Overclocking without overvolting ?

[Coaxialgamer]

Hello,

It was recently brought to my attention that overvolting a cpu in order to OC it was basically like giving it more power to run, as power in watts = voltage *amps .

Now i think that that a cpu has a fixed amp limit which only makes overvolting an option when it comes to overclocking .

But why ?

Shouldn't it be possible to add amps in order to OC ?

Basically , for those that don't have knowledge about this , theoretically , you could add power to a motor/cpu/gpu/etc by either giving it more voltage or amps, as wattage = voltage *amps.

Is there a physical limitation in the cpu that makes it impossible to draw more amps or something .

Generally , motors have a fixed amperage limit which means increasing amps won't change anything , but increasing voltage will (check those youtube videos  where people overvolt their electric scooter for example ; it goes faster , but dies out if pushed too hard.)

I noticed intel XTU has an amperage control function in the core OC settings , would this work ?

 

Please , before making a comment , at least have a minimum amount of knowledge about how electricity works...

 

Thanks.

 

BTw , sorry if i made any mistakes , english isn't my first language .

 

[Samfisher]

I wanted to say something but then I realized I have no idea how power works.  I don't even understand maH or any x-hour measurements.  I shall leave this thread in shame.

[D2ultima]

You can raise TDP (power) limit independently

You can raise Current (amps) limit independently

You can overvolt independently

 

Overvolting is needed for stability, not for power. At higher clockspeeds, CPUs need more voltage to be stable. How much voltage that requires differs from CPU to CPU. My 4800MQ only needs 0.9976v to hold 3.5GHz. A 4770K needs closer to 1.1v to do the same thing. Some people get to 4.5GHz on 1.2v. Other people need 1.3v using the same chip.

 

While overvolting DOES cause more power to be drawn, it is not done in order to make a chip draw more power.

 

Also, if you have a low TDP limit on a CPU and you overvolt, it's actually MORE likely to throttle as it hits its TDP limit much more quickly.

[Coaxialgamer]

You can raise TDP (power) limit independently

You can raise Current (amps) limit independently

You can overvolt independently

 

Overvolting is needed for stability, not for power. At higher clockspeeds, CPUs need more voltage to be stable. How much voltage that requires differs from CPU to CPU. My 4800MQ only needs 0.9976v to hold 3.5GHz. A 4770K needs closer to 1.1v to do the same thing. Some people get to 4.5GHz on 1.2v. Other people need 1.3v using the same chip.

 

While overvolting DOES cause more power to be drawn, it is not done in order to make a chip draw more power.

 

Also, if you have a low TDP limit on a CPU and you overvolt, it's actually MORE likely to throttle as it hits its TDP limit much more quickly.

But aren't instabilities due to a lack in power , which makes the cpu crash as it can't process the code ?

I thought overvolting and and higher power consumption where directly linked as they are essentially the same thing , as overvolting adds power to a circuit .

[Zeke]

Is there a physical limitation in the cpu that makes it impossible to draw more amps or something .

Yes, Q = I^2 * R * t. 

 

 

jk

[Coaxialgamer]

Yes, Q = I^2 * R * t. 

 

 

jk

Oh , that explains it , thanks , i hadn't considered that .

[D2ultima]

But aren't instabilities due to a lack in power , which makes the cpu crash as it can't process the code ?

I thought overvolting and and higher power consumption where directly linked as they are essentially the same thing , as overvolting adds power to a circuit .

Well it adds power, yes, but in a different way. A CPU needs volts to work. If you lower the voltage enough, no matter how high the current and TDP limits are set, it will simply not work. The same happens for overclocking.

 

Think about it: My 4800MQ is undervolted to 0.9976v for 3.5GHz. At stock it's nearer to 1.0478v. In my case, I've reduced voltage (and thus heat output and power consumption) while keeping my CPU within operating spec. This is a reduction in voltage for stock spec.

 

If I overclocked the CPU, there is no guarantee that it would be capable of performing on that spec. There's no way I can run 3.9GHz at 0.9976v. I would BSOD before windows even properly booted, because the CPU needs more voltage to be stable. I could run Linpack at my current spec and have my CPU drawing 256 amps and 84W. Or I could run 3.9GHz at 1.1v and run TSBench pulling maybe 65W? The amount of power drawn is different, even though voltage is higher on the higher clockspeed.

 

I don't know how else to explain it.

[Zeke]

Oh , that explains it , thanks , i hadn't considered that .

Um... that's physical equivalent of saying "it'll melt if you put 200 amps through it", it was not supposed to be serious answer, and it certainly doesn't deserve to be makred as the solution to your question

[Coaxialgamer]

Yes , but wouldn' t putting more current through it cause a serious heat problem , in fact much more than overvolting?  I have to look at joule's law again , sorry.

[Zeke]

Yes , but wouldn' t putting more current through it cause a serious heat problem , in fact much more than overvolting?  I have to look at joule's law again , sorry.

On a serious note: would this help?

[Nena Trinity]

How much volt needed is very luck based! :3