Asus P5E-VM HDMI: best matx ever?

I would have thought that going from 8 to 8.5 would be entirely down to the CPU... But I'm curious: what temps are you getting on IBT when you test 8x471?

68ºC on the first core, 64ºC on the remaining three. Prime is around 61/58 - 42/39 idle.

My lack of stability at 6x480 still points me to a limitation elsewhere than the cpu. Perhaps I'm hitting this board's limits with the memory speed with all 4 banks filled with 2GB sticks...
 
68ºC on the first core, 64ºC on the remaining three. Prime is around 61/58 - 42/39 idle.

My lack of stability at 6x480 still points me to a limitation elsewhere than the cpu. Perhaps I'm hitting this board's limits with the memory speed with all 4 banks filled with 2GB sticks...

6x480 being unstable could be caused by many thing: most probably your mobo (with these settings). But 8x471 being stable and 8.5x471 not working is more a CPU thing. You have already achieved stability at 8x471 and you changed the multi to 8.5 and thats purely a CPU-bound setting.
 
So yeah...4GHz is impossible. I've got the below settings with still no Prime95 stability. I'm just going to lower it back down and lose that FSB voltage. I also cannot seem to get the FSB voltage stable at 3.8Ghz at anything less than 1.36v which seems a little odd.

CPU Ratio Setting: 8.5
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333MHz
FSB Frequency: 471
PCIE Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: 943MHz
DRAM Timing Control: Set to 5-5-5-15

CPU Voltage: 1.3v (1.272 actual)
CPU Voltage Reference: 0.63x
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: 1.64v
DRAM Voltage: 2.1v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.46v
North Bridge Voltage: 1.47v
North Bridge Voltage Reference: 0.67x
South Bridge Voltage: Auto

Edit:
Apparently I can all of a sudden lower my NB/VTT down to nothing at 3.8GHz. My best stable 3.8GHz settings:
CPU Ratio Setting: 8.5
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333MHz
FSB Frequency: 447
PCIE Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: 894MHz
DRAM Timing Control: Set to 5-5-5-15

CPU Voltage: 1.1875v (1.160v actual)
CPU Voltage Reference: 0.63x
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: 1.56v
DRAM Voltage: 2.1v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.2v
North Bridge Voltage: 1.25v
North Bridge Voltage Reference: 0.67x
South Bridge Voltage: Auto

I figure the next step is to go for 3.9Ghz tomorrow and see if it works or if any voltages need to skyrocket.
 
I figure the next step is to go for 3.9Ghz tomorrow and see if it works or if any voltages need to skyrocket.

Honestly you should be content with 3.8GHz... I know, it's rough to hit a plateau but at some point here you should actually spend some time USING the pc rather than fiddling with bios settings. :D
 
Apparently I can all of a sudden lower my NB/VTT down to nothing at 3.8GHz. My best stable 3.8GHz settings:
CPU Ratio Setting: 8.5
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333MHz
FSB Frequency: 447
PCIE Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: 894MHz
DRAM Timing Control: Set to 5-5-5-15

CPU Voltage: 1.1875v (1.160v actual)
CPU Voltage Reference: 0.63x
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: 1.56v
DRAM Voltage: 2.1v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.2v
North Bridge Voltage: 1.25v
North Bridge Voltage Reference: 0.67x
South Bridge Voltage: Auto

I figure the next step is to go for 3.9Ghz tomorrow and see if it works or if any voltages need to skyrocket.

These numbers make absolutely no sense to me: you seem to be running 8.5x447 almost without increasing CPU, NB and FSB voltages. I don't get it. I wish a more experienced OCer could take a look at this but most of them are now getting busy with the Asus R2G.
 
Asus R2G.

Eh, I'll wait for a non-SLI motherboard and an i7 refresh (die shrink or 8 core). That or if MS CashBack shoots up ever again. There isn't any use to move up to i7 besides "bragging rights" at the moment or if every split second matters when encoding. It just makes no sense why I can't bump this cpu up any further. I am going to search for a larger (ATX spec dimensioned, not any of this 6" deep crap!) power supply.
 
