Iviv's OC thread

iviv · 2 May 2008 at 23:06

Well, other people have been making threads detailing their OCs so they can ask questions as they go through it, and I'm pretty new to this so I'll join in with the trend.
Specs: Asus P5B
E6600
Thermalright IFX14
4Gb Geil PC6400 ram (4x1Gb)
Antec 900

I'm getting idle temps of 24C and load of 34C, and thats with the heatsink just mounted, so over the next few weeks apparently it should fall a couple as the AS5 seats itself properly, or whatever it has to do.

I had the CPU running at 280FSB (2.52Ghz) before the cooler, so I'm starting at 300FSB and will be slowly increasing it. But before I start, I wanted to set most things in the BIOS away from 'auto' but there are a few I'm not so sure about.

CPU freq is at 300
Dram freq: DDR2 - 750Mhz
PCI-E freq: 100
PCI clock synch mode: Auto (only option is 33.3Mhz)
Spread spectrum: Auto (Can be enabled or disabled)
Memory Voltage: Auto (1.8 to 2.1V in 0.1 incriments. Geil website states Working Voltage : 1.8-2.2V)
CPU Vcore voltage: Auto (Starrts at 1.7 and falls in 0.125 increments - Which should I start at?)
FSB Termination Voltage: Auto (1.2 to 1.4 in 0.1 increments, and 1.45. Not sure where to start here, either).

I'm not sure where I should start he CPU Vcore at, any help?

Edit: Just tried booting with it all as said above, got a bluescreen with an error in pagefile.sys and a page fault in non paged area, I think it was. Dropping CPU freq to 280 and trying again.
Edit2: Still bluescreens. Going back to default :/
Edit3 (Because I like editing): Back into vista with everything set to auto. The fact that before it used to boot with CPU freq at 280 means I'm doing something wrong. Could it just be the RAM not getting enough juice? I have crash logs, if they will help.

PhoenixUK · 3 May 2008 at 01:37

Dont be greedy and give the GeiLs 2.0 or 2.1v, they love it.
DISABLE Spread Spectrum o_O.
CPU Vcore im not sure whats the default one, check what u got default and then increase it abit, but I think something like 1.35-1.375 should be alright and safe to try with any CPU for start.

FSB Volts again u gotta check what u got by default and then increase it by a notch if needed.

iviv · 3 May 2008 at 01:59

Dont be greedy and give the GeiLs 2.0 or 2.1v, they love it.

Erm, which is it? Give them the 2.0 or not?

CPU-Z says they are running at 1.8 at the moment, and thats on auto. I'll disable the Spread spectrum as well, though what is it?

I've read lots of different things about what the stock Vcore should be, as the BIOS didn't seem to indicate it. 1.325 is apparently the default. In CPUz, its reading 1.184V and Core Temp says the VID (I guess its the same thing) is 1.2625
So, tomorrow I'll set it to 1.325, ram to 2.0V and then see if I can push up the FSB without it bluescreening.

PhoenixUK · 3 May 2008 at 13:23

Oh well your mobo underclocks badly on auto then or you have huge vdrop.
Anyways, set the vcore to 1.35-1.37 and watch your temps, you still got a lot of headroom there seeing that u got just 34load.

iviv · 3 May 2008 at 18:10

Right, a couple of things have popped up.

If I set the memory voltage to 2.00V, the value turns red and gets highlighted, 1.9V is ok though. I'm going to boot with it at 1.9V for now. I also did some more reading, that the stock voltage can vary between cores. So, rather than risking setting it too high, I'm going to set it at 1.2625V and see what happens. If it doesn't boot, I'll try upping it a bit.

Edit: Well, its into windows ok with that, no bluescreen. CpuZ says voltage is going between 1.192V and 1.224V, core temp says 1.2625V.
However, this is strange. I've disabled speedstep, and I'm getting some sstrange readings. Core Temp and the intel TAT say I'm running at 2400Mhz. However, CPU-Z (Version 1.44.1) is switching between 1.6Ghz and 2.4Ghz, as the multiplier jumps between x6 and x9. I know thats how the speedstep works, so not sure whats going on :/
Edit2: 280 FSB bluescreened with an IRQ_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL, gone down to 270 and it seems fine.
Just tried 275 FSB and it bluescreened, 0x0000007E error, pointing to vx3000.sys which is my webcam driver... I don't see how that could have caused a bluescreen :/
Edit3: And now the 270FSB is bluescreening. DRIVER_IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL pointing to ecache.sys (0x000000D1)
Finaledit: Everythings back to default/auto values and its all working fine again.

Please, any ideas as to why its all failing?

iviv · 4 May 2008 at 16:53

I tried upping the voltage to around 1.3V but it still won't boot up without bluescreening.

I'm guessing its the ram, but I'm still not sure about changing the voltage, since 2V and higher turns the number red, with a dark blue background. I don't know what this means, but it looks bad :3

ns400r · 4 May 2008 at 18:00

The Geil spec voltage is 2.1v. The red means nothing when using this memory at 2.1v.

CpuZ says voltage is going between 1.192V and 1.224V, core temp says 1.2625V.
However, this is strange. I've disabled speedstep, and I'm getting some sstrange readings. Core Temp and the intel TAT say I'm running at 2400Mhz. However, CPU-Z (Version 1.44.1) is switching between 1.6Ghz and 2.4Ghz, as the multiplier jumps between x6 and x9. I know thats how the speedstep works, so not sure whats going on

CPUz is saying 1.8v and will always say 1.8v on the memory page as that is the default DDR2 voltage for the given speeds settings and isn't actually read from the memory chips. The 1.1xx voltage is because Speedstep IS still enabled.

iviv · 4 May 2008 at 18:37

Ok, thanks. I'll set it to 2.1V and see if I can boot with it.

