Overclocking 6700k performance decrease?

[dxflame]

So i built a computer recently, high end with a i7-6700k, Asus Strix 980ti, EVGA z170 ftw motherboard, hyperx 16gb 2133mhz and a corsair 1000w psu. (watercooled x61) also have a 144hz monitor (g-sync)

 

I am very happy with the performance of the computer stock as is, but after a few weeks i decided to see if i could do some overclocking, i set a baseline clock of 4.5Ghz and increased the voltage accordingly.

The first thing i noticed was the performance *decrease*. Tested first in fallout, i went from 120fps average to a capped 72 fps, the cap came into play after the overclock, with it going back to my normal 120fps after i revert the overclock back to stock.

So i tested it again in a game called TERA. The fps stock cpu was a nice capped 71 fps with in populated area's around 50-60, after a 4.6Ghz overclock to the cpu i tried about 10 minutes ago, im seeing now around 60 fps with 30-40 in populated areas (same area as tested before).

 

This is so confusing as its making the performance decrease instead of better, any help is appreciated

[Mark77]

Pushing up the voltage/frequency is causing enough incremental heat to be produced that the chip is going into a sort of thermal derate to protect itself? 

 

Can you watch CPU-Z and see if its de-rating when you run into the reduction in fps?  Or better yet, find some other "shakedown" style program that stresses all the cores to the max, and watch CPU-Z for a while. 

[dxflame]

The cpu in game hits max 38*C While having the overclock it has not crashed or stuttered once. Don't think heat is the Problem at all

 

Even with a low overclock of 4.2Ghz the fps still is cut down dramatically.

[Beeeyeee]

I know that every once in a while overclocking can get you worse performance. its rare, but it definitely happens. but never that bad at all. download NZXT CAM and tell me what the CPU and GPU load is and we can go from there.

[dxflame]

yeah cam is what i use to check the temps and load, fps etc.

 

with not OC the idle is cpu 33* 20% load (stuff is running in the background) and gpu is 43* almost no load 3%

with OC Cpu idle is 25* under 8% load Gpu is the same ^

Edited March 28, 2016 by dxflame
applied updated info

[Enderman]

38C seems really low, unless youre at like 10C ambient...

[Jer45]

20 minutes ago, dxflame said:

So i built a computer recently, high end with a i7-6700k, Asus Strix 980ti, EVGA z170 ftw motherboard, hyperx 16gb 2133mhz and a corsair 1000w psu. (watercooled x61) also have a 144hz monitor (g-sync)

 

I am very happy with the performance of the computer stock as is, but after a few weeks i decided to see if i could do some overclocking, i set a baseline clock of 4.5Ghz and increased the voltage accordingly.

The first thing i noticed was the performance *decrease*. Tested first in fallout, i went from 120fps average to a capped 72 fps, the cap came into play after the overclock, with it going back to my normal 120fps after i revert the overclock back to stock.

So i tested it again in a game called TERA. The fps stock cpu was a nice capped 71 fps with in populated area's around 50-60, after a 4.6Ghz overclock to the cpu i tried about 10 minutes ago, im seeing now around 60 fps with 30-40 in populated areas (same area as tested before).

 

This is so confusing as its making the performance decrease instead of better, any help is appreciated

is your bios up to date? all drivers installed

[dxflame]

yes ambient its really cold right now, it usually runs at around 25-30* ambient tho

[TheSpaceMonkey]

1 minute ago, dxflame said:

yeah cam is what i use to check the temps and load, fps etc.

 

with not OC the idle is cpu 33* 20% load (stuff is running in the background) and gpu is 43* almost no load 3%

with OC (im applting the overlock now gimme a sec to restart)

Have you changed your base clock frequency or just your multiplier?

 

Have you watched the overclocking guide made by Linus covering this exact processor? As far as I can remember, he achieved stable and tested 4.7 GHz without abusing on voltage. Great video and I totally recommend you to watch (if you have not seen). 

 

Cheers.

 

 

[dxflame]

3 minutes ago, Jer45 said:

is your bios up to date? all drivers installed

yes

[dxflame]

2 minutes ago, TheSpaceMonkey said:

Have you watched the overclocking guide made by Linus covering this exact processor? As far as I can remember, he achieved stable and tested 4.7 GHz without abusing on voltage. Great video and I totally recommend you to watch (if you have not seen). 

