got stable 2.8 overclock from quad 2.4 cant get to 3.0 ghz - help...

[lt-cartman]

Hi to all

Eric here,

Thanks for taking the time to read the post again . I tried to include the most info about my system as I could. This is an update

I am using this system for roughly 8 to 24 hours at a time to encode my dvd collection to apple tv h.264 – I-touch format using handbrake 0.9.2.

My system contains the following –

Case - Thermaltake Armor Black, Aluminium Front
Fans for case as follows
Side 25 cm - ( 1 installed)
Front 12 cm - ( 1 installed)
Rear 12 cm - ( 1 installed)
Rear 9 cm - ( 1 installed)
Top 9 cm - ( 1 installed)

Motherboard = MSI P965 Platinum, P965, Socket-775 – with latest V1.8 bios.

Processor = Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4ghz go stepping processor
CPU Cooler = Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Ram
Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 2048MB CL5 - 800 MHz ( PC2-6400 ) – Default timing and voltage is 5.5.5.18 & 1.9 V
Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 1024MB CL5 - 800 MHz ( PC2-6400 ) – Default timing and voltage is 5.5.5.18 & 1.9 V
(Totalling 3gb ram)

Graphics card = Point of View GeForce 8800GTX 768MB,
PSU = Seasonic S12 Power supply 500W, 120mm
O/S = Microsoft Windows XP Pro – latest SP2 and updates.

Storage
Hard Drives = 6 x Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB drives

Dvd-rw’s
Samsung DVD±RW burner, SH-S183A
&
NEC DVD±RW burner AD-5170 IDE Black OEM,

To the overclock

I have a stable over clock on my 2.4 quad to 2.8 MHz (310fsb x 9.0)
I have ran prime95 for several hours with no errors.
To get the overclock I have added .0125 volts to the cpu & the ram is at 2.0 volts. (1.9 default)

I am trying to get it to 3.0 ghz but it keeps failing in prime 95.

Any ideas

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Eric.

 

[ps2cho]

Try dropping your RAM divider so the RAM isn't causing any problems.

 

[antipesto93]

mabye lower multiplier and higher mhz??
i have had no experience with that mobo, but it mite be that u need a new 1, cos i think it depends on the motherboard on how high u can o/c

 

[lt-cartman]

I tried dropping the ram divider and it instantly fails on the prime95 test (within 20 seconds or so). it only seems to be stable if i leave the memory on auto and it runs at about 480 to 499 mhz (its 400 mhz un clocked)


i have seen reviews of the motherboard have being overclocked way past 3 ghz.

 

[jordon]

Your gonna need to give your chip allot more vcore if you wanna start going above 3.0.. watch your temps etc..

 

[orion456]

Motherboard = MSI P965 Platinum

Never had luck with MSI boards, they are a waste. Get something known to OC well; ASUS p5k, Gigabyte.

Too many fans = too much noise for too little gain. One rear exhaust and adequate intake openings performs just as well.

 

[lt-cartman]

a lot more v core - will do thanks. at moment i have it stable ar 2.88ghz and running prime for 8 hours and max temp was 55

too many fans - yea its mental but i have no problem with the noise from it.

thanks

eric

 

[prime81]

Try the following...

Ram DDR800
Vcore- 1.2625
FSB- 333
Ratio- 9
CIE Disabled
Spread Specs Disabled
Speedstep disabled
Vanderpool disabled
NB Volts - 1.58

Try it out and let us know...

 

[lt-cartman]

Try the following...

Ram DDR800
Vcore- 1.2625
FSB- 333
Ratio- 9
CIE Disabled
Spread Specs Disabled
Speedstep disabled
Vanderpool disabled
NB Volts - 1.58

Try it out and let us know...

Will do later tonight

 

[nickman777]

you should get ram volt to 2.1 - 2.2
fsb should be set to 334 / multi 9.0
first try raising nb volt a slight, this is very important for when you are able to boot with the settings but having trouble keeping stability running prime. i say increment 3 tries at most then move on to increment the cpu.

