What's the Point of UNDERVOLTING Your CPU?

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How does undervolting or overvolting your CPU work - and how can you do it safely while still reaping the benefits?
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[@techquickie]

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[@jesushernandez3700]

but was this written with grammarly?

[@atemoc]

@@jesushernandez3700 No

[@mattparker9726]

That thumbnail though.

[@SamskaraOrigin]

*Video Idea: "How generic (or not) are Security Certificates and do companies like Digicert have a functional Monopoly (p.s. are there companies that offer CUSTOM security certificates and can you install them without bricking your system?)*

[@Mini-z1994]

Ah was wondering if this topic was going too show up, nice too see my suggestion pop up. Undervolted my AM3 Athlon II x3 445 cpu back in the day from 1.4v too 1.325, was still also perfectly stable after unlocking the 4th cpu core on the stock included heatsink, it dropped in temperatures too which with the stock heatsink was nice too have.

[@8942th]

Not mentioned in the video: Intel XTU allows you to adjust a whole lot of these values in real-time while you're booted in Windows, completely bypassing the need to go into the bios every time. If the computer shuts down due to instability, the cached settings are wiped for easy recovery, allowing you to try again. Highly recommended!

[@steemlenn8797]

So basically Team Blue's Ryzen Master?

[@YOEL_44]

@@steemlenn8797 Yep, they just didn't mention any real time OC-ing software...

[@steve55619]

Not very useful since you shouldn't be using Windows anyway

[@GreatYamatanoOrochi]

@@steve55619 Let me guess, Linux?

[@BlueDrew10]

​@@steve55619 I swear people who use Linux for their home computer are like Jehovah's Witness. They're delusional, few in number, condescending to non-believers, and god damn persistent in trying to convert you to their cult.

[@NinjAsylum]

What they dont tell you is that the 'expected' lifepan of a CPU at the recommended voltage is like 30 years at 24/7 uptime. I have a 2700k that has been running a 5.2ghz OC at 1.45v nearly 24/7 since 2013. Which is WELL above what Intel recommends. Basically, unless you're pumping ungodly amounts of voltage into the CPU, its going to last far longer than you'll ever realistically need it to.

[@robr640]

Came to say basically the same thing, but you beat me to it LOL! Agreed, this video leans a little too much towards the cautious side. While everything said was truthful we're really talking taking the lifespan down from like 30 years to maybe 20 years if you're pushing it really hard. No need to worry about those lost years IMHO though. By that time the CPU will be dozens of generations behind & only looked at for retro, time appropriate systems. Like what we see now with Windows 95/98/XP builds.

[@steemlenn8797]

And I had 2 CPUs burn themselves unstable in 3/4 years. With less than stock voltage.

[@kekistanifreedomfighter4197]

damn, sounds like you won the lottery my friend.

[@Derpynewb]

HOWEVER THAT IS FOR OLDER CPU'S AND A DIFFERENT TIME. My UNDERVOLTED 3600 started showing signs of silicon degradation. It used to be stable at 1.275 at 4.2ghz, it started bsoding a few months ago. Switched to 4.1 at 1.3v for stability. I've had the cpu for two years. Maybe this is because it was a constant voltage of 1.275 instead of using Pbo. Older products are usually more durable because they were made before planned obsolescence was as well thought out as today. Intel lost probably quite a bit from older cpus for a while. A oc 2nd k series I5 would out perform a 7th gen i7 since intel was stagnant for a while. I doubt the companies care about consumers.

[@wiktec]

@@Derpynewb Check the ryzen master readings. Amd cpus even in override mode are dropping frequency and voltage when there's no load.

[@raifolson7033]

Wish you could have talked more about the physics of how changing cpu voltage affects the speed of the transistors and propagation delays. That is something that I think many people would be curious about when trying to understand why these things work.

[@minhuang8848]

That was the very thing I was hoping to find, pretty disappointed. It's not like I expected differently, but still, I want at least some details. Honestly, these days you get away with lots of nitty-gritty, especially in the techtuber business audiences are hot for information they might not even understand outright.

[@Tripdoxx]

You guys are probably expecting a little too much from a channel called Techquickie...

[@minhuang8848]

@@Tripdoxx I mean yes, that's what I said right in the beginning

[@jal.ajeera]

Exactly! But I guess you need proper electrical engineers with real time experience for that. TechQuickie won't suffice.

[@Burn8604]

@@Tripdoxx I don't think so, even a quick high level explanation of how you can get similar or better performance while undervolting is warranted, and expected, because the into mentioned this.

[@snowhawk4049]

Nvidia left the room in hope that there won't be a follow up about undervolting GPUs.

[@703kan]

true

[@MFMArt]

I mean, nvidia gpus have been crazy good with undervolting since the rtx 3000 came out, its positive press for them if anything

[@KalebSDay]

@@MFMArt Doesn't work as well for the 4090. Optimum Tech made a video about how undervolting, even when hitting the same clock has less performance for some reason this time around.(usually you'd just expect a crash if there is not enough power to maintain the clock) He did neglect to mention that others have set power limits to reduce power while keeping very high performance nonetheless. I think he may have just been ignorant of that.