 

yes i have, but a loong time ago, ill do that now, thanks

[dxflame]

After the Overclock the cpu seems to be running more cooler and efficiently, but in games i dont know what heppens. Ill watch linus' video and report back soon. 

Thanks for the help guys

[dxflame]

9 minutes ago, TheSpaceMonkey said:

Have you changed your base clock frequency or just your multiplier?

 

What do you mean, isnt it just the multiplier that you change

[TheSpaceMonkey]

1 minute ago, dxflame said:

What do you mean, isnt it just the multiplier that you change

As shown by Linus in the video I recommended, it is possible to change the base clock multiplier (which used, in several cases, to cause instability and several issues, thus it was never a trustworthy nor recommended OC method for beginners). Remember that Memory Speed = BLCK * Memory Multiplier, so changing the base clock value will impact directly on your memory speed, which can cause it to run outside from it's specs if you don't pay attention to all the values and the rest of the hardware affected by it's changes. You can determine the maximum value you can use for your base clock frequency and change it, but I don't recommend it if your pursuing a stable and trustworthy basic overclock for your daily usage. I'd restrict the changes to the multiplier as you said you're already doing. (I just asked because it could be a cause of instability).

[dxflame]

1 minute ago, TheSpaceMonkey said:

As shown by Linus in the video I recommended, it is possible to change the base clock multiplier (which used, in several cases, to cause instability and several issues, thus it was never a trustworthy nor recommended OC method for beginners). Remember that Memory Speed = BLCK * Memory Multiplier, so changing the base clock value will impact directly on your memory speed, which can cause it to run outside from it's specs if you don't pay attention to all the values and the rest of the hardware affected by it's changes. You can determine the maximum value you can use for your base clock frequency and change it, but I don't recommend it if your pursuing a stable and trustworthy basic overclock for your daily usage. I'd restrict the changes to the multiplier as you said you're already doing. (I just asked because it could be a cause of instability).

Yeah wouldn't go into that method of overclocking, but if you would like to know what i did was change multiplier to 45 from 40 and increase the voltage to 1.3.

Why though would making the clock faster make games run worse? 

like shouldn't it give more frames to the GPU coz its running faster and can send them out faster?

[TheSpaceMonkey]

26 minutes ago, dxflame said:

Yeah wouldn't go into that method of overclocking, but if you would like to know what i did was change multiplier to 45 from 40 and increase the voltage to 1.3.

Why though would making the clock faster make games run worse? 

like shouldn't it give more frames to the GPU coz its running faster and can send them out faster?

Actually there's a lot of things to consider (even the games in which you can notice performance decrease with your overclock). You mentioned Tera, which is a MMO, and as the majority of MMOs it is a CPU consuming game. I'm trying to think about your performance decrease possible causes:

 

1) Unstable overclock. This can lead your CPU to rely on error correction and compromise your performance, possibly turning your overclock into a liability rather than into an asset. This can occur, for example, if your CPU receives less voltage than it needs to be "100%" stable and accurate (EDIT: be extremely careful to stay inside your CPU voltage limits). I recommend you to stress test your overclock settings with a bunch of available tools to check for stability issues over time;

 

2) Thermal throttling. Were you monitoring your CPU temperature when playing the games you tested? Have you changed any UEFI settings related to thermal throttling? Maybe your CPU temperature is causing instability, thus performance decrease noticeable in your games.

 

Maybe you can run some stress tests in AIDA 64 (or any other available diagnostic software) monitoring carefully your temperatures and the overall system stability and post the test results so we can investigate your problem a little further.

[dxflame]

2 minutes ago, TheSpaceMonkey said:

CPU receives less voltage than it needs to be "100%" stable and accurate.

yes this could be the case, what would you turning the voltage up to?

 

2 minutes ago, TheSpaceMonkey said:

Thermal throttling.

no way, its watercooled and has never in its time passed 40*C in game, right now its 25*C

 

3 minutes ago, TheSpaceMonkey said:

Maybe you can run some stress tests

please can i have some links or recommendations to good programs for this, also the amount of time i should leave it running

[TheSpaceMonkey]

20 hours ago, dxflame said:

yes this could be the case, what would you turning the voltage up to?

