Don't know how to go further

[gesti]

Hello,
would like to get some advice how to get my FSB from 361 to a higher value
Here's what I have:
mobo: Asus P5Q3 (not deluxe)
CPU: Intel Q6600
RAM: 2 x 2Gb of OCZ PC3 12800

Basically my big barrier is at 361FSB the PC starts, stable and doesn't over heat
and I can switch it off and on again. But when I change the FSB to 362, then after
switching off the PC it won't boot (even the keyboard lights won't come on).
The same thing happens if I set my NB to 1.14V.

I've attached my settings as pictures. These settings I've puzzled together from
various forum posts. Except the settings of the the RAM timings (from
"RAS# to RAS# Delay" to "ALL PRE to REF Delay") I just read out the
settings once from the "Information" lines and set them according to them.

My goal would be to the the memory up to 1600Mhz. Both my mobo and my RAM
meant to be able to operate on those speeds, but some how they don't want to...
What am I doing wrong?

 

[jazon1]

are you only overclocking to get your ram to rated speeds? if so all you had to do is set your XMP profile to 1600.
i dont know alot about core 2 cpu's as i was into amd still when they came out and didnt switch til the first I7's hit so maybe someone else here can help you with an overclock on that system.
but it looks like you putting to much voltage on your ram i would drop it back down to 1.7
i think thats what that ram runs at and only raise it to stabilize it at speeds higher then the stock 1600 its rated for.
sorry i couldn't be more help on that system but i dont want to lead you in the wrong direction.

 

[gesti]

Well I would like to benefit from a mild CPU OC as well. So the main idea is to run both up as high as they go together.
At the moment if I lower the Volt on the RAM it becomes unstable and what puzzles me is that on the RAM itself there is sticker that saids "1600Mhz 8-8-8 @ 1.9V". Would that mean that it can perform the speed and 8-8-8 timings on 1.9 Volt?

There are maybe two interesting things about CPU that on intel's website they say the recommended CPU voltage is 1.5V (this seems very high for me) and that it's official FSB is 1066Mhz.

I've fiddled a bit more with the settings and volts here and there (after reading further forum posts) and got the FSB up to 369 (so far) stable. Is it possible that I reached the end of my CPU's FSB?

 

[gesti]

Just looked at the XMP profiles in BIOS and the highest it can set the RAM to 1066Mhz. So unfortunately that is a no-go.

 

[trents]

Every motherboard has a limit as to how fast it will overclock with the fsb. I'm surprised it has let you set it as high as it has. This has not to do with the limitations of the CPU or the memory but of the electronics of the board itself. The higher the quality of the board, the higher it will allow you to overclock the fsb. Inexpensive boards will often have a limit of 240-250 mhz on the fsb while high end boards will go over 300 mhz.

According to this info, that board should go up to 1800 mhz on the ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131344. But you would probably have to enter the higher frequencies manually and the timings as well.

 

[gesti]

I don't really understand these FSBs to be honest. What's the difference between FSB frequency and FSB Strap?
Yes, the mobo should go up to 1600Mhz and should OC up to 1800Mhz. The RAM should be able to run at 1600Mhz. Now here comes the "but": the CPU has 1066Mhz FSB.
So without overclocking anything they run altogether on 1066Mhz FSB?!.
Would it be possible to set separate FSB between mobo - RAM and mobo - CPU or the mobo - RAM - CPU is an inseparable trinity?

 

[trents]

I have heard the term "fsb strap" but I'm not knowledgeable about it at all. FSB, on the other hand is like a metronome that all the other buses (i.e., ram, NB) are tuned to. That's why the other buses rise or fall in concert with the FSB as you make changes to it.

Now, in all honesty I'm an AMD user so I'm real knowledgeable about Intel architecture but some things, of course, are common to both. With AMD CPUs the fsb in bios these days is usually termed, "CPU Frequency", i.e., they are the same so they cannot be separated. The CPU-NB frequency (cache memory controller) and the ram divider can be adjusted separately, however.