Eh, I'll wait for a non-SLI motherboard and an i7 refresh (die shrink or 8 core). That or if MS CashBack shoots up ever again. There isn't any use to move up to i7 besides "bragging rights" at the moment or if every split second matters when encoding. It just makes no sense why I can't bump this cpu up any further. I am going to search for a larger (ATX spec dimensioned, not any of this 6" deep crap!) power supply.

Kind of agree with you on the R2G. I want it but I know I don't need it: I only play UT3 which runs great on a 4GHz E8400 + HD4850 at 1920*1200. Heck it runs great on 3.2GHz E8200 + 8800GT.

What PSU do you have?
 
Antec EA380 - I'm near its limits with such a system but I had it all running fine in a Shuttle with a 300w power supply so the Antec should be more than enough.

Stable:

3.9GHz
CPU Ratio Setting: 8.5
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333MHz
FSB Frequency: 459
PCIE Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: 917MHz
DRAM Timing Control: Set to 5-5-5-15

CPU Voltage: 1.2250v (1.200v actual)
CPU Voltage Reference: 0.63x
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: 1.52v
DRAM Voltage: 2.1v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.2v
North Bridge Voltage: 1.25v
North Bridge Voltage Reference: 0.67x
South Bridge Voltage: Auto

Unstable:

4.0GHz
CPU Ratio Setting: 8.5
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333MHz
FSB Frequency: 471
PCIE Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: 942MHz
DRAM Timing Control: Set to 5-5-5-15

CPU Voltage: 1.2750v (1.26v actual)
CPU Voltage Reference: 0.63x
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: 1.64v
DRAM Voltage: 2.1v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.44v
North Bridge Voltage: 1.45v
North Bridge Voltage Reference: 0.67x
South Bridge Voltage: Auto
 
Antec EA380 - I'm near its limits with such a system but I had it all running fine in a Shuttle with a 300w power supply so the Antec should be more than enough.

Yeah that should be enough. Unless you buy a ridiculous GFX card.

Unstable:

4.0GHz
CPU Ratio Setting: 8.5
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333MHz
FSB Frequency: 471
PCIE Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: 942MHz
DRAM Timing Control: Set to 5-5-5-15

CPU Voltage: 1.2750v (1.26v actual)
CPU Voltage Reference: 0.63x
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: 1.64v
DRAM Voltage: 2.1v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.44v
North Bridge Voltage: 1.45v
North Bridge Voltage Reference: 0.67x
South Bridge Voltage: Auto

If all those settings are stable with a multiplier of 8, then it's only a CPU voltage thing. Which also means it could be a cooling thing. That being said, in Anandtech's review of the 720BE they compare it with a Q9550 running 8.5*500 on air with a Monsoon III which is supposedly not as good as your TRUE. So maybe it's just that your sample of Q9550 has hit its wall?
 
I'm kinda surprised that the cpu peaks at 73ºC at 3.9Ghz...I would think the heatsink would do a better job. It isn't lapped (small difference, mine is only convex by a hair anyways, much less than pictures I've seen of other peoples' with straightedges held up) but is washer modded (this was a 12ºC load difference!). The heatsink fins hardly get warm down low but the the base itself doesn't warm up much either. The heatsink was attached so the convex side matches up with the convex direction on the heatspreader which is worse than that of the heatsink.

Anyways, I would still expect lower than a 30ºC difference between idle and load with 1.2v going to the processor...
 
Yeah, so I give up on this thing. I spent forever trying to get 4GHz stable but it always errors in Prime or fails IBT at both low voltages and high voltages. You would think the errors would decrease but it's always the same. No crashes though.

3.8Ghz at 1.16v (and now PLL 1.5v...no idea why I can turn that down now) runs cool at stock voltages all around. It's just weird to see a setup that goes right up against a wall with no wiggle room. This reminds me of the K6 days of one bump and that's it. Even my Celeron 366's could go higher than 550 with enough voltage/cooling.

On another note, the "RAID" setting on this board (well, the intel southbridge) sucks. It wasn't until recent drivers that I could burn a DVD on my SATA burner plugged into the 5th SATA port. My P35 board had this same problem but with not being able to see the drive period. The ich9r isn't Intel's best, that's for sure.
 
