ASRock Z170 Extreme4 + i7-6700K

[MagnuTron]

Hey everybody.

I just got a ASRock Z170 Extreme4 and i7-6700K in the door. And wow.. quite a hassle.

So about 2 hours or so was used to figure out a quite annoying error, that would not let me finish the W8.1 install. First I did a W7 install with slipped xHCI drivers - but no EFI support once it booted made me rethink W7.

Solution to crashing W8.1 install: Update UEFI. From 1.0 to 1.6

So _OVERCLOCKING_! It's time to have fun. The CPU was fitted with an Antec Kühler H20 650, and right off the bat I was hitting up to 50 degrees running somewhat idle. I have tried reseating, didn't help. But the temperature wasn't the problem anyway. I set voltage to 1.3, and started using the A-tune from ASRock to hit a sufficient multiplier. I tried as low as 4.4, but I hit a sadface BSOD pretty fast.

Reboot with 1.35, and 4.4 seems to be working. I tried with both 4.6 and 4.5, no dice. Eventually I decided to remove the OC, because I don't feel that kind of OC is worth that using that fixed voltage.

Honestly.. Is this it? What did I do wrong here? I considered disabling different C states and SpeedStep, anything you guys can point out already?


Love n kisses ^^

 

[Ebo]

Fill in your profile about your hardware.

The BSOD can be caused by quite some things, like ram, inmature bios and so on.

 

[MagnuTron]

It's for a friend. Not my machine.

But can't really say what else to add into the equation:

CPU: i7 6700K
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4
RAM: HyperX 2133 CL14 16GB Kit (QVL approved)
GPU: Sapphire R9 290 - Ref
PSU: Energon 1000W (Crap)
Drive: Kingston 120GB SSD (Not sure which in particular)

 

[Ebo]

First of all.

If you want a R9 290, DONT buy a ref cooler, thats too hot and makes too much noise. Go for Asus STRIX, MSI tiwnfrozter or Sapphire Tri-x OC.

Buy a new PSU that Energon can end up frying all his new hardware.

See is theres a new bios for the MB

See if timmings for ram and volt is set up correct to specs.

 

[newtekie1]

See is theres a new bios for the MB

1.6 is the latest version of BIOS for the board, he already said he updated to that.

See if there is an Load-Line Calibration and make sure it is set to the lowest possible. Otherwise, the voltage will drop when the CPU is under load, regardless of what you have it set at in the BIOS.

 

[RejZoR]

I could never understand the point of vdroop which is not even a bug, it's actually a feature as far as I can understand it. Why in bloody hell would you want to drop voltage when it's needed the most (load)!?

 

[cadaveca]

I could never understand the point of vdroop which is not even a bug, it's actually a feature as far as I can understand it. Why in bloody hell would you want to drop voltage when it's needed the most (load)!?

It helps minimize electro-migration from overshoot due to varying loads.

 

[RejZoR]

But why is this somehow useful for stock clocks, but is absolutely hated by overclockers? One would expect if no vdroop works better for high overclocks, why wouldn't it work well for stock clocks as well?

 

[cadaveca]

But why is this somehow useful for stock clocks, but is absolutely hated by overclockers? One would expect if no vdroop works better for high overclocks, why wouldn't it work well for stock clocks as well?

To truly understand this, I suggest some research or college/university classes on ASIC design, while keeping in mind that most "overclockers" have not taken the same classes. You'd also end up understanding why these companies use it, and why there is "overhead" in stability that allows "overclocking" in the first place.

At the same time, you might end up understanding why my OC suggestions tend to differ from what most "overclockers" say is the right way to approach things.

 

[RejZoR]

And by keeping "your explanation" this vague, it'll remain this way...

 

[cadaveca]

And by keeping "your explanation" this vague, it'll remain this way...

Sorry, but it's a complex subject, and I don't have the time to answer right now, and I think I'd be doing you a disservice by giving less than all the info. It is also very much off-topic.

But since you want even a tiny bit of info...

At it's simplest form, CPU power supply uses GTL (gunning transceiver logic), and 1 and 0 are at different voltages along the same voltage waveform. Droop can cause the upper or lower region to not be reached at the correct time, if power draw is excessive. Removing droop, which is relative to the current drawn, can ensure that signalling remains within "stable" region. However, Intel has already tuned things to account for that, so pushing no droop or a varied droop can cause electro-migration and usually is what leads to people having degraded chips. For long-term use, load-line calibration adjustments should be minor. For example, Skylake CPUs are already tuned for up to 130W, which is more than most will draw at top clocks for 24/7 usage. Past platforms have allowed us to directly tweak GTL regions manually (SKT 775).

It's this ability to retain a stable signal which dictates how far a CPU can be pushed in clock frequency, so in reality, each CPU has a slightly different "signature" to its power draw. At the same time, Intel tunes these things based on their binning, which deal with a large average of what each chip requires, and are not tuned to each chips signature, which is why we have these options to adjust in the first place. Also, since CPUs are semiconductors, this range of "stability" can change as temperatures do.

However, since very few users, if any, actually monitor individual chip power draw, and few actually know about any of this, most just do whatever an OC guide says you should, they see "results", and many users have chips that degrade over time. Of course, since this sells more chips and OEMs have already given warning that OC is not covered by standard warranty, and it does help those that are chasing LN2 vapors, needing to know or understand any of this is not required.

And now that I've butchered an explanation and gone severely off topic (I am be no means a great teacher), I'll leave with you with that, and if you want to know more, you'll seek out the info. To understand why I wasn't too interested in explaining, simply google GTL, see the results you get, and then you'll see how far out of the usual "overclocker's" knowledge this is, and why I suggested taking some classes. There are probably several hundred hours of education to understand the full complexity of what's going on, understanding how this varies on input and output, and how it explains why Skylake's "default" core voltage is "higher" than Hawsell and Haswell-E. You'll also find that the term GLT is outdated, and that's not exactly what is being used, too, but it is the basis by which these things matter.

 

[MagnuTron]

First of all.

If you want a R9 290, DONT buy a ref cooler, thats too hot and makes too much noise. Go for Asus STRIX, MSI tiwnfrozter or Sapphire Tri-x OC.

Buy a new PSU that Energon can end up frying all his new hardware.

See is theres a new bios for the MB

See if timmings for ram and volt is set up correct to specs.

Perhaps the card was bought before OEM coolers were released.

XMP is set up fine.

As stated, the motherboard is running newest firmware.