D0 I920 and Gigabyte EX58 UD5 issues.

Thanks guys.. though I am a little bit gutted at the same time, because I can't for the life of me get a stable 4GHz o/c... I tried using the settings I used with my last processor for a stable 4GHz o/c, and it crashed within a couple of minutes, so I have played around with Vcore and QPI/Vtt to see if raising those will give me a stable o/c but it is a no go so far..

Also my temps are through the roof as well.. which is really strange, because I was using my old Zalman 9700NT with my last processor, and the hottest core would be 84c, but with this processor I am using a TRUE with 2 fans, and the hottest core is hitting 92c!!!

So I am a little dissapointed to say the least... especially when you see all these other guys hitting 4+GHz with ease... :(

I need to figure out why the temps are so hot though, something just isn't right at all... :(
 
I cant hit 4 either which is for me an ongoing support issue with OcUK too. And as it happens i might be getting a new one to try too.

I would comment on the overclock settings but you already know what your doing. I read this post a while back and you have been through it big time. :)

Keep on it mate, you might get closer!
 
I don't give up to easily.. I will spend the entire weekend trying to get this thing stable @ 4GHz... Once I am there I will be happy!!

I am gonna install Win7 on my Raptors I have setup in RAID0, because I have heard lots of good things about Win7 so I want to try it out for myself..
 
I love win7. nicer than xp and kicks vista big time. i just got myself a retail iso of it too from the microsoft msdn site with a valid ultimate serial :)
 
DavyBoy said:
Well, if you are out there Plec, I thought you might be inerested in an update on my situation??

I returned my previous CPU to OcUK, and they tested it and they never found any faults with it, but I had explained to one of the techs about all the testing I had done myself, and also told him about all the new hardware I bought in an attempt to find out what was causing the issues..

So he went ahead and sent me a replacement chip anyway, so it arrived today, and I have just finished rebuilding my rig, and what would you know???

Everything is sorted!!! :D

All 6GB is being detected again!!

Needless to say I am absolutely delighted about this.. and not only that, the chip that I got given was a full retail chip when my previous one was just OEM!!

So that means I now have a 3 year warranty with Intel!!! :D

I will get some proper stress testing done later on.. and I will also try clocking it up as well at some point...

Thanks again mate for being with me through this whole nightmare of a situation, lets just hope that this is the end of it all for me... :)
Click to expand...

OK, I’m staring out of my window looking for signs of a lunar eclipse, raining frogs, swarms of locust anything that remotely looks like a portent to a cataclysmic shift to offset the good fortune that has finally come your way.

I’m really pleased for you DavyBoy, and as mentioned in a previous post, it’s been an interesting thread to follow; I just wish we could have identified the problem sooner – although, in fairness to you, you did.

It’s unusual for a total new build’s problem to be CPU related – but it’s a trend that may become more and more prevalent as the CPU takes on more roles that used to be governed by the MB. It would certainly make troubleshooting that bit harder, as has been heavily illustrated in your case, as the symptoms would mirror typical MB/memory and PSU problems (Especially when considering it’s intermittent behaviour and varying symptoms.). I suspect threads like yours will make people look harder at the CPU as a possible cause, rather than the MB, when presented with an ambiguous set of symptoms on i7 builds.

That said; I suspect you may well prove to be the exception to the rule and were just very unlucky, not just with getting a faulty chip but also in the way it presented its fault/s… :/

It’s been a bizarre thread and is doing its best to continue to be so as it, quite clearly, didn’t give the error on the OcUK’s test bench – which suggests:

  • The problem is intermittent within the CPU
  • A poor contact point
  • It’s specific to your MB – but that points towards contact points again…
  • Sod it, it works – who cares.

It was pretty good of OcUK to send you a new chip considering they couldn’t replicate the problem. Perhaps, the one benefit to this epic thread is that it chronicalized the events in such detail that they couldn’t overlook your commitment and spending in trying to resolve the problem.

Additional: Did OcUK mention whether they would be returning the chip to Intel for further testing?

DavyBoy said:
I don't give up to easily.. I will spend the entire weekend trying to get this thing stable @ 4GHz... Once I am there I will be happy!!
Click to expand...