I've experienced hitting the wall myself with my e8500 in a UD3P board. 4.1ghz completely stable, everything at stock voltage except a small bump to the Northbridge. 4.2ghz needs the same voltage as 4.5ghz to get stable, and the heat increase is ridiculous - so I just have to be happy with 4.1.
 
hd4850GS GLH in my asus hdmi:
9790.jpg
 
Just an update.. Still going strong with my P5E-VM HDMI and a Q6600.. I'm doing my best to hold out til the 32nm chips are out.. 4ghz for a Q6600 with a 515FSB capable setup.. I can't complain. ;)
 
I just ordered the motherboard this thread is about and I'm planning on running it with a QX6850 and Corsair Dominator 2x 2GB DDR2 PC2-8500 memory. I've seen a lot of reports here with 500+MHz FSB's which is really nice, I hope to reach that.

But this topic is getting heavy with almost 80 pages crammed with tech & specs. It would be helpful if people would summarize the most important things in the first post, collecting the knowledge that was gained here. I'd hate to spend all those hours just reading up all those posts and getting square eyes... And I guess I wouldn't be the only one :)
 
How easy is it to oc with the oc feature on the board? im about to oc to about 3ghz and some ram for the first time and still kinda confused with ram timings and fsb and such
 
I've been fidling around with my config (see signature) and I'm having a hard time overclocking. The problem is I can't seem to get the QX6850 to do 3.5GHz stable. At the moment I'm running 3.0GHz but with 500MHz FSB in stead of 333MHz. But this doesn't stay stable without FSB and NB voltage set to 1.4v... I have the memory set to 2.1v to reach the 1000MHz. In windows I noticed that I have a vdro(o)p problem: idle CPU voltage at auto setting is 1.38v - 1.39v, under load it drops to 1.28v. I left the CPU Voltage Damper on Enabled, but it doesn't seem to help.

Anyway, what I've tried so far:
POST 333 x 9 = 3.0GHz
POST 400 x 8 = 3.2GHz
POST 433 x 8 = 3.48GHz
POST 450 x 7 = 3.16GHz
POST 475 x 7 = 3.33GHz
POST 500 x 6 = 3.0GHz
FAIL 533 x 6 = 3.2GHz
--> raised FSB/NB voltage to 1.3v and 1.4v = still FAIL
So 500MHz FSB is probably a safe bet to stay with.

POST 500 x 7 = 3.5GHz
FAIL 500 x 8 = 4.0GHz
--> raised CPU voltage to 1.45v and 1.5v = still FAIL
POST 475 x 8 = 3.8GHz
FAIL 485 x 8 = 3.88GHz
So now that we hit that ceiling, we know that we can begin testing.

POST 475 x 8 = 3.8GHz
--> Auto CPU voltage: NO BOOT
--> 1.325v CPU voltage: NO POST
--> 1.4v CPU voltage: NO POST
--> 1.45v CPU voltage: NO BOOT
--> 1.5v CPU voltage: NO BOOT
I guess the vdrop is keeping the system from stable operation...

POST 466 x 8 = 3.75GHz
--> Auto CPU voltage: NO BOOT
--> 1.4v CPU voltage: NO POST
--> 1.45v CPU voltage: NO BOOT
--> 1.5v CPU voltage: NO BOOT

POST 450 x 8 = 3.6GHz
--> Auto CPU voltage: NO BOOT
Wait a minute, still no boot ?!

POST 433 x 8 = 3.5GHz
--> Auto CPU voltage: BOOT!
So 3.5GHz is my objective to get stable before going any further. Back to the untested FSB limit, 500MHz.

POST 500 x 7 = 3.5GHz
--> Auto CPU voltage: NO BOOT
--> 1.4v FSB/NB voltage: BOOT!
--> Prime95 torture test crashes almost instantly

POST 500 x 6 = 3.0GHz
--> Auto CPU voltage: NO BOOT
--> 1.4v FSB/NB voltage: STABLE!
But vdrop in auto goes from 1.39v idle to 1.28v under load

So how do I proceed ? My dream goal would be 500x8 to achieve 4GHz but that seems impossible. So maybe 500x7 for a 3.5GHz is maybe a good bet ? At the moment I'm still using an Intel Stock cooler as the Shuriken I ordered wasn't available. I ordered the NT06-E as it seems to be a better match but it has yet to arrive.

