High CPU Core Voltage (stock settings)

[new boy]

1 - Vcore is always like 0.02v higher than vid, at least on haswell chips. People use vid and vcore interchangeably really. The difference is small enough that it really doesn't matter. vid is what the CPU is asking for and Vcore is what its actually getting is the theory.

2 - have you set the vcore in bios as fixed, or as an offset? If offset, it should look like mine

Spoiler

If fixed, then the vid requested doesn't drop at idle, but I believe the vcore fed to the cpu can go down at idle when you enable certain power saving stuff I think? That would explain why yours is like it is I guess? I'm not sure really as I dont use fixed.

3 - at stock, the CPU basically tells the motherboard what it wants and the motherboard gives it to it. The CPU knows if its a "good" chip or a "bad" chip and the "bad" chips will request extra voltage from the motherboard than the "good" ones. When you start overclocking and leaving it on auto however, the motherboard just adds extra voltage on top, normally far to much voltage.

Someone else might be able to give you a better explanation for number 3 lol. I have no idea why your old bios felt the need to give the chip so much juice? Maybe harney could fill us in on those details, looks like he has a better understanding of the problem than me

 

[billyonecan]

ah i had it set as a fixed voltage in the bios. there is an option for vcore offset but you have to set the vcore voltage and then separately the set the offset, and i have no idea how that works :| is it just a case of setting the vcore to say 1.25v and then setting the offset to -0.5v?

anyway it turns out it wasn't stable, ended up blue screening again (same error every time it has happened since i tried lowering the voltage - WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR). i've read that it's related to undervolting the cpu so i'm not too concerned (had vcore @ 1.190). for the time being i've set it back to auto (vcore maxed at 1.297v on all cores, vid ~1.280v) which seems high and temperatures have increased a fair bit (hit 76°C playing bf1 and i can hear the fans mounted on the rad spinning up now).

 

[new boy]

On mine, I just set an offset (say +0.100v) and that's it. It just goes against "auto" I presume.

To be honest, it looks like your voltage is dropping at idle anyway using fixed, so maybe just stick with fixed if that's working out better for you.

Bad luck about the crash, maybe work down in small steps over time, it would probably be less frustrating and allow you to get a decent game going Try vid at 1.26v next, then 1.24v, then 1.22v etc.

 

[billyonecan]

will do - i'm determined to get there in the end

i have another question (sorry, i promise i'll stop eventually )

i've noticed that all cores boost to 4.4ghz. from what i understand this shouldn't happen. i checked in the bios and under intel's turbo boost technology there's a clock ratio which shows that if:

1 core is active: x44
2 cores are active: x44
3 cores are active: x43
4 cores are active: x42

yet if i go in to the MIT status in the bios it shows all cores boosting to 4.4ghz. i can't find anything in the bios which may be affecting this but it doesn't appear to be paying any attention to the ones set :| i'm wondering if this is possibly what's causing the cpu voltage to be set so high. any ideas?

 

[new boy]

Not sure to be honest. Its probably just a feature of the board. Maybe you can turn it off if you look hard enough, but I wouldn't worry about it.

I'd rather have all cores at 4.4GHz anyway rather than this turbo nonsense

will do - i'm determined to get there in the end

I think you are already there mate. This is just optional fine tuning now. It would be preferable to get the vcore and temps down a little, but its not essential.

 

[billyonecan]

yeah - it's starting to become a bit of an obsession now lol. i'm pretty certain that boosting all 4 cores to 4.4ghz is the main culprit for the high voltage.

i found an interesting article here which is what i was describing.

as a test i disabled intel boost technology in the bios, the voltage plummeted (1.09v) and temps are now under 20°C idle, and under 50°C at load. i also tried disabling xmp (it's been suggested that that can cause all cores to boost), but that had no effect whatsoever.

so it's essentially forcing an overclock on my processor which i don't want, and i'm pretty sure there's no way i can turn it off :|

 

[harney]

hi guys

i'm very happy to say that i'm back up and running. ocuk received my return yesterday, and within 20 minutes of doing so Ohlawll had personally gone and picked the replacement, and upgraded it to saturday delivery free of charge. incredible customer service!

i'm running with optimised defaults again, all i've done is enabled xmp (so far so good, ran a short 15 minute stress test in aida, max temps reached 59°C without the fans hitting 100%). vcore is currently sat at ~0.72v with cores idle, but with the boost clock it hits 1.283v - is there any reason to be concerned or is this perfectly safe?

just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone, but in particular harney and new boy, for all of your help in getting this issue resolved. you've no idea how grateful i am, and i feel like i've learned a lot! big thanks to Ohlawll as well for sorting me out with a replacement so quickly, given the circumstances i don't think i know of any company who'd do the same.

fingers crossed there are no more issues!

Your welcome billyonecan great result.. glad you got sorted and your up and running ..And good for Ocuk for resolving quickly and offering free sat delivery.... apart form the 1st initial contact they did seem a little off but all good in the end..

If your interested i am running a Gig Z97X-UD5H 4790k @ 4.6 all cores with HT& all power features on with a noctua nh-d15 full load volts are 1.240 ..i can push to 4.8 but requires over 1.3 so not worth the extra cost of watts/heat ect

3 - at stock, the CPU basically tells the motherboard what it wants and the motherboard gives it to it. The CPU knows if its a "good" chip or a "bad" chip and the "bad" chips will request extra voltage from the motherboard than the "good" ones. When you start overclocking and leaving it on auto however, the motherboard just adds extra voltage on top, normally far to much voltage.

Someone else might be able to give you a better explanation for number 3 lol. I have no idea why your old bios felt the need to give the chip so much juice? Maybe harney could fill us in on those details, looks like he has a better understanding of the problem than me

Possibly just a bad chips like you say...But the strange thing is i have had a fair few cpus that would not run correctly with certain boards ..place cpu in another and they run fine same settings same memory make/modal motherboard so yes its a strange one ...i have also had a to send some back to intel for replacement ...i have asked intel a few times what is the cause of this but got no straight answer .

personally i think its an issue with z87 97 chipset and the cpu mem controller requesting too much vcore google it there is tons of peeps with the same issues...