I have no doubt you’ll hit 4GHz even if you have a CPU that doesn’t, technically, have the capability. With all your acquired knowledge through testing and tweaking you should be able to violate its pathways in ways it doesn’t yet know exist! Poor chip…

Best of luck and best of health DavyBoy – may both continue!
 
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just a heads-up but I will be sending my 4ghz bundle back for replacement/repair RMA tomorrow also, due to ridiculous temps and instability. You're not the only one with a dodgy chip it seems!
 
Brilliant news DavyBoy (apart from the overclock and temps!).
Have you re-seated the cooler? Stupid question, but did you check that there wasn't anything on the base of the cooler, like a protective strip?
Go for Win7. Much better than Vista.
 
The below is a reply from another thread - link - posted here so as not to take the other thread off topic. (Also. for the benefit of anyone still following this thread and keen to know the conclusion.)

DavyBoy said:
I had suspected it was the IMC on my first chip that was flaky, and after talking with Gigabyte and Intel support, they to also agreed with me after all the testing I had done myself.

I went and bought a new mobo, PSU, and another set of RAM to try and find the cause of this fault, and nothing made a blind bit of a difference.

Anyway, the kind people at OcUK actually sent me another processor even though they tested my first one and never found there to be any faults.

But I have been talking with a guy from XS forums about this issue, as he experienced the same thing as well, he also bought a new mobo, RAM, and processor, and again, nothing made any difference.

Someone suggested to him that it maybe a bad HSF mount that was causing the problem, so he removed the HSF and reseated it, making sure that it wasn't to tight this time, and ever since then he's been up and running for 2 months now and hasn't had the 4GB of RAM issue ever since.

I actually suspect that it was my old Zalman 1366 mounting bracket for my 9700NT cooler that was causing the problem on my system.

When I got the new chip from OcUK, I fitted my TRUE and when I fired up my system everything was perfect, all 6GB of RAM has been recognized ever since!

I have read quite a lot about this problem, and there can be a number of different things that cause this to happen.

Having RAM timings/sub-timings set to tight can cause this issue. Bent pins in the CPU socket, dodgy IMC, I have also read that some processors will do this when you have the incorrect distance between QPI/Vtt and VDimm in the BIOS, see this thread here read memory tip 6 I think it is.

Out of curiousity which HSF are you using?

I suspect that it is probably heatsinks that don't use a backplate and screw through from the underside of the mobo into the heatsinks bracket that can cause this issue.

It sounds like a really stupid thing that would be the last thing you would expect to cause an issue like this, but I am certain it probably has something to do with the mounting bracket warping the board or something like that.

::edit::

Also, this isn't unique to Gigabyte X58 boards neither, I have heard people complaining about only having 4GB of RAM instead of 6GB with eVGA, and Asus X58 mobos.
Click to expand...

Ayeup DavyBoy

I told you you were fast becoming the leading exponent regarding this problem.

Interesting read (and seconds JonJ's findings) – the heatsink problem replicates a bent pin -link - so i wonder if an over tightened HS could cause the CPU to become displaced slightly causing it to lose contact with a pin?..

This is the trouble with the modern CPU fitting – the slot and fitting is too delicate and prone to damage and, perhaps, mis-alignment if a heatsink is fitted incorrectly/tight. (time and research will tell i guess)
 
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Thanks for the kind words guys, and also a huuuge thank you to Plec for being with me throughout this whole thread.

You kept me from losing my mind over this problem, and I can't thank you enough for this my friend! ;)

About the new CPU, it just doesn't want to go any further than 3.8GHz no matter what I do.

There is something quite not right about this chip, I have tested it with 4 different coolers (stock, 2 TRUE's, and my Zalman) and with every single cooler the idle temps at stock are sitting at 53c, and it shoots up to 80c under load, now my previous chip would idle at 34c, and hit 61c under load, so as you can see there is something not right with it.

I have used up half a tube of AS5 from reapplying paste and reseating my coolers just incase it was a bad mount that was causing this, but nothing I do makes a blind bit of difference to these temps.

To begin with I'd suspected that the IHS was warped and wasn't making a proper contact with the base of my heatsinks, but I checked it with a straight edge and it looks fine to me, but someone else on XS mentioned something about it being a leaky CPU, I don't fully understand what he meant, but for those who are interested they can read the post here.

I have it @ 3.8GHz with only 1.216v Vcore and 1.280v QPI, so the temps shouldn't be as high as what they are.