[@joemarais7683]

@@MFMArt seems like it’s just a silicon lottery thing, cause UV is not working for my 4090 in real games and I’m getting better success with just a power limit like Optimum suggested. Very weird card.

[@yoavallon]

They’re hoping we start using 220 like the washing machine two phase

[@gold3263301]

On an i9-12900K I only managed a -0.110 V offset before it became too unstable but it still reduced temps by about 10-15 degrees while using 50 W less. Really glad this is being covered so more people can save a little bit of power

[@pixels_per_inch]

Also check out and modify the voltage-frequency curve for even more under-volting. Usually the higher frequency can be stable with a larger under-volt.

[@teeaymusik9811]

I have no clue about this stuff so i wont touch my 13600K

[@mcst6969]

@@teeaymusik9811 then why did buy "k" series CPU?! That is the whole point of the K-series, you paying extra, but you can play with the "dials"!

[@teeaymusik9811]

@@mcst6969 It did only 50 euro cost more with a 1.5ghz higher base clock. And if i want to overclock in future i will be able to. But i think this is not even needed because its so fast at stock so you could also ask everyone else with a 13600K why they did buy it.

[@TheSlowDude]

@@teeaymusik9811"only 50€" ladies and gentlemen: inequality is a thing

[@misasuchomel5829]

There is one more really useful and Fairly common use of UV. Some of the more high performance, small body laptops, May be able to run your cpu at boost for only limited time. Undervolting can increase that time for longer workloads, or even make it boost indefinetly. I made my laptop perform almost 20% better in cinebench r23 by undervolting. To be fair i did get quite lucky in the silicon lotery, Most laptops wont get duch high gains, but almost all laptops can benefit greatly. Edit: Cinebench is by no means a perfect performance measurring tool, getting 20% more score wont result in 20% more overall performace but i have seen a really nice improvement in more cpu intensive games and a great improvement in video rendering times.

[@TheFlyingSailorYT]

Does it extend battery time or reduce power usage an appreciable amount?

[@ThePgR777]

Are you sure you undervolted a laptop chip and not limited the max power consumption. Its not the same

[@clvtch444]

@@TheFlyingSailorYT Most definitely

[@misasuchomel5829]

@@TheFlyingSailorYT I can't tell you exactly how much of a power saving you should expect, but if you're the type of guy that cares a lot about battery you could most certainly get like 5 to maybe 10% in certain scenarious. You can definetly give it a try and let me know if you get any interesting results.

[@misasuchomel5829]

@@ThePgR777 I am certain I undervolted. By about 160mV while still being fully stable.

[@cyandrix]

Undervolting on my gaming laptop was a life saver. I'm not able to use a desktop in my situation and undervolting helped a lot with thermal throttling

[@FranciscoTChavez]

Yeah, power use is proportional to voltage squared, which easily translates to heat generation.

[@Keepskatin]

You need a laptop cooler fan, or place a fan on the table toward your laptop.

[@cyandrix]

@@Keepskatin I already use one, it's not enough - gaming laptops suck XD

[@bhuvangunessee]

@@cyandrix gaming laptops don't suck ,the model you bought does

[@krishoku]

@@bhuvangunessee true, legions are fine and have good cooling

[@KoolGuy420]

Undervolting was an absolute must for my Ryzen 5800x. The Chips temps ran way out of my comfort zone (Even throttling occasionally on Dark Rock Pro 4) but setting at least an offset helped a ton!

[@damsen978]

what about r5 3600?

[@thegreatresetofthehumanrac664]

I undervolted my CPU to 0.5Volts and now it’s at MUCH low temperatures. Only downside is that it doesn’t run

[@ghomerhust]

@@thegreatresetofthehumanrac664 saves a crapload of power tho!

[@CaptainSpicard]

@@thegreatresetofthehumanrac664 Exact same for mine. Went from 89c in cinebench, to 76c. Dropped almost 40 watts.

[@Its_Onion]

i just posted a comment about this too! i have 4.6Ghz as the working load with 1.2v (llc 4) and it runs smooth, hits and holds 70-73c under load, and will hold clock speeds through heavy loads. people have tested 1.3 and 1.4 since the day it came out and there hasnt been any indication of degradation, but under those volts i have had thermal runaway

[@turbo558]

Honestly guys thats a lot of info that is organized to be easily digested WITH ads, all in like 5 min? Excellent work 🤝

[@DeSinc]

Just be careful to note you don't also lose performance as with my 5900x I recall undervolting too far would no longer give a harmless bluescreen, but instead reduce your actual CPU performance instead. This is preferrable to crashing but it's something to note that you can be invisibly reducing your cpu's performance in certain applications. Also some apps will drop performance more than others by undervolting too far without you noticing it. For example, in flight simulator I only dropped a couple of frames when undervolting however some other program dropped almost 10% performance without me realising until a few days later. Also funny clip at the end

[@DeSinc]

In my experience with Ryzen Zen 3 (5000 series cpus) you're better off going into the Curve Optimiser in the bios and finding a stable undervolt there. Fastest way to do this with these 6/8/12 core cpus without being a tedious process is to reduce the all core curve first to -10, then try -11, -12, lower and lower until you get a bluescreen on regular computing. Then set it back a level that was stable and then go into Individual core mode in the bios and start lowering your STAR cores. These are the ones that do the most work and cause the most heat in most programs so they're the most important ones to get first. Once you get the top 4 cores you can pretty much just ignore the others in my experience.

