e6600 and 400fsb problems

If it passes Prime testing but fails IBT and crashes your games it's almost certainly your Northbridge!

Either have a dabble with your vNB or set the chips multi back to stock (x9) and have a go for a straight 3.6GHz! :)
 
Big.Wayne said:
If it passes Prime testing but fails IBT and crashes your games it's almost certainly your Northbridge!

Either have a dabble with your vNB or set the chips multi back to stock (x9) and have a go for a straight 3.6GHz! :)
Click to expand...

ok:)
The cpu runs hot (55 idle at 3.2ghz) as the fan is silent. Under 100% load the fan spins up and it is 60-62. I assume this is fine?? Due to the fan speed increasing when the heat does even if I give it 1.45 volts it does not go over 66 100% load.

Can i give it 1.5v on air ok?? I have not enough money to buy an i7 yet and do not want the cpu to die or anything:p

EDIT: shouldn't the fsb be fine at 400 with the voltages set to auto? The motherboard supports 266/333/400 fsb as standard anyway.
 
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The E6600 should be fine with up to 1.5vCore if you need that much to get it running at 3.6GHz (9x400). I personally aim to keep my full synthetic CPU load test at around 65°C although a lot of folks let their silicon run hotter (good case airflow as well as a good CPU cooler helps keep the CPU temps reasonable!).

The Arctic Freezer 7 Pro is a budget cooler but it is good enough to chill out your 65nm Dual Core when running overclocked and full load (even at 3.6GHz)

You got two options to proceed

  1. Leave the chip at default Multi (x9) and syncronize the ram to the FSB (1:1) and slowly but surely raise the FSB from 333MHz to 400MHz, that will start your CPU off at 3.0GHz(9x333) and hopefully end up at 3.6GHz(9x400). Aside from the processor & memory volts I would have thought everything else could be left on auto!
  2. Lower the chips multi from default 9x to 8x and syncronize the ram to the FSB (1:1) and slowly but surely raise the FSB from 333MHz to 400MHz, that will start your CPU off at 2.66GHz(8x333) and hopefully end up at 3.2GHz(8x400). As already mention by lowering your chips default multi you will be increasing the strain on the Northbridge and will almost certainly need to boost vNB to help it cope, the Northbridge heatsink may also require a touch of extra cooling if the heatsink start to get *burning* hot!

I still think option #1 will be a winner for you *if* you have a nice tastie bit of silicon, I've seen plenty of E6600's achieve 3.6GHz stable before . . . hopefully you will be able too! :cool:
 
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I used to run mine at 1.4?vCore for 430Mhz fsb stable, 8x multi giving 3.2Ghz. On a IP35 board and 4 sticks 1GB ram.
Can find the settings if it will help?
 
I tried 400x8 = 3.2ghz with all voltages bar ram and cpu on auto. It passes orthos and 3d mark and prime but STILL fails on the intel burn thing and games still spot responding shortly after playing.

As I write this I am at 400x9 = 3.6ghz @1.5v, ram at 2. and everything else on auto - Orthos ran for 1min, it did not fail but was not happy about 74degrees so I stopped it.

I have tried manually setting all other voltages but no difference.....this should be an easy fsb to reach as the motherboard does 400 as standard.
Also why would the load on the northbridge go up when the multi is lowered??

Phunky Phish said:
I used to run mine at 1.4?vCore for 430Mhz fsb stable, 8x multi giving 3.2Ghz. On a IP35 board and 4 sticks 1GB ram.
Can find the settings if it will help?
Click to expand...

May do, feel free to post:)

I am 99% sure the ram is not a problem as it is run at stock speed or below with stock timings and the rated 2.1v. They have never caused a bsod.
Thanks for all the help guys but I am still baffled at how to get this pc stable at 400fsb:p The cpu will post and stress test so things at 3.6ghz!!
 
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mglover070588 said:
I tried 400x8 = 3.2ghz with all voltages bar ram and cpu on auto. It passes orthos and 3d mark and prime but STILL fails on the intel burn thing and games still spot responding shortly after playing
Click to expand...
That's your Northbridge carping out, just imagine trying to really overclock your CPU without supplying it enough vCore . . . what would happen? . . . well you are doing basically the same thing but instead you are overclocking the Northbridge chip, give it some volts for the love of god! :p

mglover070588 said:
As I write this I am at 400x9 = 3.6ghz @1.5v, ram at 2. and everything else on auto - Orthos ran for 1min, it did not fail but was not happy about 74degrees so I stopped it
Click to expand...
Hmmm that does sound like its getting toasty! :( Have you tried dropping the vCore slightly and seeing if its still stable? . . . Would be really good to know if 3.6GHz (9x400) is rock solid, other than dropping the vCore is there any way you can get a bit more airflow to the CPU? (take the case side panel off, open a window etc). I'm not trying to get you to fry your CPU but if you can temporarily increase the CPU cooling for testing purposes it would let us know if that overclock is stable. If it is stable then it just may be a matter of buying or modding up some better CPU cooling! :cool:

mglover070588 said:
I have tried manually setting all other voltages but no difference.....this should be an easy fsb to reach as the motherboard does 400 as standard
Click to expand...
It is an easy FSB to reach if you have the right CPU and a good understanding of how the hardware works and you know your way around the BIOS etc! :o

