P965 Overclocking - A whole new world to me

ubern00b · 13 Feb 2007 at 12:20

Just built up my new rig comprising of an ASUS Commando, E4300 and 2gb of GEIL DDR2-800. The options in the bios are all new to me and I am quite lost. Does anyone know of a good guide detailing these options, what should be enabled/disabled, what the default voltages are (and safe increase of those voltages) for nb/sb/ddr2 termination etc? Would really appreciate some guidance. Thanks!

PS. I did look for guides and through the forums but I couldnt see anything specific to these settings.

ubern00b · 13 Feb 2007 at 18:31

This is all great advice, thank you all. That guide is super helpfull too. Now that I am home from work I can start playing with my new kit! Thanks again all.

ubern00b · 13 Feb 2007 at 20:21

I am sure I am doing something wrong. I have to be. I seem to hit a wall or something at 344fsb and the machine refuses to post. I have dropped the multi to 6 even (e4300) but nothing seems to help, it just wont go above 344mhz. Is there something I am missing? I cant believe everyone else in the world can attain mahoosive fsb overclocks and I cant even get over 345! System specs:

ASUS Commando
E4300
GEIL DDR800 Low Latency
Tuniq Tower 120
8800GTS

I have set all the voltages in the bios off auto and set thet manually as suggested in the guide posted above and mentioned elsewhere on the net, the ram is running 1:1 so infact underclocked at this point in time, running 2.1v through the ddr. Any other info someone needs to help me I will gladly give!

ubern00b · 13 Feb 2007 at 21:00

Your full of great information, I shall give it a try. Thanks again!

ubern00b · 13 Feb 2007 at 21:53

No such luck, tried 401, 401, 410, 450 even (with a multi of 6) and it always results in no post. I just dont know what could be wrong

ubern00b · 14 Feb 2007 at 09:42

I have flashed with the 0803 BIOS (first thing I did) and have set the pcie/pci speeds locked to 100/33. Still no difference. Just so I have my thinking right, I have tested the chip at 334 x 9 and its stable, temps are 50C under load. Am I correct in thinking that lowering the multi to 6 and increasing the FSB basically takes the cpu out of the equation and boils down to the mobo being able to handle the FSB? 450 x 6 is 2.7ghz and the chip is capable of this, but as I said there is just no post at anything over 344. The LCD displays "CPUINIT", the fan on the 8800gtx spins up full tilt and thats how it stays. I have to switch off, clear the cmos and start again.

If anyone thinks it could be the board I will send it back, I dont mind having a poor clocking chip but I bought the mobo on the basis that it was a good clocker. Can always drop another chip in at a later date (which was the plan) but dont really want to have to uproot the mobo at a later date. Thanks for taking the time to help me on this one, really appreciate it.

Edit: i have downloaded bios 0601and 0702 and am going to flash to those and see if it helps any. 0803 apparently introduced the 1333 strap, no idea if this has anything to do with it but I am going to give the old ones a go. If not I will get another board and hope that one works, if not then Ill give up!

ubern00b · 14 Feb 2007 at 19:14

I flashed back to 0702 and it does the exact same thing. Cannot get higher than 343mhz fsb no matter what the multi/voltage etc are set to. Can someone just confirm that this is likely to be a motherboard fault? Are there any other factors it could be? I ruled out ram as its running under spec as it is at 1:1, the cpu can handle 334 x 9 so I assume it is capable of 375 x 8 or 430 x 7 or 500 x 6?

Would just like confirmation on my thinking before I send this back and get another board. Thanks!

ubern00b · 14 Feb 2007 at 20:03

ubern00b said:
I ruled out ram as its running under spec as it is at 1:1

Tried that, still nothing.

ubern00b · 14 Feb 2007 at 21:08

Downgraded now to bios 0601 and it still does the same thing. Unless anyone can tell me I will be wasting my time I will get another board and cpu for this weekend and test every configuration possible, at least that way it rules out either component being the problem. I am convinced though it points to the board not being able to handle high FSB's. I must be the only person to get a Commando and not have it hit 500fsb lol. Every screenshot i have ever seen for this board shows 450+ capable when lowering the multi. *sigh*

ubern00b · 14 Feb 2007 at 22:31

Can you give me any more details about your setup? What CPU you have etc? Thing is I cannot post past 343mhz at all which is very low from what I can see on everyone elses attempts. Ill just get another board and give it a whirl this weekend, I hope the one I got is just faulty in some way. If i get a new board and it does the same thing then I think all commando overclock screenshots are photochopped!

ubern00b · 15 Feb 2007 at 09:46

Well this says to me my board is faulty, since no ammount of voltage increasing or decreasing will make the board post past 343. Ill order a new board now and hope for the best!

ubern00b · 1 Mar 2007 at 20:29

Ended up being the RAM. As soon as I got some crucial ballistix in there it just went from strength to strength. Dont know if it was an incompatability with those GEIL sticks and the board or just my luck that I got a pair that didnt want to play ball. Had the board right up to 500mhz FSB so I am quite happy now

ubern00b · 1 Mar 2007 at 22:37

netby: i read a lot of your posts with great interest and I have to thank you for your help. You are 100% right that I had to learn the chipset, as well as learning c2d overclocking as I came straight from a s939 rig. The reason I ruled out the RAM initially is because it worked, and it was even running under spec. Must just be something that p965 and geil dont like about each other. At least its all working now and I am not left scratching my head!

trojan698: had it up to 3.6 (450 x 8) but couldnt get it stable, but I havent finished fiddling yet. Also had it up to 500 x 7 just to test what fsb the board/ram could do. Currently running 400 x 8 1:1 4-3-3-12 timings. Want to see if i can get it stable at 3-3-3-12, just because! With the tuniq tower on there and a sharkoon silent eagle 1000 120mm fan its sitting at 30C idle and 53C load. When I finish playing and settle on final figures I may do a post with pics and final clocks if anyone is interested. Still need to compare 3dmark06 scores to my old rig and see if I can crack 10k (8800gts 620core/2000mem and was getting 9223 on my opty 165 @ 2.7)