Overclocking Mystery. I need help.

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Linux23

n00b
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Apr 27, 2007
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Got a E6420 a few weeks back, and a DS3 Rev3.3 G.Skill 4-4-4-12 PC800 RAM, and the build went really well. I let the components break in for 48hrs. Then I upped the FSB a little (300MHz), and the system continually kept rebooting itself over and over until I cleared the CMOS. Found out there is a F11b beta BIOS for 6420 support.

Installed the BIOS fine. OC'd moderately to 333MHz FSB, everything is stable and runs fine. Now I bump it to 350 and it finally boots past BIOS, but as soon as Windows loads, it instantly reboots.

This is just meager 2.66GHz. What in gods name could be holding me back. I should at least be able to get a respectable 3Ghz. Any ideas, advice on how I can get a higher OC. My CPU temps under 333MHz was just under 35c. I know I should be able to push this CPU to at most 400x8. It works just fine a 400x7.

Here are some specs:

Here are my stable 365x8 settings
PCI Express Frequency (102Mhz)
CIA 2 Disabled
System Memory Multiplier 2.00

System Voltage Control
DDR2 Overvoltage Control +0.3V
PCI-E OverVoltage Control+0.1V
FSB Overvoltage Control +0.1V
CPU Voltage Control 1.37500V
Memory manually set to 4-4-4-12 (specs on the box)
Refresh to ACT Delay is at 0 (Not sure if this matters)

As soon as I bump it to 270, it reboot 3 times and sets everything to stock.

I am at a loss here guys. Any help is welcome.
 
Linux23 said:
Got a E6420 a few weeks back, and a DS3 Rev3.3 G.Skill 4-4-4-12 PC800 RAM, and the build went really well. I let the components break in for 48hrs. Then I upped the FSB a little (300MHz), and the system continually kept rebooting itself over and over until I cleared the CMOS. Found out there is a F11b beta BIOS for 6420 support.

Installed the BIOS fine. OC'd moderately to 333MHz FSB, everything is stable and runs fine. Now I bump it to 350 and it finally boots past BIOS, but as soon as Windows loads, it instantly reboots.

This is just meager 2.66GHz. What in gods name could be holding me back. I should at least be able to get a respectable 3Ghz. Any ideas, advice on how I can get a higher OC. My CPU temps under 333MHz was just under 35c. I know I should be able to push this CPU to at most 400x8. It works just fine a 400x7.

Here are some specs:

Here are my stable 365x8 settings
PCI Express Frequency (102Mhz)
CIA 2 Disabled
System Memory Multiplier 2.00

System Voltage Control
DDR2 Overvoltage Control +0.3V
PCI-E OverVoltage Control+0.1V
FSB Overvoltage Control +0.1V
CPU Voltage Control 1.37500V
Memory manually set to 4-4-4-12 (specs on the box)
Refresh to ACT Delay is at 0 (Not sure if this matters)

As soon as I bump it to 270, it reboot 3 times and sets everything to stock.

I am at a loss here guys. Any help is welcome.
Click to expand...

Your post seems to be a bit contradictory?
First you say, "Here are my stable 365x8 settings". Does that mean you are 2.94Ghz stable?

Then you say here "OC'd moderately to 333MHz FSB, everything is stable and runs fine." Does that mean your stable at 2.64Ghz?

Then you say here "As soon as I bump it to 270, it reboot 3 times and sets everything to stock." Does that mean you cannot reach a 270MHz FSB?

Which is it? What is your highest stable settings?
 
CpuMan said:
Your post seems to be a bit contradictory?
First you say, "Here are my stable 365x8 settings". Does that mean you are 2.94Ghz stable?

Then you say here "OC'd moderately to 333MHz FSB, everything is stable and runs fine." Does that mean your stable at 2.64Ghz?

Then you say here "As soon as I bump it to 270, it reboot 3 times and sets everything to stock." Does that mean you cannot reach a 270MHz FSB?

Which is it? What is your highest stable settings?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry for not being clear. I tried the Moderate Overclock using this guide here: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1169366

Got to 2.64GHz fine, ran orthos over night with no problems. Let me revise, I can POST at 2.91GHz, but running orthos it reboots in about 5 minutes into the test.

When I try to raise the FSB/Voltage after 2.91GHz, the system will not even post.

I'm not sure what's keeping me from doing 400x8 (will not get past POST)?
 
Linux23 said:
I'm sorry for not being clear. I tried the Moderate Overclock using this guide here: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1169366

Got to 2.64GHz fine, ran orthos over night with no problems. Let me revise, I can POST at 2.94GHz, but running orthos it reboots in about 5 minutes into the test.

When I try to raise the FSB/Voltage after 2.94GHz, the system will not even post.

I'm not sure what's keeping me from doing 400x8 (will not get past POST)?
Click to expand...

Ahh ok,

That is a excellent thread by the way.

If I were you I would do as BillParrish describes step by step. Make sure all your bios settings are as described for a base "no over clock". Then work from there. see how far you can get on stock voltage, increasing the FSB a little at a time. When you reach your highest overclock on stock voltages, then start increasing your voltages a little at a time.
If everything is set right, you should be able to hit 2.80GHz on stock settings, maybe more. And with a little bit of voltage increase you should be able to hit 3.0GHz to 3.2GHz without to much trouble. Any more then that and its hit and miss, depending on if you got a good cpu or not.
Good luck.
 
