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PSA: 6700k Strange OC with XMP.on.

306 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  billbartuska 
#1 ·
First off. I'm terribly sorry if this is in the wrong part of the forum. I didn't see another category where this would fit.
I'm not a power user or amazing at computers by a long shot but I've built and OC'd computers for about 10year as a hobby and XMP has never failed me in the past.

System:
WIn10 64bit.
CPU: i7-6700k
MB: MSI z170a Pro Gaming Carbon.
Ram: Corsair Vengeance white LED 3200mhz 16gb (8x2)
Cooler: h80i V2
SSD: 256gb Samsung EVO something.

All drivers and bios are up to date.
After a week of fiddling about with this setup trying to overclock and optimize I've found some strange results that I'd like to share in hopes of both enlightenment for myself and help for others

There is a problem with XMP on this setup.
After all my tests here is what I found to be the only stable OC with XMP.
XMP on
Game boost off
EIST on
C-states. Off.
4.2ghz 1.36v 79c during stress test. Any less voltage would cause BSOD or problems during Boot.
3200mhz ram.

As you can see, this seems quite off. a liquid cooled 6700k that can only go to 4.2 and peaks at 80c during use. What the heck?
Even with everything at default settings and only turning on XMP, I would still get 70c temps during stress test and voltage would hit 1.36 on the CPU.

I decided to turn off XMP and try Game boost and manually setting the Ram timings and voltage.
What I'm currently runnning:
XMP off,
Game Boost on.
EIST off
C-states off.
4.4ghz 1.32v 62c during stress test.
3200mhz ram.

I've got more things to test but I just wanted to mention that if you have this chip and it doesn't seem to overclock well, definitely try not running XMP.
I'm curious now too regarding voltage. Since I went for game boost which is an automated overclock, can I run 4.4 with less voltage? can I get higher than 4.4?
Suddenly the forum threads from people Overclocking this to 4.6 at 1.3v doesn't sound so outlandish.

I apologize if this is common knowledge or something and I just missed it but I've OC'd stuff before while using XMP for my ram and never had these types of issues..
 
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#2 ·
Background (simplified):

When any computer starts up the BIOS reads the SPD tables programmed into the memory. You can download and run CPU-Z to see the SPD tables in your memory. The BIOS then uses the memory speed and memory timings from the SPD tables that corresponds to the CPU speed that is set in the BIOS.

XMP profiles were developed to allow automatically setting not only memory speed and timings automatically, but also memory voltage. So, with the added ability to increase voltage, memory manufacturers could program SPD tables that run the memory even faster with the higher voltages available, and do that automatically too.

But the whole concept of XMP is faulted because the person writing the XMP SPD table for the memory has no idea what motherboard, CPU, what other peripherals are connected to your motherboard, nor even how many memory sticks you have installed. So, XMP profiles are just a guess at what memory overclock will work for the widest range of motherboards, CPUs, memory, and computer configurations. They have nothing to do with what your specific setup is. ... they're just a guess.

Do they work? Sometimes, sometimes not. And even if they do work it is unlikely they are the best settings for you particular setup.

Memory setting (with or without overclocking) is best done by manually setting the memory settings in the BIOS.
 
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Reactions: Derpturtle
#3 ·
Thanks for enlightening me billbartuska!

After more testing I found that I could OC my system to 4.5 with 1.34v but the CPU temp after an hour of testing would peak at 82c which I thought was a bit too much for comfort.
I know it's within the safe margin but it just felt unnecessary considering I got 4.4 to work at 1.32v and the temp peaked at 73 after a few hours.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derpturtle View Post

... after an hour of testing would peak at 82c
Just out of curiosity what program are you running for "an hour of testing"? And how are you monitoring temps?

Personally I like to use OCCT as it not only stresses the CPU, displays CPU usage, displays CPU temps, and also automatically records 15 or so parameters for later review.

 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by billbartuska View Post

Just out of curiosity what program are you running for "an hour of testing"? And how are you monitoring temps?

Personally I like to use OCCT as it not only stresses the CPU, displays CPU usage, displays CPU temps, and also automatically records 15 or so parameters for later review.

Neat! I just use IntelBurnTestv2 and HWmonitor.
You can set IBT to run a number of times which increases the duration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twinnuke View Post

XMP has been pretty awful to me since the 920 days so no biggie there.
Good to know!
 
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