# How accurate is vcore in CPU-Z?



## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

Decided to oc my 2nd 2500k last night and have managed a very stable 4.6ghz with vcore set to 1.35 in bios, CPU-Z shows the vcore around 1.05 at idle (1.6ghz 100x16) which is fine, however with all cores loaded 100% it only goes up to 1.16, the chip is also running really cool at that oc at a max of 65c after 30mins of intel burn test. 


Settings in the bios as follows:

CPU Clock Ratio: 46
BCLK Clock Control : Disabled
Memory Multiplier: 18.66 = 1866mhz
PWM Frequency Control: Auto
CPU Over Current Protection: Auto
CPU PLL Overvoltage: Disabled
Real Time Ratio Changes in OS: Enabled
CPU Thermal Monitor: Disabled
Multi-steps Loadline: Level 4 (from disabled/1-10)
QPI/VTT Voltage: 1.120
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.865

I have seen people acheiving the same OC with much less vcore than 1.355, are there any other settings I can change to lower the vcore?


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## sneekypeet (Oct 30, 2011)

You using the latest CPU-z in 64 bit?
What does EasyTune6 say the CPU voltage is, or AIDA64?


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Oct 30, 2011)

Yeah, CPU-Z isn't very accurate with voltage, it says I have my chip on 1.25 volts...


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## sneekypeet (Oct 30, 2011)

Its spot on with my bios on both my Gigabyte boards for my 2600K

Is it only with the 2500Ks?


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

Aida64 says 1.25 will try easy tune and post the results


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## erocker (Oct 30, 2011)

Mine seems to work allright:











Try the CPU-Z in the attatchment.


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

Accuracy varies from board to board. My G1.Sniper2 still reports IMC volts.

It can be showing VID only as well. Here's some config file options:




> TextFontName
> 
> Font used for the information boxes.
> 
> ...




erocker's goign in the right direction though...if it doesn't work now, maybe next version will work.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Oct 30, 2011)

I don't get people always saying "cpuz voltage isn't accurate." It's always been spot on for me on every platform, backed up by AIDA/everest. Maybe since I use popular motherboards? I know some of it use to come from the disbelief people had over the severity of vdroop.


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> Maybe since I use popular motherboards?



Exactly. Each board uses different SuperI/O chips, which can affect reporting. Gigabyte typically uses different sensors than other OEMs, so it's very common for Gigabyte boards to not work right(usually reporting VTT), but an updated version will usually fix the problem, and if it doesn't, a post on the CPU-Z forum can get it fixed.


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

erocker said:


> Mine seems to work allright:
> 
> http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp112/erocker414/cpuidle.jpg
> http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp112/erocker414/loadcpu.jpg
> ...



That works, I was using 1.58 previously, it's now showing 1.368v whilst idling and goes down to 1.32 when fully loaded, I need to reduce the voltage when it's idling, any ideas?


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

Use Turbo to OC. That is EXACTLY why I tell everyone to use Turbo. No need for that voltage @ idle, at all, but nearly every board behaves like this if you do not use Turbo for OC.

Try LLC level 6 to get more consistent load voltages. 

If switching to Turbo OC causes BSOD, then enabled PLL Overvolt if it is not already, and increase System Agent a bit.


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> Use Turbo to OC. That is EXACTLY why I tell everyone to use Turbo. No need for that voltage @ idle, at all, but nearly every board behaves like this if you do not use Turbo for OC.
> 
> Try LLC level 6 to get more consistent load votlages.



So 
I am going to set turbo to 46x multi, will try level 6 LLC also do I still set the vcore to 1.35 or leave at auto?


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

Set to 1.35v, and set LLC, or just set voltage to "Normal", not auto, and use offset to get your voltage. DO NOT USE LLC and OFFSET, as OFFSET has built-in LLC.


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## erocker (Oct 30, 2011)

cadaveca is correct. Here's my bios settings:


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

I am assuming I will leave CPU PLL where it is as I had to raise it previously to get stable see 1st post. 

So far, set multi to 33x, turbo on all cores to 46, 1.35vcore, LLC level 6


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

erocker said:


> cadaveca is correct.



And I'm very glad you didn't just take my advice, and tried your own thing, to see what's up, while ending up in the same place I am. 







NdMk2o1o said:


> I am assuming I will leave CPU PLL where it is as I had to raise it previously to get stable see 1st post.
> 
> So far, set multi to 33x, turbo on all cores to 46, 1.35vcore, LLC level 6



Sounds good. 

Depending on how things work out, you may want to try the OFFSET option as well. On my P67-UD4-B3, OFFSET was teh way to go, but with my G1.Sniper2, LLC and set voltage works best.


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

Am not liking my load voltage one bit after changing settings cpuz showing 1.404  is that the LLC?


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## erocker (Oct 30, 2011)

NdMk2o1o said:


> Am not liking my load voltage one bit after changing settings cpuz showing 1.404  is that the LLC?



Don't use Turbo. Set the CPU multi to where you want it and SpeedStep and the C-states will do the rest.


