NorthBridge (MCH) voltage?

known12345

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
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What exactly is the point of the MCH voltage in the BIOS? I think someone said it deals with the voltage that flows through the northbridge which regulates the connection between the cpu, RAM, and gpu if I remember correctly, but what does this have to do with overclocking your cpu? Does it make your system more stable? Does it allow for higher FSB? If I am ocing a q6600 which doesn't exactly need a FSB higher than 400 if only doing 3.6, does it even matter to change the voltage?

I mean I oced my q6600 to 3.6 at 1.5v in BIOS (1.41 according to motherboard, ABIT IP35-E, software however) and was able to get it prime95 stable for 10 hours (have TRUE and low ambient temps so temps were about high 50s, low 60s) but, being an ABIT IP35 board (I here the IP35 Pro has high PWM temps as well) had extremely high PWM temps and so I was only safely able to run stability test onside of case and with fan on MOSFETs. Anyway I ask if MCH voltage is important because I was wondering if increasing the MCH voltage means that I could lower my cpu voltage to possibly lower PWM temps?
 
The northbridge only really needs higher voltage if your trying to get 450+ FSB. The abit boards are also known to have high PWM temps. What you need to do is take the PWM heatsink off and double over the thermal tape. That will reduce temps by about 50C in most cases.
 
MCH is the Memory Controller Hub which connects the memory to your PC and keeps the memories data refreshed.
As well as your memory, the MCH has a finite speed it can run at for the voltage supplied.
If you find that your memory fails after an overclock, it could be the memory and/or the MCH at fault.
Increasing its voltage gives it a bit more fsb headroom but only if it doesnt get too hot and is not overdriven to the point of damage.
 
Thank you all for the help. Since I only use a q6600 I guess increasing MCH voltage isn't that crucial to overclocking compared to ocing a dual.
 
Thank you all for the help. Since I only use a q6600 I guess increasing MCH voltage isn't that crucial to overclocking compared to ocing a dual.

On the contrary, Thats a power hungry chip, youll need to up most voltages past 3.2ghz
 
but what does this have to do with overclocking your cpu?

The X48 chipset is speced at a 400MHz (max) FSB per Intel, All other previous chipsets have a Intel spec of 333MHz max or less. So unless you have an X48 you are overclocking the MCH just like you are overclocking the CPU for FSB settings above 333MHz and over 400MHz on the X48 and the MCH likes an extra jolt of juice just like the cpu when operating above frequencies it was designed for.

Does it make your system more stable?
See above, if running above the spec FSB - yes, and it never hurts to give it a little extra even at stock to account for voltage drops and component tolerances.

Does it allow for higher FSB?
Yes in general see above. Its just like your CPU. With the same concerns with managing heat and the same safeguards in place as well. Like the cpu it will shut down if too hot but nothing will prevent you from giving it too much voltage and damaging the chip.


If I am ocing a q6600 which doesn't exactly need a FSB higher than 400 if only doing 3.6, does it even matter to change the voltage?

Depends on the chipset and what the MCH was speced for by Intel. See above. I always give the MCH a little extra juice and depending on the OC sometimes significantly more. Like CPUs sometimes you get a good one that overclocks well without the need for any "tweaking" sometimes not. The thremal solutions for the MCH varies widely between boards and is always a good thing to improve in an OCing machine.
 
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