Auto vcore, is this too high?

RobHague

RobHague

RobHague

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26 Jun 2008
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1.2v seemed quite high to me.

I have the Z77N-WIFI so I can't control the voltage :/ I presumed it would keep it at 'stock' but seems its upping the volts to compensate. Unless it keeps it within a set range, whats the actual stock max voltages for the 3770k?

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Voltages vary from chip to chip but imo, every auto-voltage is too much. If i were you i would either start looking at lowering voltage or upping clock.

It will run fine and wont decrease lifespan with it on auto but if you can run it stably at a lower voltage or up the clock with the same voltage, why not?

You might not even be able to push it further or lower the voltage but it costs nothing to try and you have a fair bit to gain by doing so. Not that a 3770k at 4.2 isn't adequate for the vast majority of enthusiasts.
 
Yeah I wish I could, I would actually keep it at stock and just overclock within those limits. But my board does not have any voltage options for CPU Core :(

Running at 3.5Ghz with Turbo off, I get 1.1v. I presume that's the default vcore. So 1.256v seems a little on the high side, not sure if I want to keep it going at that. I dread to think if I up the clocks what it will put it up to next lol, I can well imagine it doing 1.3-1.4v or more. Might as well just give the CPU a blind fold and a cigarette ;)
 
Considering the cooling and your CPU, i would grab a second hand Z77 board that allows voltage control. Your performance gains will be well worth it!

I know you said you would be happy with stock voltage but your CPU and cooler is screaming to be clocked. 4.2 is nice enough considering, so its up to you whether you think its worth the cash for an extra couple of multipliers.
 
http://www.techpowerup.com/mobile/reviews/Gigabyte/Z77N-WiFi/12.html

Nopes :/ nothing at all. I have voltage settings for RAM etc, but. Nothing at all for CPU. Except some settings to disable thermal protection and so forth. Turbo Power Limit. I set that to the stated default actually to see if it would throttle sooner or (77), and when I booted into windows I had a pink bar across the top of the screen. Urm ok XD guess my board isn't truthful with defaults.

Through some testing I have found the board pumps 1.2v into the CPU on the sly if I adjust memory speed and leave everything else on 'Auto'. It sets the Turbo multipliers to 39x for everything. So the jump to 4.2ghz the board only seems to notch up to 1.21v max. I have seen it flick to that briefly in HWMonitor.

Not really looking to change boards, I can't imagine the % difference would be worth the cost? Even if I managed some crazy OC like 4.8Ghz. Was really just 'tweaking' as I was in the mood to tinker around (just put a 780 Ti in my system so was feeling the itch).

I am waiting for DDR4 based systems before I switch boards :) but it would have been nice to have some more OC potential on my current board. The Z77N-WiFi only has a 4pin so I guess that's why it's OC options are limited.
 
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what about the asus turbo v software? that might let you lower cpu v when in windows?

it lets you save a profile aswell
 
It's a gigabyte board though? I looked at some software tools though and there are just no options available. Sadly. I doubt software would be a good solution anyhow.

I took my CPU up to 4.3 and it seemed stable still, but I was playing Battlefield 4 and it crashed to the desktop -twice. So I reverted to 4.2 and it was rock solid again. So I don't think it likes 4.3. I am happy enough with 4.2, I had a look at voltages and the CPU (at stock speeds) hits about 1.12v at load and at 4.2, it sits on 1.18v or 1.2v at load. Temps are higher by about 8*c.
 
ahh yh,dunno why I said asus

for gigabyte theres easytune,that will let you alter cpu voltage if you wanted to,works well

EDIT,that voltage isn't high anyway for 4.2ghz but I bet you could get it lower if the software lets you
 
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It hits 1.21v according to OCCT. Seems to depend on what I am doing though, oddly the OCCT stress test seems to max it out at 1.8v. If I play Battlefield 4 however, it seems to draw 1.2 to 1.21v. However its not constant, it fluctuates up and down so. I will have a look for easytune.

In general, whats a voltage that isn't too detrimental to the lifespan of the chip? I am never more than 71*c, in actual proper usage (none stress tests) its more like 61-65*c.

Edit: Nope seems not.
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Fair enough :) its been a while since I indulged in overclocking to any significant degree so am out of touch with what voltages are 'ok'.

What I find more annoying than no voltage adjustment is that I cannot FIX the voltage either. I did spec up a new board/case but the outlay seems a bit drastic considering I could pop it in and get exactly the same OC just with a few less volts. So economically its best to kinda stick I suppose :)

Edit: OH and my PC is still under warrenty with OcUK (was originally a BTO). Sooo yeah lol. Prob worth not breaking it up into a new system XD
 
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