Does it even help raising the voltage to 1.5v or 1.6v as vdrop is going to occur anyway ? What about the other settings like PLL voltage, FSB termination voltage, are they relevant ?
 
two things...

- you might want to look into the vdroop mod for fixing the horrible v-droop on this board... without it, you can almost forget OCing.

-on SG02F, you need to watch heating issues. I have the same case, same mbo, with a E5200 (OC to 3.7ghz) and a zalman 8700 HSF, and heat is still quite high (rarely on load and it's a cheap CPU so I'm not TOO worried).

Good luck!
 
My bios is pretty stock, all I changed so far was turning off the speed step, I want to get about 3.2ghz and oc my ram alittle bit, I saw where to change the fsb but didnt see where to change the ratio like for the cpu to ram 2:4 ect nor the multiplyer in this bios im not sure what else to change, my ram right now is 2:4 5 5 5 18 2t pc8400
so what should be changed in the bios? i changed the fsb to 333 and the cpu volts to 1.220 and in windows my ram went from 400mhz to 350mhz, not sure why, what else should i change then? im a little confused
 
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Well if 3.4 is pretty easy, just for 3ghz so far i tried

CPU Ratio Setting: 8.0
FSB Strap to North Bridge: Auto
FSB Frequency: 400
PCIE Frequency: auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-800, and i tried auto
DRAM Timing Control: Manual and auto
--DRAM CAS# Latency: 5
--DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Precharge: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Activate to Precha: 15 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM Write Recovery Time: AUTO
--DRAM TRFC: AUTO
--DRAM TWTR: AUTO
--DRAM TRRD: AUTO
--DRAM TRTP: AUTO

Clock Over-charging Mode: 0.80v

CPU Spread Spectrum: DISABLED
PCIE Spread Spectrum: DISABLED

CPU Voltage: 1.20v didnt boot to windows 1.25, 1.30 still didnt
CPU Voltage Reference: AUTO
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: auto
DRAM Voltage: auto
FSB Termination Voltage: auto
North Bridge Voltage: auto
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: auto

didnt boot to windows



I turned off speedstep and cpuz still shows me going down to like 6x multi when im idling..
 
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to reduce Vdroop, you will need to do the pencil mod on the board. I would start from there, and find a good OC guide (google) and ask if you run into any questions.

Sorry I can't be any more helpful, I don't have the links with me and a quick search should turn things up
 
I believe most people do (assuming everyone has severe vdroop, which I believe most people have)... here's the scenario:

Let's say you need 1.32Vcore to keep 3.5GHz stable. Without vdroop mod, you might need to set ur vcore to 1.65V in bios, which ends up with 1.45 vcore idle and 1.32vcore load. It's fine for keeping stability, but whenever your CPU is idle the 1.45vcore is killing your CPU.

if you do the pencil mod and you set your Vcore to 1.35V, your idle and load may be the same (or very slightly different)... 1.32V. even though you've eliminated vdroop, the voltage is not killing your cpu when idling.

AFAIK, thats how it goes, and because of that, almost everyone uses the vdroop pencil mod. However if I am wrong, someone more experienced (who's been watching this thread longer) please do correct me :)

hope this helps
 
Like antaholics, I would strongly recommend doing the pencil vdroop mod. It's super simple. You only need the right type of pencil.
 
To achieve 3GHz:

CPU Ratio 9
Strap 333 (not Auto)
FSB freq: 333
DRAM: 800
Timings: 5-5-5-15 (check your RAM specified timings: you might need to boot without OC to get to cpuz to read the timings coded into your RAM)
(rest of timings on Auto)

PLL, NB, FSB and DRAM voltages should not be left on Auto. You want to have control over them. Leave NB FSB and PLL at their lowest values to start with.
DRAM voltage should be set to (my guess, but will depend on your RAM specs) 1.8V
and see what happens.
 
thanks, i'll do the mod tomorrow morning then, if anyone has bios settings for me to get around 3.2-3.4ghz and max my ram or close, its rated 5 5 5 18 1000mhz 2.1volts max would be much appreciated (i guess just change the settings i have here) and if you can tell me how much of each volts not to go over, i know cpu shouldnt go over 1.5 and my ram shouldnt go over 2.1

