Question Any voltage change crashes PC

[Cyruskain]

Hi all, new member here although I've been a consistent Anandtech reader for many years.

First, the important stuff:

Cpu: Intel i7 9700k
AIO: Corsair H115i RGB Platinum
Gphx: Gigabyte 2080 Ti Gaming OC
Mobo: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master
Case: Corsair 570x w/4 Corsair ML120 fans
PSU: SeaSonic Focus Plus 850w Gold

For my question and concerns, I believe that's the pertinent information.

When overclocking my CPU using Intel Extreme Tuning software, my 9700k can get to 5.1Ghz across all cores stable, temps around 83c, using the latest version of Cinebench as the stress test. However, the vCore voltage is currently set to "auto" and I've seen my voltage fluctuate as low as 1.13ish to over 1.4.5ish under stress using CPU-Z as a monitor (give or take).

I'm wanting to prevent over-volting, and really fine-tune my system, and I'm running into a problem where if I touch the voltage manually AT ALL, even if I only adjust it by .025, my system crashes and reverts back to known good clock settings. Fortunately my Mobo has some solid UEFI and Overclocking features which help with this process, but I can't figure out why, if I don't leave the voltage on auto in some capacity, it will crash immediately. I've tried going from 1.2v to 1.3: crash. 1.25v: Crash. 1.2025: Crash.

I'm assuming I'm missing something basic here, and thought I'd ask the community! (Fyi, this is my first time overclocking to a min-max degree, so I'm still learning a lot).

 

[Shmee]

It sounds like it is an issue with the Intel tuning software and your motherboard perhaps? I would recommend doing any OC in the UEFI settings for the most part. At least try starting by changing the voltage in the setup, and then test for stability in windows.

 

[Cyruskain]

It sounds like it is an issue with the Intel tuning software and your motherboard perhaps? I would recommend doing any OC in the UEFI settings for the most part. At least try starting by changing the voltage in the setup, and then test for stability in windows.

Hi Shmee, appreciate the response.

I should have been clearer in my original post: Any attempt to manually adjust the voltage by setting a specific vCore value will crash my computer and/or cause a BIOS loop regardless of if I do it through Intels software engine, Gigabytes software OCer, or via UEFI settings. I find this behavior odd, still, as last night I played around with the load line calibration and during one Cinebench stress test had 1.55v going through my CPU at 5.1Ghz and a temp of 95 c (those numbers are absolutely diabolical, and I quickly lowered them as I don't need anywhere near those values to achieve the same level of performance). But I know, if I "wanted" to, I'm stable at those numbers. So why would a manual, static voltage adjustment of any value whatsoever just cause my system to loop-crash until I revert back to auto? Hmm.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Maybe "Auto" Vcore, is adjust more voltages than just Vcore? Just a thought. Maybe some I/O / DDR / SoC / interface voltages? (I've been in Ryzen land too long, theirs is called "Vsoc". I forget what the Intel supplimental voltage planes are called.

 

[Shmee]

Hmm that is indeed very odd then, I suppose you could try a bios update if you have not already.