Odd issues since overclocking I5 3570k

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Hey everyone,

Yesterday I manually over-clocked my i5 3570k to 4.2 ghz using the turbo multipliers (voltage set to normal with a negative offset of 0.45).

I ran prime for over 3 hours and it was fine, also used intel burn test and had no problems.

I have been encountering 2 wierd issues though, which I assume are related since they started yesterday.

1. Windows 7 gadgets stop working, probably about once every hour or so (gadgets used: coretemp, all CPU meter, and network meter).

2. Sometimes the screen will go black, but will come back on if I move the mouse (I have checked power saving settings etc.).

Could these be related to the overclocking, or do you think it is a coincidence?

Thanks :)
 
I get this too unless I set a constant high voltage. If I load a game and minimize to desktop and it clocks down the voltage it will crash some programs. Particularly Adobe Air on League of Legends and also Catalyst Control Centre.

To me this means that your CPU isn't stable when it's underclocked and undervolted. Perhaps remove the negative offset and see if it's any better. You can adjust the Load Line Calibration to lower the load voltage.

Screen going black sounds like the "Choose when to turn off the display" option in Win7. Otherwise check your connection to monitor?

I tried for a whole day trying to get my 3570k stable on desktop, it was okay in games but the offset voltage route really wasn't working for me. Going to give it a go now, I'll try with +0.100V to see if it is at least stable.
 
Just to let you know +0.100V and 1.100VTT seems to have helped, fingers crossed. The load voltage is a bit higher than I would like though so will need to lower it to +0.080V or so hopefully. My chip is just juicy.

What made you choose a negative offset? CPU Should do 4.2GHz on stock volts I don't see any need to lower the load voltage if you have already raised it above spec. :p
 
Not sure about the first one, but the second - screen saver enabled?

I have the screen set to turn off after 10 minutes, how ever this doesn't usually happen with netflix (which is when i noticed the screen going black).

I have temporarily removed the setting to see if the black screens still occur. :)

I get this too unless I set a constant high voltage. If I load a game and minimize to desktop and it clocks down the voltage it will crash some programs. Particularly Adobe Air on League of Legends and also Catalyst Control Centre.

To me this means that your CPU isn't stable when it's underclocked and undervolted. Perhaps remove the negative offset and see if it's any better. You can adjust the Load Line Calibration to lower the load voltage.

Screen going black sounds like the "Choose when to turn off the display" option in Win7. Otherwise check your connection to monitor?

I tried for a whole day trying to get my 3570k stable on desktop, it was okay in games but the offset voltage route really wasn't working for me. Going to give it a go now, I'll try with +0.100V to see if it is at least stable.

Just to let you know +0.100V and 1.100VTT seems to have helped, fingers crossed. The load voltage is a bit higher than I would like though so will need to lower it to +0.080V or so hopefully. My chip is just juicy.

What made you choose a negative offset? CPU Should do 4.2GHz on stock volts I don't see any need to lower the load voltage if you have already raised it above spec. :p

I have reduced the offset to -0.035 ( I meant -0.045 in the op), and the problem doesn't seem to be happening any more.

The reason I chose negative offset was to hopefully keep temps as cool as possible.

Thanks for your help, I assumed if I could run prime and IBT fine then it wouldn't be a lack of voltage causing the gadget issues.
 
Spoke to soon, gadgets just failed.

I will try and up the voltage offset again soon, I may also just delete the cpu gadget for now and see if it still stops working.
 
I took mine down to 0.080V and it failed again. I hope someone can help us with this. For whatever reason now my 4.5Ghz overclock with constant volts is playing up.
 
I have rolled back to 4.2GHz 1.2V at load only 63celcius compared to 71c at 4.5GHz 1.28V, ram at 1600Mhz 1.34Vleft everything on auto, going to do some reading.
 
i think at 4.2 voltage should be 1.11v under load

Underload with a -0.035 offset I am hitting 1.176 under load (indicated by gigabyte software).

I took mine down to 0.080V and it failed again. I hope someone can help us with this. For whatever reason now my 4.5Ghz overclock with constant volts is playing up.

Depends on his chips VID? Mine is 1.190v and lowest it can run 4.2GHz is 1.170v

Is that a positive or negative offset? if yours is positive my voltage seems high considering I am using a negative offset.
 