 

[Neuromancer]

On 965 you are going to need to feed the Northbridge some volts to overclock the quad. Especially with 4
DIMM populated.

Running your RAM at 1:1 should be easier on the system, however I also noticed on the 965 chipset that running your RAM higher was easier on the system

vcore of 1.26 is really low. If your VID is 1.3 or more then do not bother under volting it, you definitly will not get more legroom from it by doing that.

Slap a fan on the Northbridge and give it some juice, most likely that is why your RAM is failing Large FFTs.

 

[lt-cartman]

hi NeurOmancer
you wrote On 965 you are going to need to feed the Northbridge some volts to overclock the quad. Especially with 4 DIMM populated.

Running your RAM at 1:1 should be easier on the system, however I also noticed on the 965 chipset that running your RAM higher was easier on the system

vcore of 1.26 is really low. If your VID is 1.3 or more then do not bother under volting it, you definitly will not get more legroom from it by doing that.

Slap a fan on the Northbridge and give it some juice, most likely that is why your RAM is failing Large FFTs.


Yes I found it impossible to run the ram at 1:1 on the 965 – even wne I had my previous 2.67 dual core in it (not overclocked) the default of the ram-fsb was 2:3.

What do you bean by VID

The v core is actually set to + 0.0125 in the bios

its going to be a tight squeeze to try and get a fan on the northbridge does it really need one is I need to increase the nb voltage.

& thanks nickman777 will try it also.

anyone know where i can get a fan for the north bridge heat sync that i have at the moment.

thanks all.
eric

 

[Neuromancer]

VID is the stock voltage of the CPU you are using. It varies even within the same processor series. (1.2625 as mentioned before is about the lowest i have seen it on a Q6600 my first G0 stepping quad had a 1.325 VID).


As for cooling hte northbridge... yes a dedicated fan on it would be great, but simply blowing air in its general direction will help keep it much cooler. I used an 80mm ziptied to my heatsink to push air in the direction of my RAM that also helped cool the Northbridge.

If you are comfortable modifying your equipment, I would remove the heatsink, cut off that flat top on it (as it will restrict airflow) clean the bubblegum TIM they use, apply some arctic silver ceramique, and remount the heatsink, possible with screws instead of the stock pushpins.

This is for extreme clocking though... not something to tackle if just going for a modest OC.


Another thing you can try, is changing the facing of your heatsink. The armor has the power supply up top i believe. . you can change the orientation of your heatsink to blowing straight up into the power supply (will only effect PSU temps a small amount) because of the open face fan design of the freezer 64 pro, it should pull air from the vicinty of the northbridge.

You can also change the rear fan into an intake fan rather then an exhaust fan to add more cool air to that hot area.

 

[Ceegar]

It looks as though this board may not be as overclocker friendly as some other choices out there. This review may or may not help you out. In any event it may just be a good read for you as it's specific to your board.

http://www.hothardware.com/Articles...arison_Asus_P5BE_vs_MSI_P965_Platinum/?page=7

I'm nowhere near the expert that some of these guys on here are but you should be able to overclock that chip to 3GHz with very little effort or tweaking in the BIOS. One of your key settings in the Cell Menu must be off and if I had to guess it's either your Vcore or your RAM Timings/Frequency/Voltage settings.

If it were me I would check to see what my stock VID value is according to CoreTemp and make sure that is what my vcore value was set to in the BIOS - for starters anyway - you may have to bump it up just a bit to get it to 334FSB, but start with your stock value then slowly increase if needed to achieve boot/stability. With my board if I leave it set to Normal/Auto my chip runs undervolted at stock 2.4GHz - but then again my board is totally different. I have to manually set my vcore value to my chip's VID value to overclock - and if I remember right I didn't have to bump it up at all to achieve 3GHz.

