Please help me OC my Commodore (Q9400)

Toadus · 14 Apr 2009 at 18:03

Thank you very much for your help!

I was googling the same stuff, but came across a rather interesting thread specificaly about my motherboard. Turns out this motherboard suffers from HUGE vdroop, (my new technical term for today, hehe) so I need to set higher voltages in the BIOS than per usual. I also found that the board doesn't fully support 1066mhz for the ram, so i've dropped mine down to 1000mhz, as advised in the thread.

I've set the following voltages:

Vcore: 1.4
HT: 1.44
NB: 1.44
SB: 1.6

As a result, i'v got the FSB up to 1600mhz (400 effectively) which is giving me 3.2ghz! Woohoo.

Here's some pics from CPU-Z. Notice the much lower Vcore voltage than what I've set in the BIOS:

One question here. Looking at the RAM timing. Is the Bank Cycle Time of 29 clocks normal? I've set the memory timings to 5-5-5-15-2 and left all the advanced timings on auto...

Here's a pic of the CPU temps on idle:

They're exactly the same as what they usually are with no OC'ing... Can anyone recommend me an app to get a good heat test done please? If that's all OK, I'll then have a crack at this Prime95 application for some proper testing. I just want to get all the basics sorted first.

Cheers!

setter · 14 Apr 2009 at 18:26

Testing with prime95 will be sufficient to fully load the cpu, and see what your load temps will top out at.

Toadus · 14 Apr 2009 at 19:10

Thank you. I will report back once I've done it.

I just had a go at 3dmark06. I put my gtx280 to its happy OC settings, and ran the app.

Results:

What do you think?

dlknight · 15 Apr 2009 at 09:25

Toadus said:
Thank you very much for your help!

I was googling the same stuff, but came across a rather interesting thread specificaly about my motherboard. Turns out this motherboard suffers from HUGE vdroop, (my new technical term for today, hehe) so I need to set higher voltages in the BIOS than per usual. I also found that the board doesn't fully support 1066mhz for the ram, so i've dropped mine down to 1000mhz, as advised in the thread.

Nice one Toadus,

VDroop is common to the P5N-E (which I have) as well, I know there is a pencil mod to my board which helps almost completely eliminate vdroop, its worth searching to see if there is such a modification for your board as well (it involves adding pencil lines to one or more resistors on the motherboard).

EDIT: I found a guide for your motherboard but its on a competitors website... have a search.

Toadus said:
I've set the following voltages:

Vcore: 1.4
HT: 1.44
NB: 1.44
SB: 1.6

As a result, i'v got the FSB up to 1600mhz (400 effectively) which is giving me 3.2ghz! Woohoo.

One question here. Looking at the RAM timing. Is the Bank Cycle Time of 29 clocks normal? I've set the memory timings to 5-5-5-15-2 and left all the advanced timings on auto...

Excellent, nice voltages

I leave my advanced timings on auto as well, I don't think there is much benefit in running your memory at 1066 unless your syncing you CPU bus speed directly with the RAM. With your FSB at 1600 (QDR) your RAM would be running at 800 (DDR) if it was synced, you could then tighten your timings probably to something like 4-4-4-10.

Toadus · 15 Apr 2009 at 10:24

dlknight said:
Nice one Toadus,

VDroop is common to the P5N-E (which I have) as well, I know there is a pencil mod to my board which helps almost completely eliminate vdroop, its worth searching to see if there is such a modification for your board as well (it involves adding pencil lines to one or more resistors on the motherboard).

EDIT: I found a guide for your motherboard but its on a competitors website... have a search.

Excellent, nice voltages I leave my advanced timings on auto as well, I don't think there is much benefit in running your memory at 1066 unless your syncing you CPU bus speed directly with the RAM. With your FSB at 1600 (QDR) your RAM would be running at 800 (DDR) if it was synced, you could then tighten your timings probably to something like 4-4-4-10.

Yes, I read about the same 'pencil' thing. I think we've been looking at the same thread!

I didn't bother doing the mod, as I'm yet to understand the full benefit behind it...

The RAM timings and voltage I'm using are actually printed on the DIMMs. I've set the memory to UNlinked in the BIOS, and manually set it to 1000mhz, (it's normally 800mhz) does this seem right to you?

Toadus · 16 Apr 2009 at 12:21

A quick question about testing the CPU temps...

How long should I run the test application (Prime95?) to get to max CPU heat? Also, does anyone know what a good ballpark temperature is for the CPU?

Many thanks!

Toadus · 16 Apr 2009 at 18:14

After running Prime95 on Blend for about 10 minutes, these were the core temps:

I've upped the OC to 3.3ghz too. What do you think? I'm really not sure on temps at all...

setter · 16 Apr 2009 at 18:23

Test with prime95 small fft test, as this will test the cpu to the max, blend is a mixed test that tests ram and cpu, small fft will load the cpu a lot more and give you a better indication of load temps, regarding the time to run the test, most people do 8 hours minimum to ensure stability, others will be happy to run it for an hour or so. Ideally when stress testing you want to stay in the 70-75'c region, anything under this is ideal.

Toadus · 16 Apr 2009 at 18:45

Thanks Setter.

Just to say, 3.3 isn't stable. It's fine when running Prime95 though. How odd. I've had Windows crash twice now, each time with the following message:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

And then it performs a memory dump and re-boots the PC. Strange, is this a typical OC'ing type of error?