[@DeSinc]

For intel's new alder lake, what I've found is reducing the voltage like they point out in the video is best. For reference on my 12700k I managed to get only an -0.03v undervolt working for a 5ghz all core clock, crashing sometimes in AVX loads (5ghz AVX is just very tough to hold already) but if you leave it stock it can likely go a little lower than that and still be stable.

[@poocoloco]

You sir just saved me a lot of headaches

[@SomeRandomPiggo]

hello mr half life

[@Jairjax]

I've experimented with underclocking my 5900X a good bit, and I'll say that certain cpu heavy games took some fps hits. Especially rimworld, dwarf fortress, and other cpu intensive games. Otherwise... no real point in not underclocking. I usually see around 3c or even 4c improvements in temps at idle. If you have an MSI board, try the eco mode (in bios), it works wonders if you don't know what you're doing.

[@samuelvincent2007]

I messed around with undervolting recently. I have a 5700x with a max boost of 4.6 GHz. Now, with a 200 mHz boost override, my cpu hits 4.85 GHz while gaming without affecting temperature at all (stays below 60 degrees) and voltage never goes over 1.35V. Ran Prime95 for 4 hours and had no issues. Pretty nice.

[@linearz]

Curve Optimizer? Negative offset?

[@samuelvincent2007]

@@linearz yes, most cores at -20, some at -15 and my fastest (and the one I had the most issues with) at -10

[@linearz]

@@samuelvincent2007 I think I have a little bit better 5700x, best core -25, 2nd best -13, the rest -30. Can do +200 boost too.

[@samuelvincent2007]

@@linearz what tests did you do for stability ? I ran some occt today and some Prime95 with CoreCycler, and found stability issues. This is what I have so far : 0 : -25 1: -25 2 : -10 3 : -20 4 : -10 5 : -25 6 : - 25 7 : -10

[@linearz]

@@samuelvincent2007 same, I use both occt and corecyler. Only for a few hours, not 24 hours lol

[@HITHEREWINSTON]

My 5950x was constantly running at 90c on stock voltage (1.4v). I undervolted it to 1.2v and the temps dropped by 30c. It's staggering how much of a difference undervolting can make

[@ghomerhust]

some motherboards liked to crank the voltage on ryzen for some reason. it became common practice to undervolt. also, newer bios from most makers changes this behavior, so that they run on the lower voltage as a base.

[@Its_Onion]

5800x, 4.6Ghz, 1.2v! im so glad to see other users here with the same experience. thermal runaway was super common anything above this (4.7Ghz+ or 1.3v+) and i have the D15 cooler

[@NinjAsylum]

Dude, thats because your motherboard is BROKEN. There is LITERALLY something WRONG with your computer. All you did was put a bandaid on a bullet wound.

[@L39T]

@@NinjAsylum ok buddy

[@steve55619]

Waste of time. Just use Eco Mode

[@TAP7a]

The way I always understood it was: - Intel and AMD always want to sell you a product that will work OOTB - more voltage helps a given frequency stabilise - therefore Intel and AMD will ship a voltage that is “safe” for every CPU they sell in a class, regardless of silicon lottery, leaving headroom beneath at stock clocks for undervolting without affecting stability that is dependent on the chip itself - boost clocks depend on temperature, and throttle when temp gets too high - undervolting releases less waste heat (P=IV) so allows normal boost algorithms to stay boosted for longer - both Intel and AMD already target very aggressive frequencies for their CPUs, leaving typically very little room for the traditional “more clock more volts” method of improving performance - therefore you’d either have to either not care or be silly to *not* undervolt

[@GeorgeJFW]

Works great on GPUs also. I found even a small reduction leads to a noticeable improvement in fan noise with no noticeable hit to performance

[@GeorgeJFW]

@@IvyMike. 2080ti nice! I think I might go that direction with my next upgrade. over spec the card a little so I don’t have to run it flat out. What resolution are you using if you don’t mind me asking?

[@JorgetePanete]

​@@videocollection8696 its*

[@tumamaencosplay]

Undervolting did wonders for my 3070 that was routinely running at 81°C before undervolting, I was getting concerned because even the HDMI cable was getting too hot. Now it runs at 50-60°C at 925mv, lowered the core clock by mere 0050, and increased the memory clock by 800, and performance basically improved now that it's consistent.

[@JorgetePanete]

@@IvyMike. Learn English.

[@GeorgeJFW]

@@IvyMike. oh ya that thing is going to outlast me lol I am at 1080p also I wish I would Have went with a little smaller monitor 27” is a little big pixel density wise.

[@tralphstreet]

You still didn't explain how undervolting can increase performance. I thought it was done because you can generally get away with lower power consumption, and about the same performance, but *increasing* it? How does that work?

[@BullrullarN]

The processor will boost higher during power-limited scenarios as the power consumption is lower, allowing for higher frequencies at the same power limit.

