New comp /w pics. (Need help!)

[jEevion]

Okay so I finally got all of my parts, here are the specs:

E6600 /w Zalman CNPS9700NU
P5W-DH Deluxe
Team Xtreem DDR800 4-4-4-10
Ultra X3 1000W P/S
Radeon X1950Pro (Waiting on HD 2900XT)
Xfi Platinum Pro
74GB Raptor /w 320GB SATA Storage

Here are some pics ...

Now I need help with the overclocking!

[jEevion]

Few more ...

[jEevion]

Here is CPU-Z and Coretemp

Am I supposed to be using a 2:3 ratio?

[akkuma]

do you know how to overclock at all? Are you just gonna overclock the cpu or the ram or the videocard or all 3?
I don't see anything from your last post

[jEevion]

I do, I have never overclocked on an Intel system though. I raised the FSB a bit, but was wondering if my ram was supposed to have that 2:3 divider? I though I set it to the right speed in the bios.

[jEevion]

Hey, just now I tried to open Core Temp. It did nothing for about 15 seconds, then my computer rebooted. I tried it again and it did the same thing, even after going back to stock.

What's with that?

[akkuma]

your computer isn't stable, you need to raise the voltage. I'll comment more in a sec.

[Evilsizer]

no, if you open coretemp even at stock and it reboots its a known issue. my comp after just booting up then starting .95 shutsdown instantly, yes even at stock speeds. what you want to do is use the 2:3 divider to find the max clock of the ram. i would use the 1:1 ratio or 533 setting to max cpu.

[akkuma]

I would start ocing by loosening your ram to 5-5-5-15 and set it to 1:1. That way if you make an adjustment to your cpu and it crashes you know it isn't the ram.
I don't remember what the 6600 stock is at but you want to raise the fsb up untill it becomes unstable (which is where you're at I think) then raise the voltage 1 notch at a time... once it's stable again you can raise the fsb again untill it's unstable.. then go and raise the voltage again till it's stable. There may be "dead spots" like my computer had a dead spot from like 345 to 359 no matter how much voltage I applied but when I hit 360ish it became stable again.Right now 362 is my max stable under 1.5 volts.

:edit: hmmm didn't know that about coretemp... I never had a crash due to it opening though. Guess you learn something new every day! Also I don't know why but I clock the cpu first then the ram then the video card, thats just how I always have done it... everyone does it a bit different I guess.

[Evilsizer]

he doesnt need to loosen the timings on that ram it good for ddr2-800 since he will be running the ram in line with cpu fsb(1:1). he wont need to change the timings till he gets to the 450-500mhz range. with that board though i bet he will top out around 430ish.

[akkuma]

Ya I guess not, I just like to make sure that theres no way it could be the ram (bad stick) holding the system back. my ram was rated at like 3-4-3-13 at 800mhz, but at around 820 or so I had to go up to 5-5-5-15 to stay stable, and apply +.3v .... and it's only stable at 4-4-4-12 +.2v at 724.

[jEevion]

Hey guys sorry for the delay, had to work :/

Thanks a ton for the help, but I am having problems!

When I tried to start up my PC today, it told me that overclocking frequency or voltage failed. F1 to enter setup or F2 to load defaults. I thought everything was set to stock!

What settings should I have in the bios to begin testing?

Should I set the CPU voltage to a defined value, or leave it at Auto?
My ram still shows as running 2:3, but the frequency is 400MHz, I set it to DDR800 in bios and FSB is stock at 266. How do I change the ratio?

EDIT I set the Dram frequency to I think 877 or something, it's running 3:5 now according to CPU-Z, 445MHz 4-4-4-10 2.2v

[jEevion]

Seemed to have figured it out, here's what's going on so far:

[hUMANbEATbOX]

so far so good...keep cranking. :)

[jEevion]

Aye, testing 3.4 now, been going 5 minutes or so, so far so good! :)

[jEevion]

Ok, so if I'm getting errors, even after raising the vCore, is it 100% the CPU?

[Evilsizer]

what vcore were you using, how high have you gone, at what speed?

[jEevion]

OK right now I'm testing 3.4GHz

In bios I have set vCore to 1.425, vcore shows as 1.41 in CPU-Z and 1.408 hardware sensor monitor 4.3, but when I load up Prime 95 it drops to 1.39ish.

EDIT how important is it to disable C1E? I couldn't find this setting in the bios, nor any of the following, as suggested by many people:

HT Link = Auto
AI Tuning = Disabled
Q-Fan = disabled
Limit CPUID Max to 3 = Disabled
Overvoltage Protection = Disabled
C1E = Disabled
EIST = Disabled
No-Execute Memory Protect = Disabled

All of those I cannot find in the bios. Could this have anything to do with it?

[jEevion]

I have made a few bios changes, and increased the MCH from 1.55v to 1.65v, dual Prime is now lasting longer than it was before .... what's the max I want to have MCH? Is it safe to use 1.85 if need be? I currently don't have a program to monitor the NB temp, and CoreTemp crashes my computer.

[Peepaw]

I've heard enough about coretemp crashing, so I'm not going to use it.
I'm not sure if TAT reads NB temps or not. You could download it and see.

Edit: I just read the pdf on TAT and didn't see any mention of NB temp.

[jEevion]

Eh oh well. I've got the MCH set to 1.65v, vCore to 1.45v, 1.41v with droop under load. So far so good.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

to give you an idea, i have to set 1.5v in bios to run 3.5ghz 24/7 orthos stable. that works out to about 1.45v at idle, and about 1.41-1.42v under full load.

[Evilsizer]

yea some boards have alot of vdroop... like you select 1.5v in bios and really at idle its like 1.46-1.48/load 1.43v. mine does it and it gets worse the higher i go past 1.5v.

[jEevion]

3.4 1+ hour Superpi/Prime stable.

[Peepaw]

Are you testing with prime or orthos?
When were those low temps taken?

[jEevion]

I'm testing with Prime, I took that s/s about a minute after stopping prime.

I got up to 3.5GHz stable, have benched 3.6 but need 1.5+, decided to stay at 3.5 for now.

Just need to work on the memory now. FSB is 389. Any suggestions?