Wolfdale not stable. Don't want to up voltage anymore!

DevilBoy916

DevilBoy916

DevilBoy916

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Joined
8 Jan 2007
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169
Hiya Guys

My wolfdale E8400 system is running fine under normal loads.
If I play a game like crysis or Bioshock for more than an hour or so, I get a blue screen.
If I run Orthos, I can only get about half hour to an hour before it blue screens.

I've tried upping the core voltage a few times, but its betting up to 1.38v now, and i dont wanna go higher than this!
So far, the settings are as follows :

In the BIOS, we have a FSB Frequency of 427
Dram fewqueny - 855mhz
Ram timings - 5-5-5-15
CPU Voltage - 1.387v
Ram voltage - 2.15v

in Windows(CPU-Z), core voltage - 1.368v
Core speed - 3843Mhz
Idle temps - 20c
Under load in Orthos - 42c - 45c

Does anyone know why I might be getting crashes under load?
What else can I try apart from the voltage?
I've read that anything near 1.4v is a dnager area...

Cheers for any replies!
DB
 
1.38vcore is peanuts, and your temps are nice and chilly.
You've got plenty of headroom..

Whack up the vcore, don't be such a scaredy cat :P
 
uvmain said:
1.38vcore is peanuts, and your temps are nice and chilly.
You've got plenty of headroom..

Whack up the vcore, don't be such a scaredy cat :P
Click to expand...

45nm cpu's do not like high voltages. It does'nt matter if the temps are ok. Trust me, i've been there. Give it too much and it may degrade or even die. They are not as robust as the old 65nm cpu's.

You could go to 1.4v but i certainly would'nt go any higher. Have you tried increasing the NB and fsb termination voltages on the motherboard? It could be your ram topping out. Try lowering the dram frequency.
 
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See, thats the opposite to what i've read a lot on this forum!
Don't go above 1.4v people say, you'll get serious degredation on the wolfdale!

I haven't tried altering the NB and FSB termination, mainly because I dunno what they are!
I have an Asuk p5K premium P35 mobo.
And I cant recall seeing any voltage setttings on the mobo.

The mobo temp in Asus Probe is a little higher than the cpu at idle, around 35c.
 
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DevilBoy916 said:
See, thats the opposite to what i've read a lot on this forum!
Don't go above 1.4v people say, you'll get serious degredation on the wolfdale!

I haven't tried altering the NB and FSB termination, mainly because I dunno what they are!
I have an Asuk p5K premium P35 mobo.
And I cant recall seeing any voltage setttings on the mobo.

The mobo temp in Asus Probe is a little higher than the cpu at idle, around 35c.
Click to expand...

I know all about the degradation. It happened to me with a E8500 which is why i said 1.4v but no more. Ignore Asus Probe as it does'nt read correctly. Pretty much the only thing that reads Wolfdales correctly is Realtemp. There's a thread on it somewhere here.

Just off to download your mobo's manual to get the right sections in the bios. Back in a minute.
 
Do you have the latest bios, 504, which is needed to fully support the Wolfdales?

Your bios is a lot different to mine but i have downloaded and checked the manual and you have got some of the settings. I assume you have AI Overclocking set to manual. Below the DRAM voltage you should see FSB Termination Voltage. You can increase this to aid stability along with the North Bridge voltage (next one down). Just increase them a notch at a time and test for stability. Keep an eye on NB temps as well (Everest can do this). Set both PCI-e and cpu spread spectrums to disable and try setting both CPU and North Bridge voltage references to 0.63x (Wolfdales seem to be happiest at those settings).

This is where your bios differs greatly to mine. Do you have a setting called FSB strap to North Bridge or do you just have the FSB frequency and Dram Frequency?
 
I am away from my PC at the moment, so i'll have to check later tonight.
I'll print out what you just said (apart from the pasty bit) and check what I got.
I'm not sure what BIOS version I have. I definately flashed it before I whacked the CPU in though, and it recognises the wolfie in windows, so I think its the correct version!

I'll get back to you.

Apart from these settings, i'm guessing that everything else looks ok?
I was expecting to hit 4ghz on this CPU, but with it being unstable at 3.8, and the votage being 1.38, I'm not sure it can be pushed anymore! :(
 
DevilBoy916 said:
I am away from my PC at the moment, so i'll have to check later tonight.
I'll print out what you just said (apart from the pasty bit) and check what I got.
I'm not sure what BIOS version I have. I definately flashed it before I whacked the CPU in though, and it recognises the wolfie in windows, so I think its the correct version!

I'll get back to you.

Apart from these settings, i'm guessing that everything else looks ok?
I was expecting to hit 4ghz on this CPU, but with it being unstable at 3.8, and the votage being 1.38, I'm not sure it can be pushed anymore! :(
Click to expand...

4Ghz should definately be do-able. Sometimes it's the board that holds things back and just needs tweaking.
 
Are you sure it's not the RAM that's crapping out? May loosen the timings from 15 to 18 to see if it makes a diff?
 
Right guys.
I've had a little fiddle with all the recommended settings, and the PC still runs fine, but under load (Orthos or gaming), I get about 5-10 minutes of stability (Longer with gaming), and it dies.
In the BIOS, I have the following settings set :
FSB Freq - 427
DDR2 Freq - 855Mhz
Ram Timings - 5-5-5-18
CPU Voltage - 1.3875v
FSB Termination volt - 1.30v
DRAM Volt - 2.15v
NorthBridge Volt - 1.40v
CPU Voltage Ref - 0.63x
Northbridge Volt Ref - 0.61x

Idle temps (In real temp) - 28c
Under Orthos Load - 47c

What am I missing here to get the little bugger stable?!
Cheers
DB
 
DevilBoy916 said:
Right guys.
I've had a little fiddle with all the recommended settings, and the PC still runs fine, but under load (Orthos or gaming), I get about 5-10 minutes of stability (Longer with gaming), and it dies.
In the BIOS, I have the following settings set :
FSB Freq - 427
DDR2 Freq - 855Mhz
Ram Timings - 5-5-5-18
CPU Voltage - 1.3875v
FSB Termination volt - 1.30v
DRAM Volt - 2.15v
NorthBridge Volt - 1.40v
CPU Voltage Ref - 0.63x
Northbridge Volt Ref - 0.61x

Idle temps (In real temp) - 28c
Under Orthos Load - 47c

What am I missing here to get the little bugger stable?!
Cheers
DB
Click to expand...

Maybe you just have a cpu that needs more volts. I would try 1.4v but no more. Also try raising the fsb termination voltage a couple of notches. You could also raise the CPU PLL voltage a notch or two, but do not go past 1.6v.
 
I sooo didnt wanna try 1.4v.
With my luck, i'd have a processor that fried on 1.4.

I haven't overclocked it massively, thats what I dont get.
Its only running at 3.8Ghz.
Some people run over 4 with the same voltage as me!
 
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