[@munkykng416]

Undervolting can help with thermal throttling. If your cpu starts to boost, it will hit some very high temps and then slow your clock speed down to reduce heat and therefore have crappy performance. In my case, once my XPS boosts and throttles it's very hard for that thermal load to come down even after it throttles the clock speed. You could also disable boost from xtu or throttlestop to make sure your system doesn't boost even with an offset in place.

[@lilbroomstick7032]

@@munkykng416 yep, I bought a gaming laptop with an i7 10750h and it often hit 100c causing throttling. undervolted that baby and locked the cores at 4.6 max and got a big boost in performance while running almost 10-15 degree cooler

[@Pityke4]

Additionally to the answers : I am pretty sure this is because how manufacturing works. As all chips are different, they will have different optimal voltages, so I assume they set it to a very safe value and avoid releasing unstable CPUs out of the box.

[@VishalGTitus]

​@@lilbroomstick7032 hey U did that using throttle stop ?

[@jasonb7230]

Anthony looks like he is having less stress in his life and looking better by the video, with more confidence. He is one of my favorite hosts with his tech knowledge.

[@Waterwater743]

Yes!!!

[@CRneu]

Yet for some reason he's covered in band aids on his hands. What!?!?

[@jasonb7230]

@@CRneu thats just getting old

[@nickn7939]

he is undervolted

[@GItoKeG]

I'm late to the show. Why what happened?

[@drewcipher896]

It'd be really cool if there were an auto undervolting software for chips like there is for overclocking. That way the power savings would be available for everyone.

[@iikatinggangsengii2471]

most modern cpu and gpus have good power savings, but true custom underclock can improve it, or cant

[@ETEcco]

I did this on my laptop for better thermals, slight core ratio OC, working great so far.

[@TabalugaDragon]

Intel has been locking it on 12-th and 13-th gen, I mean completely disabling it. Locking began since 10-th gen. So for most laptops today, it's unfortunately not an option. And I wish Tech Linked mentioned it

[@yazanali4603]

This is a must do for ALL gaming laptops, trust me you WILL get at least 15% more performance by undervolting, and the Temps will also go down a bit.

[@AyaWetts]

By keeping the temps down so there is no thermal throttling, it can help... unless you have a laptop that already has very good cooling... which is NOT most of gaming laptops.

[@perrypereyra6671]

can you guide me mate? give some link on how to do that

[@freevbucks8019]

I can't even access those settings bruh

[@bubbleboy821]

@@freevbucks8019 If it doesn't let you F12 or DEL into the BIOS, hold shift while clicking restart in Windows. It'll bring up more boot options and one of them should be BIOS/UEFI.

[@r.g7261]

Dude......... laptop Bioses literally don't have any of these features available. They have one of the most BASIC BIOSes ever !

[@markoj182]

Could Anthony make a little bit more comprehensive OC guide? I really like how he is able to explain complicated stuff in simple terms and analogies. TY For consideration.

[@LanceUppercut]

I'm surprised it wasn't said - try researching whether people have already found a stable undervolt for your CPU. That's what I did (I just used Throttle Stop to make adjustments), and it's been great since.

[@rodhester2166]

Thanks Anthony.. always good to see you putting some easy to understand videos.

[@tinderbox6563]

When we used to test components in manufacturing it was MTBF (mean time before failure) that determented life. We could test a number of products within a statisical sample and develop expectations with an accepted confidence (ie 90%). First, Kudos that you have addressed this issue. All I heard for years was overclocking , but with experience I have found that my pc's have lasted longer and performed better with out pushing that envelope. Thank you! Subbed.

[@AngryChineseWoman]

Using manual mode without overclocking can also prevent the core voltage from going too high. It can even result in lower cpu temps. Because most motherboards, if you don't change any setting, can make some voltages go crazy high when it's not necessary.

[@ValkryNL]

but wouldn't that set core voltage always make it ramp up in frequency?

[@soapa4279]

If some of you aren't comfortable tweaking voltages or worried about stability. Just run some power limits. Yes you lose a tiny bit of performance, but the voltages and temp will be naturally lower under load. Hence longer lifespan and no worry of stability.

[@RadioactiveBlueberry]

5% slower is not subjectively noticeable on light workloads BUT you don't want that for gaming, those short boost clock periods help mitigate CPU-bound stutters.

[@soapa4279]

@@RadioactiveBlueberry Right of course, I meant for all core workloads, reducing the PL can help. I have my 13900K set to 193W and it runs a lot cooler and with less voltage. For gaming workloads, it barely reaches 150W anyway so I still get the full 5.5Ghz on P cores (and 4.3Ghz on E cores) with no stutter.

[@ak-47821]

​@@soapa4279what cooler are you using?

[@soapa4279]

@@ak-47821 Noctua NH-A12

[@saricubra2867]

I undervolted my i7-4700MQ laptop mobile chip and managed to match a desktop i7-3770 on Cinebench R23 multicore and 77 degrees. Only uses around 36 watts for the same perfomance and desktop i7s from that era have twice the power consumption. Sillicon lottery? Around -90mv, there's someone that managed -100mv and overclocked the chip to 3.6GHz (i think). i7-4700MQ is partially unlocked, that means you have a maximum overclock of 200MHz or 2 bins.

