12 replies to this topic

[xXDeltaXx]

Hey, just wanting to check my work isn't going to total anything lol.

I had an IP35 Pro XE many years back and did a basic OC on it from some random info I found on a forum - but it worked, so I was happy. Fast forward to now; the board was dieing in multiple places, so I found a new one and set to work OCing it - but properly this time (ref the overclocking a 775 thread).

This is what I started with: (BIOS already took the FSB from 333MHz to 340MHz and I had already put the DDR2 Voltage up to 2.2V)
BIOS
Advanced BIOS Features;
CPU Feature;
• EIST – Auto
• C1E Function – Auto
uGuru Utility;
OC Guru;
• External clock – 340MHz
• Multiplier Factor – 8.0
• DRAM Speed (CPU:DRAM) – Default (DDR2-816)
• PCI Express Clock – 100MHz
Voltages Control;
• CPU Core Voltage - 1.2500V
• DDR2 Voltage – 2.200V
• CPU VTT Voltage – 1.10V
• MCH 1.25V Voltage – Auto
• ICH 1.05V Voltage – 1.05V
• ICHIO 1.5V Voltage – 1.50V
• DDR2 Reference Voltage – 0%
• CPU GTLREF 0&2 – 67%
• CPU GTLREF 1&3 – 67%
And this is what I've ended up with (so far; I aim to get the CPU multi back up to 8 [8.5 if it'll let me without exceeding the CPU specs] by increasing the CPU Core Voltage)
BIOS
Advanced BIOS Features;
CPU Feature;
• EIST – Disabled.
• C1E Function – Disabled
uGuru Utility;
OC Guru;
• External clock – 460MHz
• Multiplier Factor – 7.0
• DRAM Speed (CPU:DRAM) – 1:1.00 (DDR2-920)
• PCI Express Clock – 100MHz
Voltages Control;
• CPU Core Voltage - 1.2800V
• DDR2 Voltage – 2.200V
• CPU VTT Voltage – 1.13V
• MCH 1.25V Voltage – 1.48V
• ICH 1.05V Voltage – 1.25V
• ICHIO 1.5V Voltage – 1.55V
• DDR2 Reference Voltage – 0%
• CPU GTLREF 0&2 – 67%
• CPU GTLREF 1&3 – 67%

Is this looking alright? - I'm still really a bit of a noob when it comes to OCing... is there anything there that looks massively wrong?
(bearing in mind that I can get a stable 3.2GHz by just taking the std settings and increasing the External clock to 400MHz)

Temps are pretty much as they were before - maybe a degree or 2 higher (62 is the highest I've seen)
CPU specs; VID Voltage Range: 0.8500V - 1.3625V (I'm within) & Tcase: 71.4C (I'm below)
RAM Specs; Voltage Range: 2.2 - 2.4V (at spec) & Memory Speed: 1066MHz (a bit under, but it won't stay stable above the current [920MHz])

I'm using OCCT on a 15min test to check stability between changes - but will use it for at least an hour once I've attained my max. (Core Temp for CPU Temps)

Ok, additional. 7.5 multi @ 1.3000V (stable) is giving a temp max of 65/60/64/63C (on XP)


All the increments are being checked on both OSs (XP32 and Vista64)

Edited by xXDeltaXx, 04 April 2011 - 05:20 PM.

[mihapiha]

I wanna refer you to my guide , so that you can cover all them overclocking basics if you want to.
Reading it wouldn't hurt either way. Because if we help you we might as well teach you how it's done, and why it's done a certain way.
That way you won't have problems overclocking wise in the future and can ask more specific questions if needed.


Could you give us the majors specifications of your rig? (CPU, MB, memory, PSU & cooling)

And I wanna know if you now switched motherboards and what temperatures you get idle as well as under load....


After we've covered the basics I'll know if you're settings are correct or worrying...

[xXDeltaXx]

mihapiha, on 04 April 2011 - 05:41 PM, said:

I wanna refer you to my guide , so that you can cover all them overclocking basics if you want to.
Reading it wouldn't hurt either way. Because if we help you we might as well teach you how it's done, and why it's done a certain way.
That way you won't have problems overclocking wise in the future and can ask more specific questions if needed.


Could you give us the majors specifications of your rig? (CPU, MB, memory, PSU & cooling)

And I wanna know if you now switched motherboards and what temperatures you get idle as well as under load....


After we've covered the basics I'll know if you're settings are correct or worrying...

Hey mihapiha, yup that's the one I looked at before commencing

As for the rig...
Motherboard: (Abit) IP35 Pro XE (BIOS Rev 10 - to upgraded to 11)
CPU: (Intel) Q9450 with a (Corsair) H50, (Artic Silver) AS5 & 2x [Push / Pull] (Artic Cooling) Artic F12 PWM fans @ 44C - 50C Idle / 55 - 59C OCCT 1 Hour test - case has poor air flow
RAM: (Geil) Black Dragon 4x 2GB sticks; spec'd at 2.2 - 2.4V, CL 5-5-5-15
GPU: (Gigabyte) GTX470 & [PhysX] (BFG) 8800GTX
Sound Card: (Creative) Fatal1ty Pro
+ many HDDs lol

Post OC, the idle temps are: 40C - 45C (just booted - will revise after it's been on for a while) and I haven't ran a hour test yet, just a 15 min one (60C - 65C). That's with the 7.5 Multi and a 460MHz clock = 3.44GHz

[mihapiha]

How are we looking power supply, cooling and memory frequency wise?


