Maximus VIII Hero, i5-6600K OC with Adaptive voltage

[The_F34R_Channe]

Firstly, my current OC was accomplished by just these settings:

1 to 4 core ratio: 45
Min. CPU Cache ratio: 41
Max CPU Cache ratio: 41
CPU Core/Cache voltage: Manual
- CPU Core Voltage Override: 1.185v (maybe not enough?)
Maximus Tweak: Mode 1 (did this automatically, unsure what it entails)
CPU Load-line Calibration: Level 5

Before I start this new journey I will gather some basic information here. I would like to OC with Adaptive voltage and have SpeedStep and C-states enabled.

What will I need to tweak, why and when? I see people having changed PCH voltage as well, for example.

I would start by setting 1.350v or 1.375v in the Adaptive voltage area with a 46 MP, cache at 41 or 42, LLC 5 and take it from there: lower the voltage until it doesn't boot. A good temperature is what I'll be looking for.

It's my understanding that Adaptive voltage changes the volts depending on clock speed within a set range?

[Janne-71]

Curious..your system is really similar to mine f3ar...how does it play that 1440p monitor? I have been considering it but im not sure gtx 970 is enough for it. Btw i fiddled with overclock a bit today, was able to reach stable (rog realbench) 4.6ghz@1.28v. I tried 4.7 too but test kept failing even at 1.33v so i left it on 4.6 for now. Maybe i'll get back to it someday.

[SinisterDev85]

Janne-71 wrote:
Curious..your system is really similar to mine f3ar...how does it play that 1440p monitor? I have been considering it but im not sure gtx 970 is enough for it. Btw i fiddled with overclock a bit today, was able to reach stable (rog realbench) 4.6ghz@1.28v. I tried 4.7 too but test kept failing even at 1.33v so i left it on 4.6 for now. Maybe i'll get back to it someday.

Janne, I just wanted you to know, Im using my 4k Uhdtv as a computer monitor and I have a 970 GTX FTW as my graphics card and I can play several games at 4k with no problem. Im currently playing Diablo 3 @ 4k resolution and getting pretty solid 60 fps. As for more graphic intensive games Like Fallout 4 or Metal Gear Solid 5 to name a few, I play them at 2560x1440 and after a little bit of tweaking, I get a pretty solid 60fps in those games. So you shouldnt have a problem playing most games at 1440p with that graphics card.

[The_F34R_Channe]

It plays fine as long as you're good with tuning a few settings down in certain games. A higher end card would be better. For example, I'm skipping on Rise of the Tomb Raider until I've got a high performance 1080/2080 Pascal/Volta card, and I feel that won't be the only game I'll have wait with. My advice would be, get a better card first and then the monitor.

But back on topic.


@ Chino, great guide! Two questions; I see you didn't set a LLC level. You left it on auto? I'm tempted to set mine to 5, as it was before. Second question, cache clock; did you leave the min/max on auto? And, how many MHz lower would you set the cache clock than the core clock, provided all options are wide open to begin with? It's my understanding that anything above 4.3GHz can create difficulties. Previously I ran 4.5/4.1GHz (core/cache).

I've learnt that upping the cache clock is good for higher RAM frequencies (not that my 3000MHz would fall in that category), and also that having it far below the core clock (e.g. 4.6 core, auto cache) can cause delays, and so it would be best to have the cache equal to or slightly lower than your core clock.

VID - I've read here it's the requested voltage. Requested, but not provided?

Out of curiosity, have you played with the BCLK, maybe 200MHz with a 23 MP?

Yeah...I think that's more than two questions...

[The_F34R_Channe]

I need some input boys and girls!

Following Chino's guide with a few modifications:

- Using ROG RealBench 2.43 (newest)
- Running RealBench for 15 minutes (only run for 30-60 minutes when I've found my voltage)
- Lowering voltage in larger increments (I take a stable Vcore readout under 'value' in HWMonitor and set that in the BIOS)

4.6GHz, ambient room temperature 21.5C.

Vcore Package Pass/Failed Duration

1.350 58C V 15 min
1.320 57C V 15 min
1.280 - X -
1.290 55C V 15 min *
1.290 55C V 60 min *


* HWMonitor says 1.248v under 'value' with a few 1 second jumps to 1.264v.

How do I proceed? Obviously 1.248v is a no go since 1.280v didn't even work. How do I get a single stable voltage so I can proceed and set Adaptive?

What's the correlation between the HWMonitor 'value' readout and what I'll actually end up setting in the BIOS?

[Chino]

You tweak until you find the stable at with your overclock is stable.

[The_F34R_Channe]

Previously, I tried all voltages down to a hundredth, and it always kept fluctuating from what I set in the BIOS. It's doing that now. I set 1.290, it lowers to 1.280. I set 1.280, it fails. Hence my confusion.

[Chino]

It's normal for the voltage to fluctuate under load. You can play around with the LLC settings if you wish.

[The_F34R_Channe]

I meant down to a thousandth by the way. Yours and that of others didn't seem to fluctuate? I don't expect LLC to stabilise it this case.

So would that mean that 1.290 is my voltage, and can I set that in adaptive without the +0.01/0.02? It's really stable, did and additional 4 hours of RealBench, hours of games, and all it does it go down to 1.280, temps are max 50C in gaming, 55-57C while stress testing.

Did you ever do something to the cache? I'm now tempted to leave it on auto.

[EasyLover]

You can leave the Cache at Auto. No worries there.

[EasyLover]

LLC adjustment will help in VDROOP. you can leave it at Auto should you desire or change the value. I'm using Level 5 of LLC at the moment with 4.7GHz OC.