Hm, I've always used positive. I'm trying something different at the moment. Basically left EVERYTHING on auto. 4.2GHz full load @ 1.20V this is with standard LLC so this is the bare minimum for my auto overclock.

I don't think I got a very good chip volt wise, but it can be stable at 4.5 so it's not terrible.

I will try to undervolt now.
 
They are all different, mine seems to need 1.150V under load for 4.2GHz. :)

Currently settling for 4.2GHz, multi at 34, everything is on automatic except for Turbo cores are 42, the turbo voltage and amps I put at 250, thermal monitor disabled but doesn't matter. Gaming temps haven't gone over 44C and the Vcore is 1.21V at load but not much I can do to lower it. If I lower offset it makes my system unstable...

Lowered PLL to 1.650V and VTT is at 1.060V.
 
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The point has already been mentioned but looks like it's been overlooked.

Large negative offsets are not a good idea because when your chip is sat at idle (1.6GHz) it's voltage table tells it to draw minimal power and your offset is telling it to draw even less, which causes the type of non-load stability issues you describe. This was pretty much proved when you reduced your negative offset and your issues became less severe.

IMHO the offset facility should be used to fine tune your LLC setting to obtain the required load voltages and should be kept as close to zero as possible to avoid under or over volting the chip when idle. For example a High LLC might require an offset of +0.030 to acheive a certain load voltage whilst a Very High LLC might require an offset of -0.005. A small negative offset should be stable at idle and would be preferable, but a large negative offset is never going to be viable so the LLC should be reduced to allow an offset closer to zero.
 
Exactly. When using offset mode LLC's sole use should be to mitigate any +/- offset so the voltage when idle is as close to what you need for stability while maintaining stability at full load.

Offset mode just isn't viable on some chips because the negative offset required to keep temps down at load undervolts the cpu when idle too much. After setting LLC to the minimum possible the only course of action is to either overclock more or less and hope the tables are more favourable at a different multiplier.
 
Hey all,

Thanks for the replies.

I see what is meant about the negative offset now, I can't believe I overlooked something which should be so obvious.

I currently am not using any llc, I will have another look at my settings later and do some testing.

Since reducing the offset last night I have had no further issues with windows gadgets, how ever I have removed the "all cpu" gadget so I think that may some how have been causing issues.

I will look at removing the use of negative offset and having a look at llc this evening.

Thanks again all.
 
Ideally before playing with offsets you will have used fixed voltages to establish exactly what you need for your overclock. You'll have found what the CPU is supplied with when Auto voltage set and subtracting this from what you need will give you your required offset. Essentially you use LLC to get to the ballpark and then offset to hit the nail on the head, always bearing in mind that you are aiming for an offset as close to zero as possible and that a negative offset *may* have stability implications.

For example if my overclock needed 1.408v but on auto I was only getting 1.325v I would have an initial required offset of +0.083. With my Asus board each step in LLC equates to roughly 0.035v so I would increase LLC by 2 steps (+0.070) and add a positive offset of +0.015.

This is a crude explanation and you should prove and check each setting you make but hopefully it will be useful.
 
It can be very tricky, and for me it really is.

For 4.2GHz I need 1.15V at load. On offset mode, with offset at 0.000V this equals 1.20V at full load. I cannot lower my LLC. If I adjust the offset to a minus, the CPU is not stable downclocked to 1.6GHz anything under 0.98V. Same happens with AUTO voltage.

It's really tricky but I am determined to get it right. If I don't have it stable at 1.6GHz some programs will get errors especially league of legends which is all I care about! :D

Actually, my lowest Vcore currently is 0.91V and it has been stable. Perhaps this new BIOS I'm using is much better. Still too high load and I can't really drop my load voltage. Also find it really hard to get it stable at 4.5GHz using offset voltages. I guess my best option is to find out what clock I can use for 1.20V and call it a day. Perhaps 4.3GHz will be okay at 1.20V ;). This isn't bad considering my stock VID is 1.1950V.

Changed offset to -0.030V reduced load vcore to 1.16-1.18V, still seems fine it's not load stability I'm worried about it's just the cpu running at 0.89V :D how low can typical 3570K go at idle?

-0.040V OK.
 
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