i5 13600K cooling/undervolting

[Bond007UK]

Hi,

 

I've had my PC for nearly 12 months now. Unlike my other PC's, I didn't build this one myself. I purchased it from a UK company called SCAN. Very pleased with the machine however, it's always been a bit warm. For most games it's fine. The CPU hits about 65c to 70c in most games. It's not like that with Cyberpunk 2077 though. This game pushes it into the 80's. Usually sitting at up to upper 80's in busy area's such as around the market place near Tom's Diner.

 

I would like to provide the exact cooling of my CPU, but I can't as I can't find the full spec sheet, which I thought I'd saved. I can tell you it's some type of Corsair iCUE AIO, but I can't tell what the exact model it is.

 

I'm not even sure how this system has been configured exactly, or if SCAN enabled some type of overclock. CPUZ shows this:

 

 

Recently I downloaded Throttlestop just so I could test what the temps and performance are if I turned off the CPU Turbo.

 

The results were interesting. In the same area and the same settings (1440P High graphics settings and no RT) I still get a near locked 60fps, but the CPU temp has dropped 20c to 60, when it was over 80c before.

 

What's going on here then? How can I cool the system a little more and keep the Turbo on? 

 

I'm a complete novice to changing CPU voltage, so please be gentle. Thanks in advance.

[jaslion]

Got a pic?

 

Also anything under 100c is chilly for an intel cpu

[Bond007UK]

10 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Got a pic?

 

Also anything under 100c is chilly for an intel cpu

Not currently able to. Will later.

 

The motherboard is an ASUS b660 plus wifi d4

[ChrisLoudon]

1 hour ago, Bond007UK said:

Hi,

 

I've had my PC for nearly 12 months now. Unlike my other PC's, I didn't build this one myself. I purchased it from a UK company called SCAN. Very pleased with the machine however, it's always been a bit warm. For most games it's fine. The CPU hits about 65c to 70c in most games. It's not like that with Cyberpunk 2077 though. This game pushes it into the 80's. Usually sitting at up to upper 80's in busy area's such as around the market place near Tom's Diner.

 

I would like to provide the exact cooling of my CPU, but I can't as I can't find the full spec sheet, which I thought I'd saved. I can tell you it's some type of Corsair iCUE AIO, but I can't tell what the exact model it is.

 

I'm not even sure how this system has been configured exactly, or if SCAN enabled some type of overclock. CPUZ shows this:

Hi buddy,

 

When I got my 13600k (from Scan as well), I Shat the bed when I first powered the system on and watched how hot these new Intel's run, even at stock settings. At first I thought I'd installed my water block incorrect but no! These bad boys runs toasty toasty. 

 

Undervolting is absolutely what you want / need to do. I dialled mine back to a vCore of 1.2v with an all core P-Core OC of 5.4 and and an E-Core OC of 4.4 and rarely exceed 65C during most gaming scenarios and hover around 75C if I was to hit it hard with a few rounds of Cinebench R23.

 

Best thing to do is start with finding a YouTube vid of OC settings for your specific motherboards as there are some differences between vendors. If you get lost down the Rabbit hole of misery then check back here and I'm sure one of us will be able to help with what BIOS settings to tinker with and which ones to leave.

[unclewebb]

33 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

Undervolting is absolutely what you want

Undervolting on a B660 board is completely different than undervolting on a Z790 board. Intel put in some restrictions on the B660 boards that you have to find a way to work around. 

 

1 hour ago, Bond007UK said:

ASUS b660 plus wifi d4

In the BIOS look for the Tweaker's Paradise section. Many Asus B660 boards will have an option available so you can run the early microcode version, 0x104. This is necessary to disable Intel Undervolt Protection. After you do this, boot up and use ThrottleStop 9.6 to lower the CPU core and P Cache voltages. A negative offset of -100 mV for both of these is a good place to start testing.