 

no way, its watercooled and has never in its time passed 40*C in game, right now its 25*C

 

please can i have some links or recommendations to good programs for this, also the amount of time i should leave it running

Well, I really like AIDA 64, but it's a paid diagnostic software. BUT, if I'm not mistaken, you can use it for a week as a trial run (don't know if the trial version counts with all it's features though. As it is a paid software I don't know if it's against the rules for me to link their website here, but you can easily find it as the first result in a Google search. I hope it helps.

[StevenSensei]

AIDA 64 is a good stress test and monitoring program. You can also go with Asus ROG Real Bench for testing and validation of your overclock. Linus explains how he uses both of those programs to validate an overclock in the video that was linked earlier in this thread for you. He also mentions other tools for monitoring for free if you don't want to pay for AIDA 64.

[DunePilot]

22 hours ago, dxflame said:

So i built a computer recently, high end with a i7-6700k, Asus Strix 980ti, EVGA z170 ftw motherboard, hyperx 16gb 2133mhz and a corsair 1000w psu. (watercooled x61) also have a 144hz monitor (g-sync)

 

I am very happy with the performance of the computer stock as is, but after a few weeks i decided to see if i could do some overclocking, i set a baseline clock of 4.5Ghz and increased the voltage accordingly.

The first thing i noticed was the performance *decrease*. Tested first in fallout, i went from 120fps average to a capped 72 fps, the cap came into play after the overclock, with it going back to my normal 120fps after i revert the overclock back to stock.

So i tested it again in a game called TERA. The fps stock cpu was a nice capped 71 fps with in populated area's around 50-60, after a 4.6Ghz overclock to the cpu i tried about 10 minutes ago, im seeing now around 60 fps with 30-40 in populated areas (same area as tested before).

 

This is so confusing as its making the performance decrease instead of better, any help is appreciated

Test with Cinebench and watch your temps while it is running under load. The temps you are saying don't sound right at all with a simple 280 rad. 4.0 to 4.5 should be seeing a good 12% or so performance gain in Cinebench unless you are thermal throttling.

[Big-G]

Download RealTemp and run that in the background while gaming... it's given me the most accurate temps readout to date.

[dxflame]

22 hours ago, GidonsClaw said:

Download RealTemp and run that in the background while gaming... it's given me the most accurate temps readout to date.

 

22 hours ago, DunePilot said:

The temps you are saying don't sound right at all

Guys, my CPU temp while i'm in game sit at around 35-40*c as shown by both my software nzxt CAM and my motherboard temp light on the actual motherboard.

how are these temps not right? Please remember that ANY overclock i dial in ruins my fps. theres no way its thermal throttling. the fps decrease is a consistent drop and in fallout 4 when i tested it it stayed at EXACTLY 72fps while walking around, but would go to my capped monitors 144fps when i looked at the sky. its so confusing to pinpoint what the problem is here  

[dxflame]

Here is a screenshot of my CPU not thermal throttling and sitting at 55*C under a stress test with the overclock. (4.5Ghz)

https://gyazo.com/199bfb29af628f30088ea843d5f02c5e

 

Everything seems to run better and properly except for when i get into games.

i will try cinebench and give more info soon.

[dxflame]

Here is gameplay of TERA, the cpu intensive game, running under only 33% load and no throttling. but with worse performance.

this does not make any sense at all to be honest.

https://gyazo.com/e2d75a3504b5edf01ccedd55405d2120

[porina]

I wonder if you're running into current throttling... look at the clocks while running the other software. Are the CPU clocks where you think they are, or are they dropping to some lower clock?

 

One of my 6700k CPUs runs into current limit mode with any overclock applied, and the solution to that was to relax the current limit in the bios. If it is in current limit state, it will go back to base clock. Software that can report if this is the case includes Intel XTU (have to change displayed chart) or HWinfo64 (in sensor mode, look under "performance limit reason" section). If current throttling isn't the case, maybe other flags shown in HWinfo64 will offer a clue.