Poor overclocking with an E6400

[Quixzlizx]

I recently put together an E6400 system that I've wanted to overclock. The hsf is a Zalman 9700, and the mobo/mem combo is in the screenshots below. I can't get Orthos to go more than 12 seconds or so without errors with my fsb at 340. The error is always a rounding error. At 330 and 1.3875 vcore, it went about 20 minutes with no errors (I know 20 minutes isn't enough to know definitively, but enough for each 10 mhz increment). Idle CPU is about 47 C, and 53 during the Orthos testing at 330. Here are my current BIOS settings:

CPU Voltage: 1.4125
FSB Term Volt: 1.3
MCH Volt: 1.35
Mem Volt: 1.8
Sys Mem Freq: 533 mhz (1:1 ratio)

PC Health section in BIOS says:
1.39 vcore
1.47 nb/sb voltage

From what I've read, that should be plenty high for 340 mhz fsb, and heat isn't a problem. Ram is 800 mhz, so it shouldn't be crapping out at 680 mhz. Any suggestions?

 

[unclewebb]

My opinion is your memory is starving for some voltage. The default of 1.8 volts won't get you anywhere. 2.1 volts is a good place to start and 2.2 volts isn't such a bad idea either.

You might hit a FSB that simply doesn't work. Try jumping 20 or more MHz over that hurdle and often times you will be stable again.

Anandtech had good success with a Biostar 965 board:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2871&p=4

I'd go with 1.45 for the MCH voltage as well and set your memory to 5-5-5-18 like in the SPD table. Take your memory out of the equation and you can work on optimizing it later after you're done overclocking.

With these settings you should have no trouble immediately jumping up to 400 MHz X 8. Just make sure to run the lowest memory multiplier to keep your memory running within spec.

 

[Quixzlizx]

My opinion is your memory is starving for some voltage. The default of 1.8 volts won't get you anywhere. 2.1 volts is a good place to start and 2.2 volts isn't such a bad idea either.

You might hit a FSB that simply doesn't work. Try jumping 20 or more MHz over that hurdle and often times you will be stable again.

Anandtech had good success with a Biostar 965 board:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2871&p=4

I'd go with 1.45 for the MCH voltage as well and set your memory to 5-5-5-18 like in the SPD table. Take your memory out of the equation and you can work on optimizing it later after you're done overclocking.

With these settings you should have no trouble immediately jumping up to 400 MHz X 8. Just make sure to run the lowest memory multiplier to keep your memory running within spec.

1.45 for the MCH Voltage pushes the NB/SB voltage up to 1.64 V...that isn't too high of a figure? I've pushed memory voltage up to 2.1 and am trying 5-5-5-15 timings.

 

[unclewebb]

It's usually better to start with a little too much voltage than not have enough and hit the wall.

Your biggest problem is memory voltage and I'm sure your switch to 2.1 volts and CL5-5-5 timings is going to make a big difference.

 

[ghost6303]

also, it might be a bug, but cpuz says your on 1T command rate? that will never work on higher FSBs set that to 2T if you have the option.

 

[unclewebb]

also, it might be a bug, but cpuz says your on 1T command rate?

I noticed that as well. I didn't think boards with the Intel 965 chipset let you adjust the Command Rate to 1T.

You get much better memory performance at 1T but it's usually easier to overclock to higher MHz when the Command Rate is set to 2T.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Thanks for all of the advice. As of now, I am orthos-stable at 400 mhz/3.2 ghz, with cpu, nb/sb, and ram on stock voltages. RAM is at 5-5-5-12, so I might be able to tighten it a bit. The stability errors cleared up once I got up to 360 mhz on the fsb, so I guess it just didn't like the 340-350 mhz range. Idle temp is 44 C, while peak rises up to 57-58, which is a bit high, but not too bad. This is my first overclock, so I don't know how much further I'm going to try pushing it

Also, I didn't set the RAM to 1t, so it might be a cpu-z bug.

 

[unclewebb]

The Biostar Deluxe board can operate at a Command Rate of 1T or 2T unlike the Gigabyte and Asus boards with the Intel 965 chipset that can't.

If there isn't an adjustment in the bios or if adjusting Command Rate doesn't seem to work properly then you might need an updated bios to get it working.

I've seen CPUz v1.39 screen shots that report 2T on other Biostar Deluxe boards so it is possible to adjust it.

Once you find a way to adjust it you can run the Latency program that's included in the CPUz directory.

Here's how Latency looks on my E6400 at 400 x 8 CL5-5-5-15 with a Command Rate of 2T.

Memory Latency should decrease with tighter memory timings. If you switch to CL4-4-4-12 or if you switch from a Command Rate of 2T to 1T the numbers in the lower right hand corner of that table should decrease which indicates better memory perfomance.

 

[Quixzlizx]

With my RAM at 5-5-5-12/2T, I'm getting 207 - 211 - 214 along the bottom, although I don't know how much of a difference in performance that signifies from yours.

 

[dook43]

Don't be scared to enable EIST in the bios as well as keep your fan running full blast. It will enable your CPU to idle around 28/29C.

 

[unclewebb]

With my RAM at 5-5-5-12/2T, I'm getting 207 - 211 - 214 along the bottom,

The important thing is do you get lower numbers when you switch your board to a Command Rate of 1T?

That will prove if that setting is working for you.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Don't be scared to enable EIST in the bios as well as keep your fan running full blast. It will enable your CPU to idle around 28/29C.

I do not see an option to enable Speedstep anywhere in the BIOS, and I had SMART set up to keep the fan at full blast at 25C, although I lowered it and things went to hell, as I wrote below.

UncleWebb, I also don't see where to switch from 2T to 1T in the memory settings....it seems that Biostar auto-adjusted from 1T to 2T at some point.

A bigger problem is that I changed my SMART Fan settings to start the fan up at full blast at a colder temp, and now my computer won't post. I didn't change any other settings when I did this. I think the temps I used were 10 - stop, 15 - start, 20 - full, and I believe they were changed from 15, 20, 25. Is there anyway to boot into BIOS without popping out my CMOS and starting over with all of the settings?