4930K First Time Overclocker 4.7Ghz Am I doing this right?

[Son_of_Altair]

Hi Forum

Just recently built my first desktop PC and experiencing my first time overclocking.
My setup is:
Intel i7 4930K
Asus Rampage IV Black Edition
2x 8GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2400MHz 10-12-12-31 1.65V
Corsair H110 for CPU cooling

I've been playing around with the bios overclocking tools and AI SUITE 3 using AIDA64 for stress testing.
My first stable run was at 4.7Ghz with multiplier of 47 on all cores and a CPU VCORE of 1.385V resulting in a core voltage of 1.420V for AI SUITE 3 and 1.408V for CPU-Z. Memory is in XMP mode and running at 2400MHz. A CPU VCORE of 1.380V resulted in an unstable system in 30 mins. Running AIDA64 I maintained a stable system for around 7 hours with CPU temps between 40-50 degrees Celsius and my individual core temps between 70-80 degrees Celsius.

The questions I pose are:
1. Is this a good oc?
2. Is the voltage too high and should I go for a lower multiplier and CPU VCORE?
3. What would the life expectancy of this chip be at these settings?
4. Should CPU VCORE always be at 1.408V even when not under load and if so is there anyway to drop the voltage in idle use?

Any responses will be appreciated and helpful
Thanks

[Nate152]

Hello Son_of_Altair, Welcome to the ROG forum.

You chose the best of the best in the rampage iv black edition. Looks to me like you did your research well.

1. For a first timer that is a great overclock !

2. You will be fine with that voltage. Your temps when stress testing at 70c-80c is very good. Anything you do on your pc won't stress it like aida64 does therefore your temps will be even lower.

3. That is a question no one can answer. It could last a year or up to 20 years.

4. You can have the cpu throttle down clock speed and voltage when not under load. Enable speedstep and the C1e state in the bios. Then set your windows power plan to balanced. That should let your cpu throttle down when not under load. Open up cpu-z to see that the speed and voltage is throttling down.

Don't use ai suite to monitor cpu temps. Use real temp 3.70 or Hwmonitor.

[Son_of_Altair]

Hi Nate152

I ensured speed step and C1e state were enabled CPU-Z is stating that the speed is now around 1.2 GHz while idle but the core voltage is fluctuating between 1.392V and 1.408V. Is there any other settings in BIOS that I should check on or is this the best I can expect?

Thanks

[Nate152]

Is your windows power plan set to balanced? If it is try setting the vcore to auto.

[Son_of_Altair]

The windows power plan is set to balanced and I only have the option to select manual or offset CPU VCore, After optimizing to default settings these are the steps I take.
Extreme Tweaker:
Ai Overclock Tuner - X.M.P Mode
CPU Core Ratio - Sync all Cores
Set Core Multiplier - 47
DRAM Frequency - DDR3-2400MHz
CPU Performance Settings/ Enhanced Intel Speedstep - Enabled
CPU VCORE Voltage - Manual Mode
CPU VCORE Manual Voltage - 1.385

Advanced:
CPU Configuration/CPU Power Management Configuration/CPU C states - Enabled/ CPU C1E - Enabled

With All those settings it has a multiplier range between 12-47 while this drops down when not under load the VCORE remains at 1.408V.

Since it is in manual mode wont the VCORE remain staic?
If so would offset mode help with this issue?

[Nate152]

Yes give offset a try, I found this thread that my help.

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?36122-Weird-VCore-levels-with-4.5-GHz-overclock...

[Son_of_Altair]

I tried using the offset guide provided but didn't find it much use, I did however manage to get the cpu stable at 4.5GHz with the voltage at 1.296V and temps under 70c by setting the offset to +0.020 and the turbo boost settings short and long duration to 230/200 with a core current limit of 200. These settings I found by browsing forums so I'm not sure how it translates to upping the multiplier however I will sleep on it overnight while AIDA64 runs a stress test.

[Nate152]

All right try this. Go into the bios and hit F5 to set defaults. Set the ai overclock tuner to X.M.P. and change only the cpu core ratio to 45, F10 and enter.

Once in windows open up cpu-z, is the voltage throttling down now?

[Son_of_Altair]

Nope sitting at 1.424V. I've found that the Auto settings for Manual Voltage and Offset use a lot more voltage than is required to obtain the clock levels in this aspect I think setting it up with defined voltages is the only way. The last stress test I ran was stable at 1.296V for 7 hours whereas the auto settings wanted to set it at 1.424 for the same clock. Also it would throttle down the voltage at idle too so I believe it is operating correctly, I will have to read up on the turbo boost settings to try and tune it in to 4.7,

[Son_of_Altair]

Update: I have managed to get the voltage to downgrade after playing with the offset voltage a bit more and setting it to 0.120V, Why I didnt do this before I dont know.

everything is booting ok and I'm running stability tests with aida64 getting a max Vcore alternating between 1.392 and 1.408 at 4.7GHz full load. The tests so far indicate that this is unstable and I believ it is due to the fluctuating in Vcore which im trying to fine tune atm.