 

[redduc900]

You could try a FSB of 400MHz x either 7 or 8 = 2.8GHz or 3.2GHz on the 333 MCH strap and 4.0 DRAM multiplier = DDR3-1600. The only way to hit DDR3-1600 on the 400 strap would be to raise the FSB to 480MHz x 6 = 2.88GHz, w/ the highest available DRAM multiplier of 3.33 = DDR3-1600.

 

[gesti]

Hi redduc,
so you say to set:
FSB: 400Mhz
FSB strap: 333Mhz
to get the DRAM Frequency of 1600Mhz? (on my board I don't have a DRAM
multiplier, but I have a DRAM Frequency list - I'm guessing the board
sets the multiplier depending on my choice there.)
If I understood you're suggestion correctly, then that is what I can't
do. I can raise my FSB above 369 Mhz with FSB Strap of 333 Mhz as then
the OS won't boot.

Here are my currently stable settings:

 

[redduc900]

At a FSB of >369MHz try the 400 strap (looser internal NB latencies compared to the 333 strap). And the DRAM freq. options are calculated from the current FSB and available DRAM multipliers based on the strap. So for example at a FSB of 400MHz on the 400 strap, the available multipliers are 2.00, 2.66, and 3.33. So the three available multipliers x a 400MHz bus speed = DDR2-800, DDR2-1066, and DDR2-1333. As far as the DRAM timings, leave all of the sub-timings (all timings except the four primary) on Auto for the time being, this combined w/ a lower DRAM frequency at rated timings until you find your chips max. overclock.

 

[gesti]

When I set the strap to 400Mhz then the computer won't even start and have to even pop the cmos battery out to reset settings. Tried the 400 FSB Strap with both higher and lower FSB Freq's and also with exactly with 369 Mhz, same thing happens. Also tried lowering the DRAM freq. Again same thing happens.

 

[redduc900]

Raise the FSB to 400MHz w/ the multiplier at x7 on the 400 strap, this w/ the DRAM freq. set to DDR3-1333.

 

[gesti]

with these settings it doesn't even start.

 

[redduc900]

Remove the 2nd stick of RAM and try again.

 

[gesti]

tried it with one stick of ram (all the variations of the two orange slots and the two rams) tried it with the setting you suggested and also tried leaving everything on auto except for the DRAM freq. to 1600Mhz and the main timings + DRAM voltage. The problem was the same with all the variations:
it just doesn't start.
Is it possible the because of my "slow" CPU FSB, I won't be able to get the rams and mobo to their max speed? (the official FSB of my CPU is 1066)

 

[gesti]

I think I found my mistake:
The CPU multiplier was too low compared to the DRAM multiplier. So to run the memory on the highest multiplier I have to set the CPU multiplier to the highest as well, am I correct? (still couldn't start it with 400 FSB Strap)

 

[trents]

The CPU multiplier only affects the speed of the CPU cores, i.e. the running frequency of the CPU. You should be able to lower it but unless you have a CPU with an unlocked multiplier you will not be able to raise it beyond its shipped factory value. If it shipped at 20x you could lower it to 19x or 18x or whatever but you could not increase it to 21x or 22x.

 

[gesti]

The reason I thought it would also have an effect on the memory, or more precisely an effect between the communication of the RAM and CPU 'cos the following happened:
had the CPU multiplier on 8 (can go up to 9) and the RAM multiplier on the highest and when setting FSB to 371-372 and tried to boot my linux the kernel died and gave some out of sync error.
Then I lower the memory multiplier to one smaller and at FSB 372 and 373 the linux booted and the system seems stable.
I'll try later to set the CPU multiplier to 9 and RAM multiplier back to max and see what happens.

 

[trents]

With AMD CPUs we have to add some voltage to the CPUNB (part of the integrated memory controller) as the CPU frequency increases in order to keep it stable when overclocking. I don't know if there is an equivalent adjustment needed on Intel CPUs or not.