Are you stuck now @ 3.44 GHz? Or is there any other problem I should be aware off?

Looking at the settings above, I only mind anything being activated in the CPU advanced features (EIST or Vitualisation)... Unless you can be sure it's not this causing problems.

P35 chipsets can't do much beyond 480 FSB stable usually although they can hit 500....
Also I want to let you know that Yorkfield CPUs (Q9xxx) have a stability problem starting @ 460 - 470 FSB. So it may just be the limit reached at this point. You cannot expect going much beyond what you've reached on your own. At least not for 24/7 usage. The problem here here is really the CPU. But just to make sure deactivate pretty much everything in the CPUs Advanced features, lower the CPU multiplier to make sure that the MB and the memory are stable at that specif FSB frequency...

[xXDeltaXx]

Well, this seems to be the max stable...
I suppose a 35% OC isn't bad 2.66GHz up to 3.60GHz

uGuru Utility;
OC Guru;
• External clock – 450MHz
• Multiplier Factor – 8.0
• DRAM Speed (CPU:DRAM) – 1:1.00 (DDR2-900)
Voltages Control;
• CPU Core Voltage - 1.3600V
• CPU VTT Voltage – 1.13V
• MCH 1.25V Voltage – 1.48V
• ICH 1.05V Voltage – 1.25V
• ICHIO 1.5V Voltage – 1.55V

Vista
Idle = 42 – 48C
OCCT (15 Min) = 60 – 66C (up to 70 on NV Monitor) No Errors
OCCT (1 Hour) = 63 – 68C
LinX 0.6.4 – 73 – 74C No Errors


XP
Idle = 41 – 47C
OCCT (15 Min) = 62 – 67C (up to 71 on NV Monitor) No Errors
OCCT (1 Hour) = 65 – 69C (up to 73 on NV Monitor) No Errors

Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool – No Errors

Couple of more tests still to run though

Edited by xXDeltaXx, 06 April 2011 - 12:15 AM.

[mihapiha]

Which of my suggestions above did you try? And I'm still missing the specifications I asked above...

[xXDeltaXx]

Hey mihapiha, can you please elaborate on the specs that you are missing...? I assume that you mean answers to "How are we looking power supply, cooling and memory frequency wise? "...? - I'm not sure of what information to provide.

CPU-Z shows the RAM timings to be the same as the specified ones on the box which they came in (5-5-5-15)
My idle temps appear to be very similar if not the same as before
My PSU has an ESA function - linked to Nvidia Monitor - that shows an increase in the +12V amps (circa 2A) - but nothing else...

I reassessed the OC and lowered my FSB from 460 to 450 - this enabled a stable clock with an 8 multi as opposed to the 7.5 that I had before. This seems stable through all tests that I have carried out (above post )

(treat me as a bit simple & you'll get your answers quicker lol )

[mihapiha]

I don't know how the specific settings in your bios are called and what your particular bios offers on setting at all. Every motherboard is different so it's hard to tell you what you have to change if you didn't list it above. You'd have to provide some screen shots or something, so that I can answer that question. The only thing I can offer at that point is to tell you where you probably could find the settings (and I mean more than one) which could cause instability issues. I figured you read the guide I wrote, so the specific terminology wasn't that big of a problem. Sorry about that. Read in that guide point 3.1.1 again. Hopefully that will explain what I wanted you to do. If it's unclear just let me know.

Hardware wise I missing the specifications of your memory. It's nice to know that you use Geil Black Dragon 4x2GB memory, but it doesn't help me one bit if I don't know what frequency they're meant to run under. Are they DDR2-800 or DDR2-1066 MHz, etc. Also I'm missing their stock voltage, which I would assume is 2.1V but I'd like to know the exact number. You've told me that CPUz tells you they're running @ 5-5-5-15 timings but do you know their stock timings? All this information you can find (if no where else) on the memory module itself. There is a sticker on them which tells you everything you need to know.

Power supply wise I wanted to know the brand and the wattage it's build for. For example: "I use a Corsair AX 750W" or something like that. Cooling wise I'd like to know what type of a cooler you use and if the motherboard gets hot because of poor air circulation in your case. Anything at all you can figure out could cause the PC to overheat at any point...

