Overclocking i7 4790K

[The Chicagoan]

So I have been overclocking this cpu, I got 4.6 GHz stable at 1.35 Volts. I've been able to go up to 4.8 GHz but for that to be stable I have to go into the 1.4 volts or higher.

Now in my bios the white letters stands for weak or not high voltage. Yellow stands for moderate to not high or average, then we have pink text which appears at 1.4 volts. Then red text at 1.65 volts or higher

Now I need a new liquid cooler so I can't run stress tests to tell if it's stable. Am I able to get over at least 1.42 volts without risking damaging my new cpu?

Motherboard: Asus Maximus Formula VI

[FeilDOW]

You need to stress test if you are OC'ing, I would leave it be till you get a cooler that will keep it under control. There is no point in pushing anything if it's overheating.

I would try and stay below 1.4v but it need to stay cool because it's more the heat that kills rather than volts.

[The Chicagoan]

Originally posted by FeilDOW:

You need to stress test if you are OC'ing, I would leave it be till you get a cooler that will keep it under control. There is no point in pushing anything if it's overheating.

I would try and stay below 1.4v but it need to stay cool because it's more the heat that kills rather than volts.

Yeah I guess you are right, I'm personally just trying to reach 5 GHz because it's been a dream to reach that. But it seems at 1.45V I'm able to boot into windows at 4.9 GHz, but I blue screen when I go to 5 GHz, can't say it's stable though I mean I can try and play some games and see if I crash and blue screen, but I'm going to just wait for my new cooler before I try to reach 5 GHz.

Well I did join a simple game like roblox, temps are at 120 - 140 and I didn't blue screen so at least I know it's some what stable. But if I do cinebench it thermal throttles and I either freeze, then blue screen or my score plumets because my CPU downclocks its self to cool down.

[Revelene]

If you have to have 1.35v for 4.6ghz, it is pretty doubtful that you'll hit 5ghz.

You might with a single core overclock, with other cores lower, but not all cores.

You didn't get very lucky in the silicon lotto with this one, unfortunately.

For longevity, you don't want temps of this CPU to go much over 70c. Shutdown temp is around 90c, with throttling measures starting around 80c.

Cinebench isn't a good test for stability. Use tests like AIDA64 or Prime95, and let them run for extended periods of time. I personally like AIDA64 the best, as it has built in readouts for all your sensors and has a lot of handy graphs (one of which that will show you when you are throttling and by how much).

[The Chicagoan]

Originally posted by Revelene:

If you have to have 1.35v for 4.6ghz, it is pretty doubtful that you'll hit 5ghz.

You might with a single core overclock, with other cores lower, but not all cores.

You didn't get very lucky in the silicon lotto with this one, unfortunately.

For longevity, you don't want temps of this CPU to go much over 70c. Shutdown temp is around 90c, with throttling measures starting around 80c.

Cinebench isn't a good test for stability. Use tests like AIDA64 or Prime95, and let them run for extended periods of time. I personally like AIDA64 the best, as it has built in readouts for all your sensors and has a lot of handy graphs (one of which that will show you when you are throttling and by how much).

I think I was able to get 4.6 GHz stable at 1.30 Volts though, but I honestly can't stress test until my new cooler arrives. Kind of sucks that I have to be lucky to hit these overclocks. At least I was able to boot and play games pretty stable at 4.9 GHz though.

[Revelene]

Originally posted by The Chicagoan:

Originally posted by Revelene:

If you have to have 1.35v for 4.6ghz, it is pretty doubtful that you'll hit 5ghz.

You might with a single core overclock, with other cores lower, but not all cores.

You didn't get very lucky in the silicon lotto with this one, unfortunately.

For longevity, you don't want temps of this CPU to go much over 70c. Shutdown temp is around 90c, with throttling measures starting around 80c.

Cinebench isn't a good test for stability. Use tests like AIDA64 or Prime95, and let them run for extended periods of time. I personally like AIDA64 the best, as it has built in readouts for all your sensors and has a lot of handy graphs (one of which that will show you when you are throttling and by how much).

I think I was able to get 4.6 GHz stable at 1.30 Volts though, but I honestly can't stress test until my new cooler arrives. Kind of sucks that I have to be lucky to hit these overclocks. At least I was able to boot and play games pretty stable at 4.9 GHz though.

For the daily driver, I definitely wouldn't recommend going over 1.4v.

You'll have many people tell you that higher voltage isn't a concern, but rather the temps they create... Well, that is baloney. Of course higher voltage will wear out components faster. Anyone that knows even the slightest about circuitry will understand that.

I recommend trying to see what you can get with 1.2 or 1.25v. See if you can do something like first core or two at 4.6ghz or 4.7ghz, and the rest at 4.5ghz. You'll still get a good benefit in games, as even games that use multi core will still put most of the important calls on the first core or two.

[FeilDOW]

Originally posted by Revelene:

Originally posted by The Chicagoan:

I think I was able to get 4.6 GHz stable at 1.30 Volts though, but I honestly can't stress test until my new cooler arrives. Kind of sucks that I have to be lucky to hit these overclocks. At least I was able to boot and play games pretty stable at 4.9 GHz though.

For the daily driver, I definitely wouldn't recommend going over 1.4v.

You'll have many people tell you that higher voltage isn't a concern, but rather the temps they create... Well, that is baloney. Of course higher voltage will wear out components faster. Anyone that knows even the slightest about circuitry will understand that.

I recommend trying to see what you can get with 1.2 or 1.25v. See if you can do something like first core or two at 4.6ghz or 4.7ghz, and the rest at 4.5ghz. You'll still get a good benefit in games, as even games that use multi core will still put most of the important calls on the first core or two.

Hight voltage isn't a concern if it's within limits and temps are in check, just use your brain and know the limits of the chip. The point is heat will do more damage than volts will at 1.4v being the max you should go IMO.

[Revelene]

Originally posted by FeilDOW:

Originally posted by Revelene:

For the daily driver, I definitely wouldn't recommend going over 1.4v.

You'll have many people tell you that higher voltage isn't a concern, but rather the temps they create... Well, that is baloney. Of course higher voltage will wear out components faster. Anyone that knows even the slightest about circuitry will understand that.

I recommend trying to see what you can get with 1.2 or 1.25v. See if you can do something like first core or two at 4.6ghz or 4.7ghz, and the rest at 4.5ghz. You'll still get a good benefit in games, as even games that use multi core will still put most of the important calls on the first core or two.

Hight voltage isn't a concern if it's within limits and temps are in check, just use your brain and know the limits of the chip. The point is heat will do more damage than volts will at 1.4v being the max you should go IMO.

Something like 1.4v isn't going to damage as much as heat, but it can lower the longevity of the chip. The higher you go from there, the more you chip away at its lifetime.

If you're point is that heat will do more damage than voltage at 1.4v, then we are in agreement. I also agree that 1.4v should be highest to use on a daily basis. However, voltage can damage, that is a fact. Higher voltage lowers integrity, especially in these small applications. It is definitely something to consider when wanting to keep hardware for a while.