[@Pete856]

I remember with my old i7-4790k I used the motherboard's preset for 4.8GHz and wondered why the performance was worse than stock, then I saw it was hitting 100°c, the voltage was set at 1.5v. I eventually got it running @ 4.8GHZ on as little as 1.13v, but stability set it at 1.16v and it never went over 70°c

[@chandlergloyd4230]

I have a really strong undervolt on my 5800X i lowered the clock speed by about 3% and have cut the power consumption by 50%

[@gingersnaps6941]

I didn't use offset, when I undervolted my CPU recently. I reduced the maximum core voltage until it would barely run the allcore boost frequency, then added 6.25mV and pushed the allcore boost 100MHz higher. Saves power, runs faster and stable for 2 weeks now!

[@Hawkwind65]

Cool, glad i found this, going through issues with an i9-12900k, and even have a aorus waterforce x 360, so i'm dealing with undervolting. Thx for the pointers.

[@ObservingLibertarian]

I've underclocked (including undervolting) every computer I've had since Windows ME. You can vastly improve the *lifespan* of parts by reducing run rates, vibration and heat production. Even with adequate cooling - the fans on your gpu will eventually stop working because the lube in the fan's bearings will dry out, running at lower speeds increases their life span. There's also the issue of how much vibration your various fans transfer onto the mobo. Or just in terms of pure voltage - yes, even if you keep it cool - electricity is still electricity and if you can expect X = runtime hours at Y voltage: you can expect C = runtime hours at U voltage and that means C > X if Y > U. If you're the type of person who replaces your entire computer every few years - then it doesn't really matter much. if, however, like me - you're the type of likes to siphon every last ounce of runtime (and capability) out of your rig and keep it for 6+ years before replacing it: it matters. You can also hit sweet spots whereby reducing heat produced by doing things like undervolting, leads to increased performance because you're avoiding thermal throttling you would otherwise encounter during heavy tasks like gaming.

[@streamdungeon5166]

Using Ryzen Master, I managed to undervolt my 5900x so much that it uses around 50W at full throttle :D

[@steemlenn8797]

I have my 5600 at 40W but I took a 12% performance hit. Since I don't need those 12% I take the 50% energy savings, thank you.

[@bojned]

My old PC with AMD Phenom II came out of factory with 1.4V VCore setting... It's been running stable on 1.225V over a decade now, but it's 10 degrees C cooler than what it was with stock voltage. Combined with an aftermarket cooler and Phenom MSRTweaker (where I set all P1 multipliers to 4x and voltage to 0.8v), I am running this PC in passive cooling mode for the most of the time.

[@abzrog]

you just answered all my questions, huge thanks!

[@shirotabi7859]

Wow, never been so on-time for a video. My chance to say ily Anthony

[@FranciscoTChavez]

The thing I always found strange about under-volting is that it works. Generally speaking, reducing the voltage results in slower signal propagation, meaning that it takes longer for a processor to stabilize on an output value. If we're able to maintain stability while lowering the voltage and increasing the clock-speed, then that sounds a lot like the CPU was over-volted to begin with. Over-volting a CPU by default doesn't make sense either because the energy use (and heat generation) is proportional to the voltage-squared. A CPU shouldn't be overvolted unless you are trying to overclock it, so why are CPUs being overvolted by default?

[@wildgg]

every CPU is different from the last, let's say you're intel and you have a huge sample size you tested, you will find out really fast that some cpu's need 1.1V to be stable and some need 1.150V. as a mass seller of these chips you want to be on the safe side(stability) instead of causing allot of CPU's to run unstable. Also every motherboard maker has different default voltage values.

[@maikatase]

What you have to realize, is these companies deal with a MASSIVE amount of processors, hundreds of thousands/millions... And they need to find a general voltage setting that works with the vast majority of them (to ensure stability and reduce the amount of rma's/etc). I have actually gotten CPUs on two different occasions where they were actually unstable at stock voltage settings, I had to actually raise the voltage a little bit to make them stable... Needless to say, I ended up returning those CPUs during the retail return window. But the point I'm trying to make is for some people, you can barely undervolt the processor and for some the stock settings isn't even good enough (and honestly the companies probably shouldn't have shipped these processors to begin with, but you have to remember about total profit margins/yields are also another major driving force). And not to mention motherboards can even play a small roll in voltage/power delivery (in some cases)

[@lordec911]

Reliability, repeatability, and performance. Due to the complexity of the process of making semiconductors, there are a number of variables that can impact a specific chip's characteristics, commonly referred to the silicon lottery. After fabrication, the wafers go through a round of testing and then the individual chips go through a final test once they are in a final consumer form. From this testing the manufacturer uses the data to find an optimal "binning" solution that splits the chips into different product segments. This is generally done to maximize the effective yield(how many good chips they get from each wafer) and meet estimated demand while grouping chips with similar "test scores" generally based around # cores/speed/voltage/power. Because of the variability involved with binning millions of chips into a dozen or so products, they have to over-do the default settings to guarantee the minimum performance while accounting for the worst-case scenarios. That is why in the past, overclocking was a much bigger deal, because the manufacturer was leaving potential performance on the table to guarantee the chips met their specs. Now that power is such a concern they are able to spend a decent chunk of the transistor budget on dozens of controllers/sensors inside the chip to allow it to dynamically change it's settings (speed/voltage/power) to maximize performance based on its current workload. Therefore the chips can be pushed much closer to their full potential than was previously possible. So while the game has changed quite a bit with regard to overclocking, undervolting will still be a thing.

