Am I living dangerously with this 6700k OC? Please help

[Dragaan]

Hello, all. I'm pretty experienced with computers overall (I'd say intermediate+) but I actually just built myself a custom gaming PC for the first time. I decided on Z170 + 6700k (I think I regret it, though - I should have chose X99 - plz don't rub it in ). I won't list my entire build here unless someone asks for more info, but the main components are an i7 6700k, ASUS Z170 Sabertooth Mark 1, and Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3300 (4x4gb). My PSU is an EVGA P2 750W, Platinum-rated.

Once I got the OS installed and confirmed everything was working seemingly well, I went into BIOS to do some tweaking. I quickly found that 4.7ghz was fairly easy to get running, so I stuck with that. Over the last 2 weeks I've been running a bunch of benchmark and stress test software, and I found I needed to up the voltage to pass certain tests. I have now settled on 1.385v Vcore (shows up as 1.376 in windows and dips to 1.36 under stressful loads). I also have the System Agent and IO voltages set at 1.2v. LLC setting is 5 in case that helps (I've read and found myself that it's the best setting). Oh, and memory is running at 3200 (can't get it past that) and 1.35v.

I know 1.385v seems high, but I've read/heard that as long as it's under 1.4v that should be okay for everyday usage. My temps are completely fine, sitting between 60-70 C for all major stress tests such as x264 encoding test, Aida64 stability test, Realbench, and Prime95 (ver 26.6 - I gave up on the later versions). Intel Burn Test peaks as high as 74 C. While gaming the cpu generally stays in the 50's (highest I see are peaks at 60/61 here n there).  The only 2 tests I have given up on passing are the newer versions of Prime95 and LinX. I can run both of those with 4-5 threads but they cook the cpu to about 75-83 C (so far I haven't hit 85 even for a second). I can't enable all 8 threads in those 2 programs, though, or I get a crash within 15 seconds or less. My system idles between 18-22 C right now (just a few degrees above ambient). I have a Corsair H110i GT 280mm AIO cooler and used GELID GC-Extreme paste.

What I want to know is, will running my system 24/7 @ 4.7ghz and 1.36-1.38v be fine? I'm not worried about overheating one bit, I'm just concerned about the voltages themselves. Are higher Vcores perfectly acceptable so long as the temps are in check?


PS - Something weird happened earlier today when I went to try for a stable 4.6ghz OC. My board refused to boot with it set at 4.6ghz @ 1.34 Vcore . Kept saying Overclock Failed and booting into BIOS with the cpu frequency knocked back to 1.6ghz. It booted just fine at 1.325 but it wasn't stable in testing so I wanted to bump it up a little. I tried booting twice with 1.34v and it failed both times. ONLY at those settings.... Anyone have any idea what that was about? Have I damaged my cpu? (I've never gone above 1.385v in bios and temps have never been over 83 even for a second).

[Amazingasian]

Yea it's fine.

[suchamoneypit]

I've run my 5820k at 4.6ghz 1.35 V since a month after release...its still working, thats always a good sign.

 

That OC is probably safe if your not planning on using your CPU in 5-8 years.

 

regarding you question at the end, no. Even if your temps are fine, high Vcores will degrade the CPU over time.

[Dragaan]

1 minute ago, suchamoneypit said:

I've run my 5820k at 4.6ghz 1.35 V since a month after release...its still working, thats always a good sign.

 

That OC is probably safe if your not planning on using your CPU in 5-8 years.

That's good to know considering I think that chip usually uses less voltage than the skylake K chips.  And the max I'd ever consider using the PC is 5 years.  I just replaced my 5 year old PC, but from now on I'm going with every 3 years.

Do these overclocked chips degrade over time?  Or is it either 100% working or it's busted?

[suchamoneypit]

1 minute ago, Dragaan said:

That's good to know considering I think that chip usually uses less voltage than the skylake K chips.  And the max I'd ever consider using the PC is 5 years.  I just replaced my 5 year old PC, but from now on I'm going with every 3 years.

Do these overclocked chips degrade over time?  Or is it either 100% working or it's busted?

as far as I know, its not like its performance slowly tapers off. One day in many years it will just die. Overclocking WILL make that come sooner, but who uses a 5-10 year old CPU anyways? By the time that 6700k fails you will have moved past it.

[themctipers]

Just now, suchamoneypit said:

as far as I know, its not like its performance slowly tapers off. One day in many years it will just die. Overclocking WILL make that come sooner, but who uses a 5-10 year old CPU anyways? By the time that 6700k fails you will have moved past it.

dont be mean to my i5 760 D:
 

[Dragaan]

Just now, suchamoneypit said:

as far as I know, its not like its performance slowly tapers off. One day in many years it will just die. Overclocking WILL make that come sooner, but who uses a 5-10 year old CPU anyways? By the time that 6700k fails you will have moved past it.

Right on.  Okay, that makes me feel better about it.  Thanks.

[Dragaan]

Btw, is it normal for a 6700k to have issues with the newer versions of Prime95 (past 26.6) and LinX when running past 4 threads?  I've seen people saying that it is normal but I've also seen others saying they are perfectly stable at high clock speeds.  I was able to keep version 28.7 (newest) going at 4.5ghz and 1.3v on 8 threads for several minutes before I stopped it (just to test), and I let LinX complete a few passes with all 8 threads as well.  But at 4.7ghz and 1.385v both of them just BSOD within seconds (does not overheat, though - goes to 80-83ish) unless I cap threads at 4-5.  Prime95 version 26.6 is 100% stable indefinitely at 4.7 and 1.385v with all 8 threads and so is LinX when using 4 threads only.