[xXDeltaXx]

Hey, been through the BIOS with my phone camera - semi decent quality pics So I've captured all the settings; incase you wish to take a look... seen as there's about 40 pics, I've posted the ones where I have changed settings & just linked the rest in menu drill down form to show settings
I did have another look over the guide - but I was just being a bit dumb lol
This post may have went from not enough info - to too much info

Main BIOS Screen (Menu)
uGuru Utility > OC Guru > CPU External Clock Originally 340MHz, but gradually increased to 450MHz


uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Multiplier Factor Originally 8.0, but lowered for testing; now back to 8.0


uGuru Utility > OC Guru > DRAM Speed Originally "Default", but set manually at 1:1.00


uGuru Utility > OC Guru > PCI Express Clock Left as standard

uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > CPU Core Voltage Originally 1.2500V, but gradually increased to 1.3600V

Minimum CPU Core Voltage available / Maximum CPU Core Voltage available

uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > DDR2 Voltage I manually set this at 2.200V a while back to comply with the RAM specified voltage (details in next post)

uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > CPU VTT Voltage Originally 1.10V, but increased to 1.13V


uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > MCH 1.25V Voltage (Northbridge) Originally "Auto", gradually increased to 1.48V


uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > ICH 1.05V Voltage (Southbridge) Originally 1.05V, gradually increased to 1.25V


uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > ICHIO 1.5V Voltage (Southbridge I/O) Originally 1.5V, but increased to 1.55V


uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > DDR2 Reference Voltage Left as standard
uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > CPU GTLREF 0&2 Left as standard
uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Voltages Control > CPU GTLREF 1&3 Left as standard

uGuru Utility > OC Guru > Power Cycle Statistics (Info)

uGuru Utility > ABIT EQ Left as standard
uGuru Utility > ABIT EQ > Temperature Monitoring (Info)
uGuru Utility > ABIT EQ > Voltage Monitoring (Info)
uGuru Utility > ABIT EQ > Fan Speed Monitoring (Info) - although CPU fan appears to be running faster than it's supposed to (details in next post)
uGuru Utility > ABIT EQ > FanEQ Control (Menu)
uGuru Utility > ABIT EQ > FanEQ Control > 1st FanEQ Group Left as standard
uGuru Utility > ABIT EQ > FanEQ Control > 2nd FanEQ Group Left as standard

Standard CMOS Features Left as standard

Advanced BIOS Features Left as standard
Advanced BIOS Features > CPU Feature > C1E Function originally on "Auto" but manually set to "Disabled" / EIST Function originally on "Auto" but manually set to "Disabled"

Info on "Execute Disable Bit" / Info on "Virtualization Technology"

Advanced BIOS Features > Hard Disk Boot Priority Left as standard

Advanced Chipset Features Left as standard

Integrated Peripherals (Menu)
Integrated Peripherals > OnChip SATA Device Left as standard
Integrated Peripherals > OnChip PCI Device Disabled the onboard soundcard as I use a different one
Integrated Peripherals > OnChip PCI Device > USB Device Setting Left as standard
Integrated Peripherals > Super IO Device Left as standard
Integrated Peripherals > Onboard PCI Device Left as standard

Power Management Setup Left as standard

PnP/PCI Configurations Left as standard

[xXDeltaXx]

Now for the other info...

Memory:
Geil Black Dragon 2BG sticks (x4); DDR2 - 1066MHz, voltage is 2.2V ~ 2.4V (according to the sticker) & the timings are 5-5-5-15 stock.
CPU-Z shows them to be running at those timings.

Power Supply:
PC Power and Cooling Turbocool 1200W ESA (listed above - but with a bit more detail ); 1200W PSU, +5V @30A, +12V @90A (115A Peak), -12V @0.8V, +3.3V @24A, +5VSB @4A. Features ESA monitoring on Voltages, Curent and Heatsink Temp.

CPU Cooling:
Artic Sliver AS5 thermal paste (dot / pea method)
Corsair H50 CPU cooler - with different fans in Push / Pull
Arctic Cooling Artic F12 PWM fans; airflow @ 57CFM, Fan speed 300 - 1350 RPM (appears to be spinning faster than that at the moment... :confused: )
The airflow comes from within the case to exhaust out of the back - PC is in a corner and would run hotter if used as an intake.

Case:
Thermaltake Armor (original one); replaced all the smaller fans with 34.8 CFM fans because the original ones were rubbish (poor bearings)

Hope I've covered everything...

[mihapiha]

Try deactivating everything in this picture. This will help. Your bios lacks a ton of settings. It may be just your motherboard's max you've reached.
Abit ain't the best overclocker you know. But at least now I can be sure it's not a memory related problem.

Max temperature is 72°C on the cores. Check with CoreTemp while stress testing. Until you don't come close to that number you don't need to worry about the voltage, and you can keep raising it.

CPU VTT voltage seems a bit low too. Maybe this will help. But it's quite obvious at this point that the Abit board came to it's limit. There are just so many settings you're missing in there.

[xXDeltaXx]

Hey,

I've been running it with no problems for a while now - but I've noticed something via Coretemp... When the OC was first put on, the frequency was 450x8.0 (possibly 449.99x8.0) - now it's gone down to 449.97x8.0 - should I just keep an eye on this? - or does this suggest that I need to back off the OC abit?

I mean 3599.99MHz down to 3599.77MHz isn't really much of a dip - just want to double check this with you knowledgable lot

[mihapiha]

The CPU frequency does shift 1 or 2 MHz all the time. So don't worry about it.
That's completely normal