E8400 overclock- weird issues

[SammerX]

Hello all-

Disclaimer: This is my first serious overclocking attempt!

I recently put together my new gaming rig (in sig) and I've been working on overclocking it a bit. So far I haven't be able to get everything to run stable over ~3.4ghz.

Whenever I try to run the FSB at or over 390 mhz when I boot into windows 7 (64 bit) I get restricted to a maximum of 1280x1024... This would be fine if I didnt have a 1080p monitor!

I would like to his at least 3.6ghz- would love to get up to 4ghz like I've read about but thats not happening if I cant get over 390mhz on the FSB!

I see people running their CPU voltage at or near what mine currently is set to and they get much higher stable results; this leads me to believe thats not where my issue lies.

I'm thinking one of the other voltages on my board might have something to do with it, the NB voltage or the PLL voltage maybe? I have read that each of these will help with stability.

I don't that my ram is the problem- its rated for 1066 so right now I am actually underclocking the ram.

That is all I can think of right now; I will list the bios settings that I have currently to hopefully add some insight to my problem:

CPU Freq: 380mhz
Strap FSB to MCH: 400
DRAM Frequency: 506
CPU Voltage: 1.23750V
NB Voltage: 1.3V
PLL Voltage: 1.5V
DRAM Voltage: 2.14V

Does anyone have any suggestions on things I might change so that I can start putting this expensive heatsink to work?

Thanks
Sam

 

[Nenu]

Make sure PCI-E bus is locked.
Try higher CPU voltage if temps allow.
Set memory speed manually to a slow speed, if it works, find the fastest memory speed after.
Make sure your memory isnt undervolted.

If you want to find what the max speed the motherboard can do, set your memory and CPU to as slow as they can go.
While running Orthos, boost the FSB slowly until it fails.
You are then close to the max speed the motherboard can do.

 

[tombew]

OP: Antec 900 Two, ASRock P45XE, E8400, EVGA GTX280 1gb, Zalman CNPS9700, Antec Truepower 650W, G.Skill 2x2gb DDR2 1066 PC2 8500, 640gb Western Digital Black HD

I don't know your motherboard, or it's BIOS, but ....I do have an E8400 at >3.9 on DFI LT X48-T2R for >6 months w/CPU @ 100% running BOINC Projects.
My first guess is you need more voltage on CPU.
You could also try 1.35 for NB
Does your BIOS gave "GTL" setting(s) available?
What are timeing settings for RAM?

As a general comment, you need to set up a series of test to determine what is the "weak point". CPU, RAM, Mobo, Power Supply, etc. Increase "something" until it breaks.
ORTHOS is a good tool to test for stability. CPU-Z can also be useful to see what is going on.