[@SlimedogNumbaSixty9]

Posts another paragraph saying the same thing to one up the nerd above me

[@ipreferfrogs]

for the first time ever I clicked a video without reading the title because the thumbnail was so good

[@braxen3937]

Yeah I'm not under or over volting anything because I would probably mess it up and fry something.... I just wanted to know what undervolting does and this explained it. Thanks! 👍

[@troeteimarsch]

I'm missing a disclaimer that this technique is not suitable for every CPU. I'm running a Xeon Westmere-EP, stock voltage is 1.1 or so. No fancy boosting, no flawless transitions between boost states and when undervolted it wouldn't even reach stock speeds. In this case looking up the max safe voltages for every rail in the datasheet is crucial to achieve maximum performance. In my case that is 1.4V and it needs to be set to override because of stutters during transitions from c6 to c1, or even shutdowns because of the voltage regulation not acting fast enough.

[@TTM1895]

A pretty good explanation of the basics. I approve.

[@thepatriot6966]

Not really. If you call this the basics. I suggest the people this is amied at. Shouldn't own a PC. 😆

[@dominus1051]

Thanks mate, your vids are just great. Well played.

[@Starfals]

I just finally OC my i5 2500k (yea, a bit late lol) and then this video pops up lol. Nice timing!

[@TaiMizuki]

Just wish to point out that CPU-Z has it's own benchmark test built in so not sure why you need cinebench?

[@summirsatija]

Anthony is palpatine

[@SyxxFtH8]

Love the Gul Dukat cameo. Props to the writer or editor who added that in. 🖖🏻

[@MasterAlexS]

I had used undervolting for a long time (over 2 years on the GPU and 1 year on the CPU) It helped me a lot on my GPU from 90 degrees thermal throttle to max 83 degrees {usually 75} (850 mV) [Asus TUF Gaming GTX 1660 6GB] On the CPU I didn't knew I could undervolt it when I had the stock cooler and I have slightly less degrees normally, but in sustained workloads there is a difference because it gets hot a lot slower On my CPU I need to use and older version of the XTU (i5 9400F) and I can do -0.180 V On GPUs is a lot easier to find the undervolt than on CPUs since no BSOD or the PC shutting down

[@Ballantin]

He fails to explain why undervolting can help you gain some performance. That is, it can prevent your CPU from reaching throttling temperatures....

[@FooxTru]

Thanks

[@shantanuzodpe9880]

wouldn't it also decrease the CPU's performance?

[@funnyarc]

With AMD, doesn't one want to use the Curve Optimizer at PBO2, instead? Also, some cores of a CPU might not like some negative voltage offset, if you just drop the same negative offset on All cores, one of more cores might cause instability and you may be holding yourself back from optimizing the other cores that could have been able to take further negative offset. Can try to set a negative offset voltage on all cores first, just to the very point things seem to get unstable, then increase the voltage per individual core to find out which one was the one that can't handle that offset negative voltage. That way, you might be able to push the other cores even further and leave the stable negative offset in the worse core, without that worse core holding you back from optimizing(eg, set a even lower offset negative offset) the others. However, even if things may seem stable at first, who knows if your CPU may still be unstable, but in edge cases at the worst moments. Something like OCCT, or even Prime95 with a project called 'corecycler' by sp00n might be useful, it will warn if a core is not stable, then test for a good while, hours or even days, until a some error is spit out. I imagine this being better than just using Cinebench and hope it might crash to give you a visual indication if it's very obviously unstable, but then once it does not crash, your undervolt may still be unstable, but you don't know as you fiddle around for weeks finding out why some oddities happen... Edit: Thinking about something, even if CPU might have been tested stable with all sorts of tests at max clock speed, what if the cores idle at some point and a low clock speed is set and thus some low voltage, but then become unstable with the additional undervolt applied on top?

[@Sinanisler]

i did for the battery save on my laptop with ryzen 5 it is pretty fast CPU anyway so it is ok for my workflow I don't game at all on my laptop. battery life gone 3 hour to 6-7 hour.

[@M1h0wk]

I have a MSI MECH Radeon 5700 XT and undervolting is a must.. anytime it runs anything that makes it work, safety shutdowns are bound to happen on the GPU due to high temps..

[@KoopatoadYT]

I have an undervolted i5 8250u, (running at -100.6mV) and the performance difference is instantly noticeable, i get about an extra 30 fps in cpu demanding games and GPU throttle happens much less now, the temperatures are also a lot better than they used to be.

