My new 2.4c OC'ing results

[SkyFire47]

my old rig was:

2.4c M0 @ 3.0 [250fsb@5:4]
2x256 Corsair XMS LLPT
IC7 w/ Zalman Cu7000a

i just switched to my new G. Skill LAs in and everything's running great. the 2.4c wall of 250fsb is completely gone now. here's my current rig now:

2.4c M0 @ 3.5 [290fsb@5:4] :attn:
1.6vcore / 2.7vdimm / 1.6 agp
2x256 G. Skill LA [3-4-4-8]
GAT settings auto-auto-auto-disabled-disabled
IC7 w/ Zalman Cu7000a
Antec TrueBlue 480w psu
temps 35°idle/45°load


As of now, i have 2 options though. i can run the ram up to 280fsb at 1:1 or use the 5:4 and bump it up to 290fsb. i'm not to familar with ram dividers and timings (or even really testing for that matter) but what would be the better option to run my rig at? i'll be running prime all night to test for stability but any suggestions are more than welcome.


also, the G. Skill LA's are rated as ddr600 - pc4800 or a theoretical 300mhz at 1:1. i can't really get above 280mhz and G. Skill does guarantee their products. should i be rma'ing these sticks in or just be thankful with what i've got? i've read around that people are hitting 300-315fsb@1:1 with the LE's but am i expecting too much since this the LA's i have are rated higher than the LE's?


oh, and sorry for lack of posting images from cpu-z [i don't know how to]. if anyone wants to see them, leave a reply telling me how i can and i'll be more than happy to post again.

thanks,
Sky

[batboy]

Glad you broke through the "wall". I would go ahead and try using 2.8v vdimm and see what happens. Obviously, you can't loosen up the timings anymore. As for holding G. Skill to their rating, that's a decision you need to make. What can you live with?

What vcore are you stable at with 280 FSB vs. 290 FSB? I have RAM that will do 283 FSB at 1:1, so I usually just run my 2.4C at that speed for long term. If I use my BH-5 RAM with 2-2-2-5 timings at the 5:4 ratio, then I don't mind running 3.5+ gig, since I don't lose much performance, but you don't have that option of switching RAM. I recommend running benchmarks both ways, but I'd be inclined to use the 1:1 ratio and try to squeak a little more out of it.

[mtb856]

Glad the new memory worked out for you..... upgrading to my OCZ memory made a big difference for me as well.

As for performance, I've found (using 3DMark01) that I usually get a fairly large performance increase when I run 285 (5:4) rather than at 278(1:1)... I haven't run PCMark to test if that shows the same results, but 3DMark01 is generally a good assessment of overall system performance.

Although the score difference is noticeable.... I'm fairly sure that it only adds up to about a 1 FPS increase in gaming... and is probably unnoticeable anywhere else. If you can run a lower vcore while running 1:1, I'd probably go for that just to get the temp reduction and then work on tweaking your memory timings to see if you can squeeze a few tighter timings out of them.

Don't forget to update your sig ;)

[SkyFire47]

i'll update my sig after i'm prime stable at least. ^_-

at this point, i had almost immediate crashes in prime under both conditions so i've set my rig back to 275fsb@1:1 with 1.525vcore / 2.6 vdimm / 1.55agp and 2.5-3-3-5 for my ram timings.

for some reason, my system seems more stable and prime was able to keep running when i tightened my timings away from 3-4-4-8. if this holds up, then i'll start increasing voltages again.

[batboy]

Some RAM don't like using CAS above 2.5, I know my BH-5 RAM prefers tighter timings too.

[Albuquerque]

I know several people who've had a "wall" on their 2.4C M0 and sworn up and down that it was just a crappy chip -- only to find that different (not necessarily better) memory would open it up significantly. I had my 2.4C M0 running at 3.4ghz / 284FSB with my Adata PC4200 running at 1:1.

Something to consider may also be your chipset and/or your motherboard... Running memory at 560+mhz DDR is a pretty daunting task for those nice long traces between your northbridge and your memory. Try upping your vAGP to 1.6 or even 1.7v to feed your northbridge a little more voltage, or as was suggested earlier, try also running your VMem up to 2.8v to see if that helps.

What's goofy is that my memory was memtest stable at 292FSB (584mhz DDR) but my CPU wasn't prime stable there :( What I wouldn't give to grab your processor and pair it with my ram! I'd much rather have a 3.5ghz/292FSB 1:1 system versus my 3.7ghz/ 247FSB 1:1 system. This ram performs so much better at uber-speed...

[SkyFire47]

Here are my final results [both prime and memtest error proof]:

It's in the sig. i finally updated it. :clap: i can't complain about hitting 275fsb@1:1. 2.4 to 3.3ghz is awesome. the true blue psu also lowers temps a bit with the added fans it has.

though i'm sure i can go farther and it's my cpu or mobo keeping me from 300fsb@1:1 [memtest was error proof at 292fsb@1:1]. i'm sort of interested in looking into another 3.0 or 3.2. The ram at those speeds should be quite nice and buying just the chip that i can drop into this system would be alot cheaper than building a new rig.

geez, oc'ing is addicting. any suggestions on the whether the P4 C's or E's are better in general? i know the basics of what both are known for but the majority of what i'll be doing is light gaming and lots of video/dvd encoding. and is there a particular chip/stepping that stands out from the rest the way the 2.4c M0's did?

thanks
Sky

[mtb856]

To get over 300, you'll most likely have to use Clockgen (http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php) and change the AGP bus speed in Windows.... I have the same problem with my cpu and IC7-G.

What you do is change your ratio to 5:4, raise your vcore to whatever you think you'll need, and boot into windows at around a 280 FSB..... load clockgen and change the AGP speed from 66.66 to 69 ( I can't remember what speed I used, but you don't want to go too high or you risk damage to your video card.... I believe you don't want to go above 73). After you set the AGP to that speed, start slowly raising your FSB until you reach the speed that you want to test at.

I was able to reach a 317 FSB at 1.63V, but it froze before I could save the screenshot. From what I've heard, some applications in Windows behave strangely above a 300 FSB, so it will be interesting to see if you notice the same thing.

[batboy]

Well, The Prescott "E" has a new E0 stepping out that is doing quite well. If you can tame the heat, they overclock and perform very well. It's hard to beat the ol' 3.0C if you just want to drop in a CPU and not mess with extra cooling. Most of those will do close to 250 FSB (3.75 gig), mine does 3.8 gig. But, that really would not make full use of your RAM, although at lower FSB you can probably use tight timings. Maybe the 2.8E if you can get a good stepping or one of the other Prescotts that will allow you to drop down to the 14X multiplier. Then 272 FSB would mean 3.8 gig and if you got lucky... maybe close to 4 gig with really good cooling?