Dialed In My Overclock i7-4790k (Adaptive, VID, Offset help)

[TroubleKlef]

So I finally got around to overclocking my CPU and I got some fairly good results.

I got my i7-4790k to 4.5ghz @ 1.14v. Because I'm running in a Bitfenix Phenom M, the Noctua NH-D14 is a bit starved for air. No doubt in my mind that I could have attempted a higher overclock if I had a better airflow case.

My last step is to switch my cpu voltage from manual to adaptive but I need to figure out the correct offset input. I understand that VID is the required voltage coded into the CPU to run at stock speeds but how do I find out the number?

And after finding out my VID how do I determine the offset?

EDIT: I see that the VID number is shown in Core Temp but this number is the same as the voltage I manually dialed into the BIOS. Do I have to switch to adaptive mode and then read the VID number?

Thanks

Another question. Do I have to do another stress test after changing the CPU Cache Ratio?

I got my cache ratio to 45x which is 1:1 for my overclock. Do I have to worry about instability other than it immediately crashing?

[MrTiC]

Another question. Do I have to do another stress test after changing the CPU Cache Ratio?

 

I got my cache ratio to 45x which is 1:1 for my overclock. Do I have to worry about instability other than it immediately crashing?

Yes just to be sure, if bsod just turn it down by 1, till 100% stable

[TroubleKlef]

Could anyone shed some light on VID and voltage offsets?

[Queek]

Could anyone shed some light on VID and voltage offsets?

It may be different for your board, but this is how it works on Asus Z97 boards

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/187959-z97-adaptive-voltage-setting/

[runit3]

4.5 1:1 at 1.14v !? :wub:

I'd strap a leaf blower to that damn case to see how high it could get...although at max temp of 76C I would run the bench with the case open and see if there was a marked difference...if it's roughly the same I would check your TIM application and mount, might be able to squeeze a few C's out of a remount. Are you sure the fans are running at max RPM?

 

I had to plug my last 4770k w/1.27v to get a 1:1 4.5 clock, you have an insane amount of voltage headroom, just need to iron out the heat issue :huh:

[TroubleKlef]

4.5 1:1 at 1.14v !? :wub:

I'd strap a leaf blower to that damn case to see how high it could get...although at max temp of 76C I would run the bench with the case open and see if there was a marked difference...if it's roughly the same I would check your TIM application and mount, might be able to squeeze a few C's out of a remount. Are you sure the fans are running at max RPM?

I had to plug my last 4770k w/1.27v to get a 1:1 4.5 clock, you have an insane amount of voltage headroom, just need to iron out the heat issue :huh:

Yea the heat issue is such a bummer but I wanted a small form factor case and I knew it would have thermal limitations.

I'm also running all my fans in PWM silent mode. I could run my fans at max and get much better temperatures but I like silence. I might try and change the fan speeds and see what kind of temperatures I get under load.

It may be different for your board, but this is how it works on Asus Z97 boards

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/187959-z97-adaptive-voltage-setting/

that post is bit of a hard read but I will try my best to understand it.

Thanks for the help

[TroubleKlef]

Alright I think I figured it out. 

 

I rewatched Linus's devil's canyon OC'ing video and I think I finally understand how to key in the offset value.

 

After finding a stable overclock using manual voltage, write the required manual voltage down that allows for stability. Then go into your BIOS and switch it to adaptive. Set the offset number to something small like +0.010v.

 

Then boot into Windows and open up a more applicable stress test like Cinebench (stress tests like Prime95, Aida, etc are way too harsh and would most likely ask for too much voltage under the adaptive setting).  Run CPU-Z and Cinebench and see how much voltage the CPU is running at. This is where some math comes in.

 

If CPU-Z is saying the CPU is running at 1.10v under load while running Cinebench under Adaptive. And I wrote down that my CPU is stable at 1.14v. Then I would need to go back into the BIOS and edit the CPU voltage offset until it hits 1.14v under load while running Cinebench under Adaptive.

 

*WARNING* This is just my theory on how it works as I am not home right now to try it myself. But I believe this is how you key in the CPU voltage offset.

[TroubleKlef]

Here is another method of doing adaptive voltages.

 

I read this off the Asus forums and *HAVE NOT TRIED IT MYSELF* but I thought I'd share it anyway.

 

After finding a stable overclock on your system using manual voltage. 

1. Run ITU under manual voltage and write down CPU load voltage
2. Go into the BIOS and switch to adaptive
3. Under additional turbo mode cpu core voltage set the CPU load voltage found using ITU
4. Run ITU and check for stability 

ITU = Intel Extreme Tuning Utility 

 

I am not sure if this eliminates the need for finding out the offset number but the Asus guys said that the CPU will automatically run at stock voltages (VID) under stock loads and then boost to the manual voltage you found in ITU when reaching overclocked frequencies.

[Queek]

Alright I think I figured it out. 

 

I rewatched Linus's devil's canyon OC'ing video and I think I finally understand how to key in the offset value.

 

After finding a stable overclock using manual voltage, write the required manual voltage down that allows for stability. Then go into your BIOS and switch it to adaptive. Set the offset number to something small like +0.010v.

 

Then boot into Windows and open up a more applicable stress test like Cinebench (stress tests like Prime95, Aida, etc are way too harsh and would most likely ask for too much voltage under the adaptive setting).  Run CPU-Z and Cinebench and see how much voltage the CPU is running at. This is where some math comes in.

