Extremely Jumpy Vcore and CPU frequency

bryster126 · August 8, 2015

Hi. I recently overclocked my 3570k to 4.2 GHZ on a maximus V gene using a -.005 offset voltage. I also turned load line calibration to regular (0%). The overclock seems stable, but when doing normal tasks like web browsing, my Vcore jumps from 1.23V max to 1.0-ish volts, and the CPU frequency switches anywhere from 2.5 to 4.2. When I run prime 95, it stays at 4.2 and the voltage is 1.52V, completely static. The jumps when i'm doing normal browsing occur multiple times per second, so I'm worried that this may hurt the life of my CPU. I want to keep the turbo and downvolting when idle features on, but I don't want it to switch every single second, is there anything I can do?

Valkyrie Lenneth · August 8, 2015

dont use offset/adaptive voltages at all they will cause huge voltage spikes from time to time... its better to just manually set voltages and enable c states in the cpu

D2ultima · August 8, 2015

Your CPU will downvolt and downclock as necessary for the speeds. That's normal.

As for 1.52v in Prime95... WHAT? What did you set the voltage to? That's insanely high.

August 8, 2015

The fact that it lowers the frequency and the voltage while idling or just webbrowsing is totally normal. It doesn't need to run at 4.2GHz for those tasks so it downclocks, that's the entire point of offset or adaptive voltage over constant manual voltage. Prime95, at least on Haswell, makes the CPU request more voltage and is not a great stresstesting program when using offset or adaptive voltage, just use it when you're using manual voltage.

dont use offset/adaptive voltages at all they will cause huge voltage spikes from time to time...

Only with those stress-testing programs really. Adaptive voltage works absolutely fine for normal and heavy use, I'm personally not a huge fan of messing with the offset voltage though.

itachipirate · August 8, 2015

Do not use offset or automatic voltage. Finding a stable manual overcloxk takes time, but it's well worth it to know your voltage won't spike for no apparent reason and destroy your CPU