 

Many users have reported that even when using the early 0x104 microcode, undervolting in the BIOS is still broken. It can trigger IA-CEP, Intel Current Excursion Protection. This can cut Cinebench performance in half. Do lots of Cinebench R23 testing before and after. A 13600K on a B660 board should be scoring about 24,000 points in R23. I think Guru3D still has this version available.

 

https://www.guru3d.com/download/download-maxon-cinebench-r23/

 

Post a screenshot of the ThrottleStop FIVR window. It will show if Undervolt Protection is enabled or not. When using the early microcode, you should not be seeing the words Undervolt Protection in the FIVR window.  

 

 

When properly undervolted, full load Cinebench temps should drop by 15°C to 20°C with no loss in performance. 

 

The B660 boards do not support any overclocking. The 13600K can run the default 51 multiplier no matter how many cores are active. This is not much of a limitation.  

[Bond007UK]

Fantastic help there. Haven't had chance to do this yet, but this was the information I was looking for! Thanks

[Ebony Falcon]

1.3c is very high for stock I have mine at 1.15v under full load and max at 65c gaming and 77c r23

[Bond007UK]

Hi again.

 

I've gone into the BIOS and changed to microcode version 0x104. What do I do exactly on Throttlestop?

 

Do I need to click the 'Unlock Adjustable Voltage' and then adjust the offset voltage bar to -100 mV?

 

Looks like this?

 

I tried it as below and it didn't seem to make any difference. Still hitting 100c on Cinebench R23.

 

Put it back to default because either I've done it totally wrong (probably) or it's not working.

 

 

[unclewebb]

5 hours ago, Bond007UK said:

it's not working

Definitely not working.

 

To access the voltage control register you have to first disable Windows 11 core isolation memory integrity. You will also need to disable anything else that uses virtualization. If you need to run things like WSL2, you will not be able to use ThrottleStop to adjust the CPU voltage. 

 

https://beebom.com/how-disable-virtualization-based-security-vbs-windows-11/

 

After you do that, reboot, delete the previous ThrottleStop.INI configuration file, run ThrottleStop and post an updated screenshot of the FIVR window. You appear to be entering the voltage correctly but something else is blocking full access to the CPU. Post a Windows Features screenshot if you are still having problems.  

 

What antivirus program are you using?

[Bond007UK]

Thanks,

 

However, big problem, I can't seem to disable VBS.

 

The guide you provided has already been tried. I don't have this option in Regedit to edit. Also, on the Add/Remove features, I'm missing Microsoft Defender Application Guard. I removed the others, rebooted but Windows System Information still says it's on.

 

How do I force this off?

Edited February 9 by Bond007UK

[unclewebb]

3 hours ago, Bond007UK said:

How do I force this off?

Look in the BIOS for VT-x or something similar and disable that.

[Bond007UK]

1 minute ago, unclewebb said:

Look in the BIOS for VT-x or something similar and disable that.

Will do. Hopefully that will fix it

[unclewebb]

18 minutes ago, Bond007UK said:

Hopefully that will fix it

With that disabled, post an updated FIVR screenshot. The items that were missing before should be visible. Some users need to delete the ThrottleStop.INI configuration file after everything virtualization related is disabled. 

[Bond007UK]

Hi,

 

I've found the Virtualisation option in the BIOS ('s' instead of 'z', I'm British lol). On my Board it was called VT-d.

 

CPU Core

 

CPU P Cache

 

 

 

I take it these need to be the same?

 

It worked! Temperatures on Cyberpunk in the most demanding area's that were hitting the high 80's are now in the low to Mid 60's.

 

Last question (hopefully). Can this be made permanent or do always need to run Throttlestop? If I always need to run TS, how do I make it autostart, doesn't seem to be an option in the application.  

[unclewebb]

7 hours ago, Bond007UK said:

high 80's are now in the low to Mid 60's

Intel and Microsoft make life difficult but it is more satisfying when you finally get things working correctly. That is a big difference in temperatures.

