skylake 6700K Stable Overclock

[ImpaleXD]

Hi All!

 

I have just completed my Skylake build over the weekend: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pmDM6X

 

It's my first time overclocking a system as well, no pressure here.

 

The tweaks that I did on the BIOS are as follows:

 

RAM - XMP

Core Clock: 4.6ghz

Core Voltage: 1.250v

 

I just wanted to share to you the results that I got after running AIDA64 for 30 minutes:

 

 

I was expecting the system to crash after running it on 4.6ghz at 1.250, apparently it didn't after 30 minutes.

 

Did I miss out on anything in the BIOS which is causing the system to not crash? What more can I do after this?

 

Again, I am very new to overclocking, basically 3 days of studying and preparation. Your thoughts?

 

Many Thanks!

 

 

[Vigilante505]

So you're trying to make it crash? 

[ImpaleXD]

Just now, Vigilante505 said:

So you're trying to make it crash? 

It's supposed to crash when you OC right?

[Matias_Chambers]

3 minutes ago, ImpaleXD said:

It's supposed to crash when you OC right?

Not necessarily, the goal is to get a stable overclock. But 30 minutes isn't enough to verify that's it's fully stable. And if it is stable you can push further. 

[ImpaleXD]

Just now, Matias_Chambers said:

Not necessarily, the goal is to get a stable overclock. But 30 minutes isn't enough to verify that's it's fully stable. And if it is stable you can push further. 

How long should I OC and how do I push it further?

[TubsAlwaysWins]

7 minutes ago, ImpaleXD said:

It's supposed to crash when you OC right?

A crash means you are unstable. So you want it to not crash so it is stable. Crashing just tells you when you need to up voltage or stop overclocking

[tom_w141]

6 minutes ago, ImpaleXD said:

How long should I OC and how do I push it further?

Stability Test: 24 hours each with at least 2 programs (e.g. Aida 64 and ROG Realbench)

Pushing further: Increments of 1 on the multiplier (0.1 GHz)

Other things you can do: After you establish a stable OC set the voltage to adaptive with a little over your stable voltage as the max (1.30V maybe)

 

EDIT: The reason for adaptive being it will undervolt the CPU when the max voltage isn't required. This lowers temps and prolongs CPU lifespan. Manual mode sets it at that voltage 100% of the time!

[Matias_Chambers]

1 minute ago, ImpaleXD said:

How long should I OC and how do I push it further?

Well actually you just need to test for about 15 minutes each to you bump up the multiplier. Once you have found your max OC the best thing to do is run a stresstest for 12-48 hours to ensure it's fully stable. If you want to get a higher OC, you can try 4.7 GHz and if it isn't stable increase the voltage by 0.25V at a time until the 15 minute stresstest passes. You can use 1.45V-1.5V for Skylake if you have cooling that can support it, but you will probably hit temp limits soon. If any of the cores go over 85C you should probably bump down your OC unless you don't plan on keeping the CPU for very long. 

[Matias_Chambers]

1 minute ago, Matias_Chambers said:

Well actually you just need to test for about 15 minutes each to you bump up the multiplier. Once you have found your max OC the best thing to do is run a stresstest for 12-48 hours to ensure it's fully stable. If you want to get a higher OC, you can try 4.7 GHz and if it isn't stable increase the voltage by 0.25V at a time until the 15 minute stresstest passes. You can use 1.45V-1.5V for Skylake if you have cooling that can support it, but you will probably hit temp limits soon. If any of the cores go over 85C you should probably bump down your OC unless you don't plan on keeping the CPU for very long. 

If you can hit 4.7 GHz stable and you aren't hitting temp limits you can try pushing further. 

[knightslugger]

HOLY CRAP your VCORE is a 2.5 volts!

[tom_w141]

1 minute ago, Matias_Chambers said:

If you can hit 4.7 GHz stable and you aren't hitting temp limits you can try pushing further. 

the edit button exists for a reason

[Matias_Chambers]

2 minutes ago, tom_w141 said:

the edit button exists for a reason

Yeah but he might not see it if I edit it. 

[tom_w141]

1 minute ago, knightslugger said:

HOLY CRAP your VCORE is a 2.5 volts!

Look under CPU not Mobo. If his CPU Vcore was 2.5V he wouldn't be posting any pics

[knightslugger]

1 minute ago, tom_w141 said:

Look under CPU not Mobo. If his CPU Vcore was 2.5V he wouldn't be posting any pics

Right but the VRMs are sending 2.5 volts.

