So, I've been out of the overclocking game for quite some time - once I got the rig in my signature overclocked and stable, it was pretty much a situation where I saved the config and it has run that way since 2011. So, I wanted to provide my details and results before my questions.
Anyway, a few details and prelim results from my 1700X build. First, the details of the system: I'm using the Asrock X370 Taichi with the latest BIOS (which has AGESA 1.0.0.6a IIRC), 16 GB of Corsair DDR4-3000 Vengeance LPX RAM, a 6 GB EVGA 1060, and a MyDigitalSSD BPX NVMe 480 GB m.2 SSD as the boot drive. What makes this system unique is that I have it installed in the tiny Riotoro CR1080 case (I LOVE this case), so cooling can be tough since I can't go with a full tower cooler. To combat the heat, I have 2 Cooler Master 120 mm JetFlo fans as intakes on the front of the motherboard chamber, an 80 mm Coolmaster as an exhaust fan in the motherboard chamber, and a fairly small Noctua dual tower NH-D9L with a single 92 mm fan with their AM4 mounting kit (VERY nice, btw) and their thermal paste.
So far, here are the results so far:
MANUAL OC #1: I changed the clock to 3.8 Ghz and left all other values as their default. The system is stable and ran Prime95 blend for 20-30 minutes plus with CPU temp in the low 70s.
MANUAL OC #2: I changed the clock to 3.9 Ghz and left all other values the same. Prime95 ran for around 20 minutes before black screening, with temps remaining in the low 70s. Despite this, the system seems "game stable" but I'll keep testing.
MANUAL OC #3: I changed the clock to 4 Ghz and left all other settings the same. Boots into Windows and ran Prime95 for a couple minutes before black screening. Temps were again in the low to mid 70s. I tried using LLC at level 1 and voltage at 1.375 with same results. I have not yet tested to see if it is game stable.
P-STATE OC: I tried for 4 Ghz again using p-state overclocking. First, I reset my earlier manual settings back to defaults. On P0, I change the FID value (used A0) and left the other two values as default. I left the other p-states as default values. I was able to boot into Windows but again, P95 failed with the same low temps. I messed with CPU LLC, adjusting voltage settings (can't remember them all at this stage), and I saw similar results as to my manual overclocking attempts.
Given the small case I'm using and the cooling challenges of said case, I'm amazed I'm keeping the CPU in the low to mid 70s during P95 and I'm very pleased. I can actually feel fairly warm air being exhausted nicely from the 80 mm exhaust. I do feel that 4 Ghz is probably achievable so I ordered another Noctua 92 mm fan for push-pull to see if I can keep the CPU even cooler, and I have a low-profile 120mm Scythe which I may try to mount at the top for additional exhaust. Yeah, I know - the temps are pretty low under load as-is, so this may not get me much. The PSU is an older OCZ 600 watt modular StealthXtreme (or something like that) that I had in my parts stock - I remember it being a rebadged Forton or PC Power and Cooling which generally received high marks. I'm not opposed to replacing this PSU if necessary but both the 12 and 5 volt rails looked pretty solid to me in the system monitor.
So, my questions for you guys as I continue reading and researching:
1) What kind of voltage settings/config do you guys recommend I used? I was using CPU LLC Level 1 because the graphs seemed to indicate that this level kept Vcore the most stable over the course of higher CPU loading.
2) So many options on voltage parameters - offsets, manual, auto. What is considered best practice for these kinds of settings?
3) Any other tips are greatly appreciated.