Need help...OC/Cooling/Testing Issue

Ok so I'm not quite sure what's going on here, but I'll explain everything in case it matters.  (Note: I put through a tech support request so I'll be getting a call, but I'm just looking for extra advice here possibly before the call). 

When I got my PC Tuesday I was too excited to benchmark so I set W7 up how I wanted it to look, downloaded O&O Defrag, MSE, and adjusted my UAC settings. Then I installed Flight Simulator X and adjusted it.  The past couple days I've been playing it (looks fantastic btw) before I've benchmarked the PC.  Last night I decided to run the HW monitor in the background while flying around since I know FSX is CPU intensive.  A couple hours later upon exiting FSX, I noticed the max temp was 86 while flying.  At this point I was kind of worried so I decided to benchmark it.  I tried first with LinX and had to shut it down less than 10 seconds into the first run because it said my temps were up to 90+.  Thinking it was the monitor program, I downloaded RealTemp to run as well.  The second go around was no different and I shut it down at 7 seconds in.  Further trying to figure out what could be wrong I decided to run prime95, since maybe the stock LinX settings weren't what I was supposed to run.  This gave me the same issue only it took around 15 seconds to spike up near 90 so I shut that down too. 

I didn't change any settings for either test and used the blend in prime95.  After some further research it seems like all my temps are high even my MINs.  Is it possible the cooler is not sitting right?  The air coming out of the rear exhaust fan is really cool and the top doesn't have much heat to it either.  I have no idea why I could be THIS hot out of the box? 

Secondly, I noticed at 4.5 clock speed my Vcore was 1.432.  That seems high for a 2600k at 4.5 form what I've read (but I'm not expert).  Everyone seems to hit 4.5 with relative ease, not needing to push the voltage up that much. Did I just get a power hungry chip or is it possible the OC settings need to be retweaked?

I know these screens don't show the fan speed in HW monitor, but I don't recall them ever going above 46%, could that be the issue?  I'm not sure if that's the case fans or CPU cooler fans though.

Thanks guys!

Here are the screens:

Yeah I have no idea how it's OC'd, I'll have to look.  Could the vcore setting cause that high of a temp or is there possibly more to it? 

I'm not worried about getting it corrected I'm sure they'll talk me through it in a matter of minutes, but I am curious if it hurt anything.  Could around 6 hours at mid 80s temps do any life depleting damage to the CPU? I would think it's fine, but I'm new to the whole OC thing...obviously

If I'm not mistaking,my  memory can be finicky, you have the ODE with A70 cooler? 

yea wow lol.   If your ambient temps are that high those load/idle temps make much more sense. If you wanted to tweak it more after they help you upping the multiplier takes seconds. Most chips set up right at the low end of 4.2 can use like 1.25-1.3v.

mfaulisi, my oc is 4.4, vcore stressed is 1.4 and my ambient temps have been 80-85 F with this hot summer and old, 60's central air. 

Can't wait for BF3 and Skyrim.

Very nice! I have a 2001 Kenne Bell'd GT with a few other goodies :)

Well we ended up having to drop it down to 4.2 to keep my temps within reason.  Once it cools down out here I'll bump it back up to 4.5 and check the temps again.  I'm still seeing vcore go up to 1.40 though even dropped that low and I'm not sure why. 

It is an offset voltage because it's the LE board I can't set it manually.  I'm almost curious to drop the offset to what he gave me for the 3.9 clock to see where vcore would be and if it's still stable at 4.2 with the lower offset.

bprat just out of curiosity, what is your voltage offset set to?  Your vcore is maxing the same as mine, but you're clocked slightly higher.  Also, did you run LinX and if so what was the max temp you saw?

I've never run FAH, maybe I'll try that too to test the GPU. 

In the BIOS do you know what the setting is for voltage offset in the Ai Tweaker tab?  I think I'm at +0.030 now whereas I was at +0.055 @ 4.5.

Never messed in Bios.

Wish my board supported offset voltage...

I'm pretty sure that was running 8 threads (it was whatever it selected automatically, I didn't change any settings).  With the offset it kind of confuses me on tuning it.  What is the baseline that it uses for the offset to add or subtract from?  It doesn't display my current voltage next to it, which then confused the tech rep because the manual said it should. 

Either way, from the drop it made going from +0.055 to +0.30 I think if I go down to what they recommended for a 3.9 OC (+0.20 if i remember right, its at home) but keeping the 42 multiplier I should be around 1.3 vcore I think.  I'll have to check that line load calibration setting while I'm in there.

I'll make the adjustments to linx and rerun tonight.  I'll do before totally idle pics and after the test finishes and see where I'm at.  The minimum temps in my original pics are in line with an 80F ambient though, so the cooler appears to be working correctly right?

And yes it does throttle down when idle, I don't remember exact numbers though.

I appreciate all the help!

Sounds good, I'll post results tonight.

DST4ME that was what I was hoping for, but DS said under 90 is "passing" so when the 4.2 OC got me into the mid 80s (one core was up around 88 though) it was considered ok.  Do you have any insight as to OC settings to further what Rice suggested? 

Reading this and other forums I'm thinking I should be lower even with an 80 degree room right now since other guys are running similar setups and seeing under 80C under load on air.  Could the MB be a factor since the LEs are slightly OC limited compared to Pro/Deluxe counterparts?

way to discredit me and make me look stupid dst i appreciate that.....


lowering v-core wont do anything but make your pc last longer and lower temps. If it fails a stability test raise the voltage. Intel made these chips unlocked so the average consumer can do this easily.

Understandable, and everywhere I read suggests 80 as the line so that's what I'd like to keep it under as well.  During my normal loading (gaming) it never gets up that high (mid 70s), so I'm not too worried, but it is in the back of my head from the benchmarking.  I am taking some extra measures to reduce the room temp because I realize that's a big issue. 

My only other concern was why the vcore seemed high for the level of OC I'm at, which is what I'll be looking at later today.  As I stated though, the system rocks my summer climate on the other hand, doesn't I guess I'll laugh this winter when it's 70 in January and my friends back in the Midwest are shoveling.




Edited by mfaulisi - 12 Aug 2011 at 5:22pm

Now it is, it topped out at 1.40 but when it was at the 4.5 gHz config it went all the way up to 1.46.

Ok guys here is what I got:

at +.030 the max vcore was 1.416
at +.020 the max vcore was 1.408

LLC setting can be enabled, disabled, or auto...right now it's set to enabled.

I noticed it does NOT throttle back at idle, it's staying at 4.2 gHz and 1.38v.

CPU spread spectrum is disabled and all cpu power settings are auto with +0.008 boost for turbo voltage.

I did 4 threads and 15000 problem size.
4.2 gHz with +.030 offset Before

4.2 gHz with +.030 offset After 10 runs


4.2 gHz with +.020 offset Before

4.2 gHz with +.020 offset After


Do you think I should step the offset down to 0.015 to see if I can get vcore below 1.40?  Aside from vcore increasing, how much impact does a .1 clock increase do for heat?  Obviously there is a point of instability, but I'm trying to tie in how everything works with OCing.  Does vcore directly relate to heat generated and clock speed to vcore relate to stability?  (e.g. if I went to 4.3 gHz heat wouldn't really increase, but if the voltage supplied couldn't support the clock speed, the system would then become unstable)

I'm almost tempted to run it at stock settings just to see that as a baseline, if I restore the OC profile I could readjust the clock and offset.  What are your thoughts on that?

Again, thanks!