Need some serious OC advise...please HELP!!!

[Red Barron]

:cry: Hi Guys,
I cannot seem to go any higher than where I am at 2808.56 MHZ.
My agp/pci bus is locked at 66.66/33.33 (should I leave the AGP/PCI bus at auto) ..... FSB is 18x 156
CPU vCore is at 1.550 increased up from 1.500V.
Memory freqency is set to auto...options Auto,266 MHZ, 355 MHZ,333MHZ.( ?which to use)
DDR reference voltage set on auto.. options Auto ,2.6 ,2.7 ,2.9 (?)
Memory timings 1.5T ,2T , 2T, 6T (set to lowest and runs stable)....SDRAM idle timer set to Infinite and DRAM Refresh Rate set to SPD(options are SPD, 15.6us , 7.8us)(?) Memory turbo mode set to enabled
I am using Thermalright's SP 94 heat pipe cooler with a Panaflo 92mm fan ,
Swiftech MCX 159 north bridge active cooler so I know cooling is not a problem. Sytem on idle 38/39 C
I want to be able to at least reach 3.0 GHZ ...on the CPU data base some people are reaching 4.0 with this pocessor. Please advise to upp my OC.
Any suggestions will be welcomed ....Thanks Guys and Keep Pushing the OC's.

[mtb856]

Welcome to the forums :)

Okay, first things first.

Memory freqency is set to auto...options Auto,266 MHZ, 355 MHZ,333MHZ.( ?which to use)

I would just leave it on Auto until you've read the memory sticky and are more familiar with overclocking.
Memory timings 1.5T ,2T , 2T, 6T (set to lowest and runs stable)....SDRAM idle timer set to Infinite and DRAM

What kind of ram are you using? If you could post brand, speed ( ex. DDR300 or PC2700) and what voltage your memory's at.

Memory turbo mode set to enabled

I would disable that as they tend to limit overclocking heavily.

Memory timings 1.5T ,2T , 2T, 6T (set to lowest and runs stable)

I'm not sure exactly what those timings mean ( if you're running a CAS of 1.5 or not) but lowering your memory timings will severely hamper your overclocking as well. Can you set your memory timings to Set by SPD?

Hope these help a little :)

Meatball

[Red Barron]

Thanks for posting.
I am using Kingmax DDR 333 which is PC2700. The memory voltage is set to auto. Options in Bios is Auto , 2.6v, 2.7v & 2.9v. I do believe that i am running at CAS 2.5 I was under the impression that lowering ram timings would increase speed of your system. Wow I just read your OC ...that is awesome...my heart flutters. You are using very good ram. My mobo specifies DDR333 as max speed for 533 mhz fsb.
What about my agp/pci bus freq? Leave it locked at 66.66/33.33 or leave it at auto.Memory timing is called DRAM refresh rate on my system. That is set to SPD.The options are mentioned in my first post. Also how high on the voltage. I had it up to 1.61v @2957 MHZ at 165 FSB. But obviously I got blue screen crashes. It was evident that things were not flowing together because I have seen OC much higher than that. Thanks!!!

[BrandonV]

A bit of advice..... on my Abit board if I set the RAM timings to SPD it actually runs it lower than it should. I manually have to set my timings to stock (3448) if I want to run it at stock timings, maybe you should do the same.
Your RAM timings are too low, find out what they are by default and set it to that.

And leave the AGP locked at 66/33, do not set it to auto.
How are your voltages? What kind of PSU do you have?

Do you get anything else besides BSOD's? reaboots or anything?

[mtb856]

Wow I just read your OC ...that is awesome...my heart flutters.

Thanks :) You'll get there too.

he memory voltage is set to auto. Options in Bios is Auto , 2.6v, 2.7v & 2.9v. I do believe that i am running at CAS 2.5 I was under the impression that lowering ram timings would increase speed of your system

Okay, I would set your memory voltage (vdimm) to 2.7V rather than AUTO just for stability reasons. Also, like Brandon said above.... trying loosening your ram timings so that they are 3-4-4-8 (if that works, then try 2.5-4-4-7 and see if those timings work).
If you're wondering what those numbers are, here's a link to a memory sticky (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=257741).

After you've loosened your timings and set the vdimm to 2.7V, then try overclocking and see if that helps at all.


Oh, if you have the time.... try putting your system into your signature ( it's in your control panel I believe). Feel free to copy mine if you wish....the basic things most people need are

-cpu ( ex. Pentium 4 2.4B @ 3.0 gigs w/ 1.60V)

-ram (Kingmax DDR333)

-mobo( Asus P4C800 )

-Heatsink and temps if you go into the cooling section.

Good Luck :)

Meatball

[Red Barron]

Brandon,
Voltages are ok. 41C . PSU antec 430W. Prime95 will freeze ...SIS Burn in would freeze.
DRAM refresh rate options in BIOS- SPD, 15.6us , 7.8us....I have read on www.rojakpot.com bios guide 8.0 that refresh rate 15.6 should be used for chips 128 and smaller and 7.8 us should be used for 256 and up. So I will try 7.8us as I have 512 MB. What are your thoughts on this.

