Asus Maximus X Apex with 8700k voltage issues

Anlaf Cununc · 3 Dec 2017 at 03:25

Hey guys, I have been trying to get a stable overclock on my system but for some reason the Asus Bios wont allow me to set a manual core cpu voltage. I have "sync all cores" option selected and have it set on 5 GHz. I changed the core voltage from Auto to manual mode and then started testing gradually to get a stable PC.

When I run Aida64 stress test I can see that the voltage supplied to the cpu at 100% usage jumps to 1.4 or even higher given that I entered 1.32 in the manual mode. Now after reading some threads online regarding the voltage jump I found out that I had to change cpu line calibration from Auto to level 5 or 6 to get the voltage to settle at a number closer to the manual voltage I entered. so now when I do the stress test it shows it pushes 1.344 with max going to 1.36 and the core speed rather than hitting 5 GHz and keeping it constant, it actually fluctuates a bit.

I then ran the stress test on Intel extreme utility and noticed the dip in clock speed only happens when cpu voltage throttling lights up on the test. Can someone please help me achieve stable voltage on this board. Like help me get to a point where I can increase it and not get this jump in voltage?

Anlaf Cununc · 3 Dec 2017 at 14:36

I am adding some screenshots so you guys can see what is going on

So these following screenshots are when I do the stress test. All cores hit 5Ghz at the start of the test with 1.344 voltage and then the cores speed drops and the voltage goes up to 1.36.

So here the test is running fine and I am getting 5GHz with 1.344V even though I entered 1.32 manually

Now as soon as the "power limit throttle" lights up on the extreme utility the core speed drops and the voltage goes to 1.36V?

Can someone look at this and let me know what I am doing wrong please?

ltron · 3 Dec 2017 at 19:17

Can you go into "Internal CPU Power Management" and show us what it says there, please? According to Intel XTU your power limits are set at what I'd expect at stock i.e. 95W for long turbo boost power and 130W for short turbo boost power.

buzzlightweight · 3 Dec 2017 at 19:32

have a look at my settings and see if they help you? https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...-1ghz-1-314v-and-77c-no-delid-8700k.18802568/

Anlaf Cununc · 3 Dec 2017 at 19:51

Ok so I followed this guy's overclock tutorial exactly how he does it and these are the results I get

I had set the system on high performance as shown in the video and on idle all my cores are at 5.0GHz and voltage at 1.376 (even though in the tutorial the guy is getting 1.344) but lets ignore that for a second and got forward. Now when I run any kind of stress test that uses 100% usage of the cpu my core speeds actually drop to 4700 and voltage goes up to 1.392 which is super frustrating as that is not how this should be behaving right? I mean I followed his steps exactly like suggested and my bios is up to date too, so not sure what I am missing?

Any help at this case would greatly help. Thanks

Anlaf Cununc · 3 Dec 2017 at 19:52

buzzlightweight said:
have a look at my settings and see if they help you? https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...-1ghz-1-314v-and-77c-no-delid-8700k.18802568/

I actually followed your steps too and have been getting the same issues

ltron · 4 Dec 2017 at 22:57

Anlaf Cununc said:
I actually followed your steps too and have been getting the same issues

When you changed the power limits in the UEFI were these reflected in Intel XTU or does it still show 95W and 131W?

Anlaf Cununc · 5 Dec 2017 at 00:32

I think it might be linked with the AVX load as the offset to 3. It drops to 4700 when AVX included stress test are running.

Tobias · 6 Dec 2017 at 08:33

Mine does that, regarding the AVX offset. As soon as you run a benchmark without AVX, it will increase again. Just depends what instructions the CPU are running.

Doug2507 · 7 Dec 2017 at 01:01

CPU current capability 140%
VRM Spread spectrum disable
Power Phase control extreme
CPU VCCIO 1.2v
CPU System agent voltage 1.2v
Disable AVX offset unless you use AVX prog's.
LLC6 will be near enough spot on what you set in bios, software might show 0.02v variance from idle to load. (Not a big deal). As you've got Apex just use a digital multi meter on the vcore pin to confirm if you need your mind put at rest.
Find lowest vcore for CB R15 (nice and quick, easy temp check also), add 0.05v to vcore then run rog/P95 26.6 (1344k FFT)/XTU etc etc. It'll only need a small adjustment to vcore if any.
Raise cache/ring, repeat whatever stress tests till fail, drop back 1 multi.
Job done.

Anlaf Cununc · 7 Dec 2017 at 04:14

Doug2507 said:
CPU current capability 140%
VRM Spread spectrum disable
Power Phase control extreme
CPU VCCIO 1.2v
CPU System agent voltage 1.2v
Disable AVX offset unless you use AVX prog's.
LLC6 will be near enough spot on what you set in bios, software might show 0.02v variance from idle to load. (Not a big deal). As you've got Apex just use a digital multi meter on the vcore pin to confirm if you need your mind put at rest.
Find lowest vcore for CB R15 (nice and quick, easy temp check also), add 0.05v to vcore then run rog/P95 26.6 (1344k FFT)/XTU etc etc. It'll only need a small adjustment to vcore if any.
Raise cache/ring, repeat whatever stress tests till fail, drop back 1 multi.
Job done.

The problem is why is my board pushing out more voltage when I have exactly the same settings as this guy https://youtu.be/CoUtA7DKXhU

All I need to understand is that, can 2 different boards push out different voltages to the cpu? I have ordered another 8700k to test if this issue is with the board or the chip. Will let you know more after I test it today

Anlaf Cununc · 7 Dec 2017 at 16:11

Right so I tested a new CPU and I got exactly the same voltages. So either Apex boards are not functioning with the new bios update or the board I have is faulty. This is so damn confusing man

Doug2507 · 7 Dec 2017 at 16:25

Don't know why you're getting hung up on voltage. You'll rarely get the same exact vcore reading through software as you've set in bios. (As i mentioned before, use a multimeter on the read outs). You'll always get fluctuation between idle and load regardless of llc. You'll get small variation between 2 boards and 2 chips. The chip and board are fine, no point throwing away money on more chips. EDIT: told you so!!!!!! And there's nothing wrong with board or BIOS!!!!

Use the bios settings above, re run....