Alder Lake 12700K overclocking headache

[rcarlos243]

My pc specs:

12700K w/ NZXT X61 280mm AIO

32GB (2x16GB) Kinston DDR5 6000 CL40 (SK Hynix)

MSI Z690 Carbon Wifi

Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 12 1500W

 

 

I was lost and thought I had a defective CPU.

 

I was trying to overclock the RAM and undervolt the CPU.

 

I was able to overclock the RAM to 6400 (1.00x G2) 38-38-38-80 2N 1.35v and ran TM5 Extreme1 Anta config for 5hours 30min without any error message. I also ran OCCT Memory test for 1 hour without an error message.

At this point I have high confidence the RAM overclock was completely stable.

 

 

I then try to undervolt the CPU, but no matter what I do it was throwing errors in OCCT CPU test even when everything is set to auto.

 

I tried to

-set the LLC to max (mode 1) for the CPU and AUX

-set the CPU core to 1.3 vcore

-set the max P core multiplier to 40x

-set negative 1x for avx offset

-set everything to auto again (except the RAM stuff), but the same issue

-Update the motherboard BIOS to latest (7D30v12)

 

I thought there might be an issue with OCCT CPU test so I tried AIDA64, but I also get an error message

 

At this point, I believe I have a defective CPU and started contemplating about doing an RMA to Intel

 

 

I then remove the RAM overclock and set everything to auto and ran OCCT and now I have no error message.

I thought this doesn't make any sense so I re-applied the RAM OC and re-run TM5 and OCCT Memory test and I got no error message, but as soon as I do the CPU test I get error message.

 

I then set the RAM speed to 6200 (1.00x G2) and now I get no error on the CPU test.

I also tried setting it to 6400 (1.33x G2/G4, 1.00x G4), but it doesn't work.

 

It looks like running above DDR5 6200 causes an issue on the CPU even though it passes the RAM stress test.

[RONOTHAN##]

2 minutes ago, rcarlos243 said:

set the LLC to max (mode 1) for the CPU and AUX

Don't do that. On Alder Lake you actually want a relatively middle of the road LLC due to the transient loads. I'd probably go for something like mode 4 or 5 on that board (I believe it's out of 9 IIRC) then just raise the voltage. That will actually give you a more stable voltage. Vdroop isn't a bad thing per say, it just needs to be tuned.

 

4 minutes ago, rcarlos243 said:

I thought this doesn't make any sense so I re-applied the RAM OC and re-run TM5 and OCCT Memory test and I got no error message, but as soon as I do the CPU test I get error message.

That's not super uncommon. Fast RAM exposes instability in CPU overclocks pretty frequently.

 

 

 

I'd try to lower the load line a bit, level 1 on most motherboards usually kinda sucks. Raise the voltage to compensate for the added Vdroop. If that doesn't work, I would actually start to think that the memory isn't stable. Most of the 4 DIMM DDR5 motherboards have a very hard time doing over 6200MHz stabily, even though a lot of the time you can boot at much higher speeds. 

[rcarlos243]

40 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Don't do that. On Alder Lake you actually want a relatively middle of the road LLC due to the transient loads. I'd probably go for something like mode 4 or 5 on that board (I believe it's out of 9 IIRC) then just raise the voltage. That will actually give you a more stable voltage. Vdroop isn't a bad thing per say, it just needs to be tuned.

 

That's not super uncommon. Fast RAM exposes instability in CPU overclocks pretty frequently.

 

 

 

I'd try to lower the load line a bit, level 1 on most motherboards usually kinda sucks. Raise the voltage to compensate for the added Vdroop. If that doesn't work, I would actually start to think that the memory isn't stable. Most of the 4 DIMM DDR5 motherboards have a very hard time doing over 6200MHz stabily, even though a lot of the time you can boot at much higher speeds. 

 

I only set the LLC to mode 1 for trouble shooting to see if holding the voltage would help stability, but I normally set it to auto

 

I am not even overclocking the CPU, in fact I downclocked it to 4.0Ghz and overvolted it to 1.3vcore. I also tried to loosen the timing at 6400 form 38 to 40 and even 50, but it didn't made any difference.

 

It just doesn't want to run above DDR5 6200 no matter what.

[RONOTHAN##]

7 hours ago, rcarlos243 said:

t just doesn't want to run above DDR5 6200 no matter what.

That is pretty much expected with the 4 DIMM boards. With a really strong memory controller it might be possible, but for 95% of CPUs and RAM kits it's just not. Go back down to 6200MHz and tighten the timings up a bit. The performance difference between 6200MHz and 6400MHz is pretty low anyway, and if you tighten the timings up enough it might actually be quicker to run 6200MHz than 6400MHz.