[@ValouFCH]

Kinda disappointing that there was not a word about laptops, as it is, I think, where UnderVolting is the most useful

[@Tallnerdyguy]

A lot of laptops don't have that capability

[@ValouFCH]

@@Tallnerdyguy You can always do it with programs like ThrottleStop

[@EnglishJoyYoutube12]

​@@Tallnerdyguy Use throttlestop or intel XTU

[@tabalugadragon3555]

@@ValouFCH not anymore. Intel started locking it since 10-th generation and completely disabled it since 12-th. BUT Techlinked\Linus Tech Tips should mention Nvidia laptop GPU undervolting, which still works. But they never do and I don't understand why. Like, I'm physically unable to understand it, considering how many gaming laptop reviews they've already made and how many "how to cool down a laptop" videos they've made already. It makes no sense.

[@jozsiolah1435]

Mahjong mania in Symbian was originally designed for the 25 mhz DX 387 coprocessor for the Compaq LTE Lite/Elite laptops. It was a Win 3.1 game. Arm processors have a coprocessor of this category, responsible for gaming Physx too. While gaming with Nokia, after lvl 25 it calibrated my phone’s power parameters, it became more hot during gameplay, and the LCD became brighter. Probably, same with other devices. For PC, Opera with KZbin high res videos calibrate cpu, I needed 10 restarts for my laptop, it became stronger and cooler.

[@thelogician9879]

I'm honestly shocked that at no point in this video was it mentioned that you can undervolt NEW CPUs ONLY and get the same or better performance. I run several variations of slightly older Intel HEDT platforms, and undervolting would leave massive amounts of potential performance on the table. I need to overvolt and overclock to get the full performance of my CPUs, while newer CPUs from both teams are already OCed to the hilt out of the box. Your information is correct, but only in specific cases. And as a side note, I have never had a stable daily overclock that involves overvolting kill a chip while I was still using it. That's an extreme and very rare case, not something responsible or even slightly edgy overclockers need to worry about.

[@SlimedogNumbaSixty9]

Some newer CPUs can get 2 or 3 bins higher at the same voltage. You can usually get a couple hundred more mhz before needing 1.5v My 13700k can go from 53 -> 58 all core hitting 1.45v. id say there is still headroom and with more juice, you just need the cooling for it. Overclocking is not as dead as everyone says

[@Sircivus]

whoa those shirts are thin

[@SupraSav]

I think HWiNFO64 is a better utility. The sensors are clearly labelled, and a couple other bells. Seems like the best method for undervolting is run at the default power rating and just turn your CPU up a little. Logic would suggest that is the best balance for longevity and performance.

[@Blaster_Unity_UB]

I always wanted to know about this!

[@pirojfmifhghek566]

Genuinely useful info for the overclocking luddites like myself.

[@josephforrest3713]

Anthony is a legend!!!

[@SuperFGeeT]

You mean emily?

[@josephforrest3713]

@@SuperFGeeT No...

[@inspectorvoid]

@@SuperFGeeTnah he meant Anthony, the dude in the video. Same dude that imagines he can alter biology 🧬

[@RayRay-uw6ms]

Her name is Emily! Respect her!

[@SuperFGeeT]

@@RayRay-uw6ms clowns lol

[@o0Avalon0o]

I wish I could do this for my phone. I have 2 apps that are very useful to me but used, they make the phone heat up in a way that actually bricked my old phone, even on "battery saver" mode.

[@BladeTrain3r]

I've undervolted my GPU lately and it's done wonders for temps, even still let me give it a little bump to stock frequencies. Long as you don't reach for a mile when you've got an inch, good way to conserve component lifetime.

[@MattStrauser]

Very nice work Anthony. I appreciate your language and choice of words. Professional and encouraging.

[@nsevv]

undervolting is blocked in most bios by manufacturers these days due to undervolt protection to solve plundervolt issues.

[@dazeen9591]

plundervolt? that sounds like some pirate stuff yarrggh

[@luislongoria6621]

Not if the psu has a microcontroller

[@thejackal007]

Pity, I was looking forward to Anthony doing the Unlimited Power thing himself again.

[@smokeyninja9920]

4:10 On am4, boost behavior negates voltage offsets so I'm running static voltage to undervolt, slightly less efficient idle, but worth it to drop from 1.45v+ to 1.25v.

[@Jasonhartley31]

I love seeing my fellow man speaking on CPU temps. Keep up the good work Brother!!!!

[@AlwaysGrowing0]

This video left out a few critical points. Since the Plundervolt exploit came out, Intel implemented bios changes that remove the ability to undervolt on all new CPUs. This limitation is a limitation intel themselves placed on CPUs. So if you have updated your bios for an intel motherboard, you may need help to undervolt your intel CPU even if you could do it in the past. Secondly, undervolting can result in system instability resulting in crashing. The usual fix for this is removing your CMOS battery from your computer. On some laptops, it is difficult/impossible to remove the CMOS battery

[@miso1995srb]

Very very rare about cmos, you can also revert back settings so you don't get crashes, why you trying to be scary

[@steemlenn8797]

I have a passivly cooled "typewriter" PC (the one I am typing this). The 6 Ryzen cores run with 3Ghz (I BOINC) and the screen output too are done with a 41W whole system socket power. (22W diff to idle). There is not even any undervolting. Goes to show that the last 20% are always done with brute force.

