thanks

 

[trents]

Keep your cache frequency at stock. Very little performance gain from overclocking the cache anyway.

I expect you are running into issues with overtaxing the VRM once you get past 4600 mhz on the cores. That's not exactly a high end mobo and it probably doesn't have the most rugged power phase components available.

Having said all that, 4600 mhz on the skylake series is about all you can expect. That would be a pretty average ceiling for that CPU. Doesn't look like you won the silicon lottery but not a bad chip either. Another possible issue is the amount of RAM you are running which could be putting extra strain on the IMC.

Mostly, I think you have just reached the ceiling on that CPU.

 

[EarthDog]

Is the motherboard using the latest bios? If not, update it.

1.38V for 4.4Ghz is high for that clockspeed.

Leave the cache on auto/stock as trents said.

 

[wingman99]

4.6-4.7 GHz is the usual limit for the i7 6700K.

 

[Ros]

@tRens

The amount of Ram is because it's my daily use rig... Yes maybe that no help, are you suggesting to remove some Ram then achieve a stable OC, and when I get good settings reinstall the Ram?

Yes the mobo is not high end because last one failed and I don't want to get rid of my 6700k while still valid, and was the 200 chipset mobo with reasonable price and easy to get, maybe at the end of the year maybe sooner jump to 300 with i7 8/9xxxk.

Yes I think I didn't win the lottery

@wingman99
Yes I know that, thanks, my plan is not go beyond 4.6

@EarthDog
Not, I'm using 2.10, I'll go for latest update
Yes I'll leave the cache in Auto

Thanks Guys

 

[Ros]

Is the motherboard using the latest bios? If not, update it.

1.38V for 4.4Ghz is high for that clockspeed.

Leave the cache on auto/stock as trents said.

Ok BIOS updated to latest version 2.30...
Testing.....
44x CPU
Cache AUTO
Vcore 1.35v
CoreVid 1.220v (CPUID CPU-Z reading)
LLC Level 1

 

[Ros]

Well no luck with....
44x CPU
Cache AUTO
Vcore 1.35v
CoreVid 1.220v (CPUID CPU-Z reading)
LLC Level 1
Constant BSOD on OCCT at 5 minutes
Putting more Vcore with this x44 I don't think it's worth it

Need to down specs to:
CPU 43X
Vcore 1.325
CoreVid 1.220
LLC1

This specs are holding in 1h 30min in OCCT, I will leave the OCCT all night long.

In LOAD


IDLING

 

[trents]

What about AVX? If you add in an AVX offset of 1x you might be stable at 44x in stress testers and apps that don't use AVX instructions. Both P95 (recent versions) and OCCT use AVX. Older versions of P95 (e.g. 26.6) do not. Most real world apps do not use AVX but it is creeping in to more and more of them.

 

[Kenrou]

Manually set the cache to 4ghz and try again, I had a 6700k with a Hero mobo that liked to equalize cache with whatever core speed you put it on.

 

[nfinity]

I agree with Kenrou. I recently had the same issue on my ASRock MB, and manually setting cache ratio lower fixed this, but this was for haswell chip. Also, watch out for cpu cache voltage if set to AUTO as well. Again my MB increased those voltages as it was increasing my cache ratio automatically.

 

[Ros]

What about AVX? If you add in an AVX offset of 1x you might be stable at 44x in stress testers and apps that don't use AVX instructions. Both P95 (recent versions) and OCCT use AVX. Older versions of P95 (e.g. 26.6) do not. Most real world apps do not use AVX but it is creeping in to more and more of them.

Well I don't know how to activate/deactivate AVX offset... From OCCT or BIOS?

- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -

Manually set the cache to 4ghz and try again, I had a 6700k with a Hero mobo that liked to equalize cache with whatever core speed you put it on.

OK I'll set 40x for Cache and try again...

- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -

Manually set the cache to 4ghz and try again, I had a 6700k with a Hero mobo that liked to equalize cache with whatever core speed you put it on.

So which cache voltage I need to set? in caste that AUTO mode is not working fine?

 

[trents]

AVX is a bios setting.

Sometimes cache is called "uncore" in bios. You might want to capture a pic of your bios settings in that area with the F12 key onto a flash drive and then post it to the forum as an attachment so we can see your choices in bios.

 

[EarthDog]

AVX offset is in your BIOS.

Auto works fine, but uses more voltage to favor stability. There isn't a cache voltage? I can't remember if that platform has it integrated into vcore...

 

[Ros]

This is my config in UEFI for 44x the AVX I need to find yet.
VOLTAGES

CPU

CPU

DRAM (not modified)

 

[trents]

Hm. Don't see it. In my ASRock bios it is in OC Tweaker>CPU Configuration toward the bottom. Did you check in Advanced?

 

[Ros]

...Did you check in Advanced?

This pics are from advance mode

 

[Ros]

Well seems 44x CPU and 40x Cache LLC1 is pretty stable, although I cannot run all night test because even when I went to sleep the test was running for almost 4 Hours, in the morning my pc is off... this is the second time.
The max test that I can log is for a 2h30min run that I need to cancel for job need.
In this 2h30 run all was fine temps (Average 51-58c) and Vcore, here some pics....







The Vcore never drops below 1.295v and never goes further than 1.32v, my Vcore is set at 1.35v, and as you can see no spikes at any time.
Why it's not holding all the night?? Maybe I'll put my gopro to record the screen, to see what happens.

 

[Kenrou]

If you only game/web 2h stress test is usually more then enough to never see a blue screen. You can have ~1.42v for 24/7 so keep upping multi and voltage, hopefully it'll hit 4.6ghz/4.7ghz.

 

[Johan45]

Crashing on the longer tests could be a build up of heat in the PC. Is your AIO pulling cool air in from outside the case? This setup dumps all the warm air into the case add to that there's likely very little airflow on the VRM section because of the AIO.
What kind of set-up do you have for the case/cooling?

 

[EarthDog]

This pics are from advance mode

He meant the advanced section.... but it's not there.

It may be part of vcore... but cache overclocking doesnr yield much anyway.