Wanting to switch from manual overclock to offset

[TheInternal]

System:

Core i5 3570k OC'd to 4.4GHz @ 1.185 volts manual (seems to stick at 1.192V actual... is this due to spread spectrum?)
ASUS P8Z770V Pro with latest BIOS (rev. 1708)
4 x 4 GB Samsung DDR3 RAM
two Geforce 670 GTX in 2-way SLI
Seasonic Platinum 880watt
Samsung 830 Pro 256GB SSD (OS/apps)
1 TB WD Black (storage)
Windows 8 64-bit

What I want to do:

I have my computer running stable at the current voltage (though I may push to lower it a little more over the holiday) using the manual settings, but I'd really like to figure out offset overclocking. The guides I've read haven't been very helpful, since none of them seem to explain why the voltage fluctuates so damn much from one boot to the next when in offset mode, nor where/how to set the max voltage threshold in my UEFI.

I would like to keep all the power saving features enabled, but just up the max voltage threshold in order to support my OC. I've done extensive reading that indicates keeping the C-states enabled is actually a good idea on OCing the newer chips, though I'm still a little fuzzy on spread spectrum's practical application.

I could really use some input here on how to force a max voltage threshold (so it won't do that crazy-ass 1.3xx voltage level that the ASUS board likes to do).

 

[Prey2big]

Your CPU volt is not due to spread spectrum. It's probably aggressive load line calibration kicking in during heavy load.

Spread Spectrum is used to lower signal noise.

 

[coffeejunkee]

Hmm? I think with 'voltage fluctuating' you refer to vdroop which has nothing to do with using offset for vcore. To decrease vdroop you can use the llc setting, but it's only needed for high overclocks, 4.5 GHz and beyond, also depending on cpu.

I'm also not sure what you mean by max treshold, you simply choose an offset value which is added to or subtrated from the vid. That said the math's a bit fuzzy for negative offset values. But for 4.4 GHz I would start with something like +0.050 and see what the mobo supplies, and then increase till you get your required vcore.

As for c-states, I had some problems past 4.3 GHz but like they say, ymmv. Having them enabled is preferred since they do good things for idle power.

Spread spectrum is only needed when you have a room full of computers, it prevents them from interfering with each other.