Your practically there although I suspect your running out of patience a bit and getting a tad frustrated. I reckon you can get your 3.2GHz(8x400) overclock stable by just giving the Northbridge some extra volts or your 3.6GHz(9x400) overclock stable by adjusting your CPU cooling and perhaps lowering the vCore a smidge! ;)

mglover070588 said:
Also why would the load on the northbridge go up when the multi is lowered??
Click to expand...
It's not that easy to explain but I'll give it a shot! :)

When you peel away the generic layer we call The Northbridge there lurks a strange thing known as the NBCC (Northbridge Core Clock). . .

The NBCC basically generates the FSB Frequency, higher the frequency the more voltage it needs and the hotter it gets, very similar to how you may think of a CPU.

Now the interesting bit . . . for the NBCC to work out how fast to run it performs a quick bit of maths like so

  1. Default CPU Multiplier divide by Set CPU Multiplier = A
  2. Set FSB = B
  3. A x B = NBCC

If we use your E6600 running on a 400MHz-FSB as an example you may be able to understand a bit better

Default Multi = 9
Set Multi = 9
Set FSB = 400MHz
9 divide by 9 = 1
1 x 400 = 400MHz NBCC


Default Multi = 9
Set Multi = 8
Set FSB = 400MHz
9 divide by 8 = 1.125
1.125 x 400 = 450MHz NBCC


Default Multi = 9
Set Multi = 7
Set FSB = 400MHz
9 divide by 7 = 1.285
1.285 x 400 = 514MHz NBCC

The NBCC is designed to run on average at 333MHz to 400MHz and have the motherboard take care of the voltages. As you can see above in the highlighted E6600 examples once you lower a chips multiplier from default the NBCC frequency starts flying through the roof! :eek:

I'm sure this may well not make any sense to you and I don't think I explained it that well but basically once you understand how the NBCC works you begin to see that for a better chance of achieving a high FSB overclock you either need a processor with a natural low stock multiplier or a sound knowledge of your hardware combined with some enhanced Northbridge cooling! :cool:
 
Good post big wayne:)
You are right I am getting a bit frustrated:p The 3.6ghz was just to see if it would work, I just stuck it at 1.5v I didn't increase the voltage gradually I just wanted to see fi it worked:)

I went for the 3.6 as then I was using the regular multi and thought the same problem might not happen. What voltage can I safely set the NB to for a 400fsb with a) 8 multi b) 9 multi??

I am quite up on computer hardware and am an undergrad engineer but electronics certainly are not my strongest point:p

EDIT: With a 333 fsb (n/b voltage on auto) the intel test thingy passes fine
 
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Hey mglover070588,

I would have thought you wouldn't need to set more than 1.2v-1.3v for the Northbridge chipset, the ASUS P5Q with it's Intel® P45 Express Chipset features die-shrunk 65nm Northbridge and therefore doesn't need as much voltage to play nice.

On previous Intel® chipsets (P35/X38) the Northbridge was fabricated using a 90nm process and used/needed more voltage to hit a high frequency, people would pump 1.5v to 1.8v through the chipset using fancy 3rd party cooling to stop the chip overheating! :eek:

Basically your not gonna break anything pumping up the voltages for testing purposes, just keep an eye on the temps and you should be fine. I use my fingertips pressed against the Northbridge heatsink to gauge how hot its getting! :o

So just press on with your own testing, slowly but surely push the NB volts upwards until you can get it stable! :p

3.2GHz (8x400) will need more Northbridge volts and less CPU volts

3.6GHz (9x400) will need less Northbridge volts and more CPU volts

Prime 95 Small FFTs is a good test for checking CPU stability and Intel Burn Test is good for checking the Northbridge is running fine. If IBT fails so too will most of your games! :(
 
might not worth mentioning but in my bios it actually says there may be problems if ram is set below 800 due to spec violation, don't really know what it means but just something that comes to mind when you said you were running ram at below 800mhz.

Also thanks for the link to IBT big wayne had random CTDs in fallout 3 also so am suspecting NB stability as my NBCC is running at 564Mhz according to your formula!

how long does it take to run 10 times at max stress? also is it normal that it sometimes pauses for a few seconds then continues?

*EDIT* nvm just finished lol passed all ten tests.
 
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hmm i just put it down to the cpu , i had abit of a bad e6600 (needed 1.55V to hit 3.6ghz under water and with 3.7ghx doable but loads more volts , oddly i could be windows stable with at 4ghz with 1.55v) , ran that 3.6ghz with a 400fsb on both a Evga 680i and a present p5k D with no issues
 
Still got problems!
800x8 = 3.2ghz....I have been booting then running the intelburn (which it always fails with 20% pass rate)....I have rebooted and upped NB each time by small amounts up to 1.40v and each time it still failes with 20% pass rate over 5 cycles.