My last chip idled @ 46c when it was clocked to 4GHz using 1.264v Vcore and 1.355v QPI, and it would hit 84c under load, but this chip at 3.8v has the exact same idle temp as it does at stock frequency, but it hits 92c under full load with a TRUE with push/pull fans!!

And like I said, it isn't a bad mount because I have tested 4 different coolers, and each one gives me roughly the same temps.

Anyway, I will be picking up another chip in the next couple of weeks for my 2nd build, so heres hoping I get a nice one.

Thanks again for the kind words guys.

Oh, almost forgot, @ mothermachine, do you know the batch number of your chip?

It will be on the box it came in, if you don't have the box anymore, it is also written on the IHS, my one is 3910A***, maybe your chip has the same problem as this one I have, the temps are ridiculous, and especially when I compare them to the temps of my previous chip.
 
DavyBoy said:
Thanks for the kind words guys, and also a huuuge thank you to Plec for being with me throughout this whole thread.

You kept me from losing my mind over this problem, and I can't thank you enough for this my friend! ;)
Click to expand...

Plec is awesome. Can't fault the guy.

Surprised his trust is absent, not a fan of MM?

This the latest one Dave? If so I'm sad to hear it peaking at 3.8, looks like you've had a fair run of bad luck. Thanks for the link, going to read it now
 
oh and OCUK said they'd try to get it back to me for yesterday (sat) but no joy... so hoping it will arrive back on Mon or Tue. I'm going to call them tomorrow to find out what exactly they discovered was wrong, if anything.

My worst fear is that they just come back and say "it's all fine here". Clearly it's an issue with either the CPU or the mobo or both.

Just to let you know, I asked them about this batch issue and their reply was something along the lines of:

"the 1st batch were the best as Intel put full effort into it. The later batches aren't as good, for whatever reason (couldn't maintain quality presumably?). There are none from the 1st batch left in stock. My CPU is a 1st batch CPU and is excellent. We've had a few in the later batches returned under RMA."

Sounds like it's deffo an issue with certain batches.

edit another thing worrying me is that they didn't want me to send back the Noctua. Now, call me daft, but I would assume that the Noctua is the only other component that could be the problem here. Not sure why they wouldn't want it back for testing...
 
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@ mothermachine, yeah, the first batches were the best ones.

Seems a bit strange that they didn't want you to send your Noctua as it could very well be something to do with the base of your heatsink that is causing your high temps, and those high temps could be the cause of instability.

I wish that I still had my first chip tbh, because it was a brilliant clocker, and the temps were really low on that chip compared to this replacement one, it was batch number 3851A228.

But as I said, I will be picking up another chip in the next couple of weeks, so hopefully I get a nice one.

I don't know where I am going to purchase it from though, I think that I might go through to Aberdeen and buy it so that I can go round a few stores and ask them to check the batch numbers for me so that I can try and find one from a nice batch instead of just taking a gamble with online retailers.

@Jon, nah mate, this is still the chip they sent me as a replacement for the first one I shipped back, I haven't got round to shipping it back yet as I haven't had the funds because I had to pay bills this week, I will be sending it back tomorrow, so I should have another one by the end of the week to play around with.

Like I said though, the next one I buy for my 2nd rig will be purchased from a shop instead of e-tailers.

I wish that OcUK would start selling 920's that are guaranteed to do 4GHz like they used to do with the Q6600's, I am sure lots of people would be buying them up if they did this.
 
Thanks for the kind comments guys.

DavyBoy said:
also a huuuge thank you to Plec for being with me throughout this whole thread.

You kept me from losing my mind over this problem, and I can't thank you enough for this my friend! ;)
Click to expand...

DavyBoy, I was more impressed with your resilience - had it been my computer I would have stuffed it into an unmarked package and left it unattended in a public place and then let bomb disposal take care of the rest. (It had it coming.)

JonJ678 said:
Plec is awesome. Can't fault the guy.
Click to expand...

Jonj, if you knew me personally I’m sure you would find a few. In fact, given the opportunity, I’m sure my wife would be quite happy to list a few for you. (Insisting on explaining technical nonsense to her would probably be high up on the list – although this has been a running theme through out our relationship as she was an English graduate where as I was math/physics.)

DavyBoy said:
Plec, you should setup your Trust account here mate, so then I could contact you via e-mail!!!
Click to expand...

