i7 6700k - looking for advice

[Zantetsu]

So it seems that I have lost the lottery on my processor and I am looking for advice on what overclock to use. I am able to get it stable at 4.5 ghz with a voltage of 1.33 or 4.6 ghz at 1.4 (possibly 1.39, computer froze at 1.38 after 30 mins of stress testing. I never tested 1.39).

at 1.4 volts (maybe 1.39) 4.6 ghz my max temps were only around 63, i'm using the noctua dh-15 with 2 fans. My question is basically how dangerous would it be to use 1.4 volts for 24/7 use knowing that my temps are that good, or would it be in my best interest to accept the 4.5 overclock and have a lower voltage setting. If i were to use the higher voltage and suffered degradation in a year or two would it be as easy as dropping it down to 4.5 ghz and continuing on?

The stress tests Ive been using are x264 v2.06 and p95 v27.9

 

[EarthDog]

1.4V for 24/7 is fine. I don't see a point in going lower. I would not go much higher on voltage.

 

[Zantetsu]

thank you for the reply

 

[Woomack]

I have only question if you set LLC to high or 1 ( depends from motherboard ). You said about ~1.4V but is it under load or in idle. Maybe there is too big difference between idle and load voltage ? Just asking as on MSI I have to set about 1.25V to get 1.18V under load so if you have something similar then maybe your CPU isn't as bad as you think and after playing with some settings you will be able to stabilize it at about 1.35V for 4.6GHz.
Just my thoughts.

 

[Zantetsu]

I have only question if you set LLC to high or 1 ( depends from motherboard ). You said about ~1.4V but is it under load or in idle. Maybe there is too big difference between idle and load voltage ? Just asking as on MSI I have to set about 1.25V to get 1.18V under load so if you have something similar then maybe your CPU isn't as bad as you think and after playing with some settings you will be able to stabilize it at about 1.35V for 4.6GHz.
Just my thoughts.

I think your on to something, it is a gigabyte z170x gaming 5 and i can see that llc is set to auto. i have the vcore manually set at 1.4 but i can see on the first screen of bios its showing a vcore of 1.368. how did you go about stabilizing your voltage? should i change llc to 1/high and try lowing the manual vcore i entered?

 

[EarthDog]

As he said, use LLC. But first, Boot to windows and start a stress test... then open up CPUz and see what the load voltage is. Then get back into the BIOS, set LLC to 1, boot to windows and start a stress test again... then open up CPUz and see what the load voltage is now. So for example, if you were at 1.26V on load prior to LLC, lower your Vcore to make 1.26V with LLC enabled.

 

[Zantetsu]

ok so it appears that 4.6 ghz is drawing about 1.32-1.33 volts, ive set vcore to 1.335 and am doing stability testing now thanks a lot for the advice both of you.

 

[wingman99]

What does Load line calibration do in the CPU, it has been a long time for me and this information.

 

[Kenrou]

https://gaming.msi.com/article/why-llc-is-your-friend-when-overclocking

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/24019-load-line-calibration-why-overclockers-should-care/ -> http://www.overclockers.com/load-line-calibration/

TLDR : "What this setting did was prevent the CPU VCORE from dropping under load, a situation known as “vdroop”. Normally if the idle VCORE was 1.300v and you put a heavy load on the CPU the VCORE would drop to 1.28 to 1.24, sometimes even more then .1v! What LLC does is watch for that drop and supply more power to prevent it, keeping the VCORE at a steady level and helping avoid crashes caused by the suddenly lower VCORE."