The Windows help topic on this forum mentions this error as driver related... Still, I've put it back to 3.2ghz and it's fine.

Toadus · 17 Apr 2009 at 08:18

A little update...

I tried upping the Vcore, but it had absolutely no impact on this error occuring. I've been Googling like a trooper, and with regard to OC'ing, I found someone mention this:

"I also get this error when overclocking in relation to the nb needing more power, reason being the nb contains the memory controller. "

Sounds quite plausible don't you think?

deusexlumina · 17 Apr 2009 at 10:06

Toadus said:
Thanks Setter.

Just to say, 3.3 isn't stable. It's fine when running Prime95 though. How odd. I've had Windows crash twice now, each time with the following message:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

And then it performs a memory dump and re-boots the PC. Strange, is this a typical OC'ing type of error?

The Windows help topic on this forum mentions this error as driver related... Still, I've put it back to 3.2ghz and it's fine.

IRQL messages typically relate to a memory instability, you might want to up your ram voltage a notch or lower the divider so that it runs at stock or below it. Sounds like the cpu itself is stable at that speed or prime would have failed, ignore whatever windows error reporting says

lol

Toadus · 17 Apr 2009 at 10:25

deusexlumina said:
IRQL messages typically relate to a memory instability, you might want to up your ram voltage a notch or lower the divider so that it runs at stock or below it. Sounds like the cpu itself is stable at that speed or prime would have failed, ignore whatever windows error reporting says lol

Thanks for the info.

By default, the BIOS has the memory on an Auto setting, and it shows as 800mhz, but greyed out. I changed my RAM timings and voltages to what is written on the actual DIMMs, and then Unlinked the RAM, and set it to 1000mhz instead of 800mhz. The RAM is apparently good for 1066mhz, but the motherboard is apparently not so hot, and any higher than 1000mhz is risky. When I OC'd from 3.2 to 3.3ghz, I never changed the RAM, it still was Unlinked and set to 1000mhz, why then would I be getting a memory error all of a sudden?

Should I try dropping it to say, 900mhz?

This is all one BIG learning curve! I knew nothing about anything 2 weeks ago!

Toadus · 19 Apr 2009 at 01:38

No luck on altering the memory... I tried putting it back to 800mhz, on auto, no joy.

Unfortunately, after trying a few times, I started to get the IRQL message before Windows fully booted. I put EVERYTHING back to normal in the BIOS and it STILL wouldn't boot Windows. I took the CMOS battery out, did a jumper reset, still no joy. I had to do a factory reset to get the PC up and running again.

Any more thoughts on why I can't OC more than 3.2ghz?

Toadus · 20 Apr 2009 at 09:02

Just a little bump on this...

Do you think I should stick with 3.2ghz as this setup's limit? I'd love more, but I can't do it.

Toadus · 27 Apr 2009 at 16:01

I posted this a few weeks back. It's what my PC is currently at; 3.2ghz.

See where it says DRAM frequency... As this is at 500mhz, if I increase the FSB more, I assume this value will go up, right? Now if my ram supports up to 1066mhz, but my motherboard only supports up to 1000mhz, (or so I'm told...) do you think this is why I'm getting the IRQL messages / blue screen failues when trying to OC higher than 3.2ghz?

I currently have the RAM set to 1000mhz in the BIOS. I tried setting it to 800mhz, but I still get the IRQL message as soon as I go above 3.2ghz. This is REALLY frustrating, as even at max load on the CPU, I can barely get them above 40 degrees!

EDIT: And if anyone knows please... Is the bank cycle time of 29 right? I've got the advanced RAM timings on Auto in the BIOS, and it puts it to 29...

dlknight · 27 Apr 2009 at 16:44

Hey Toadus,

What voltage are you currently running you N/B and S/B at ?

Also try the following:

Advanced>JumperFree Configuration>System Clocks

FSB Memory Clock Mode = Sync

Toadus · 27 Apr 2009 at 18:23

Hi mate.

NB and HT are at 1.44. SB is at 1.6. I heard the SB hasn't got anything to do with OC'ing, but I stuck it on 1.6 anyway... Hehe.

OK, I'll have a go with the memory suggestion. Thanks!

dlknight · 27 Apr 2009 at 18:31

Toadus said:
Hi mate.

NB and HT are at 1.44. SB is at 1.6. I heard the SB hasn't got anything to do with OC'ing, but I stuck it on 1.6 anyway... Hehe.

OK, I'll have a go with the memory suggestion. Thanks!

Your NB voltage could do with going up a notch, mine needs to be at 1.6v to reach 3.2Ghz on my e6300 (thats on a P5N-E SLI). Make sure you have adequate cooling, maybe direct a 120mm fan at the N/B.

Toadus · 27 Apr 2009 at 18:40

OK, I upped the NB to 1.5 and set the RAM to SYNC mode. Windows booted fine... I was just about to take a screenshot of CPU-Z to show you it running at 3.4ghz, and as soon as I hit the printscreen button, I got the blue screen of death, with IRQL message.

I've got a fan on the NB, but I'm not sure about temps. Is there an app for measung motherboard component temps? What's a safe temp for the NB?

I'm sure I read somewhere that the HT needs to go up a LOT as it carries data for the RAM. Hence the possible memory related error message...

Mr. May · 27 Apr 2009 at 19:44

asus prode will show you all your temps if my memory is correct