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Wierd memory problems when overclocking (e8400, p7n sli platinum)

J

JCDenton

Gawd
Joined
Jan 6, 2008
Messages
701
I have a p7n sli platinum and I'm trying to get my e8400 overclocked. The chip is stable at 4150 mhz and did prime 95 small ffts for an hour with no problem. However, games crash and the vista memory diagnostic(similar to memtest) shows errors. I have ddr2 800 memory that runs at 4-4-4-12, so it should have some room to overclock with looser timings. However, overclocking it to 925 and running it at a 1:1 ratio gives errors.

The really bad part though, is that if I run my memory asynchronously (which this board allows) so it can stay at its 800mhz rated speed, I still get errors. Does anyone know if this motherboard has a problem running memory not at 1:1 even though it's supposed to be able to? I've tried messing with all sorts of voltages and timings. What are the chances getting some 1066 ram and running it at 1:1 would fix the problem? Or is the problem most likely with the motherboard?
 
I have the same main board and processor, with a 2x2GB Dominator PC2-1066 kit. I've had no problems running at 1333 FSB / 1066 memory (5:8 ratio). I haven't had enough time to try overclocking myself, but here's a forum where one guy was able to pass 3DMark06 with his P7N Plat and E8400 @ 4050 MHz, FSB 1800. http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/300943-msi-p7n-platnium-750i-thread-8.html

I'm no overclocking expert, but gaming stability at 4150 MHz might be asking a lot for a typical E8400, especially with an Nvidia chipset. In this article, they were barely able to get an E8500 up to 4.3 GHz stable, on a Gigabyte X38-DQ6, probably a much better overclocking board than the P7N Platinum. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/wolfdale-steroids,1777-5.html Remember, FSB1812 only equates to 4077 MHz on an E8400 due to the multiplier difference.

For you, I'd make sure that your memory is good first, by testing it thoroughly at its rated speed. Then, get the latest bios (2.0 from the website, or beta ones from the MSI forums), and give it another try. Every board/CPU is different, so it could be that 4150 MHz or FSB1850 is just beyond what your system can do. It's probably just stressing the northbridge too much, once you get the graphics card going too.
 
Keep in mind that even though memtest etc mainly test the memory the program still runs on the cpu and data has to flow through from the CPU to the NB to the memory sticks etc. Your board just cannot handle the FSB or the CPU cannot take speed you have set. Back off and all the problems will go away. You could try improving the NB cooling or if available the FSB voltages/levels but I too think you are just trying for a bit too much from that cpu. A 461Mhz FSB is pretty high and you tell us nothing about anything you did to prep the board for high FSB, cpu voltages, NB voltages etc. etc.
 
Slow your system down and speed the memory up to get the same speed.
Test it again.
If it fails still you know them memory cant handle that speed.
If it doesnt fail you know it is CPU or motherboard you need to look at.
 
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