[Red Barron]

Meatball ...good to hear from you again...I will try your suggestions as well . Hope it goes higher this time. I will also disable the memory turbo feature in the bios.Any thoughts on the SDRAM Idle Timer- I have mine set to Infinite.
Thanks.

[mtb856]

I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what that is, so I can't be any help in that department. I'll do a search a little later and see if I can find anything on it.

sorry :(

[Red Barron]

Guys,
I just finished OC my system. This is what I did.I increased the DDR Reference Voltage from auto to 2.7.
Reset all memory timings to....2.5T, 3T, 3T , 7T
Disabled Memory Turbo mode
Disabled System Performance Mode
Interesting to note CPU Voltage in bios is set to 1.575v but shows as 1.648 in Asus Probe 2. Which voltage to follow?
CPU temp is 41C MB is 32C. SYstem Bus 656.03
I was not able to reach 165 FSB. System crashed Blue screen errors:
STOP: 0x0000007F and STOP:C0000145 (application error).....
I set FSB back 1MHZ to 164 and system loaded okay. Any ideas what to do to reach 3000MHZ. I also left the DRAM Refresh Rate to SPD for now will try it at 7.8us

[mtb856]

I would try raising your cpu voltage one more notch and see if that helps.... one other thing you might try if the settings are available is to make the memory timings

3-4-4-8

this will make sure that it's not your memory that's hampering your overclock b/c those are the loosest timings that you can use. If it still will not boot, then I would try raising the cpu voltage to a max of 1.6V and see if that works.


Looking at cpudatabase.com, it looks like the max oc for your chip and your board is about 3.2 gigs at 1.65V, but that's totally dependent on the stepping of your processor... you may get higher or you might get lower.


[edit]

About your DRAM idle timing set to infinity... did some research and it looks like Infinity is the setting that is recommended, so it's in the right spot.

Here's the article DRAM idle timer article (http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=8&var1=0&var2=62)

[Red Barron]

Thanks for checking me out.
I will try increasing the voltage one more notch. Yes I read max on this board is 3.2.
The highest timings are 2.5 -3-3-8 I will try those settings as well.
I also fille out my signiture in the control panel but it is not showing up in my post. Maybe if I start a new post? I will try those changes and send you another PM.
THanks for your help so far!!!

[Red Barron]

I would like to add you to my buddy list...you'll be my first!!!

[mtb856]

Now your signature's showing up.... you have some nice cooling on that board :eek:
I would think that you could take the vcore up to 1.6V with no problem, I wouldn't try any higher until you've read this thread and understand the risks.

SNDS thread (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=115166)

[Red Barron]

I was only able to increase FSB by 1 MHZ. I increased my CPU V to 1.600 and increased my FSB to 168 from 164 and got all kinds of crashes the colour of blue and windows would not load. I ended up on 165 ..windows loading . I did change the memory timings to 2.5-3-3-8... CPU 41 C MB 32 C temps seems to be ok. Clock now @2970.00 MHZ @165 FSB. I am still so far away from 3000 MHZ. What can I try next?

[mtb856]

Hmmm, do you have CPU-Z? Here's a link (http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php#download) if you don't.... what it does is tell you your speed, your cpu voltage, and memory timing information.

Could you run that program and tell me what the vcore is reading at? If you're at 1.6V in BIOS, then on most boards by the time you get to Windows it's only 1.57V or so.... if that's the case with your processor, then you should be able to raise it up to 1.6V ( or higher if you understand the slim chance that you might get SNDS) where it reads 1.6V in Windows.

Give that a try and see how it works

-Meatball

[Red Barron]

Hi,
Okay I Installed that program...CPU V is reading at ..actually all over the place...
1.616 ,1.632, 1.648 ,1.664 , 1.680. It keeps fluctuating from those voltages back and forth...you seen that before? I did find out some interesting info on my memory though. I actually have samsung PC2700 @166MHZ due to my timing settings. Thought I had kingmax all this time.

[Red Barron]

at

[mtb856]

Huh, that's interesting about your ram.... especially your vcore though. Usually it reads quite a bit lower than what it was set to in BIOS.... not higher. I read a thread at another forum and several other people had the same problem with that board.... their vcore fluctuated from 1.60 to 1.75V when it was set to 1.6V in BIOS.

My vcore does fluctuate on my board but if I have it set to 1.6V in BIOS, it's 1.58V in Windows and it fluctuates around 1.56 to 1.59V usually..... that's strange that yours fluctuates upward so much.

Have you flashed to the newest BIOS for your board?

[Red Barron]

No I have not yet flashed my bios. There is a new bios out for my board. Actually there has been more than one but I have not yet flashed it. I guess I have been a little reluctant but I have been reading my manual about flashing and I might be brave enough to attempt it. So what do you make of the voltage fluctuations. I guess going any higher than 1.6 would be a little risky under the circumstances. I am too going to log off and maybe we can pick up again tomorrow. I'll probably be around about 12pm .
I want to thank you for all your help , it has been very interesting for me...until later
Cheers.