Overclock Fails with Additional Hardware

eddiew · 15 Nov 2007 at 19:08

Hi all,

I have an (aging but dependable) P965 DS3 rev 2.0 motherboard, 4 gig of Ballistix 667 memory, and an E4300. In general, it overclocks nicely, needing only the tiniest voltage nudge to run at 2.1 or 2.4 GHz, except... if I plug in more hardware.

Any of a USB hub, floppy, or second hard drive causes total overclock failure - even just manually setting 9x200 MHz isn't good enough; the board resets to default next boot. If I pull 2 DIMMs out, I can put in one extra component and maintain the overclock.

Evidently I have power issues - but is it likely the PSU at fault, or the motherboard itself?

I've got the RAM at +0.3V, and the MCH at +0.1. If I push further, the health reading for 18DDR in the BIOS changes from OK to FAIL - which is a bit scary, so I don't!

Total system hardware:

E4300 + stock cooler
4x 1GB Ballistix DIMMs
Gainward 7900GS Golden Sample, not overclocked
400GB HDD
DVD-RAM
Creative X-Fi Fata1ity + front plate
Belkin wireless network card
USB scanner (usb powered, no mains lead)
USB wireless keyboard/mouse (receiver unit powered from USB)
4 extra USB sockets attached to motherboard headers, 2 front, 2 back
2x 120MM fans

...running off a 460watt PaxPower PSU. Too much on too little? It's pushing 18 months old, may no longer be in it's prime...

I would like to get my 2nd hard drive up and running soon, so any advice appreciated. Suggestions on suitable replacement PSU (if concensus is that that's the problem) would also be gratefully received

Thanks in advance!

Eddie

jak731 · 15 Nov 2007 at 20:43

can you borrow a good psu off anyone?

eddiew · 16 Nov 2007 at 07:55

jak731 said:
can you borrow a good psu off anyone?

Alas, all that I could borrow from is an acorn, a shuttle, or a 2 year old PC, none of which are going to have the juice for the job.

I have a dubious-brand 400W PSU in my cupboard, but it's only atx 1, not 2, and probably can't keep up with the job anyway

*edit*

Should ask, what's the safety of upping the MCH voltage by 0.2 or 0.3? I've had someone suggest to me the problem may lie here...

Trunks9486 · 16 Nov 2007 at 08:05

Dont think its the PSU, i have a high quality OCZ psu and something similar happened to me using an external usb hard disk, total overclock failure, nothing wout pass POST, removed it and now its stable at 3.4GHz and passes every test i throw at it

eddiew · 16 Nov 2007 at 08:10

Trunks9486 said:
Dont think its the PSU, i have a high quality OCZ psu and something similar happened to me using an external usb hard disk, total overclock failure, nothing wout pass POST, removed it and now its stable at 3.4GHz and passes every test i throw at it

Yep, that's the same symptom - and I've had a friend say the same thing too.

Dagnabbit x(

*edit*

On a slight tangent, is 460W enough to power the kit outlined above, but with an 8800GT and a 2nd hard drive?

Ranger · 16 Nov 2007 at 09:19

Your PSU will handle that spec fine (Provided that the fault lies with your motherboard and not the PSU).

Trunks9486 · 16 Nov 2007 at 11:45

Personally, i just disconnect the USB hard disk until it starts loading windows and then connect it again, it doesnt cause any problems while its connected, i only had a problem with POSTing with the USB hard disk.

It was very annoying though, for the longest time i thought it was either amobo issue or RAM that i couldnt overclock, then while testing i found out that was not the case.

Runs happily now

Edit: My mobo is a gigabyte one as well, p35 dq6, maybe its something related to Gigabyte's mobos?

eddiew · 16 Nov 2007 at 11:47

I can't just disconnect my SATA hard drive until it's finished booting though

Trunks9486 · 16 Nov 2007 at 12:44

Try to have the bare minimum on, only keyboard and mouse and screen... does that work out for you? or try removing the DIMMs and inserting them back one at a time.

The $6m Dan · 16 Nov 2007 at 14:03

One thing you could look at is dual power supplies. You said you had a spare, and if you hooked up the HDDs, DVD and fans to that, you should be able to save enough power on the main PSU to run everything else.

I've not done this myself, so I can't offer any advice on how to hook it up, but a google search for 'Dual PSU' should help. Or perhaps some kind soul on these forums may be able to help.

eddiew · 17 Nov 2007 at 09:51

Trunks9486 said:
Try to have the bare minimum on, only keyboard and mouse and screen... does that work out for you? or try removing the DIMMs and inserting them back one at a time.

Removing 2 DIMMS seems to let me boot with the USB connected.

Turns out I left the internal hard drive plugged in last time; I'd just pulled the SATA cable out. With +0.3v to the MCH, overclocks fine with both HDDs unless I plug in a 3rd USB device. Maybe my own fault, I guess a scanner is a fairly high power draw, perhaps I've just plain maxed what I can pull at boot time. Nevermind, not like I need a USB hub with 8 ports already

The $6m Dan said:
One thing you could look at is dual power supplies. You said you had a spare, and if you hooked up the HDDs, DVD and fans to that, you should be able to save enough power on the main PSU to run everything else.

Interesting idea... if I can get the 2nd PSU to turn on without the motherboard to tell it to. I may investigate for curiosity

Last question remaining; is 0.3V extra to MCH going to blow it out in the near future? :S