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Strange problem with E2160 & 945GCM-S2C

R

romeoagogo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 25, 2004
Messages
159
I'm having a strange problem trying to get a slight overclock out of my Intel E2160 chip (Allendale 1.8GHz). The motherboard is a Gigabyte 945GCM-S2C Micro-ATX. I know the board isnt the best for overclocking but I figured I could get a little something out of it.

The issue is that the overclock seems to be somehow tied to the PCI-E frequency. I know this should be set to 100MHz, but when I set it to that the most I can get to boot is something like 220x9 (stock is 200x9). If I turn PCI-E to 110MHZ (did this just to test) I can get it booting at 235x9. If I set PCI-E to auto it will boot at 266x9 and I didnt try higher. I also didn't let the last one boot all the way into windows because I was a bit worried about what having the PCI-E set to auto would do if I let the system fully boot.

The RAM is some Patriot DDR2 800, same that is in my main rig which is a watercooled E8500 @ 4.5GHz (on a ep45-ud3p) so I am thinking the RAM is not the issue and that it is something with the board. Any ideas? What is the safest setting I can run my PCI-E bus at if I cant resolve this?
 
I found some archived posts after some deep deep googling which point to this board itself being the culprit. I can't find any answer on whether the latest BIOS changes this at all. So in that case: a) if i leave the PCIe at auto, is there a windows util that can show me the actual frequency so I can see what it is being set to? b) what is the safe max freq.? I hear that some SATA drives have issues at 120MHz and over... so is 115 probably okay?

Just to be clear (because in other threads i was reading this was an huge area of contention), I do realize that typically the FSB is in no way tied to the PCI-E frequency. It is a special case/issue of this board which is why I am trying to find the maximum safe value. I don't understand how or why the board was designed this way but I am pretty sure beyond a doubt that the values are in some linked.

thanks
 
Since you have the same CPU and board I have, i'll just use yours if that's allowed.

I can't get this board to overclock at all. I just updated the BIOS to F5 since F6a is beta.
And it still will not OC at all. I read that perhaps disabling onboard video would solve the problem...but there is a problem about that, I dont see no option to disable it...at all.

I'll fool around with what you tried, minus upping the PCI. See if 220 let me pass.



_______________________________________ EDIT:

So I tried the 220x9, with PCI at 100. IT WORKS. It actually kept it.
So it went from 1.80 to 1.98ghz

That makes absolutly NO sense.
Also, my ram went from 667 to 733, idk if thats alright.


So I guess I have the same problem as you OP.
 
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