Underclocking/Timing Changes to Stabilize RAM

[BlackJack10]

Good afternoon to you all!

So, I finally got fed up with my E4600 (1.512v for 3.3Ghz?) and popped my old E4300 back in and messed around with it. I was never able to get past an FSB of 333Mhz, but I realized that my RAM was being OC'd too, and wasn't able to cope with the speeds it was at. So, I lowered the speed ratio, and managed to get all the way to 4.581Ghz at an FSB of 509Mhz (on stock voltage and air cooling )!

The issue is, at 510Mhz, the whole system refuses to post. It tries to boot up about 6 times, then POST's with a "failed overclock" warning, which defaults you back to the stock settings. at 509MHz, the whole system is perfectly stable, Prime95 for 6 hours and the whole system is running beautifully.

Would messing with the timings have any affect on the stability of the RAM, possibly enabling the OC to go higher? Could a modified BIOS that further reduced the ratio help? My motherboard doesn't allow RAM voltage changes, sadly.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ivanlabrie]

Maybe bump voltages first?
What's vdimm and vcore at?
You'd need some massive cooling for more than 4.5 on that chip anyway...

 

[BlackJack10]

Maybe bump voltages first?
What's vdimm and vcore at?
You'd need some massive cooling for more than 4.5 on that chip anyway...

I'll try bumping the voltage on the CPU, don't know if it'll help.
CPU is at 1.3v, RAM is at 1.5v, but there is no way to adjust the RAM voltage in the BIOS. Stupid board.
I'm running at 39C average, it's doing just fine.

 

[ivanlabrie]

Try a bit more vcore, 1.4v for example.
You might need a better board, g41 chipset kinda sucks for overclocking.

 

[BlackJack10]

Try a bit more vcore, 1.4v for example.
You might need a better board, g41 chipset kinda sucks for overclocking.

I'll try doing that and post back with results.
I may just end up picking up an old 680i board, I hear those are decent overclockers.

Ha, I do a google search and people are saying not to expect much more than 3.2Ghz for E4300's...

 

[ivanlabrie]

Get p45 or x48....680i kinda sucks.
The Asus P5B Deluxe is cheap and good for most chips.

If you can upgrade to a quad and you'll be set (unless you feel like getting a z77 rig).
A gpu upgrade would be much better though, you could get a 6950 or something and mine litecoins with it, and thus afford newer hardware.

 

[BlackJack10]

Get p45 or x48....680i kinda sucks.
The Asus P5B Deluxe is cheap and good for most chips.

If you can upgrade to a quad and you'll be set (unless you feel like getting a z77 rig).
A gpu upgrade would be much better though, you could get a 6950 or something and mine litecoins with it, and thus afford newer hardware.

Thank's, I'll look into that.

Litecoin mining? I believe it's a form of virtual currency, but how could you make money off of it?

 

[ivanlabrie]

You generate coins, exchange for bitcoins...sell to get usd locally.
Good way to pay for hardware.

 

[BlackJack10]

You generate coins, exchange for bitcoins...sell to get usd locally.
Good way to pay for hardware.

If I can talk my way into a 6950/70 then I'll be sure to do that, thanks.

 

[ivanlabrie]

Good luck!

Post results, that cpu of yours is quite good...you may wanna bench it. Check hwbot.org for cpu benchmarks, read the rules and maybe post a few submissions there.