on an i7 2600k im content with 4.5ghz @ 1.285 but im considering pushing it even more now winter is here bringing lower ambient temps
1.35v for air cooling, 1.45v for a good water setup. That being said, when you have to start applying silly voltages for virtually no gain, then its time to stop.
Depends...... My overclock needs 1.42 volts to hit 4.6ghz stable. But I need close to 1.5 volts just to get a measly extra 100mhz up to 4.7ghz, so I don't bother as extra power & heat not worth it. But....if I could hit the magic 5ghz I would have it at 1.5 volts all day long.
i dunno man mine is seemingly stable on 1.28-1.29 at 4.5 at least thats what cpuz is telling me its at when prime is running
Not all chips are great at taking a high OC. Mine will to 4.5Ghz quite happily at 1.29V, but to get to 4.6Ghz I need 1.35V, and to get to 4.8Ghz I need 1.4V. Quite an increase for just 300Mhz. The board also has a lot to play in it, along with all the other voltages and LLC you can tweak too.
I stopped at 1.38V (4.6GHz, max of about 64C) on the 2600K I just sold. I would have pushed it farther, but had already suspected I was going to trade up and didn't want to brick it (I could have RMAed it, I suppose, as it was still quite new, but didn't realise until after I had sold it). I also kept it at 4.5GHz, 1.35V for most of the time I owned it, and it passed IBT extreme test (5 runs) with that. According to ocuk, Intel have stated that 1.425 is safe.
Yeah unfortunately I got a bit of a dud. Although I suppose a 1.3ghz overclock is still good. These sandybridges have built up our expectations. Looks like that chip is wasted on you if your only running it @ 3.6ghz. I would be cranking up the overclock to 5ghz+ if it was mine.
I dont have any need for 5ghz right now, and whilst my cooler does it's job I'm upgrading in the new year to a Dark Rock or Frio and changing the standard fans to some better ones. Then maybe do some overclocking xD