CPU Ratio Setting: 8.0
FSB Strap to North Bridge: Auto
FSB Frequency: 400
PCIE Frequency: auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-800, and i tried auto
DRAM Timing Control: Manual and auto
--DRAM CAS# Latency: 5
--DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Precharge: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Activate to Precha: 15 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM Write Recovery Time: AUTO
--DRAM TRFC: AUTO
--DRAM TWTR: AUTO
--DRAM TRRD: AUTO
--DRAM TRTP: AUTO

Clock Over-charging Mode: 0.80v

CPU Spread Spectrum: DISABLED
PCIE Spread Spectrum: DISABLED

CPU Voltage: 1.20v didnt boot to windows 1.25, 1.30 still didnt
CPU Voltage Reference: AUTO
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: auto
DRAM Voltage: auto
FSB Termination Voltage: auto
North Bridge Voltage: auto
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: auto

sorry NichoTL didnt see your post, but what would you change of yours for i guess 3.4ghz if its not too hard to get, my hsf seems to cool well
 
thanks, i'll do the mod tomorrow morning then, if anyone has bios settings for me to get around 3.2-3.4ghz and max my ram or close, its rated 5 5 5 18 1000mhz 2.1volts max would be much appreciated (i guess just change the settings i have here) and if you can tell me how much of each volts not to go over, i know cpu shouldnt go over 1.5 and my ram shouldnt go over 2.1

CPU Ratio Setting: 8.0
FSB Strap to North Bridge: Auto
FSB Frequency: 400
PCIE Frequency: auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-800, and i tried auto
DRAM Timing Control: Manual and auto
--DRAM CAS# Latency: 5
--DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Precharge: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Activate to Precha: 15 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM Write Recovery Time: AUTO
--DRAM TRFC: AUTO
--DRAM TWTR: AUTO
--DRAM TRRD: AUTO
--DRAM TRTP: AUTO

Clock Over-charging Mode: 0.80v

CPU Spread Spectrum: DISABLED
PCIE Spread Spectrum: DISABLED

CPU Voltage: 1.20v didnt boot to windows 1.25, 1.30 still didnt
CPU Voltage Reference: AUTO
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: auto
DRAM Voltage: auto
FSB Termination Voltage: auto
North Bridge Voltage: auto
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: auto

sorry NichoTL didnt see your post, but what would you change of yours for i guess 3.4ghz if its not too hard to get, my hsf seems to cool well

Like I said in my previous post, ditch the Auto settings for Strap, NB, PLL, FSB and DRAM voltage at least.
 
Let's try 8*400. With your RAM operating at 800 MHz, we know it can't be the problem (maybe later we can try and raise the RAM frequency)

RAM voltage 1.8V
FSB 1.36V
NB 1.41V
PLL 1.58V

Dunno about CPU voltage: without the vdroop mod, try 1.45V in the BIOS (my guess is that you will need higher, but let's see).
 
Like I said in my previous post, ditch the Auto settings for Strap, NB, PLL, FSB and DRAM voltage at least.
To what do these need to be set and what shouldn't they be set ? Also, can you explain what they do ?
 
To what do these need to be set and what shouldn't they be set ? Also, can you explain what they do ?

For explanation, I can point you towards this:
http://www.blazingpc.com/forum/showthread.php/explained_nb_fsb_sb_voltage-8907/index.html?

You don't need to know exactly what each setting does. It's more important to get a feel for their influence on your overclock. Gotta rush so I can't help you just now with your settings.
Strap should be on 333
My rule of thumb for NB, FSB and PLL: voltage increase (from the base voltage) for NB and FSB should be similar and PLL about half as much. That's a good starting point (IMO).
 
I brought the FSB and NB voltage down to 1.28v and 1.35v respectively, to achieve 500MHz FSB stable under Prime95, it successfully did 5 runs while I'm typing so that's about right. Now I can enjoy getting the processor up... But I won't be able to stresstest much, the temps at the moment are about 85-90°C under full load, the Stock Intel cooler doesn't like it... I did disable C1E and TM Function, what I've read this should help keep the overclocked CPU stable.

