6700K Overclock Voltages

[Steve N. Mavronis]

Is any manual voltage over stock settings going to degrade a CPU long term, or does it really matter as long as you stay 1.35V or less if air cooling? I'm using a good 140mm fan-based CPU heatsink.

 

I mean my 6700K can do 4.6 GHz at 1.32V, 4.5 GHz at 1.28V, and 4.4 GHz at 1.26V for example.

 

The other factor is ambient room temperatures affecting how hot the CPU gets at max stress test loads. So right now opted for 4.4 GHz but wondering if I'm being to concerned over my < 1.3V range voltage settings and should just do 4.5 GHz instead?

 

Of course I could always just go back to stock with XMP enabled and forget about it LOL. It's not that overclocking does anything for me other than benchmarks and testing to say I did it.

[TaylorSwiftOrNon]

I have a Noctua NH-D14 and i run my 6700K @ 4.6 with 1.400V. Temps are below 80C at full load

[Steve N. Mavronis]

1 minute ago, TaylorSwiftOrNon said:

I have a Noctua NH-D14 and i run my 6700K @ 4.6 with 1.400V. Temps are below 80C at full load

I have the Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX. Yes but I'm looking for 'safe' 6700K 24/7 always on voltages to use that will help it last 3-5 years.

[Imakuni]

26 minutes ago, Steve N. Mavronis said:

I have the Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX. Yes but I'm looking for 'safe' 6700K 24/7 always on voltages to use that will help it last 3-5 years.

With the numbers you've posted, I'd stop at 4.5 with 1.28. 40mv for just 100mhz ain't worth it IMO.

[done12many2]

1 hour ago, Steve N. Mavronis said:

Is any manual voltage over stock settings going to degrade a CPU long term, or does it really matter as long as you stay 1.35V or less if air cooling? I'm using a good 140mm fan-based CPU heatsink.

 

I mean my 6700K can do 4.6 GHz at 1.32V, 4.5 GHz at 1.28V, and 4.4 GHz at 1.26V for example.

 

The other factor is ambient room temperatures affecting how hot the CPU gets at max stress test loads. So right now opted for 4.4 GHz but wondering if I'm being to concerned over my < 1.3V range voltage settings and should just do 4.5 GHz instead?

 

Of course I could always just go back to stock with XMP enabled and forget about it LOL. It's not that overclocking does anything for me other than benchmarks and testing to say I did it.

You're more than safe for sustained use at 1.3v.  The whole "degradation" scare is really getting old.  My favorite part of the whole thing is that somehow people miraculously know what a safe voltage window is.

 

Take advantage of voltage offsetting, which is the topic of yet another worthless rumor stated that you should never use adaptive voltage or offset voltage.  You probably don't want to keep adaptive voltage set during stress testing as peak voltages will exceed your requested, but for everyday use it is fine.  It's better than fine, it's the best of both worlds.  Using it will bring about the automatic regulation of voltage based on processor speed so that as your processor drops to its idle speed (1200 MHz), voltage drop proportionately with it.  This method allows you to keep your 4.5 GHz profile loaded without fearing the dreaded "degradation" of your CPU.

 

 

[Steve N. Mavronis]

7 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

You're more than safe for sustained use at 1.3v.  The whole "degradation" scare is really getting old.  My favorite part of the whole thing is that somehow people miraculously know what a safe voltage window is.

 

Take advantage of voltage offsetting, which is the topic of yet another worthless rumor stated that you should never use adaptive voltage or offset voltage.  You probably don't want to keep adaptive voltage set during stress testing as peak voltages will exceed your requested, but for everyday use it is fine.  It's better than fine, it's the best of both worlds.  Using it will bring about the automatic regulation of voltage based on processor speed so that as your processor drops to its idle speed (1200 MHz), voltage drop proportionately with it.  This method allows you to keep your 4.5 GHz profile loaded without fearing the dreaded "degradation" of your CPU.

 

 

I tend to agree with this. No one knows the normal lifespan of a 6700K stock or overclocked. The best gauge would probably be lessons learned from previous generation CPU's overclocked, but Skylake is a lot different in heat generation and design so it's yet to be proven one way or the other.

 

I use adaptive voltage after I'm done testing, etc. I haven't tried offsets yet. But that's what I figure, that adaptive will increase the chance of a normal lifespan since most of the time it's running at lower than stock speeds and voltages.

[done12many2]

2 minutes ago, Steve N. Mavronis said:

I tend to agree with this. No one knows the normal lifespan of a 6700K stock or overclocked. The best gauge would probably be lessons learned from previous generation CPU's overclocked, but Skylake is a lot different in heat generation and design so it's yet to be proven one way or the other.

 

I use adaptive voltage after I'm done testing, etc. I haven't tried offsets yet. But that's what I figure, that adaptive will increase the chance of a normal lifespan since most of the time it's running at lower than stock speeds and voltages.

It sounds like you're on top of it!  It also sounds like you have a great overclock and based on your parts list, a great build.  Enjoy the OC for years to come and then sell it to the first person that asks you if it's been overclocked.  They are usually assigned to "degradation" patrol.  Take care and good luck.

[Steve N. Mavronis]

Thanks all. I loaded my custom UEFI 4500 MHz profile so back to 4.5 GHz @ 1.28V, XMP 3200 RAM Profile, Core/Cache Limit Max 255.50, Cache Ratios 41, LLC Level 5.