[@Markski]

If you have a laptop and can't undervolt from your BIOS, you can use Throttlestop on Windows 10 or intel-throttlestop on Linux. Ever since I did this, my ASUS ROG laptop runs a solid 8-12°c cooler under full load with a -140mV undervolt. That is quite extreme and more than most will get away from what I understand though, I guess I got lucky with the silicon in my machine.

[@shaanbhatt2206]

I’m running a 10th gen Intel in my laptop too, unfortunately they’ve locked it , I can’t tweak the offsets even in throttlestop or Intel XTU :(

[@Markski]

@@shaanbhatt2206 That is extremely bizarre. If you have Win11 you might need to disable some security stuff for TS to work (you can google it), if you have win10 then I guess you're right

[@shaanbhatt2206]

@@Markski I am running Win 11. Throttlestop only works in setting TPL settings so as to ensure that I can restrict my clockspeed to be a particular figure, no freedom to work around voltages sadly, its a BIOS thing from what I’ve heard.

[@MrHandsomeStudios]

"Is it possible to learn this power?"

[@FirstnameLastname-we6dh]

Undervolting a Ryzen CPU trough the offset setting will actually decrease it's performance and clock speed instead of losing stability.

[@saricubra2867]

1:37 There are people who have their i7-2600K overclocked to 5GHz for so many years that they have problems even with stock clockspeeds.

[@Dubjayonthetrack]

LinusTroonTips

[@unocualqu1era]

LinusNoMoreTip

[@SupaSand]

​@@unocualqu1era LinusGoodGoyTips

[@VinnyUnion]

Oh look its emily lmao

[@TheXenAce]

Didn't expect there's DeSinc vids at the end 😂

[@watercannonscollaboration2281]

If you have a 5000-series or newer AMD cpu, there’s always negative PBO2 offsets as well to undervolt

[@funnyarc]

Even more so, that is one ptobably want to use instead anyway, since not all cores may act the same on a specific negative offset, some cores might be able to be pushed further, while one or two may become unstable way earlier. And even if you set a undervolt and things 'seem' stable, in edge cases, the CPU may still get errors in calculations, so you may want to use something that stress tests all cores, for a good while, and spits out which core made the error, then do that test for several hours or maybe day or 2 until things seem fine. OCCT or Prime95 and corecycler by sp00n may be an option.

[@Glebean]

Great video Emily 👍

[@Zhincore]

Pleasant surprise to see DeSinc's video here

[@spike378]

My temps went from 90 to 82 by undervolting PBO -30 on 5800x3d 100% load. No more temp anxiety now

[@user-zs2ng8ib6w]

this dude thinks he is a lady lol

[@bobosborne1573]

unsubbed mate. been watching for years but as soon as you put your own politics into it have to say goodbye

[@thyeweiping9094]

This is not an airport, no need to announce your departure.

[@SwedishRally]

Human rights are not politics.

[@redfive02]

How did they put politics into it?

[@Kongongongg]

@@SwedishRally how troons connected to human rights?

[@SwedishRally]

@@Kongongongg Because human rights = everyone's rights to exist.

[@AintPopular]

This vid needs a revisit for more indepth on how this works

[@edman1357]

I won't be doing any of this, but very interesting video!

[@starbez]

Emily

[@paul300]

Great video, have your thought about making a video about the new Intel Celeron (they got an alderlake Upgrade). Or about the Pentium processors today.

[@Alex-kv4wg]

1:47 palpatine was probably the best part in this video ! unlimited… poweeer !

[@pav1u]

this is way more usefull for gpu's, but the hard thing is to find that sweet spot(test occt + furmark for example on gpu's), 3090 850mv 1800mhz here rocking solid with aio!

[@vipinnair1991]

Every week Anthony has a new band aid on his fingers. Does he fight bears during his free time?

[@rizqi-hiktakaewi678]

The only guy that makes the whole LMG bearable.

[@hinatalove.r6532]

I feel like you guys should've touched the topic of stopping thermal throttling in laptops with undervolting

[@jpzsax]

I used to uv my old Vega 56, that vega chip give more performance with low voltage curves

[@ResinLipBongFace]

lmfao that flight sim clip/joke outta nowhere made me crack up. 🤣

[@vladislavkaras491]

Thank you for the video!

[@NoOne-yp1qe]

What would be the right way to undervolt/underclock CPU for those days I'm not really going to do anything but binge watch LTT videos?

[@Hiddenus1]

If you manage to undervolt your CPU to negative values I'll call you Lord Voltemort

[@fredyroda]

I undervolted my Ryzen 9 5950x to 1.15 V and 4.1ghz all core speed. Runs reaaaally cool and plus, I got a higher Cinebench and Vray bench scores. I use it for rendering so it constantly goes full load on all cores, but at 1.15V it only goes to 60 Celsius!

[@xzst]

On my RTX 3070 I was able to increase max clocks while decreasing voltage resulting in better fps and much lower temps. Wild stuff.

[@diehardAMD]

It took over of the video before instability was mentioned on lowering the transistor bias voltage was mentioned!!!! Hahaha

[@px0v]

5:05 @Desinc just testing if new youtube handles work :^)