Can't get this MB to overclock.

Tim

I've always run this computer at stock speeds and it does fine, but I wouldn't mind speeding it up a little. Only problem it that it seems to really NOT want to speed up.

E7300 dual core CPU, 2.66 Ghz
Corsair XMS2 8500 DDR2 ram, 4 GB 7-7-7-20 1066 Mhz
Gigabyte EP45-DS3R motherboard
OCZ Game X Stream 700 watt power supply

In the BIOS settings, the multiplier is already at 10.0, and does not go any higher. FSB is at 266. I can raise it to about 270-271, but any higher and it locks up the computer after a few seconds of on time.

I didn't change any voltages, it shouldn't be needed when the clock speed is barely changed. I've changed the RAM between different slots and that made no difference.

Any ideas? I've looked at the BIOS settings, and even raising it to 2.80 or 2.90 should not be a big deal.

Ryder

Do you have the memory speed set to 1066? If yes, then lower it to 800, then raise the FSB.

AlexDeGruven

Did you decouple the FSB and memory clocks? If your RAM doesn't like being bumped, and they're linked, you'll have a lot of trouble.

I left my RAM clock at 800MHz, and I've had no trouble pushing to 3.25GHz on my E7200 with them split.

Tim

Here's some of the settings as they were:

MB Intelligent Tweaker category in BIOS

CPU Host Frequency - 266 Mhz
DRAM Performance Control - Performance Enhancement - Turbo
Memory Frequency - 800 Mhz

CPU Vcore - 1.175 volts
DRAM Voltage - 1.800 volts
DRAM Timing - Auto - 6-6-6-18

I'll look around for something that says it'll decouple the clocks.

AlexDeGruven

That's kind of weird then, though. If you're already running your memory clock at 800, you're underclocking it to begin with. Your small bumps so far, should not have pushed you anywhere near the 1066 point yet.

Ryder

Set the Memory voltage to 2.0V.

Set the memory timings manually to 5-5-5-15 (CAS-Trcd-Trp-Tras) the rest can be left at Auto.

Buy OCZ memory next time and I will help you more

Make sure you have the newest bios, if you have had the board for 3+ months, update the bios for sure.

That should let you raise the FSB more than you are.

Tim

I went back in the BIOS and looked for the settings. In the DRAM section there's 3 that say:

(G) MCH frequency latch, and it's on Auto. Can be set to 266 Mhz or other numbers.
System Memory Multiplier, it's on Auto. Can be set to 2.66 D, 2.66C, or other numbers also.
DRAM Timing Selectable is on Auto, can be set to Manual.

I bought this MB back in January '09.

I'll change the memory Vcore up also, I thought 1.8 volts was low myself.

Tim

I put the memory voltage to 2.0, and the timings to 5-5-5-15. I'll try changing the clock speeds some and see what happens.

How high can the E7300 go at the stock 1.175 volts setting? I'd like to try 2.80 or 2.90 at stock voltage if it'll work like that.

AlexDeGruven

The stock on my 7200 is 1.35 at the MoBo (CoreTemp reports 1.085v). I'm running the MoBo voltage at 1.175 right now, and 3.25GHz.

Tim

After changing the memory settings to what Ryder OCZ said, I changed the FSB from 266 to 280, and the computer is running at 2.80 Ghz now. So far so good, it never wanted to run at this speed before. I'll have to play some WoW later and see if it is still good. Then maybe I'll try speeding it up a bit more.

Memory was undervolted in the stock BIOS settings? Maybe there's a couple standard voltages for DDR2 RAM depending on the brand and type? I've heard of 1.8v, 2.0v, and 2.1v from time to time.

Snarkasm

I hear IE6 runs faster with a couple hundred extra MHz in the pipe.

BuddyJ

Tim wrote:

Memory was undervolted in the stock BIOS settings? Maybe there's a couple standard voltages for DDR2 RAM depending on the brand and type? I've heard of 1.8v, 2.0v, and 2.1v from time to time.

Depends on the sticks and the board. Some kits like more voltage than others.