Disable Dynamic Overclocking Mode

As far as your RAM frequency goes - by setting your FSB to 334 to give you your 3GHz overclock your RAM should be able to overclock fine without having to use any divider or manually setting the DRAM frequency so leave it on Auto - just be sure your voltage value is set to what your RAM is rated. The only thing you may have to do is loosen the timings a bit. I'm not familiar with that RAM but my OZC Reaper won't run at stock timings while overclocked. If you want to try using a divider to get it as close to 800MHz as possible and leave your timings alone try it to see if it boots and is stable. For now though I would leave it on Auto. If it boots but isn't stable loosen the timings a bit. I don't know what's better - tighter timings/slower RAM or faster RAM/looser timings.

Run Memtest.

I'm thinking to achieve only a 334FSB you shouldn't have to overvolt your NB - but then again I don't know that board.

If you've gone into the BIOS and really mucked it up by changing all sorts of settings back and forth then maybe it might be wise to get everything back to factory settings and start over.

Good luck.

 

[jason4207]

Motherboard = MSI P965 Platinum

Never had luck with MSI boards, they are a waste. Get something known to OC well; ASUS p5k, Gigabyte.

It looks as though this board may not be as overclocker friendly as some other choices out there.

+1 This board is going to limit your OC potential w/ a quad. Sell it and get a good P35 board if you want the higher 24/7 clocks like 3.4-3.6GHz.

 

[lt-cartman]

thanks to all for input ran a few tests
using prime95 small fft's to stress system

on the stable overclock as mentioned in previous posts i had the speed step enabled
for these tests i disabled speed step.

PLEASE NOTE after disabling speed step - cpu-z still varied the multiplier settings at idle (6)

and loaded (9)
i dont seem to have vanderpool settings

started as follows

333 fsb x9 = 2.997.7ghz processor speed
+ 1.0250 cpu

ram 499.7 mhz (sewt to auto) 2.00 volts

in win xp pro - cpu voltage is 1.3250 in core temp and 1.288 v in cpu-z

nb voltage 1.38

ran test and
blue screen around test 3 pattern of small fft's

so
set ram to 2.05 volt & ran test didnt get as far in prime95 test

so
set the ram to 416.4 (832) mhz 2.05 volt tried test again

core temps 52, 54, 48, 48

blue screened at around the 3rd test again

so
set nb voltage to 1.42 and tried again

stoped around start of test 3 again

so
set nb voltage to 1.47 and tried again

this time didnt even get true second test

so set system back to 2.880 ghz as follows

320 fsb
+ 0.0125 volts cpu

memory set to auto - 480.1mhz
2.0 dram voltage

default 1.26 on the nb

and left speed step disabled

and prime95 runs perfectly

any ideas on what to do to get it to 3.0 ghz

eric

 

[prime81]

Looks like northbridge... bump it up to 1.58 and try 333 x 9 with ur vcore at 1.2875

 

[lt-cartman]

hi eric here

tried that as follows nb set to 1.59 same fault happens

my default bios vdu is 1.328 btw
the ram was set to 480.1 mhz
+ .0250 onto cpu
ram 2.0 v (default is 1.9)

eric

 

[prime81]

hi eric here

tried that as follows nb set to 1.59 same fault happens

my default bios vdu is 1.328 btw
the ram was set to 480.1 mhz
+ .0250 onto cpu
ram 2.0 v (default is 1.9)

eric

There is really no reason to OC ur ram... leave it set to ddr800, or 667. Do the 333 x 9 with ram set to a 1:1 ratio...this may have been ur perp the whole time if you have been clockin the ram up.

 

[lt-cartman]

hi prime81

Eric here

i could never get a 1:1 ratio with the ram even when i had my old 2.67 dual core in it (not over clocked) the default ratio of the ram was 2:3. i don't have an option in the bios to set it to 1:1.

i will try setting the memory as close to 800 mhz as possible and set if it makes a difference

i have included a photo of the case and the bios settings for the stable 2.88 overclock that i have at present

thanks