help with E8400 and GA-P35-DS3L OC

L

lost_packet

n00b
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
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I'm having issues OC'ing my e8400, which should be a simple task.

Here is what I have:
cpu- e8400
RAM- 2 x 1GHz Crucial Ballistix PC28500 at 5-5-5-18
mobo- GA-P35-DS3L
hs- Zalman 9500
ps- PC P&C 610w

You will have to excuse me because I am at work now and can't look at my pc to get exact specs. Last night I bumped up the FSB to 400 to see what is did. It didn't even post, so that was a no go.

I upped the memory voltage to 2.2 and vcore to 1.25, then it posted and booted into windows. The temps we very low, under 25c. About 3 hours later it just rebooted with no interaction on my part. strange

I went back in and tried to increment the FSH, but it hated anything above 400FSB. The SPD section in the bios is really confusing how it is written. Maybe I just don't understand. If I set it to 2.0, that gave me a 1:1 ratio. If I set it to anything above that, it never posted.

When I went back to set it to the 400Mhz FSB that worked with the same vcore and mem voltage, it posts but won't boot into windows. At this point I am starting to wonder if my RAM is just crap.

Is there anything I should be looking at other than what I have done so far?

Thanks

Edit: I forgot to mention that I run the latest version of the bios, F8A.

In the manual it mentions having "High Speed DRAM DLL Settings" with settings "Option 1" or "Option 2", but I do not have this.
 
Did you hit Ctrl+F1 in the BIOS to access all the features in the MB Intelligent Tweaker section? I have the same motherboard, but I can't remember off the top of my head which features are available immediately.
 
yep, but it just has the timings. They were something like 5-7-7-28. I changed it to 5-5-5-15, but no dice.

speaking of memory, I have seen where people say to use slot 0 and 1, vs. using 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. Would this not defeat the whole purpose of dual channel memory?
 
lost_packet said:
I upped the memory voltage to 2.2 and vcore to 1.25, then it posted and booted into windows. The temps we very low, under 25c. About 3 hours later it just rebooted with no interaction on my part. strange
Click to expand...

Memory should be 2.0 multiplier to FSB. It could be either your ram or vcore. For a 400fsb, you're vcore could be too low. What is set in the bios is not what you will get in CPU-Z in Windows. Try a slightly higher vcore and make sure your memory is DDR-800 and has to correct timings set.
 
I have the same mobo.
The spec says it supports rated FSB 1000/1333, which is 4 x CPU FSB.
If FSB > 400, then rated FSB is > 1600. I guess it won't work on such a high value.

Just my guess. I have E2140 (1.6G) oc to 3.2G.
CPU FSB set to 400, and 8x multiplier.
If you can raise multiplier up, then you can oc with FSB staying 400.
That's what I don't like my CPU, the highest is 8x, and the overall frequency is limited by mobo's rated FSB.
 
Memory should be 2.0 multiplier to FSB.
Click to expand...
Do you mean set at 2.0 in the SPD which results in a 1:1 ratio?

The memory is DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500).
I will try to raise the core a bit more, but you would think a 3.6Ghz OC is cake for a e8400 and the memory I am running.

I'm starting to think the RAM is just not a good set. I tried a multiplier of 8, FSB of 450 (3.6GHz) and Orthos failed within 30 seconds.
 
I'm running my E8400@4005 (445x9) on a P35-DS3R. But I have to use 1.344 vcore for Orthos stability. You have better ram than me, but as matt-man22 said, I also think your vcore is too low. I think it's way too low for 400 or higher fsb:cool:
 
I am running the same motherboard with e8400 at 9x450. The board can handle it with only raising the vcore and DDR voltage. Memory is at a 1:1 ratio.

Sounds like it could be a memory issue. FSB at 450 isn't too much for the motherboard, even though it may state 1600 max. Could be memory issue, so make sure it is set at rated voltage and timings!
 
A brief update...I wasn't happy with my temps running Orthos (60c) so I returned the chip tonight for another. I basically left everything the same so I could compare....the new cpu runs Orthos at only 42c. Much better than the old. :D Once the test is done I will go back and lower voltages and see what it can do. At this point, it looks like some if not most of my problem was the cpu.

And yes, before returning the chip I had tried re-applying the thermal paste (arctic silver 5) to no avail.

The only strange thing with the new chip is the initial temp reading. Core 0 is 19c with a (?) next to it. Core 1 is 36c. Once Orthos started, both leveled out.
 
If you've seen any threads on the e8400, the temperature is not reliable at idle, and even at load it is believed CoreTemp reads it +10C greater. Look for posts by unclewebb. The e8400 you have now could possibly be the same temps you had before...
 
matt_man22 said:
If you've seen any threads on the e8400, the temperature is not reliable at idle, and even at load it is believed CoreTemp reads it +10C greater. Look for posts by unclewebb. The e8400 you have now could possibly be the same temps you had before...
Click to expand...
Agreed. I feel like I am one of the lucky ones, because my temp readouts (accurate or not) with CoreTemp have been stable, no frozen numbers or weird discrepancies or variations. Core 0 and 1 only vary a degree or two at idle or load. As for my reported temps and their accuracy, they are reading about 36C at boot-up to a high of 63C after 9 hrs of Orthos at 21C ambient, which probably should be adjusted about 10C lower.
 
The e8400 you have now could possibly be the same temps you had before...
Click to expand...
Hmm, I wonder...
The biggest thing I saw was that I could now go back and reduce all my voltages back to stock and it overclocks at 3.6GHz perfectly and passes Orthos running 10+c cooler. Basically the other chip seemed to be running very poor compared to the new one just based on what Vcore and FSB voltage I had to run just to get it stable.
 
lost_packet said:
A brief update...I wasn't happy with my temps running Orthos (60c) so I returned the chip tonight for another. I basically left everything the same so I could compare....the new cpu runs Orthos at only 42c. Much better than the old. :D Once the test is done I will go back and lower voltages and see what it can do. At this point, it looks like some if not most of my problem was the cpu.
Click to expand...

What vcore are you using to get 42c at load?

My e8400 at 1.33v and a Zerotherm Nirvana is running at 50C idle, 70C load according to CoreTemp and I am wondering if I should reseat it or not.
 
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