 

If CPU-Z is saying the CPU is running at 1.10v under load while running Cinebench under Adaptive. And I wrote down that my CPU is stable at 1.14v. Then I would need to go back into the BIOS and edit the CPU voltage offset until it hits 1.14v under load while running Cinebench under Adaptive.

 

*WARNING* This is just my theory on how it works as I am not home right now to try it myself. But I believe this is how you key in the CPU voltage offset.

 

Here is another method of doing adaptive voltages.

 

I read this off the Asus forums and *HAVE NOT TRIED IT MYSELF* but I thought I'd share it anyway.

 

After finding a stable overclock on your system using manual voltage. 

1. Run ITU under manual voltage and write down CPU load voltage
2. Go into the BIOS and switch to adaptive
3. Under additional turbo mode cpu core voltage set the CPU load voltage found using ITU
4. Run ITU and check for stability 

ITU = Intel Extreme Tuning Utility 

 

I am not sure if this eliminates the need for finding out the offset number but the Asus guys said that the CPU will automatically run at stock voltages (VID) under stock loads and then boost to the manual voltage you found in ITU when reaching overclocked frequencies.

You shouldn't need to use offset values.  

What I was trying to illustrate in my post was that you find your voltage manually (by doing a standard overclock), and dial that in as your "maximum overclock voltage" in the bios and set the offset to something small like 0.001V.  

The maximum overclock voltage is the voltage that will be applied at the maximum multiplier you have set (the overclocked multiplier)

The offset is used to shift the entire voltage/multiplier curve (illustrated in the other thread) up or down.  Use this if you find a portion of your overclock that is slightly unstable.  For instance, I found that I needed to put an offset of 0.010V to stabilize my adaptive overclock, even though I had my manual overclock voltage dialed in that I knew was stable at max speed.  

[TroubleKlef]

You shouldn't need to use offset values.  

What I was trying to illustrate in my post was that you find your voltage manually (by doing a standard overclock), and dial that in as your "maximum overclock voltage" in the bios and set the offset to something small like 0.001V.  

The maximum overclock voltage is the voltage that will be applied at the maximum multiplier you have set (the overclocked multiplier)

The offset is used to shift the entire voltage/multiplier curve (illustrated in the other thread) up or down.  Use this if you find a portion of your overclock that is slightly unstable.  For instance, I found that I needed to put an offset of 0.010V to stabilize my adaptive overclock, even though I had my manual overclock voltage dialed in that I knew was stable at max speed.  

 

Where would I input said maximum overclock voltage? Would it just be the manual voltage set during stress test?

[Queek]

Where would I input said maximum overclock voltage? Would it just be the manual voltage set during stress test?

It would depend on your motherboard.  

On my Maximus VII Gene it is is the "Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage".  You just input the manual voltage that you used during the stress tests.  So for mine, I needed 1.29V to get 46 on my 4690k on manual mode, so I put 1.29V in the "Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage" box and left my offset at 0.001V (you can't set it to 0).  When that turned out to be unstable occasionally, I increased the offset to 0.010V and haven't had a problem since.  

[TroubleKlef]

It would depend on your motherboard.

On my Maximus VII Gene it is is the "Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage". You just input the manual voltage that you used during the stress tests. So for mine, I needed 1.29V to get 46 on my 4690k on manual mode, so I put 1.29V in the "Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage" box and left my offset at 0.001V (you can't set it to 0). When that turned out to be unstable occasionally, I increased the offset to 0.010V and haven't had a problem since.

Oh yea. That's the second method I tried to use but when I stressed tested it. It made my 1.14v max voltage boost to 1.16v. It was probably cause I left my offset to auto though. I will try what you did and report the results. Thank you.

So I tried putting 1.14v into additional turbo voltage, set my offset to .001v+ but its causing my CPU to take in 1.166v under load.

[Queek]

Oh yea. That's the second method I tried to use but when I stressed tested it. It made my 1.14v max voltage boost to 1.16v. It was probably cause I left my offset to auto though. I will try what you did and report the results. Thank you.

So I tried putting 1.14v into additional turbo voltage, set my offset to .001v+ but its causing my CPU to take in 1.166v under load.

What stress test are you using?

[TroubleKlef]

What stress test are you using?

Intel Extreme Utility CPU stress.

 

I was told by the Asus boards to use this as this stress test does not include AVX instructions.

[Queek]

Intel Extreme Utility CPU stress.

 

I was told by the Asus boards to use this as this stress test does not include AVX instructions.

Yeah... it shouldn't overvolt too much, but in the grand scheme of things 0.02V is pretty small.  Especially if you're using software to tell what the voltage is.  The ASUS AI Suite is pretty good at load, but it's not always spot on.  You need to use a digital multimeter to tell for sure.  

[TroubleKlef]

Yeah... it shouldn't overvolt too much, but in the grand scheme of things 0.02V is pretty small.  Especially if you're using software to tell what the voltage is.  The ASUS AI Suite is pretty good at load, but it's not always spot on.  You need to use a digital multimeter to tell for sure.  

that is true. I just wanted to optimize the system completely as heat can be an issue and I wanted to limit an extra overvolting that could be avoided. You are right though, .02v isn't much and I'll just leave it on this setting.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Queek]

that is true. I just wanted to optimize the system completely as heat can be an issue and I wanted to limit an extra overvolting that could be avoided. You are right though, .02v isn't much and I'll just leave it on this setting.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

No worries, glad I could help!

You should probably change the answer for this thread, as I think it changed a bit.  That'll help the next person who googles along this way 

[v1raloner]

Does this apply to MSI boards as well?

Sorry for the necro-thread!!