Northbridge and Southbridge voltages questions

[Bryston4bsst]

Hello,

Quad 6600 (GO) 400 x 9 = 3.6HGz
Gigabyte P35c-DSR3
NB & SB have been bumped by 0.1v each
CPU @ 1.475v
Temps (idle) 32.27.25.32
Temps (Prime blend) 58.55.57.57)
Thermalright 120 Xtreme + 2 noctura push/pulls + good case flow.

NB & SB can be increased to a max of +0.3 in the bios.

Questions

1. What experiences have people had when overclocking by increasing NB & SB more e.g. how did it help stability?

2. Best program for monitring NB & SB temps - Everest mentions motherboard temp of 22C and aux of 37C (both idle) are these referring to NB & SB?

3. Would adding +0.2V to NB & SB increase likelyhood of corrupting Windows if not cooled properly?

Thanks for you help.

 

[Wingz]

increasing NB voltage will help with stability when overclocking at over 400+ FSB, there is not much point increase voltage on the SB as it controls thing such as audio/sata/pci/ide.

I don't think there is a temp sensor on the SB but the Motherboard temp should be for your NB. I use speedfan to monitor my NB and hard drives temps.

if your NB temps are over 55+ then you should stick a fan on the NB Heatsink.

 

[Teaf]

Gigabyte's board temperature things on about 5mm away from the Southbridge I think, and I'm pretty sure this is the one that is picked up via Speedfan/Everest. The little cylinder thing on it's side to the left of the Southbridge. Or at least I'm come to believe this is the temperature probe

1. What experiences have people had when overclocking by increasing NB & SB more e.g. how did it help stability?

As Wingz states, increasing the Northbridge volts *slightly* when overclocking using high FSB values will help improve stability.

2. Best program for monitring NB & SB temps - Everest mentions motherboard temp of 22C and aux of 37C (both idle) are these referring to NB & SB?

Everest, Speedfan and PCWizard07 are the programs I've found to be the best at monitoring temperature of the motherboard. Excluding the BIOS of course.

3. Would adding +0.2V to NB & SB increase likelyhood of corrupting Windows if not cooled properly?

Southbridge maybe, since it control the SATA and IDE channels. I don't think Windows or the hard drive in general would corrupt when upping the volts on the Northbridge.

 

[Justintime]

Gigabyte's board temperature things on about 5mm away from the Southbridge I think, and I'm pretty sure this is the one that is picked up via Speedfan/Everest. The little cylinder thing on it's side to the left of the Southbridge. Or at least I'm come to believe this is the temperature probe

.

Looks more like a capacitor to me, plus its a little far from the SB.

 

[james.miller]

its neither. its a timing crystal, used for....timing and synchronisation of components.

 

[Teaf]

its neither. its a timing crystal, used for....timing and synchronisation of components.

Aha, thanks for that. Always put it down to some kind of temperature probe, but good to know what it actually is.

 

[Bryston4bsst]

Thanks for the comments - i adjusted the NB by 0.2 and 0.3 but it didn't add any stability on this occasion.

But now running 6600 @ 3.7GHZ on cpu volts of 1.537v in bios.....prime blend stable.