First off, I hope this is the right place for this post! Secondly, I am aware the Asus P5N-E SLI isn't the best by any means for quad core overclocking
I currently have this setup stable:
Q6600 G0 65nm @ 9x333MHz, 3.0GHz, Unlinked, 1.38v.
4x1GB Crucial Ballistix PC-6400, 400MHz, 4-4-4-12, 2.013v.
Stock cooled NB @ 1.56v.
Running 0608 BIOS revision as the others are awful for overclocking.
My overclocking experience isn't the best in the world, however, from my research on this board this overclock is rather good, however I've had moderate success at 3.4GHz and want to keep trying.
Here's where stuff gets funny. After I test a few FSB values at different voltages I go back to 9x333MHz which is stable as a rock usually. It crashes on Windows load. This pattern has happened multiple times and can be fixed in 2 ways.
1. Setting stock settings for ~30mins then setting the same overclock values again, this results in a 99% stable system, with a crash every day or two randomly (often overnight while idle).
2. Resetting the CMOS and going again at the same overclock values. This provides a completely stable system.
This of course means I can't test my FSB values for stability if somewhere in my testing I'm causing the system to be unstable at previously rock solid values. Unless I reset my CMOS every attempt to guarantee the instability is caused by the new settings - A bad option without removing my motherboard from the case as the jumper has an awful positioning.
My assumption is the board is somehow remembering old settings via in it's CPR system and this is somehow causing instability, is my assumption correct that this motherboard is just awful or is this a common issue I wasn't aware about? Is it possible I'm actually causing damage to a component during my testing?
I currently have this setup stable:
Q6600 G0 65nm @ 9x333MHz, 3.0GHz, Unlinked, 1.38v.
4x1GB Crucial Ballistix PC-6400, 400MHz, 4-4-4-12, 2.013v.
Stock cooled NB @ 1.56v.
Running 0608 BIOS revision as the others are awful for overclocking.
My overclocking experience isn't the best in the world, however, from my research on this board this overclock is rather good, however I've had moderate success at 3.4GHz and want to keep trying.
Here's where stuff gets funny. After I test a few FSB values at different voltages I go back to 9x333MHz which is stable as a rock usually. It crashes on Windows load. This pattern has happened multiple times and can be fixed in 2 ways.
1. Setting stock settings for ~30mins then setting the same overclock values again, this results in a 99% stable system, with a crash every day or two randomly (often overnight while idle).
2. Resetting the CMOS and going again at the same overclock values. This provides a completely stable system.
This of course means I can't test my FSB values for stability if somewhere in my testing I'm causing the system to be unstable at previously rock solid values. Unless I reset my CMOS every attempt to guarantee the instability is caused by the new settings - A bad option without removing my motherboard from the case as the jumper has an awful positioning.
My assumption is the board is somehow remembering old settings via in it's CPR system and this is somehow causing instability, is my assumption correct that this motherboard is just awful or is this a common issue I wasn't aware about? Is it possible I'm actually causing damage to a component during my testing?