JonJ678 said:
Surprised his trust is absent, not a fan of MM?
Click to expand...

I must admit I’ve avoided trust as i tend to give hardware away and have always bought new – and so have ignored the MM. I experience enough bad luck with new hardware, maybe not in DavyBoy’s epic proportions, but enough to make me avoid second hand parts from unknown sellers and risk adding further annoyance. (Probably not much of an excuse – but distance selling/buying is one of those things I’ve yet to embrace.)

Also, I signed up to the forums using, what has turned out to be, one of my prime e-mail accounts, back in 2003, and so I’m a little hesitant at enabling trust in case it means that ‘all and sundry’ will be able to view my e-mail address. However, if it were just limited to my ‘friends list’ or members that i selected the 'trust' tab on – I would be more than happy to enable it. If anyone can expand on the above it would be good to know as it’s not covered fully in the MM FAQ (unless I’ve glossed over it.)

Aaaanyhew…

DavyBoy said:
About the new CPU, it just doesn't want to go any further than 3.8GHz no matter what I do.
Click to expand...


Back on topic, I suspect your CPU’s metaphorical sphincter is probably clamped shut, DavyBoy, as the motherboard has probably informed it of the way you violated the last chip and then discarded it when it didn’t submit to your abuse ;)

I was convinced you would beat this CPU into submission – through a combination of brutish voltages and subtle tweaks that you had acquired on your epic technical quest. But, you’ve obviously got a choker at 3.8GHz – but, at least you have a fully working system now and a chip that’s operating at well over 3 times its net worth. (Had the last CPU not tried to rob you of your sanity i suspect this last bit would have made you smile.)

You could consider going down JonJ’s water route as that may get you your extra 200MHz? This would slightly offset the relative monetary gain of the 3.8 clock – but you would be able to use the water rig on your next CPU. Plus, there isn’t a lot that JonJ doesn’t know about water, and what he doesn't know he's prepared to experiment to find out, so you would be in very safe hands. Although, we would have to factor your luck somewhere into the equation... ;)

Good luck with the i7 search DavyBoy, it’s a good idea looking locally for the CPU – you might consider the larger retail outlets too as they may pile new stock on top of old stock – so they too may have one floating about at the bottom.

Additional: if the trust thing doesn't work out for me - i'll post up a hotmail account that i check regularly.
 
Maths with physics? I do not know a scarier discipline, congratulations for making it through it. My lady is studying the humanities and also dislikes being told large amounts about hardware. Perhaps I would have been wise to say less, since she's starting to be able to attach approximate prices to things. Worse she can generally tell if I've cocked up or not, and can spot when new things appear in the case!

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Trust is a bit odd, and your reasons against make perfect sense. The email system works as follows.
When I click on a button with trust written upon it, an option appears letting me send email to this person. So I must have trust enabled to send mail, and this restricts the number of people that can do so.

However it does not explicitly inform me of their email address, and they will receive a message from [email protected] with my message and my email appended to it. So they may then choose whether or not to reply, at which point I'll generally know their email.

It is not flawless, mainly in that I cannot sensibly block noreply@overclockers. However user error leads to me sending emails to noreply@, which are not recieved by the intended audience and consequently cause some confusion when buying and selling. This is entirely my fault for simply hitting reply of course.

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Unfortunately there are volumes that I do not know about watercooling, however I am persevering and seem to have the basics down. There will be a black week where I apply the thermodynamics I loathe so much to the system at the end of which I should know more. However I can certainly answer most basic questions, and there are some staggering knowledgable people on here who kindly correct me when I get things wrong. There's even a resident mechanical engineer who produces mathematics on request, for which I am very grateful.

Perhaps your chip has had it at 3.8. Or perhaps water will take it to 4ghz. Its hard to say. It's possible you loathe it so much by this point that you'll just thrash it until it expires. Maybe a second hand D0 from an earlier batch or even sending it back for *gasp* a C0 is the way forward?

Eventually you'll start with water Plec, and wonder why you waited so long :)
 
DavyBoy, have you set your bios to run in 'turbo'? (I think that's what its called). It sets the multiplier to 21 instead of 20, giving you 4GHz in Windows.
So 3.8GHz will up to 4GHz after booting.
(My brain isn't quite awake yet so I will dip into my bios later and double check the settings)
 
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