Tim

With the PC at 2.80 Ghz since yesterday, I've had a couple of BSODs. This never happens. There might be another setting that has to be adjusted to make it more stable?

BuddyJ

Run 1.3v for the CPU vCore.
Set the memory voltage to 2.0v

What heatsink are you using?

Tim

I use a Noctua NH-U9B heat sink (LGA775). My fans are set up so the heat sink has its heat blown straight out the back of the case, and my 4870 GPU also has its heat blown right out, so heat won't be an issue.

The Gigabyte Easytune 6 HW monitor software shows the system temp at 43 C and the CPU at 30 C. Those numbers have GOT to be backwards! This is at 52%-55% CPU load with F@H running on the 4870. The 4870 is at stock speeds.

Easytune reports the CPU volts at 1.12, memory at 1.95. The BIOS shows 1.175 V on the CPU and 2.00 on the memory.

I can see raising the CPU volts a bit because of the overclock, but going from 1.175 to 1.30 seems like a HUGE jump for a small overclock. I'll give it a try, though.

Tim

I reset the CPU volts to 1.20 . I was worried that maybe you mistyped 1.3 volts instead. 1.3 seems to be near max for this CPU, and surely I don't need that much, but we'll see how this goes.

Easytune 6 shows the CPU volts at 1.152 now.

BuddyJ

I've taken my E8400 up to 1.3v at 4GHz without issue and read about quite a few that have done 4.4GHz at 1.4v. 1.3v is a good number to set things at and then back down from once you've got a stable overclock.

I really think your setup should be able to hit 4GHz or come close to it.

You might want to upgrade your heatsink. Noctuas are certainly nice, but the U9B is surpassed by most basic 120mm coolers. I'd suggest ordering a Cogage TRUE Spirit and the Thermalright 775 bolt-through mount kit. Besides being a hell of a cooler, it's cheap insurance.

Tim

I've been getting BSODs and World of Warcraft crashes at 1.20 volts on the cpu and 5-5-5-15 memory timing, so I just changed it to 1.30 volts and 6-6-6-18 timing. The memory sticks have 7-7-7-20 written on them, would that be their most stable setting? It's still at the 10 X 280 FSB for 2.80 Ghz.

Serp

CPU vcore - 1.3v
CPU Multiplier - 10x
CPU FSB - 290
Memory voltage - 2.0v
Memory timing - 7-7-7-20

Those settings will probably get you to 2.90Ghz. When you play WoW look at the cpu temps, if they are under 60c you should be alright.

Donut

My .02 (if it's even worth that). This is going off my memory as I haven't played with this board since last winter.
"DRAM Performance Control - Performance Enhancement - Turbo" Kick it to standard, normal, whatever it's called. No need for the mobo to try to add more to what your already trying.

"System Memory Multiplier, it's on Auto. Can be set to 2.66 D, 2.66C, or other numbers also." Take this off auto, as your values change, so memory/fsb.

"The Gigabyte Easytune 6 HW monitor software..." I haven't had luck with this. (on any of my Gigabyte boards) Use Realtemp, Coretemp +CPU-Z for monitoring. Testing I still like Prime95. You can use IntelBurn or similar for a quick test, but expect temps to hit 10*c+ higher than prime.

IMO, try to get voltages off of auto. Set your ram to rated settings and voltages. Push the chip, when you get where you want (stable) then try to drill down timings.

If my memory is FUBAR, sorry. When I was OCing this board, I was also working on another P45, and an X-48. I had a notepad by each board as far as what was changed.:eek3:

Tim

I've got things set exactly as Serp listed them, 2 posts up from this one. It's running at 2.90 now and doing fine, CoreTemp 0.99.4 is showing 42-44 C on both cores. At "idle", cpu usage is 50-55%, because of F@H running on the 4870.

As far as performance is concerned, does changing the memory timings make ANY noticeable difference? For example, is 6-6-6-18 REALLY any quicker than 7-7-7-20? It may show on a benchmark test, but could it ever be anything noticeable in real world performance? I doubt it. I'd rather back down a bit from maximum performance to get better stability.

