How to scale down Core Voltage?

[Djinni]

Right ok...

Got my nice stable Manual OC of 4.7 with a VCore of 1.36 which goes up to 1.384 at 100% load (Through folding)




Wondering how/if it's possible....
To scale down the VCore when it's not at load. I see no reason to run 1.368V through the chip if it doesn't need it.
Much in the same way it scales up when at full load... (VCore pushing 1.4 when I run Prime95...)

[Arisfarreach]

Using "offset" voltage instead of "auto" or "fixed" (names may vary from mobo to mobo, but they should be something along those lines) will keep the vcore down around .980v - 1.000v while idling and bump the vcore up to 1.368v when put under load.

Basically what offset voltage does is takes the chip's auto voltage and adds/subtracts the user designated offset amount. For example, your chip's auto load vcore is 1.368v, so if you have offset set to -.010, the chip will run at 1.358v (1.368 - .010) under load instead. It's a good way to reach the lowest possible idle and load vcores your chip can handle.

You could also just leave the vcore on auto. The only problem with that is the system always overstates how much voltage is actually needed and ends up sending too much through the chip. This is where offset comes in to achieve a more reasonable voltage.

[Djinni]

Hmmm... Thanks for the tip but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work so well.

With any setting other than Auto in Offset mode the machine fails to make it past the windows logo... and with auto great that its only pushing 1.088V idle... but goes up to 1.6V - 1.7V at load giving me temps of 95C approx 10seconds into running Prime95 (hence the vague voltage. I have no interest in doing it again)

[Cilraaz]

vCore increasing on load means a horrendous LLC setting (WAY too high). vCore should stay the same or drop on load, but never increase. If you're using LLC at a setting that keeps a steady vCore between idle and load, your max vCore setting should be around 1.40v. If you have LLC off and have proper droop, your max should be around 1.52v.

[Djinni]

vCore increasing on load means a horrendous LLC setting (WAY too high). vCore should stay the same or drop on load, but never increase. If you're using LLC at a setting that keeps a steady vCore between idle and load, your max vCore setting should be around 1.40v. If you have LLC off and have proper droop, your max should be around 1.52v.

Had LLC on "Extreme" as per the Overclocking guide for clocks over 4.5.

Dropped the clock down to 4.6 and the vcore to 1.35 and the LLC setting to Ultra High, now getting:

[Cilraaz]

Had LLC on "Extreme" as per the Overclocking guide for clocks over 4.5.

Dropped the clock down to 4.6 and the vcore to 1.35 and the LLC setting to Ultra High, now getting:

Is that at load or idle? I'm assuming load, since you're at full speed, rather than the 1.6GHz idle speed.

What guide are you following that's suggesting Extreme LLC? I'm a bit worried about what else they included.

[Saithes]

The only way for it to downvolt on idle is with Offset voltage. Manual/Fixed mode won't allow the Voltage to switch with the power states.

Example:

[Cilraaz]

In my frenzy about LLC, I totally missed the topic at hand. There's really no reason to use offset voltage. Yeah, it uses a lower voltage at idle, which can save a few pennies a year, but it adds another variable that increases the chance of instability. On the flip side, if you happen to find a setup that allows you to use offset without instability, there's no reason not to use it. It usually just creates a lot more work in finding the stable point, and in some cases can force you to use a higher load voltage in order to not blue screen at idle.

If you're worried about strain on the CPU from voltage, remember that 1.4v at full load is completely different than 1.4v at idle. Under load, the actual power usage (wattage) increases, which in turn increases amperage, which is the real strain on the CPU. At idle, power usage (wattage) is low, so amperage and, in turn, strain are also.

[Wries]

One thing I found is that (now having the big daddy of a bad batch of chips) my 2600K could not reach a stable 4.6GHz even at 1.4V. But when using offset, my 2600K is stable at 1.36V "already". Now it may just be a miracle but could also hint that perhaps CPU-Z isn't showing the "real" voltage under load.

[Djinni]

In my frenzy about LLC, I totally missed the topic at hand. There's really no reason to use offset voltage. Yeah, it uses a lower voltage at idle, which can save a few pennies a year, but it adds another variable that increases the chance of instability. On the flip side, if you happen to find a setup that allows you to use offset without instability, there's no reason not to use it. It usually just creates a lot more work in finding the stable point, and in some cases can force you to use a higher load voltage in order to not blue screen at idle.

If you're worried about strain on the CPU from voltage, remember that 1.4v at full load is completely different than 1.4v at idle. Under load, the actual power usage (wattage) increases, which in turn increases amperage, which is the real strain on the CPU. At idle, power usage (wattage) is low, so amperage and, in turn, strain are also.

More about not decreasing the lifespan of the CPU unnecessarily, than saving pennies (pay a flat rate for electricity anyway, regardless of how much I use, hence leaving my machine on most days folding while I'm at Uni.)

[Cilraaz]

More about not decreasing the lifespan of the CPU unnecessarily, than saving pennies (pay a flat rate for electricity anyway, regardless of how much I use, hence leaving my machine on most days folding while I'm at Uni.)

Yeah, in that case, there's no real reason to worry about it (unless you really wanted to for some reason). Like I said, the lower amperage really creates minimal strain on the idle CPU.