Help me stabilize! Please!

Alright I got it all set up. Currently am running at 168 bclk with a Vcore of 1.35000v ending me up at 4040Mhz (168x24). Turbo mode is enabled and Speedstep is disabled.

It's a fairly conservative OC since its my first! When I run Prime95 with a blended test sometimes I will BSOD with "clock interrupt not received on a secondary processor" error.

Rig:
i7 950 (Corsair H70 cooler with 2 CM R4 fans)
EVGA FTW3 X58 SLI
6GB G.Skill PI Series 1600Mhz
MSI GTX 470 (Overclocked to 750/1500 and stable, I seem to have a driver conflict when playing Crysis though)
Corsair TX650 PSU

I can assure you temps are not a problem, the CPU runs at NO MORE than 60-65 while Prime95 is running. Everything else is set to auto in the BIOS. I'm not sure what my next step is, I did a lot of research on OC'ing but not stability! Please help!

Instead of using the x25 multiplier, drop to the x20 multiplier w/ a 200 BCLK = 4.0GHz, this w/ the DRAM multiplier set to x8 = DDR3-1600. A Vcc of 1.35V seems too high for only a 4.0GHz clock, instead try a lower 1.275V at a BCLK of either 200 or 191 (x21)...

redduc900 said:

Instead of using the x25 multiplier, drop to the x20 multiplier w/ a 200 BCLK = 4.0GHz, this w/ the DRAM multiplier set to x8 = DDR3-1600. A Vcc of 1.35V seems too high for only a 4.0GHz clock, instead try a lower 1.275V at a BCLK of either 200 or 191 (x21)...

Code:

Vcore: 1.275 - 1.3125
VTT: +150 - +225mV
CPU PLL VCore: 1.825
FSB : DRAM Ratio (Memory Frequency): 2:8
QPI PLL VCore: 1.3
IOH VCore: 1.275
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage: 1.6
ICH VCore: 1.2
PWM Frequency: 800 KHz

Click to expand...

Tried the upper, lower, and some in-betweens (on Vcore and VTT)... I don't think it likes to 200 bclk. I can't boot, just get either 68-04-EA-01 or 68-02-E8 errors blinking on the MoBo LCD display. I'm so stumped, I hope there is a solution!

Edit: I even tried those voltages with lowering the DRAM multiplier to 6 so the memory was at 1200Mhz or lower (and it runs with the 168 bclk with mem at 1346Mhz).

Before anyone wastes their time replying... let me just explain my "noob-ness".

When I first received everything from Newegg I hooked it all up, or so I thought... Kept getting this pesky "instant FF" readout on the MoBo. Trolled around the net and couldn't really find anything, called EVGA, they recommended I RMA the board. Well... that was a waste of $45 in shipping costs and 3 days of my time.

The 2nd board I got did the same thing, so I took a deep breath and trolled the net some more and came across an EVGA support forum troubleshooting guide. I read "Re-seat the 8-pin power connection". In my mind I'm thinking... "what 8-pin power connection". Oh dear lord... I missed the connection that supplies a quarter of the power to the board. Hooked that up and bam... was installing windows. LOL. It does continue though... read on for more laughs (I'm laughing at myself with you, trust me).

So I was having so much trouble overclocking and just couldn't figure out this morning while following THIS guide why I hit a POST failure at a bclk of 154 or higher. So then I thought to myself... "gee, i remember reading a post about some guy updating is MoBo bios because it wasn't compatible with his processor".

In short, an hour later after flashing my bios I am continuing to raise my bclk (at 160 running a short OCCT test now) to find my max bclk.

So yes, I am a complete noob, and I am learning a lot from my mistakes (or perhaps the things I neglect to do that would have saved me so much frustration and headache time)!

I'll report back later on tonight when I find some stability. And now that I know a little more about what I'm doing I might just try to actually get the ram up to 1600 (which it's rated at) and then just MAYBE even tighten down the timings, lmao... we'll see.

P.S. For all of you that OC on the regular, you are some smart peoples, props to you. This is more fun that going to class but it is like getting my degree all over again, ****!

OK scratch that about updating the BIOS, now I'm back to failing my POST at a 154 bclk or higher.

CPU multi: 15
Uncore multi: 20
Mem multi: 6
QPI: lowest setting (4.800 GT/s)
QPI PLL Vcore: 1.2v
IOH Vcore: 1.1V
All other voltages set to auto (as per the guide I linked above)
Speedstep and Turbo mode: OFF

How would I be able to POST at 160 and run an OCCT without error and then upon reboot fail the POST?

Edit: Yet I can leave everything on auto, turn on turbo (x24 cpu multi), crank up CPU Vcore to 1.35V and bclk to 168 and she runs fine. Doesn't pass OCCT but at least I can POST and I can run WoW, Crysis, Mafia II without errors,BSOD'ing, or freezing... I'm so stumped.

Change the MCH Strap from Auto to either 1600 (try this first) or 1867, CPU Uncore Frequency (Mhz) to Auto, CPU multiplier to x16 at a 160 BCLK = 2.56GHz, DRAM multiplier to 2:10 = DDR3-1600, and ICH Vcore to 1.2V.

Stability? Maybe...

I gave up earlier... then went back in and just decided to mess around again without following a guide...

Found a mixture that gave me two stable 15 minute runs through OCCT (one on small data set (CPU) and one on high data set (CPU/MEM/BOARD)). Individual core temps went as high as 83C (Core 1 & 3), never higher according to Real Temp. At idle they are sitting at 39C (Core 4) and 46C (Core 3). MoBo is showing 31-32C for the CPU temp.

Here are my MoBo settings, please comment. And yes I already know the Vcore is high, but with less than that I either don't POST or can't load into Windows.

Bclk: 176
Core: 4055 (x23)
Uncore: 3174 (x18)
Mem: 1410 (x8)

Speedstep: Off
Turbo Mode: Off
Vdroop Control: On


Vcore: 1.425v
CPU VTT: +200mV
CPU PLL Vcore: 1.9v
DIMM Voltage: 1.65v
DIMM DQ Vref: +0mV
QPI PLL Vcore: 1.45v
IOH Vcore: 1.275v
IOH/ICH I/O V: 1.6v
ICH Vcore: 1.2v
PWM Freq: 800Khz

I'm planning on running an hour long test now and then a very long test overnight and through tomorrow.