 

For some weird reason, it looks like the BIOS is not setting your turbo ratios correctly. As far as I know, the 13600K is capable of using the 51 multiplier no matter how many cores are active. Your temperatures are great so try pressing the Defaults button in the FIVR window. If this does not set all of the turbo ratios to 51, try pressing the 51 button in the All Core section of the FIVR window.

 

Post a screenshot of the TPL window. You might need to increase the turbo power limits to get maximum performance. With good cooling you should be able to run Cinebench at full speed using the 51 multiplier for the entire test. Open ThrottleStop Limit Reasons to watch for any signs of throttling. R23 scores should be right around 24000 points when everything is working correctly. If you have any problems, check the Log File box on the main screen when testing. This will create a file in the ThrottleStop / Logs folder and will show if there are any problems. Attach a log file to your next post.    

 

7 hours ago, Bond007UK said:

do always need to run ThrottleStop?

You only need to run ThrottleStop if you want your computer to run great. 

Voltage control seems to be broken in the BIOS when using microcode 0x104 so yes, you always need to run ThrottleStop.  

 

Use the Task Scheduler to add ThrottleStop to the Windows startup sequence. Here is a guide.

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/effective-clock-speed.293296/#post-4749675

 

-100 mV is just getting started. Your CPU might be stable at -150 mV for the core and the cache. These two voltages do not need to be set equally in ThrottleStop but most people set them equally anyhow. For some CPUs, users get better results by setting the core offset to a bigger number compared to the cache.

 

Your temps are great so if you are satisfied at -100 mV then leave it as is. Some people spend way too much time trying to come up with the perfect voltage. You do not need to do that. 

 

Can you post screenshots of the CPU-Z Memory and SPD tabs? Your memory settings might need a few tweaks in the BIOS. Try enabling XMP in the BIOS if you have not done so already. 

[Bond007UK]

Thanks for your continued help with this. I now have both a cooler and considerably quieter PC as well! 

 

I've tried adding it to the Windows Task schedular, and while it appears in the list as 'Ready' it still won't launch when Windows does. Clearly I've done something wrong again lol

 

 

 

 

 

[unclewebb]

6 hours ago, Bond007UK said:

Clearly I've done something wrong again

Maybe!

 

Try following the guide I posted exactly. Make sure, "Run only when user is logged on" is selected. That is step 1 in the guide. Post some Task Scheduler screenshots of each tab if you are still having problems. 

 

Your memory is running at only 1064 MHz when it is capable of running at 1800 MHz (DDR4-3600) speed. Look in the BIOS for the memory setting. There should be an option to enable XMP which will allow your memory to run at its full rated speed. Fast memory helps game performance. 

 

Did you try setting all of the turbo ratios to 51? 

[Bond007UK]

Task Scheduler fixed - program now starts with Windows.

 

XMP is now on

 

 

I turned the Turbo's back up to 51 but it seemed to raise the temps somewhat for no disenable performance increase, so I've put them back down to 48 again.

 

I am quite happy with the performance now. I'd rather leave it for while. Quit while I'm ahead

[unclewebb]

49 minutes ago, Bond007UK said:

I turned the Turbo's back up to 51 but it seemed to raise the temps somewhat

A faster CPU will run hotter. 

 

50 minutes ago, Bond007UK said:

I've put them back down to 48 again.

Now I am disappointed. Come on man, live a little. The B660 boards do not support overclocking. The 51 multiplier is the default multiplier for a 13600K. Using the 48 multiplier is like granny driving her new Corvette, afraid to do the speed limit. 

 

Many games run fine without needing to run the CPU at its full rated speed. Whatever makes you happy. Most people are willing to sacrifice an FPS or two if it results in less heat and less fan noise.

 

If you ever decide to give the 51 multiplier another try, you can always undervolt some more to help keep the temperatures down. Try setting the core and cache offset to -125 mV and see if that is stable.  

 

On 2/5/2024 at 10:43 AM, Bond007UK said:

I've had my PC for nearly 12 months now.

That is a long time to be using a crippled, hot running computer. Great to see your memory running at its XMP rated speed. Happy gaming.