And how is speedstep enabled if I've disabled it in the BIOS?

ns400r · 4 May 2008 at 18:45

Might depend on the version of the BIOS your board uses. Some items may not be accessible.

iviv · 4 May 2008 at 19:42

Its not that its not accessible. There is an option for SpeedStep that I can change. I've set it to 'Disabled', but it still throttles the CPU when I'm not using it

Its not really a problem, as I'm using my CPU most of the time anyway, but its just a niggle.

Just tried 2.1V on the ram, and its just bluescreened in exactly the same place as before T_T

Thats my BIOS settings. I'm not doing anything stupid there, am I?

ns400r · 4 May 2008 at 21:26

But what does disabling Speedstep do on that board with your BIOS version. Does it fully disable the C1E/EIST functions?

iviv · 4 May 2008 at 22:32

Ah, not a clue.
Though I'm more interested in somehow managing to overclock rather than disabling speedstep

Peter-B · 5 May 2008 at 01:35

I'm running a E6400 on a P5B bios 1604.
2x 512 Crucial 5300

I have no trouble getting it to 3.5.

My settings are
AI = manual
DRAM = auto
PCI Express = 100
PCI clock = 33.3
spread spectrum = disabled
Mem volts = auto
CPU vcore = auto
FSB termination = auto

CPUZ
reads
Multi 8, FSB 438 Core volts 1.504

FSB: DRAM = 1:1
5,6,6,18

TAT reads 67C ambiant temp is 25.6C
using AC7

Running 24/7 no probs

Cob · 5 May 2008 at 21:57

Is there no northbridge/MCH voltage adjustment on that board? You could do with upping it by 0.1v to boost it for running 4 sticks.

Anyway, set the vcore to atleast 1.35v. The E6600's stock voltage (VID) was usually 1.325-1.35v (Core Temp will tell you the VID). Probably best upping it to atleast 1.4v before you start overclocking.

Then drop the DRAM Freq down to the lowest setting, and set the FSB to 300mhz. Boot and see what happens. if that doesn't work then remove 2 sticks of memory and try those settings again.

iviv · 6 May 2008 at 00:34

Ah, finally. Thanks a ton

Set the vcore at 1.3700V
Ram at 600Mhz

Its running 100% load at 40-44C (Though one core is a couple of degrees hotter than the other)
Should I now just keep pushing the FSB up? I know you're supposed to do it in steps of 5, but with around 15C to play with, could I do larger steps, or could this damage the CPU?
Also the voltages seem strange in Vista. Coretemp says the VID is 1.2625 and CPU-Z is reporting 1.296V. Thats almost 1V thats being lost somewhere :/

Thanks again

Cob · 6 May 2008 at 09:05

The VID seems very low for an E6600. Do you have Speedstep enabled? But the difference between BIOS and CPU-Z is normal due to vdrop & vdroop. You can probably up your FSB 10mhz at a time til you need more vcore. Just keep an eye on your load temps.

iviv · 6 May 2008 at 12:17

Well, I'm not sure if I have speedstep enabled or not. The Intel TAT and Core Temp are just saying 2790Mhz (310FSB). However, CPU-Z is alternating between 1860 (310x6) and 2790 (Core voltage 1.328V at the lower value, 1.288V at the higher value.)
That voltage is rather strange, as apparently its drawing more power when its working than when its idle...

Screenies:
Load
No load

My BIOS layout (Advanced pages)
JumperFree Configuration - See screenshot above, where most of the overclocking is
USB Configuration

CPU Configuration -

Chipset -

Onboard devices Configuration
PCIPnP

Cob · 6 May 2008 at 12:46

You've definately got Speedstep (C1E & EIST) enabled since it's dropping down to x6 at idle. You can disable it since it's a Folding rig. (can't see the pics as I'm on my phone atm).

iviv · 6 May 2008 at 12:49

The pics are basically showing that SpeedStep is disabled in the BIOS

But as you said, it doesn't really matter, as its going back up when I fold or load up a game. I'm still slightly worried about the voltages its reporting, or is it normal to report more volts when idle?

Edit: Its now sitting at 330FSB in the BIOS (Though 329.8 in windows ¬_¬) giving me 2968Mhz. 35C idle and 48-50C under load. I think I'll stop when I get to around 55C, as 60C is about as hot as you want an E6600 to go, isn't it?

Edit2: 370FSB, 3327Mhz. 40ish Idle, 54 under load. I'll probably go for another 10FSB, and stop there. Though would it be worth trying for 400FSB, as then the ram would be at 800Mhz, or is that not too important?

Cob · 6 May 2008 at 15:54

C1E is still enabled. You'll need to disable that too to get Speedstep to stop doing its thang.

And that's a damn nice VID for an E6600.

And yeah it's normal for the vcore to drop under load. Tho that's a pretty big drop, but then the P965 ASUS's were known to do so.

You can happily go upto ~70c under Orthos or Prime95 load with an E6600. That'll be a lot more than normal folding temps.

And certainly try for 400mhz. But 3.6ghz was pretty hard to get with an E6600, but you look to have a nice chip there.