About PLL and Vdroop, what I've read on various forums is that it's not advised to alter the default settings as it could drastically reduce the lifetime of your components. And I don't want a fried CPU in 2 months :) I'm not looking for extreme overclocking here anyway, I'm happy I reached 500MHz FSB and now I hope I can get 3.5GHz on the CPU.

EDIT: I can get 3.5GHz (500MHz x 7) stable, but it's going to be at 1.57 or higher vCore. Since I'm still running the standard Intel cooler which already reaches 95-98°C under 50% load, I'm not going to stresstest it. I tried changing the CPU Reference to any setting but it didn't help. 1.57v and above seem pretty dangerous, certainly as most of the time it will be idling at that voltage.

I gave 533MHz another shot but even with PLL voltage 1.6v, FSB 1.5v, NB 1.6v and NB Reference at 0.67x it didn't POST. So I guess this seems to be the sweet spot. I think for gaming and Photoshop it's more useful to run at 3.0GHz with 500MHz FSB with the memory at 1000MHz (1:1) than to run 3.7GHz at 333MHz FSB and the memory at 1066MHz. Now I'll need to see for a decent chipset cooler...
 
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CPU Ratio Setting: 8.0
FSB Strap to North Bridge: 333
FSB Frequency: 400
PCIE Frequency: auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-800
DRAM Timing Control: Manua
--DRAM CAS# Latency: 5
--DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Precharge: 5 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM RAS# Activate to Precha: 18 DRAM Clocks
--DRAM Write Recovery Time: AUTO
--DRAM TRFC: AUTO
--DRAM TWTR: AUTO
--DRAM TRRD: AUTO
--DRAM TRTP: AUTO

Clock Over-charging Mode: 0.80v

CPU Spread Spectrum: DISABLED
PCIE Spread Spectrum: DISABLED

CPU Voltage: 1.30v
CPU Voltage Reference: AUTO
CPU Voltage Damper: ENABLED
PLL Voltage: 1.58v
DRAM Voltage: 1.9v
FSB Termination Voltage: auto
North Bridge Voltage: 1.41v
North Bridge Voltage Reference: AUTO
South Bridge Voltage: auto

and im going to do the pencil mod first
sounds right?
 
I brought the FSB and NB voltage down to 1.28v and 1.35v respectively, to achieve 500MHz FSB stable under Prime95, it successfully did 5 runs while I'm typing so that's about right. Now I can enjoy getting the processor up... But I won't be able to stresstest much, the temps at the moment are about 85-90°C under full load, the Stock Intel cooler doesn't like it... I did disable C1E and TM Function, what I've read this should help keep the overclocked CPU stable.

About PLL and Vdroop, what I've read on various forums is that it's not advised to alter the default settings as it could drastically reduce the lifetime of your components. And I don't want a fried CPU in 2 months :) I'm not looking for extreme overclocking here anyway, I'm happy I reached 500MHz FSB and now I hope I can get 3.5GHz on the CPU.

EDIT: I can get 3.5GHz (500MHz x 7) stable, but it's going to be at 1.57 or higher vCore. Since I'm still running the standard Intel cooler which already reaches 95-98°C under 50% load, I'm not going to stresstest it. I tried changing the CPU Reference to any setting but it didn't help. 1.57v and above seem pretty dangerous, certainly as most of the time it will be idling at that voltage.

I gave 533MHz another shot but even with PLL voltage 1.6v, FSB 1.5v, NB 1.6v and NB Reference at 0.67x it didn't POST. So I guess this seems to be the sweet spot. I think for gaming and Photoshop it's more useful to run at 3.0GHz with 500MHz FSB with the memory at 1000MHz (1:1) than to run 3.7GHz at 333MHz FSB and the memory at 1066MHz. Now I'll need to see for a decent chipset cooler...

I'm trying to get a handle on what you are trying to achieve: is it a FSB record you are looking for or just a good OC of your CPU. The reason why I'm asking this is that your CPU is an extreme edition, which means unlocked multiplier, right? So by going, say, FSB 445 and 5:6 divider, you get your RAM at 1068 without stressing the NB too much and then all that's left is pushing the CPU multiplier. Do you see where I'm going?
 
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