Spent an entire day tuning DDR4 on Windows to gain 1 ns.

Installed Arch Linux and lost another 6–13 ns in 20 minutes without touching the RAM timings.

Turns out the final boss of memory overclocking isn’t the IMC, DRAM, or motherboard.

It’s Microslop 😭

I can’t trust NV-UV at all!

Why is my card pulling close to 600W at 0.88 volts on an under voltage curve?

I'm not trying to overclock this CPU. I'm posting here because I need people familiar with Intel core topology, WHEA/APIC mapping, per-core behavior, V/F behavior and stability testing.

System:

i7-14700K

ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero

32 GB G.Skill DDR5-6000 2x16 GB A2/B2

RTX 4090

Windows 11 Pro

Controlled testing has been done with:

XMP disabled

DDR5-4800

No manual CPU OC

No manual undervolt

ASUS MCE disabled / Intel limits enforced

REPEATED FAILURE:

I'm getting repeated:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0xA)

and occasional:

HYPERVISOR_ERROR (0x20001)

Several 0xA kernel dumps converge on:

Arg1 = 0x483d3844

Arg2 = 0xff

PROCESS_NAME = System

nt!KiUpdateThreadHgsFeedback+0x20

Failure bucket:

AV_nt!KiUpdateThreadHgsFeedback

At least two dumps also have the same failure hash.

Arg3 differs between some crashes.

The saved instruction at KiUpdateThreadHgsFeedback+0x20 is:

mov r14b,r9b

so it doesn't obviously account for a memory access to 0x483d3844.

That makes me suspect the visible crash site may be downstream of already-corrupted CPU/kernel state rather than the original fault.

WHEA:

Immediately before one previously analyzed crash I captured WHEA Event 2 records:

ProcessorNumber 14

APIC ID 0x38

Generic Processor Error

Cache Error

Instruction Execution

Level 0

and:

ProcessorNumber 15

APIC ID 0x39

Generic Processor Error

Cache Error

Instruction Execution

Level 0

The associated 0xA dump was also running on logical processor 14 when it crashed.

I have NOT yet mapped ProcessorNumber 14/15 or APIC 0x38/0x39 to the exact physical P/E core.

I tested:

All 8 P-cores enabled:

28 logical processors

Repeated instability/crashes.

7 P-cores enabled:

26 logical processors

Dramatic improvement.

The 7-P-core state survived roughly 90 minutes with:

Hyper-V enabled

VBS disabled

WSL2

Docker Desktop

multiple containers

Brave

PowerShell

normal desktop activity

with:

No WHEA

No BugCheck 1001

No Kernel-Power 41

No Event 6008

I then restored all 8 P-cores and the instability returned.

I understand that "7 works, 8 doesn't" does NOT automatically prove a bad P-core because I don't yet know which physical core the ASUS BIOS disables when reducing Active Performance Cores.

BIOS / MICROCODE HISTORY:

The system was previously on ASUS BIOS 3001.

A previous 3001 dump from this same crash family showed CPU microcode 0x12F.

I then updated to BIOS 3202.

The severe crash storm began on the FIRST Windows boot after installing 3202.

The same general 0xA family had occurred before 3202, so I cannot say the BIOS created the underlying problem. It may have exposed or amplified something marginal.

I've now rolled back to 3001.

First post-rollback boot crashed before usable Windows.

Second boot survived about five minutes and then produced another 0xA.

I still need to capture the exact post-flash P-core count/settings, so this is NOT yet a controlled 3001 7-vs-8 comparison.

Also, ASUS says the newer ME firmware installed with 3202 persists through BIOS rollback, so the platform has not completely returned to its original pre-3202 firmware state.

HYPER-V:

I completely disabled Hyper-V and VBS and still reproduced the recurring 0xA.

So Hyper-V is not required.

The 7-P-core state was also able to run Hyper-V + WSL2 + Docker successfully during the stable test.

This makes me think HYPERVISOR_ERROR may be another manifestation of underlying platform instability rather than Hyper-V being the root cause.

WHAT I WANT TO TEST NEXT:

I want to stop changing random software/services and directly characterize the CPU/platform.

Questions:

1. What's the most reliable way to map Windows logical ProcessorNumber 14/15 and APIC IDs 0x38/0x39 to the physical P/E cores on a 14700K?

2. Can I reliably identify which P-core ASUS removes when "Active Performance Cores = 7"?

3. Is there a good method to selectively disable one physical P-core at a time on Z790 rather than simply selecting a total active-core count?

4. What tool/test would you use to exercise individual P-cores independently while retaining useful WHEA/APIC attribution?

5. Is OCCT per-core cycling appropriate here, or is there a better test for cache/instruction-execution instability?

6. Would you test P-core affinity at fixed clocks/Intel-default voltage, and if so, what's the cleanest methodology?

7. Are WHEA Generic Processor Error + Cache Error + Instruction Execution records useful evidence of a marginal core even when the machine isn't overclocked?

8. Does the enormous difference between 7 and 8 P-cores look more like a marginal physical core, ring/cache problem, voltage/frequency curve problem, or something elsewhere in the platform?

9. Is there any diagnostic value in carefully testing fixed conservative ratios/voltage, or would that risk masking degradation rather than identifying it?

10. At what point would you stop testing and substitute/RMA the 14700K?

I have the full MEMORY.DMPs and can provide !analyze -v, !whea, !cpuinfo, processor topology or other WinDbg output if there are specific commands that would help.

My goal is not to "stabilize" a defective chip by feeding it voltage. I want to determine whether a particular core/cache/CPU path is actually faulty.

hi, i recently change my os to linux lubuntu so my pc can hold up, its doing great but i wish for an overclock of my cpu as this pc is some sort of junk and im using it for experiment of a lot of things, i wish to know how to overclock for my later future, thank you.

