CPU can't hold previous overclock

[C4C]

Hey guys.. hope this doesn't seem like a repetitive thread but I feel like I may be blanking on something important.

On my previous motherboard, MSI Z170A SLI Plus, I was able to achieve 4.6GHz at 1.39V and remain stable when playing games and rendering videos. This was with my previous Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB Kit running at 3000MHz.

On my new motherboard, the ASRock Z270 Killer SLI with my new 16GB TridentZ kit at 3600MHz (XMP on, 1.35V), I can't even get Prime95's Blended Torture Test started without crashing and getting a CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT BSOD. This is at 4.5GHz and 1.4V fixed.

I haven't had an issue since I did the mobo/RAM refresh in November, but my gaming session yesterday stretched almost 8 hours and ended with a BSOD...

I'm on the stock BIOS Rev 2.10 as I don't currently have a USB drive for the "CPU Security Update Rev 2.30" ASRock released https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z270 Killer SLI/index.asp#BIOS

Do I need to back off the RAM speeds to increase stability with my higher core clock? Should I settle for what's stable right now (4.4GHz 1.39V and 3000MHz RAM 1.35v)? Felt like I'm missing something major here..

Edit: for clarity

Edit 2: after a couple cups of coffee, I think it's the fact that Intel recommends 2133MHz or slower RAM. 3000MHz works fine, but it's unstable at 3466 or 3600MHz.

 

[Darren]

Different boards will get you different stability when overclocking. You can use your old board as a baseline but I'd basically treat it as a fresh setup and overclock it like it was new. Might have faced mild degradation over time as well on the chip.

I'd benchmark out the differences of higher CPU, lower RAM, and vice versa, and if it even impacts speed/stability. Really, just test it out yourself and see what works. Different clocks is to be expected if you're changing both RAM and Mobo.

 

[Intel_man]

Yea seems like with other discussions on the interwebz, 3600MHz is a hit or a miss on the 6600k. See if you can manage 4.6Ghz @ 1.39V with 3000MHz on your RAM.

 

[C4C]

You can use your old board as a baseline but I'd basically treat it as a fresh setup and overclock it like it was new. Might have faced mild degradation over time as well on the chip.

Yea seems like with other discussions on the interwebz, 3600MHz is a hit or a miss on the 6600k. See if you can manage 4.6Ghz @ 1.39V with 3000MHz on your RAM.

I've gone ahead and done some testing with Prime95 as well as Unigine Valley (Superposition was taking too long to download)... Couldn't get it to boot at 4.6GHz / 3000MHz

Stock clock/turbo (3.5-3.8GHz) with 3466MHz RAM was stable with a score of 2043.
Fixed overclock to 4.4GHz with 3000MHz was stable with a score of 2049.

Negligible difference, but I prefer the higher core speed. Prime95 passed 1hr on L1/L2 tests, but crashes when testing L3 cache or doing a blended test..

I think you might be right @Darren .. appears to be some sort of degradation in my chip after the years of abuse. Should have expected this for being OC'd out of the box after 3 years and 8 months..

Thanks for the help @Intel_man @Darren

 

[Darren]

If you're worried about further degradation I'd knock your clock down 50-100MHz.

My 1700 is stable at 4.0GHz but I run it at 3.9GHz for longevity.