Quote Originally Posted by kidsafe View Post
I'm not sure why you're surprised by this. The point of using higher LLC settings is to suppress the Vdroop specifically at load. Your CPU spikes to >1.4V because your it will briefly remain at your max turbo multiplier in a zero load situation and you are using a very high offset.

The fix:
CPU Voltage = Offset Mode = 0.00V
Load Line Calibration = Ultra High

Those settings will probably get you around 1.35V under load with your overclock. You can drop the offset in .05V increments and it will also drop the load Vcore by a proportional amount. If you lose stability at LOWER clocks due to undervolting, then drop your LLC from Ultra High to High (and raise your offset slightly again).

General consensus seems to be the following...
The majority of these processors can actually run at 4.8GHz on 1.37-1.39V using appropriate phase control options
4.5-4.6GHz can be achieved with 1.33-1.35V
4.9GHz isn't a wall, but it is a very steep ramp. My particular sample wants at least 1.41-1.42V at 4.9GHz vs 1.36-1.37V for 4.8GHz.

My settings for a 24/7 OC (1.016V idle, 1.368V load, 1.376V load-drop):
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
BCLK/PEG Frequency = 100
Turbo Ratio = By All Cores = 48
Internal PLL Overvoltage = Enabled
Memory Frequency = DDR3-1866
OC Tuner = Disabled
EPU Power Saving Mode = Disabled
DRAM Timing Control = 8-9-8-24-1T
Load Line Calibration = Ultra High
Phase Control = Extreme
Duty Control = Extreme
CPU Voltage = Offset Mode = .020V
DRAM Voltage = 1.6V
I was surprised because the spikes only started appearing when I upgraded to 1253. The vdroop I noticed with the old bios was very minimal. If I ignore the random spikes with the new bios, the vdroop is still about the same. (~0.02 or so)
That's why I'm tempted to think that the spikes had nothing to do with LLC.

I'm using offset mode so that it will lower voltages when it's idle. If I forced it to a particular voltage, it stays that high even at idle.

I'll try lowering the offset and turning on LLC to see what happens.


Quote Originally Posted by wampir View Post
Could You paste your settings here ?

I'll repost here:

BIOS: 1253
vcore offset mode: +0.085
LLC: forced off (standard)
PLL overvoltage: on
Everything else left on defaults...

Idle vcore: 1.09v.
Load vcore: 1.32v - 1.34v
Random vcore spikes: 1.38v - 1.41v


Results with these settings:

4.2 GHz (24/7)
4.5 GHz (completely prime stable)
4.6 GHz (4 hours prime stable)

Those are my 24/7 settings. 4 hours prime-stable @ 4.6 GHz. Completely prime-stable @ 4.5 GHz. But I'll be doing software development on it - so I'm clocking it at 4.2 GHz to be safe.

For my temporary suicide run, I put the offset to +1.25 or so (I don't remember the exact number.)
With this I was able to get 4.9 GHz at least 10 min. prime-stable. 5.0 GHz was screenshot-able but not bootable. Load voltages were over 1.43v so I didn't want to keep it there long enough to get them stable.

For this suicide run, I left my window open to let the sub-zero ambient outside air into the room and the case. (ambient outside was -10F, inside the case, it was about 40 - 50F)
So temperatures were never a problem. I'm "sorta" on water. (see my siggy for exact specs)