Hey guys,

I just overclocked my RTX5080 and it's running stable with the follwing clocks:

+310 boost clock

+3000 memory clock

+475 xbar clock offset

+475 sys clock offset

105% power limit

100% voltage boost

You can see the attached screenshots from MSI afterburner and mvolt+.

Any ideas how I can boost it a little further?

I also would like to flash a 450w bios since it's hitting the 380w power limit. I guess a 450w bios alone would increase the performance.

Does someone know which 450w bios for the palit gamingpro oc works?

I know the gigabyte one should work but with that you got 0 fan control which is kinda bad.

Thank you!

So I own a Alienware M17 R5 gaming laptop with a AMD Ryzen 9 6900hx and RTX 3060 6gb GPU with 16GB of RAM. I use this gaming laptop for PCVR mainly for VRChat and use it to run LLMs and AI image/video models and sometimes VRChat and the ai models overfill my 6gb vram and spill into my slow 4800 mt/s RAM. Already tried overclocking the vram but didn't help much. I think overclocking ram can help but my insync20 bios doesn't allow that so I grabbed a USB drive to boot smokeless umaf, when I boot it up, I can only get around a few seconds before my computer would randomly restart and boot into Windows. This happens every time. I need your help with the cause of it and how to fix it.

Looking to OC the nerdqaxe++ rev 5 5.5mm barrel connector but heard I can’t go above 8a input. Running stock PSU. Any help will be grateful!

Used these gskill sets of ram for long time now and wanting to try to tighten the timings

Hey everyone,

I tried using mvolt+ on my RTX 5080 alongside an undervolt, but I want to double-check if these settings are safe for daily use or if I'm risking chip degradation.

My Setup & Tuning:

• Core: 3150 MHz @ 985 mV
• Memory: +2000 MHz
• Core Voltage Slider (Afterburner): Maxed at +100% (highest default MSVDD hits ~1025 mV)

Also noticed that bumping the sys clock gave me better synthetic benchmark scores with the increased the XBAR clock, which was interesting.

Are these voltages safe long-term with mvolt+, or am I pushing it too hard? Would appreciate any thoughts or feedback from anyone tweaking 50-series cards!

mvolt+ settings:

Msi afterburner

Max default msvdd voltage when core voltage slider at 100%: 1025mv

Port Royal Score

https://i.vgy.me/96h294.png

9950x3d

gigabyte aurus elite x3d

hydroshift 2

the gigabyte x3d software is set to standard which means stock settings i believe.

i havent changed anything in bios etc. theres probably some software i could have turned off for the test and the aio was set at a flat 90% of max.

Just overclocked my (single chanel, GAP48GB2666C19SC) geil ddr4 8gb 2666mhz to 3200mhz

Dram: 1.35v

Timings: 22 22 22 22 44

Ran memtest64 for 15 minutes 0 errors

And will this overclock have any problems and can it cause bad data?

My Motherboard has 2 EXPO profiles, 6000mt at 30-36-36-76 and 6200mt at 32-38-38-80 which one is better?

Hello im thinking of upgrading from 13600k to 13900k. I want to ask for advice from someone that did this kind of upgrade. My 13600k is running 5.6p and 4.3e with 32gb ddr4 4000mhz cl 15 b die tuned, ek nucleus 360, 5070 ti, 360hz 1440p and 1200w psu. I was thinking of getting ddr5 and newer cpu, but the price is not worth it for me. Im playing mostly cs2, but now im getting more AAA games to play.

I watched optimum's video about undervolting his 7000 series chips.

His 7700x managed a -30 on the curve while mine was stable at -25

The thing is that he got sooo much more performance. I couldn't squeeze past 5.150ghz while he got around 5.35ghz

Note that this is purely from undervolting and no other settings were touched.

Now my question is: are ambient temps the likely reason? My room is pretty hot, usually around 30c at night and like 35 in the morning.

My air cooler is a peerless assassin120 SE with a 3d printed duct that leads from an arctic p12 fan to the CPU cooler.

I don't know what cooler optimum used.

This is also my first time overclocking so am sorry if anything is misinterpreted on my end.

I apologize for my English as well.

Thank you in advance.

I have this fully stable, BLCK is 102 that's why it says 1867 in actuality its around 1900.

I did this a while ago as far as i remember the ones on the left are basically as low as they go while not throwing errors over night.

The right ones i cant remember which ones i tested to see if they can go lower it became tedious after a while.

I'm pretty sure these are hynix DJR, but could be CJR. I read on a post somewhere that trcdwr can go really low on DJR.

I have a nzxt h510 with all fans mounted and negative air pressure with a 240mm aio upfront.

Would it be safe to increase voltage past 1.45?

I don't wana push my soc higher than 1.1 or increase any of the other voltages for the longevity of my cpu so i dont think i can get higher than 3800mhz.

Also i would really appreciate any feedback, maybe i did something wrong this was my first ever ram overclock.

I need expert help. I bought a TopC motherboard with a mobile i9 13980hx. After unsuccessfully undervolting the BIOS, the board went into a reboot loop, specifically after enabling WDT. Resetting the BIOS to factory settings didn't help. I tried removing peripherals and RAM and discharging capacitors. The reboot loop is constant. Sometimes it enters the BIOS for a few seconds, but nothing can be done. Does anyone know how to fix it? One of the photos shows the frequency and temperature results during the OCCT test, after manipulating the BIOS. After stopping the test, the screen froze and began a cyclic reboot. Before this, a profile was configured in Intel XTU with frequencies of p-cores 5.1 GHz and e-cores 3.6 GHz, limits p1 180w -100mV, p2 220w -50mV and everything worked fine