The ram is set to 2.1v, the cpu volts I set but they vary according to what speed I set. The Cpu PLL volts is on auto, so is SB and FSB.

I am running bios version 0506.

For the record the intel burn passes with 333x9 = 3.0ghz with all voltages but ram and cpu on auto
 
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Hey mglover070588,

hang in there guy, sometimes the learning curve can be steep but once you get your result the feeling of achievement will more than make up for the slogging away! :p

I'm just wondering if you can arrange some BIOS photos so we can get a look at your settings?

Have you adjusted a setting called FSB Strap to North Bridge or is it still on [AUTO]?

This strap setting changes depending on what CPU you are using *or* what FSB speed you have set. The Strap setting affects a number of things such as internal Northbridge timings and Memory dividers available, as a rule of thumb you would want the FSB strap to be as low as possible (200 then 266 then 333 then 400) although if its set too low the PC wont boot or be unstable. The 200 strap is fastest and the 400 strap being slowest however sometimes you need to slacken the FSB strap to the next highest setting (i.e losen from 266-Strap to 333-Strap).

Your Motherboard should change the NB-Strap accordingly but for testing purposes it may be worth manually setting it? . . . the 333-Strap would be a good place to start!

Keep using IBT, maximum stress (#1), 5-10 loops to hammer your Northbridge!

I'm hoping you can get a result your happy with before giving up! ;)
 
Hmmm still no joy huh! :D

Flip in your bOOts I would be tempted to either reset the system back to stock (for some time off) or perhaps give the 3.6GHz(9x400) overclock a bash!

Would be really useful to know if your system can run the 400MHz-FSB when combined with your chips default 9x multi!, the weather is freezing and perfect for this kinda testing so get your jacket on and open the windows! :eek:
 
i might have a crack at geting to this at some point over the weekend, i havent touched my northbridge volts yet, maybe thats thefirst place to start when trying to get it stable.
 
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Big.Wayne said:
Hmmm still no joy huh! :D

Flip in your bOOts I would be tempted to either reset the system back to stock (for some time off) or perhaps give the 3.6GHz(9x400) overclock a bash!

Would be really useful to know if your system can run the 400MHz-FSB when combined with your chips default 9x multi!, the weather is freezing and perfect for this kinda testing so get your jacket on and open the windows! :eek:
Click to expand...

With orthos at 3.6ghz it was at 74degrees and the intel burn thing made it go even higher. The cooler I have (artic freezer pro) is completely unsuitable for this!

I will just run 333x9=3ghz for now was that passes everything fine - I would not know where else to look for the 400fsb, I have tried everything I know of:p
 
mglover070588 said:
With orthos at 3.6ghz it was at 74degrees and the intel burn thing made it go even higher. The cooler I have (artic freezer pro) is completely unsuitable for this!
Click to expand...
Yeah I kinda agree although I thought your AC7Pro would have been able to cool an overclocked dual core? . . . . guess either the 1.5vCore is just to much (try lower) or perhaps your chassis is a bit baking hot?

Is the HSF running at full pelt btw? i.e have you disabled fan control in the BIOS so it runs at full pelt? . . it's not an ideal 24/7 scenario as I remember the AC7Pro fan being quite noisy but for purposes of testing it's necessary!

What I'm trying to find out is whether or not your computer can run 400MHz-FSB with your CPU at default 9x multi, if it can that may shed some light on the situation, if it fails testing at 9x400 (not including heat failure!) that will also help us draw a conclusion.

If I was in a similar situation I would have moved the PC near an open window and let the freezing Winter air help me out during this trouble-shooting stage, again not an ideal 24/7 situation but horses for courses, just want 9x400 at all costs lol! :o

mglover070588 said:
I will just run 333x9=3ghz for now was that passes everything fine - I would not know where else to look for the 400fsb, I have tried everything I know of:p
Click to expand...
It's fair enough to take a break as it appears we are both a bit stumped! . . . I hope someone else reads through this thread and maybe can see an obvious problem I have missed.

I'd like to see some photos of your machine showing the components and how its set-up as well as a few BIOS shots, that may help a little. It may well be we just can't get the 400MHz FSB running but I'm stubborn and still think there is a reason for this apart from your CPU having a low sub 400MHz FSB wall! :(

I'm not sure if you answered my question before about how hot the Northbridge heatsink is getting? Next time you run IBT can you carefully touch the NB Heatsink with your fingers . . . if its getting scorching hot or is surprisingly cool that may also help us draw some conclusions!

Never give up . . . . no surrender! :p
 
Granted I haven't read probably 10% of posts on this site but until I had read this I never really got/saw the point of water cooling, must say I really do now.

Oh and great posts Big Wayne
 
Right, bear in mind this was on a Abit IP35 board.

Multi x8
CPU estimate 3.4Ghz
CPU:DRAM 1:1 (balistix PC2-6400)
PIC-E 101Mhz
vCore 1.465v
DDR2 2.1v
CPU VTT 1.2375
ICH volts 1.5v
MCH volts 1.41v
CPU GTLREF 67%

Now I dont know how that will compare to your ram OR Bios as we need to see screen shots for both mate.
 
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