Trouble with a Q8300.

[Cheeseiznice]

Hello!, i recently purchased a Q8300 quad. Im having problems overclocking it, i have searched the web and found out that this CPU isnt an amazing overclocker (-_- that isnt what the website i brought it off said! ), anyway, i ramp up my FSB to 400, with 1:1 RAM ratio, i have my RAM set to 2.1V which is normal. My VCORE is at 1.34V atm, its normal is 1.28V if my memory is correct, while my FSB Voltage is normal (Didnt want to change because i have no idea what it is, so this may be the problem!)

It boots fine with these settings, logs into windows fine etc etc. I load up Prime95 and get an error after the first test, and when i listen to my CPU it makes a weird noise, im not sure if this is normal or not, but my old Pentium D did it when i overclocked it a bit, but i can't recall my E5300 doing it atall.. even at 3.8Ghz from 2.6. i am worried about that as i dont want it to just explode and have my £120 down the drain. Anyway Prime95 gets an error so i stop it, my CPU temps are only 62c max at 100% load with Prime95 so i dont believe it is my temps (I use Everest Ultimate to monitor temps) and idles around 32c. I dont want to push my VCORE too high without any advice from you guys, right now im leaving it stock settings until i can get any advice

Thanks for reading!

Here are my specs incase you need it:

Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L
4GB OCZ OCZ2F8002G DDR-6400. (5-4-4-18)
500GB Samsung HDD
300GB Seagate HDD
ATI Radeon HD 5670
And a DVD Rewrite

 

[Daemonkin]

First I would suggest you read the guides on this site. Following them will allow you to hit a stable overclock much quicker.

As for your processor making a noise...processors have no moving parts. If a noise is coming from there then its likely something close to the cpu vibrating. The most likely candidate is the fan is causing a vibration in the heatsink or a bearing going out. After that it could be something on the motherboard itself. Check and see if its the retaining pin on the cpu. Very rarely the cpu itself will vibrate.

Past that, try lowering your ram ratio. When you ramp up that fsb, you are also ramping up your ram. Probably way too much for your ram to handle at stock settings. Set it as low as you can and work on getting your cpu stable then slowly work on bringing your ram up to speed.

 

[Cheeseiznice]

Thankyou for reading Yes i shall read some of the guides to help me

Oh okay! Well it only seems to happen when the processor is under load, it never makes the noise when it isnt underload. It may be the fan, so il make my fan run at max all the time and see if i can hear the noise. Thanks for clearing that up

Yeah i know, but my RAM is on a 1:1 ratio, so it is running at 400mhz ( Which is its stock anyway) so i dont think i am actually overclocking my RAM with that setting. But just incase i shall put it on lowest and and get a stable processor speed before i put it back.

Thanks for your time!

EDIT: I just made my fan run at max all the time, no noise. But when i start prime 95 and run a test, the noise comes back, so it cant be the fan. Wonder what else it could be.

 

[Daemonkin]

Are you positive its not the hdd?

 

[Cheeseiznice]

Well thats what i thought, i unplugged one, the noise still was there. But when i try different tests with Prime 95 i get different noises for each one, so i have no idea what it is. But true it could be the HDD, anyway i put the FSB up 10 at a time from 250, with ram at lowest possible, got an error at 270. But my RAM does not like been underclocked, i set it to 1.6 ratio and was only at 542, and it wouldnt boot atall. So it was at the lowest bootable and i still get errors, might just run it at stock anyway, is quick enough Thanks for the help

 

[Evilsizer]

it isnt going to explode, that noise comes from a Choke on the motherboard or it could be one of the chokes in the psu. the way you figure out where the problem is or what you need to do next, is the last size or size of where the error happens. if its in the size range that is below the cpus L2, then you need more cpu voltage. if it is above it then it could be the memory or the chipset needs more voltage. which test in prime95 are you using, small FFT's, large FFT's or blend?

 

[Cheeseiznice]

Ohhh okay! Thanks for clearing that up! Im using blend tests when i run Prime 95, today i tested 370 FSB again, with no errors, and 380 also had no errors. But when i try 400 it crashes out after 1 second, and i got a BSOD which said 'Attempt was made to write to read only memory', Does that mean theres a problem with voltages? or is it something else, maybe the RAM's voltage is too low? right now im running at 380 FSB (2.85GHZ), doing a long prime 95, to make sure it is infact stable. Thanks for your help!

EDIT: My voltage used for 370, 380 and 400, was 1.34 volts (Too low maybe).

EDIT: Just got a BSOD at 380 'IQRL Not less or equal, back to stock.

 

[Evilsizer]

it could even be the ratio your using on the ram. using certian ratios can cause odd problems too. just takes some testing to figure out what the issue is. after looking up your board, i think there is only so far you can go with the quad. since the board has a 3 phase pwm this will limit ocing with quad core cpus. how much will it limit it, its hard to say, since you using a 45nm quad.

 

[Cheeseiznice]

Yeah, my RAM does not like a 1.6 ratio, but its fine with 2.0 or 2.4, ah i see, it is a lower end board i guess so i didnt expect it to be amazing anyway. But it seems the limit is pretty low, or i might not be using the right settings im not sure.

Here is a picture of an error after Prime 95 doing the 'In-place large FFTs' test.

 

[Evilsizer]

1024k is within the range of the cpus L2, so up the cpu voltage a bit more. IMO i would start with 1.35 and see how far the cpu goes. if the cpu is still when you hit 400mhz fsb, then start to lower the cpu v till it is unstable, then go up one notch.

 

[Grnfinger]

Ohhh okay! Thanks for clearing that up! Im using blend tests when i run Prime 95, today i tested 370 FSB again, with no errors, and 380 also had no errors. But when i try 400 it crashes out after 1 second, and i got a BSOD which said 'Attempt was made to write to read only memory', Does that mean theres a problem with voltages? or is it something else, maybe the RAM's voltage is too low? right now im running at 380 FSB (2.85GHZ), doing a long prime 95, to make sure it is infact stable. Thanks for your help!

EDIT: My voltage used for 370, 380 and 400, was 1.34 volts (Too low maybe).

EDIT: Just got a BSOD at 380 'IQRL Not less or equal, back to stock.

that error is memory related, if your failing 1024 test try more vNB

it has been my experience when running prime if you fail any of these test then this is what needs adjusting

1024 - increase VTT or vNB
896 or 448 - vNB
768, 512, 332 - VTT

But Evilsizer is right on many points, your board and power management might not be up to the task for your quad