8700K OC all of a sudden unstable?

C6ckneyGeezer · 10 Mar 2024 at 22:05

For around 6 years my trusty 8700K has sat at 5Ghz @1.360v absolutely rock solid. My machine is pretty much on every day for around 6 - 8 hours, either used as a media centre or gaming rig.

Around 18 months ago I threw a Asus 3080 12GB for a performance bump over my old 1080Ti (What a card....) along with a Corsair RMx Series RM850x PSU to ensure stability and reliability.

It seems as of last week the OC on my 8700K is now totally unstable? After hours of testing, any OC I now throw at it my rig throws a fit and freezes/reboots while under load while gaming or benchmarking. All temps and voltages are good. No OC on my 3080.

While under no OC, things are rock solid again while gaming. No reboots or freezes. However it still won't "pass" a 3DMark stress test? CPU clock will fluctuate quite a bit, dropping to 3.4Ghz...but 3DMark also reports it hitting a random 7GHZ+ LOL?

I can only assume my trusty 8700K could be on it's last legs? Or maybe motherboard issue?

USB issues have also crept in. Mouse stutters and looses connection every so often. USB memory sticks and phones tend to freeze and disconnect randomly.

i7-8700K 5.0Ghz Delided / Noctua NH-D15 / Thermal Grizzly Thermals
Asus ROG Maximus X Hero / 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200Mhz CL16
Asus TUF OC RTX 3080 12GB / Samsung 860 EVO 250GB & 2TB
Corsair RM850x / Corsair Carbide Air 540 / Corsair Sabre Pro & K57

tamzzy · 10 Mar 2024 at 22:22

what happens if you throw more voltage at the 8700k?

C6ckneyGeezer · 10 Mar 2024 at 22:27

tamzzy said:
what happens if you throw more voltage at the 8700k?

It slowly dies after around 6 years? :cry:

tamzzy · 10 Mar 2024 at 22:32

exactly what i was thinking lol...the silicon is degrading and needing more voltage to keep the overclock stable
try 1.4v which should still be safe for the 8700k, but will probably reduce its lifespan further

tamzzy · 10 Mar 2024 at 22:35

also, have you tried chucking the 1080ti back in to see if the same issues are present?

if you've not touched the cpu voltages and the issues are only present with the 3080 but not the 1080ti, then it's a 3080 issue or a psu issue
if the cpu issues still linger with the 1080ti and 3080 then it's a cpu issue...less likely a psu issue (the 3080 is very spiky on the power loading)

ATIorNvidia · 10 Mar 2024 at 23:03

If you were at the edge of stability when you first dialed in your overclock then it wouldn't be uncommon to hit stability after a length of time.

C6ckneyGeezer · 19 Mar 2024 at 21:32

Down clocked to 4.7Ghz all cores at 1.280v under load, all now seems well! So lost a bit of performance but stability is now back it would seem.

A good excuse to upgrade soon I guess

Thanks for the replies!

tamzzy · 19 Mar 2024 at 21:36

Enjoy what's left of the 8700k lol.
It's as great a chip in terms of longevity as the 2500k was

C6ckneyGeezer · 19 Mar 2024 at 21:43

tamzzy said:
Enjoy what's left of the 8700k lol.
It's as great a chip in terms of longevity as the 2500k was

Yeah hopefully the old girls lives a little longer for me. In all honesty, great chip I can't fault it!

The value for money the 8700k and the 1080Ti I had paired with it until recent was amazing.

The idea of the new hardware today kinda puts me off. Massive power draw. No overclocking (Pretty much minimal real world gains) and under volting everything seems boring :cry:

Take me back the the early 2000's.

tamzzy · 19 Mar 2024 at 21:55

Haha yeah nowadays it's all about the undervolting. All silicon be it cpu or GPU are being run to within an inch of their life.

My overall favourite build has to be my watercooled 3770k + quadfire 7990 back in the day. Basically didn't need to turn on the heating in my room :cry:

I had my 3770k for 6+ years and it saw me through the 7950, 7990, quadfire and then a 1080ti before I retired it for a 3700x