[ImpaleXD]

1 minute ago, Matias_Chambers said:

Well actually you just need to test for about 15 minutes each to you bump up the multiplier. Once you have found your max OC the best thing to do is run a stresstest for 12-48 hours to ensure it's fully stable. If you want to get a higher OC, you can try 4.7 GHz and if it isn't stable increase the voltage by 0.25V at a time until the 15 minute stresstest passes. You can use 1.45V-1.5V for Skylake if you have cooling that can support it, but you will probably hit temp limits soon. If any of the cores go over 85C you should probably bump down your OC unless you don't plan on keeping the CPU for very long. 

I plan on keeping it for a good 4-5 years. In this case, I'll like to settle for 4.6 and try to avoid hitting 1.3v though so I'll continue to try and lower voltage and see what happens.

[ImpaleXD]

A bit overwhelmed right now but I have a few questions:

 

-How and where do you find the option to let the CPU not run at 4.6 at idle? EIST/Speedstep is what it is called I believe.

and

-Is it better to turn speedstep on for general and daily use and off when gaming?

[ImpaleXD]

And how do you determine if a CPU needs more voltage again?

[ImpaleXD]

5 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

Right but the VRMs are sending 2.5 volts.

 

6 minutes ago, tom_w141 said:

Look under CPU not Mobo. If his CPU Vcore was 2.5V he wouldn't be posting any pics

 

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[knightslugger]

8 minutes ago, ImpaleXD said:

 

 

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

I have never know higher VCore voltages than VID voltages to be a good thing, especially 2.5 volts. that's redonkulous.

[Matias_Chambers]

18 minutes ago, ImpaleXD said:

And how do you determine if a CPU needs more voltage again?

When it's not stable under a stresstest. (When it crashes or the stresstest tells you it's not stable)

[Matias_Chambers]

19 minutes ago, ImpaleXD said:

A bit overwhelmed right now but I have a few questions:

 

-How and where do you find the option to let the CPU not run at 4.6 at idle? EIST/Speedstep is what it is called I believe.

and

-Is it better to turn speedstep on for general and daily use and off when gaming?

- I think you set CPU core voltage mode to adaptive.

 

- Just keep it on adaptive, it will boost to 4.6 when you are doing something that uses the CPU. 

[smokefest]

20 minutes ago, ImpaleXD said:

And how do you determine if a CPU needs more voltage again?

Your cpu needs more voltage if it crashes during stress test, or any usage.

If it doesn't crash, you have enough voltage.

Aida 64  30 min is not enough tho..

that voltage.. 1.25 is very very low for a 6700k @ 4.6 ghz

Of course it depends on the silicon lottery, but per example my 6700k is @ 4.5 ghz and it needs 1.335 vcore and most of the 6700k's are close to my set up in term of voltage.

I suggest you to try real bench 8 hour stress test. You need to stress test your cpu for long hours with more than 1 program to make sure. Per example, at first i tho my CPU was stable @ 4.5 ghz @ 1.30 vcore, until i play BF1. My pc wudnt crash during stress tests but in BF1, it was blu screening after a while.

I then adjusted the vcore until i had no more crash. I needed 1.335 vcore to run my 6700k @ 4.5 ghz. This is how you should proceed.

1 - Stress test for long hours with more than 1 program

2 - If no crash, should be good

3 - If you crash, raise the voltage +0.01 or +0.005 depends on how ur patient, and try again until you get stable 

 

 

OC process can take days... weeks...

It took me 1 week to stable my 6700k @ 4.5 ghz. Its 100% stable @ 1.335 vcore

 

 

Also watch your temps !!!! Should not go over 82-83c in stress test and not over 80 in normal usage, my recommandation is to keep temps under 75.

 

[knightslugger]

7 minutes ago, Matias_Chambers said:

- I think you set CPU core voltage mode to adaptive.

 

- Just keep it on adaptive, it will boost to 4.6 when you are doing something that uses the CPU. 

when i switch to adaptive, i BSOD immediately. manual voltage i am rock solid all week.

[Matias_Chambers]

1 minute ago, knightslugger said:

when i switch to adaptive, i BSOD immediately. manual voltage i am rock solid all week.

Yeah, that's not uncommon. 

[knightslugger]

1 minute ago, Matias_Chambers said:

Yeah, that's not uncommon. 

I should have added: but it does speed step to 800 MHz without it set to adaptive.