Note: I played with the voltage at 2.91GHz, and it seems stable at 1.42V. Orthos running 30 minutes now.
 
buffbiff21 said:
Sync your memory with the FSB. That would be ddr2-730. .

You didnt mention this at all, so im assuming you have not tried it.

but it is critical.
Click to expand...

not 100% sure. i just loaded cpu-z and it shows the bus speed at 364MHz as well as the memory, and since i'm running the memory at a 2.0 divider, then it should come to around DDR2-728.

In the BIOS, the FSB is set to 365 though.:confused:
 
Linux23 said:
not 100% sure. i just loaded cpu-z and it shows the bus speed at 364MHz as well as the memory, and since i'm running the memory at a 2.0 divider, then it should come to around DDR2-728.

In the BIOS, the FSB is set to 365 though.:confused:
Click to expand...

That explains why you are stable. 1:1 ratio is critical.
 
Drewis said:
really?


to get a decent overclock the divider should be 1:1????
Click to expand...

Not always, but it really removes stress from your RAM and NB. Going 1:1 doesn't net any additional performance these days (it did during the Netburst Era) but it basically halves your RAM speed... Which is nice as it lets you pump up the FSB by around 150pts before starting to go over your RAM spec (this is DDR2-800 ram on a 266FSB board btw).
 
The maximum I can get this thing is 367MHz FSB. I had to change the PCI E frequency from 102 to 103, and the voltage is at 1.45. This is a head scratcher. :confused:

Why can I do 400x7 without any problems, but as soon as I bump the multiplier up to 8, it fails to POST. What else changes when the multiplier is bumped from 7 to 8?

Also even at 367x8 (2.93GHz), when running Orthos overnight, it spontaneously reboots itself. It ran fine for over 2 hours before I went to bed. I don't know what else I can do to get this thing stable. And it's difficult to fit a fan on the NB because of the sheer size of the Tuniq Tower.:(
 
Linux23 said:
The maximum I can get this thing is 367MHz FSB. I had to change the PCI E frequency from 102 to 103, and the voltage is at 1.45. This is a head scratcher. :confused:

Why can I do 400x7 without any problems, but as soon as I bump the multiplier up to 8, it fails to POST. What else changes when the multiplier is bumped from 7 to 8?

Also even at 367x8 (2.93GHz), when running Orthos overnight, it spontaneously reboots itself. It ran fine for over 2 hours before I went to bed. I don't know what else I can do to get this thing stable. And it's difficult to fit a fan on the NB because of the sheer size of the Tuniq Tower.:(
Click to expand...

Have you tried up'ing the voltage on the CPU anymore yet? I know I needed to set 1.475 in the BIOS to get my 6420 stable at 8x425.
Also you may have just gotten a lousy OC'ing chip. Theres been plenty of reports over at XS that show early batches of 6420's need lots of volts to even get to 3.0ghz.
 
crashthenet44 said:
Have you tried up'ing the voltage on the CPU anymore yet? I know I needed to set 1.475 in the BIOS to get my 6420 stable at 8x425.
Also you may have just gotten a lousy OC'ing chip. Theres been plenty of reports over at XS that show early batches of 6420's need lots of volts to even get to 3.0ghz.
Click to expand...

I'm kinda scared to up the voltage more. What voltage should I stop trying at? 1.5v? I'll definately try cranking the voltage up a bit more. I'm hoping that I don't have a bad OC'ing chip.:(
 
my e6600 only gets to 3ghz. its all luck with what chip you get, luck i obviously didnt have.
 
I guess I did get a dud. Bummer. :(

Oh well, 2.92GHz is better than nothing. Stable at 1.5v, i'm still testing it now at 1.48 to see if I can bring the temps down a bit.

:(
 
Before you condemn your CPU there are still other things to try.

Your memory might need some more voltage. Try running that at +0.4. Default is 1.8 volts so this will bring you up to a still safe, 2.2 volts.

Also try different memory timings. The box might say CL4-4-4-12 but it's a good idea to start with looser timings like CL5-5-5-15 and make sure your memory isn't what's holding you back.

I still like running MemTest86+ when first overclocking. It lets you explore what your memory is really capable of before stressing your cpu.

Don't accept a manufacturer's claims of what their memory can do. Drop your cpu multi and thoroughly prove to yourself what it can run at, error free and how much voltage it needs to do that. Random memory errors are frequently the cause of random reboots while running Orthos.
 
unclewebb said:
Before you condemn your CPU there are still other things to try.

Your memory might need some more voltage. Try running that at +0.4. Default is 1.8 volts so this will bring you up to a still safe, 2.2 volts.

Also try different memory timings. The box might say CL4-4-4-12 but it's a good idea to start with looser timings like CL5-5-5-15 and make sure your memory isn't what's holding you back.

I still like running MemTest86+ when first overclocking. It lets you explore what your memory is really capable of before stressing your cpu.

Don't accept a manufacturer's claims of what their memory can do. Drop your cpu multi and thoroughly prove to yourself what it can run at, error free and how much voltage it needs to do that. Random memory errors are frequently the cause of random reboots while running Orthos.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're right. This is new to me, and i'm learning thanks to you guys. I'll run the memtest and confirm if my memory is the culprit or not. Thanks again guys, i'll keep you all posted if I get a good OC.
 
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