If I'm healing 10 man TOC in WoW, that's a bad time for the PC to crash or BSOD.

I'll look at the settings that Donut listed. I remember it being on the "Turbo" speed.

BuddyJ

Backing off the timings from 6-6-6-18 to 7-7-7-20 won't give you a noticeable drop, but if it's working I wouldn't mess with it.

Run some Prime95 loops and see how she takes them. If your system can handle Prime95, it'll handle WoW.

Tim

I've got this computer up to 3.10 Ghz now, 310 FSB X 10 multiplier, and it's still running fine. The CPU temperatures have not gone up very much, maybe 2 degrees total, if even that.

Since the RAM is 1066, but it was running at 800 at the stock 2.66 speed, I think it'll be around 3.50 Ghz or 3.60 Ghz before it even gets to its rated speed by just raising the FSB. I'm stepping it up by 10 FSB at a time and playing games and doing other things, seeing how it goes.

Tim

Overclocking is still improving, I just changed it from 3.40 Ghz to 3.50 Ghz. I've noticed that my CoreTemp monitor ALWAYS shows Core 0 at 44 C, Core 1 jumps around between 38-44 C constantly.

I just saw 45 C for the first time on Core 1 after I set it to 3.50 Ghz.

This is at 52%-55% CPu load, with F@H running on the 4870.

shwaip

50% cpu load usually means one core (i'll guess c0) is full loaded and the other is basically idle. that's why one is 44C, and the other is cooler. run something multithreaded to really test it.

AlexDeGruven

Run Prime95 with SmallFFTs. That will load both cores 100% and give you a really good stress test.

Serp

If you're overclocking that high you need to double check your other voltages on your MB especially if they are set to AUTO. A lot of motherboards overvolt the northbridge, southbridge, and any other voltages when you start overclocking and they are set to auto.

Auto voltages are probably safe going from 2.66 to 2.9 but 2.66 to 3.5 I would be worried about something sucking down too much voltage and maybe going sizzle and pop.

Tim

I reset it back to 2.66 Ghz (266 FSB) to check on this. In the BIOS, beside the list of things which each have their own voltage, I have the option of selecting Auto, Normal, or a specific number. Should I set it to Normal to keep the voltage at whatever the default voltage is?

EDIT - I went into the BIOS, and under the motherboard voltage section, I changed all the AUTOs to Normal. I left the memory voltage at 2.00 instead of the default 1.800, and I let the CPU voltage go back to its stock 1.175.

Is this the right way, or should I custom set each voltage to the number beside it on each line to lock them into the stock voltage?

If so, I'll start running the FSB up again. I haven't noticed any performance difference between 2.66 and 3.50 Ghz when using the PC for random internet stuff.

lordbean

Setting the voltages to Normal will make the motherboard keep the voltage at its stock setting, even if you overclock it. I have most of the voltages in my gaming rig on Normal.

Serp

Set your memory voltage and cpu voltage to what they were before because we know you can get to 3.5ghz with those. Change the rest of the voltages to Normal and start bumping the FSB, testing with Prime95 on smallFTTs for an hour or LinX on 10 passes to see if it's stable. If Prime95 or LinX fails or you get BSODs then you start changing voltages.

Ideally you want to have as many voltages at stock as possible and only increasing them if you have to. It prevents adding extra stress to components and keeps the heat down.


Here are the links to Prime95 and LinX:

Prime95

LinX

Tim

I think I found the limit of slightly modified voltages. I had everything set to Normal, memory at 2.00v and CPU at 1.30v. Everything was good at 3.60 Ghz, then I raised it to 3.70 Ghz, and I started getting random restarts of the PC. I'm sure I could tune voltages and whatever to squeak it up to 4.00 Ghz, but I'd rather back it off a bit and not stress things. So I dropped the CPU volts to 1.25 and the FSB to 318, so now it's nice and stable at 3.18 Ghz. Good enough for me.