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

Yes, you can lower...what level does what changes from chip to chip, seemingly dependant on current the chip requires. Looks like you got a fairly decent chip, and can use LLC 5



erocker said:


> Don't use Turbo. Set the CPU multi to where you want it and SpeedStep and the C-states will do the rest.



Depends on the board. Some do not work right unless you use Turbo. Some will only work NOT using Turbo. Gotta try each and see what works best. More often than not, the high-end boards work fine however you want, but the mid- and low-end models don't always get good BIOSes, limiting choices.

In the Gigabyte BIOS there is no option for speedstep, but there is this:


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## Frick (Oct 30, 2011)

Vcore seems to be more accurate than other voltages, for some reason.


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## erocker (Oct 30, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> Yes, you can lower...what level does what changes from chip to chip, seemingly dependant on current the chip requires. Looks like you got a fairly decent chip, and can use LLC 5
> 
> 
> 
> Depends on the board. Some do not work right unless you use Turbo. Some will only work NOT using Turbo. Gotta try each and see what works best. More often than not, the high-end boards work fine however you want, but the mid- and low-end models don't always get good BIOSes, limiting choices.



Right, but I already see that his board will add "turbo voltage" regardless. Hence, why his vcore is higher than what he set. Turbo isn't needed on any motherboard really. It just adds more to the equation and isn't needed to achieve the desired end result.


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

erocker said:


> Hence, why his vcore is higher than what he set



LLC on the the gigabyte boards varies from lower-than set, to overvolting. Depending on CPU, levels4-6 give what you set, lower gives lower, higher gives higher.

He set LLC6, and it's simply adding. You gotta play around and find the right setting.

You also have to remember that the Gigabyte BIOses are not UEFI, so don't quite operate in the same manner. Up until the most recent BIOS for my Sniper2, for example, even setting a memory multi higher than 1333 resulted in the CPU multi being set to 38. They finally released an offical BIOS working BIOS two weeks ago


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

I couldn't get stable using turbo so have reverted to my original settings whichg are stable as a rock, though the vcore is constant 1.36  tried using offset up to +0.1v and it wouldn't load up Windows, really didn't want to run higher than that considering my last doozie with my previous 2500k. 

Is there anyway to reduce idle vcore without using turbo or is 1.36vcore (in CPU-Z 1.355 in bios) safe?

Edit: slightly upped the vtt voltage to 1.14 from 1.135 and lowered vcore to 1.34 in bios and Windows loads succesfully, cpuz shows 1.356 idle and between 1.29-1.32 fully loaded with LLC level 4 (I disliked level 6, it seemed to add vcore when loaded as opposed to level 4 which lowers it)


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

Well, I use this, when overclocked now:





Dealing with the same thing as you. My CPU seems to be OK, been running this voltage for 4.6 for many months now, but because of issues like the memorymulti/CPU multi, I often switch back to stock.

I know its not exactly the same board, but from the best I can tell, all these Gigabyte Z68 BIOSes seem to act fairly equally. I am using LLC6, and the voltage doesn't budge. @ 5, it drops a bit. I have 1.34v set in BIOS.


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

You run that clock and vcore 24/7 with no power saving?


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

NdMk2o1o said:


> You run that clock and vcore 24/7 with no power saving?



No, I don't, and that's the thing. I often run normal clocks with turbo, and DES enabled, and sometimes I run just Turbo, with 4500, instead of 4600.

Can't make up my mind which to stick with.


You can also play with the PWM frequency options to see if that helps how much the vcore drops. I run +12%.


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

tbh I don't mind so much running a constant vcore as long as it's safe to do so, what I would like to do is maybe try and get the vcore lower overall though not sure what else to change in order to be able to if that makes sense as I know other voltages have a part to play, I just don't know what part they play and how to adjust them to compensate for the lower vcore, if that makes sense?


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## cadaveca (Oct 30, 2011)

TOTALLY makes sense. 

So, you're drooping a bit, right? try LLC5...does it still droop?

Increase VRM Frequency option, play with LLC level, find the best combo for steady voltage, and go for it.

the one thing I'll add is that it might make more sense for you to try turning PLL Overvoltage to disabled, unless required for that multi. This will help lower temps a little bit, and lessen the current load given to the CPU. It doesn't affect vcore that I have seen.

Also, 1866 memory multi seems best optimized for some reason on my board...2133 only gets about 2000mb extra, and that makes little difference for daily tasks. Running the lower ram multi might let you run lower VTT.

Of course, there's always the option of running stock.


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## NdMk2o1o (Oct 30, 2011)

cadaveca said:


> Of course, there's always the option of running stock.



Blasphemy!! 

Well, when you say drooping, when I run LLC level 4 it actually drops from idle and seems stable, so what I would like is to be able to run a lower vcore though it doesn't seem to like anything lower even though at load it drops..... odd. 

Forget my sig, I am running 1866 on the RAM. 

I might have to live with the constant vcore if I want this 4.6ghz OC, of course 4.6 isn't needed but if it's stable and cool then why not.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Oct 31, 2011)

I'm surprised you need so much PLL. I'm running my PLL at 1.65v with 4 sticks at 1866 cas9.


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