Skylake Voltage

[Efanel]

How much is too much voltage on skylake? some people say you can go up to 1.45V, and be on 1.4V without worrying, but my motherboard voltage numbers turned red when I tried to set them at higher than 1.35v and I wanted somebody to give me their thoughts on this matter 

 

I'm getting 4.4Ghz with 1.32V but to get to 4.5Ghz 1.36V is not enough and I wanted to see what you guys think before I try any further

 

Also I have a Cooler Master 212 EVO

[Enderman]

I wouldn't, 0.05v for a 100mhz difference.

[Imakuni]

Given that you have a 212 EVO, do not go over that 1.32v mark.

[GDRRiley]

1.3 is the max that I would go 

[laushik]

Try using LLC. It will require less voltage to be stable.

[Efanel]

I searched about that LLC feature and it looks awesome and seems to be exactly what I need, and it seems like my motherboard is the only Z170A Gaming series motherboard from MSI that doesn't support it...

 

 

Regarding the voltages, everyone is suggesting me to not go beyond 1.3/1.32V, and I thank you very much for your opinion, but in this tutorials (the msi one using a motherboard that is almost the same as mine, and a cooler that is almost the same as mine), people use 1.4V as a start... So I figure I can go up to 1.4V, what are your thoughts on this and why do you think the tutorials are wrong/not applicable in my case?

 

https://www.msi.com/blog/detail/skylake-z170-overclocking-experience-247-air-water-and-sub-zero-cooling-oc-results

http://www.overclock.net/t/1570313/skylake-overclocking-guide-with-statistics (see "overclocking guide")

 

Thanks!

[Imakuni]

27 minutes ago, Efanel said:

So I figure I can go up to 1.4V, what are your thoughts on this and why do you think the tutorials are wrong/not applicable in my case?

What was your cooler again? Oh, a hyper 212, not a 240mm AIO. That's why you can't up the voltage further, lack of a good cooler.

28 minutes ago, Efanel said:

I searched about that LLC feature and it looks awesome and seems to be exactly what I need, and it seems like my motherboard is the only Z170A Gaming series motherboard from MSI that doesn't support it.

What was your mobo's model again?

[JJS76]

1.3/1.32v is a good limit if you really want to make your cpu last longer.

 

I assume the 1.4v is for people that either don't care about frying their cpu or who are using 1.4v as a starting point for overclocking. They would then slowly dial it back, not leave it at 1.4v.

[Efanel]

1 minute ago, Imakuni said:

What was your cooler again? Oh, a hyper 212, not a 240mm AIO. That's why you can't up the voltage further, lack of a good cooler.

What was your mobo's model again?

msi z170a gaming m5

 

im think of buying a corsair h100 or something like that for christmas, just wanted to see what i can do with my cooler until then

[Efanel]

11 minutes ago, JJS76 said:

1.3/1.32v is a good limit if you really want to make your cpu last longer.

 

I assume the 1.4v is for people that either don't care about frying their cpu or who are using 1.4v as a starting point for overclocking. They would then slowly dial it back, not leave it at 1.4v.

Thanks! But I'm getting like 73ºC max testing with Prime95 with 1.32V, shouldn't that mean I have room for some more? Or do the voltage itself hurt the CPU? I thought it was just the temperature...

 

Also, can I increase the voltage some more with a liquid cooler?

[JJS76]

@Efanel

I try to keep voltage under 1.3 with air coolers, 1.35 won't hurt too much.

 

As far as water goes not really sure, I'm cheap and have never tried an AIO before.

 

As far as heat vs Voltage

 

Some passive components, such as capacitors have a max voltage rating, which if exceeded can result in failure of the dielectric (insulator) resulting in excessive current, and ultimately smoke. Generally, exceeding voltage ratings of passive compnents causes insulation failure. With active components, excessive voltage will cause a breakdown of the internal junctions of the diode, transistor, etc, which will also allow excessive current, heat and some smoke.

 

So both are bad for wiring and electronics, I'm cheap, so I do everything on the safe side. I don't want to fry my cpu. But I'm definitely over cautious, so most likely you will be perfectly fine under 1.4v if temp isn't too high.

[Efanel]

 

1 hour ago, JJS76 said:

@Efanel

I try to keep voltage under 1.3 with air coolers, 1.35 won't hurt too much.

 

As far as water goes not really sure, I'm cheap and have never tried an AIO before.

 

As far as heat vs Voltage

 

Some passive components, such as capacitors have a max voltage rating, which if exceeded can result in failure of the dielectric (insulator) resulting in excessive current, and ultimately smoke. Generally, exceeding voltage ratings of passive compnents causes insulation failure. With active components, excessive voltage will cause a breakdown of the internal junctions of the diode, transistor, etc, which will also allow excessive current, heat and some smoke.

 

So both are bad for wiring and electronics, I'm cheap, so I do everything on the safe side. I don't want to fry my cpu. But I'm definitely over cautious, so most likely you will be perfectly fine under 1.4v if temp isn't too high.

I understand, I really don't want to fry my CPU either, just trying to understand better the limits and the whole concept of overclocking since I'm quite new to this

 

Thanks for your opinion, I'll probably wait until I get an AIO before trying higher clock speeds

[JJS76]

1 hour ago, Efanel said:

 

I understand, I really don't want to fry my CPU either, just trying to understand better the limits and the whole concept of overclocking since I'm quite new to this

 

Thanks for your opinion, I'll probably wait until I get an AIO before trying higher clock speeds

Good luck?

[DragonTamer1]

According to the Intel datasheet, all Skylake chips have an absolute maximum of 1.52V.

 

1.4 is typically considered safe.