I7 2700k overclock woes

george1976 · 24 Nov 2020 at 18:01

Hello gents

I recently purchased a cheapo I7 2700K to replace my I5 2500K nurturing the hope for a stutter free ACU. Didn't happen, game is a mess no matter the cpu or gpu.
My problem is with trying to overclock this on my Z68XP-UD3 Rev. 1,0 mobo along the 8gb Kingston memory.
I got it working at 4.2Ghz with 1.30V and LLC at 4 but I cannot go higher, manually, for some reason.
I tried 4.4Ghz and left the voltage on auto but was pumping 1.36 on it(I tried 1.35 and failed) and I thought is too high?
I had the same issue with the I5 2500K which was working like a clock at 4.2Ghz/1.28V but I couldnt get it higher on this board with manual overclock.
I don't have the best cooler, Tranquillo rev.B but it never went above 70deg.Celsius even when left on auto voltage. Any advice? What would be an expected voltage for 4.4-4.5Ghz?

Thanks

Finners · 24 Nov 2020 at 18:06

Your temps and voltage seem fine. As it's the 2700k and it came out later have you updated your BIOS? I put one of these in my dad's old PC and didn't even think about it but he had stability issues and a BIOS update fixed it.

Also worth checking your VRM heatsink is tight, my dad's board was a gigabyte and was just held in with plastic pins and springs and I could wiggle it very easily. I ended up buying some small bolts, nuts and plastic washers and using them with fresh thermal pads.

george1976 · 24 Nov 2020 at 18:16

Finners said:
Your temps and voltage seem fine. As it's the 2700k and it came out later have you updated your BIOS? I put one of these in my dad's old PC and didn't even think about it but he had stability issues and a BIOS update fixed it.

Also worth checking your VRM heatsink is tight, my dad's board was a gigabyte and was just held in with plastic pins and springs and I could wiggle it very easily. I ended up buying some small bolts, nuts and plastic washers and using them with fresh thermal pads.

I did flash the bios to f10 and also did a squeaky clean W10 install, when I try to go higher after not many seconds on p95 I either get whea uncorrectable error or clock watchdog timeout on the bsod

Thanks for the reply, the vrm idea is good, always moved when cleaning mobo but it seemed that the springs were pulling it back in place everytime.

MartinPrince · 27 Nov 2020 at 07:57

Unfortunately your UD3 is probably the worst overclocking board for Sandy/Ivy. The VRM's were especially poor so I would follow @Finners advice if you want to overclock. I suspect in any other motherboard i.e. Asus/Asrock that 2700K would do 4.6Ghz+ easily. (If you see an Asrock Z68 Extreme4 going really cheap...

)

The advice I gave here also applies to you. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/posts/34257231/

george1976 · 27 Nov 2020 at 18:19

MartinPrince said:
Unfortunately your UD3 is probably the worst overclocking board for Sandy/Ivy. The VRM's were especially poor so I would follow @Finners advice if you want to overclock. I suspect in any other motherboard i.e. Asus/Asrock that 2700K would do 4.6Ghz+ easily. (If you see an Asrock Z68 Extreme4 going really cheap... )

The advice I gave here also applies to you. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/posts/34257231/

Thx mate, I was thinking at the mobo also, as it was doing the same thing with the I5. Do you have any idea why voltage will drop to what I have set in prime95 but not in a game? Drops to 1.296 in p95 but stays at 1.32 in idle and gaming unless my HWInfo64 is reporting crazies.

MartinPrince · 28 Nov 2020 at 01:21

george1976 said:
Thx mate, I was thinking at the mobo also, as it was doing the same thing with the I5. Do you have any idea why voltage will drop to what I have set in prime95 but not in a game? Drops to 1.296 in p95 but stays at 1.32 in idle and gaming unless my HWInfo64 is reporting crazies.

Yes that's the VDroop, so when the CPU is under heavy load there is a small drop in voltage. That's why you use LLC (load line calibration) to help counter that. If you go too high on LLC then you'll find the opposite with the voltage increasing under heavy load.

george1976 · 5 Dec 2020 at 11:22

MartinPrince said:
Yes that's the VDroop, so when the CPU is under heavy load there is a small drop in voltage. That's why you use LLC (load line calibration) to help counter that. If you go too high on LLC then you'll find the opposite with the voltage increasing under heavy load.

It drops very little compared to 1.30 I set. I have 1.296 under heavy load. What I don't understand is why on idle, browsing and general tasks the voltage is higher at 1.32