Overclocking

[Drunk Russian 9]

Us guys in the gaming section of the forum have had quite a few difficulties discussing OCing and hardware. So this thread will be dedicated to those who would like to talk about the stuff considered illegal in the For PC Gamers thread

 

Ill start.

 

I've had trouble OC this CPU of mine beyond 3.6GHz. I get BSODs and instability if I increase the FSB even by a step. Increasing voltages to maximum that can be handled by the chip doesn't change anything either. SO I'm thinking I damaged the CPU. (During the first few uses of my PC, my chip ran extremely hot due to the Intel heatsink somehow loosening. I put it on correctly BTW.) Do I have a case that would qualify as a return from Intel? Even though I OC'ed it, it had problems on stock clock.

[Wolf68k]

There is no hard and fast rules to OCing that says 'this CPU or that CPU will get this and that speed when OC'ed'.

It's a matter of the CPU, the mobo and the cooling. The same CPU with stock cooling can OC more than others on different mobos. Some mobo aren't OC friendly at all and others hell they have an OC page in their BIOS and usually even a Windows tool on the mobo's CD so you can do it from there, with a guide to help you and a stress tester to see if it'll hold stable.

But then you also have cases were you have the exact same CPU, the exact same mobo and even the exact same cooling, hell exact same everything (PSU, RAM, GFX, even HDD) and the 2 set ups won't be able to OC the same.

 

So just because someone says "I got 'this CPU' to 'this OC speed' with stocking cooling" doesn't mean you will.

 

Is it possible to damage the CPU by OCing? Yes. It's also possible to damage the mobo and the RAM as well.

 

 

There is, IMHO, 1 rule that you must go by when OCing anything; the CPU, the RAM or GFX card. Go Slow! Actually go slow and stress test. If you're CPU stock is 3Ghz then step it up so it's 3.1Ghz get a copy of Prime95 and let it run (make sure if it's a multi core that all the cores are being stressed), go to sleep/work/school (about 8hours or so) and see how it does. If it passed, step it up to 3.2Ghz and do Prime95 again.

And I know what you're thinking; 'but that'll take forever and I can't wait that long' Ok well you have too choices; go slow, one step at a time until you find the point that things start to break then back it off about 100-200mhz and let it live a nice long-ish health-ish life with a faster rig...or...go fast and screw your stuff up and have to spend $100s of more dollars replacing what you screwed up by rushing the job to which you'll most likely screw up by OCing again too damn fast. It's your money; burn how ever you want.

 

 

 

As to your direct problem....

If your CPU had problems at stock speed, what the hell made you think it's gonna run any better OC'ed it?

You say you got BSODs and other instability issues. Ok. Is this a nice clean install of the OS or some mucked up one that you've had running for a good while?

If it's clean and fresh and at stock speed you got BSOD and more, then problem could be with the CPU but it could also very well be the RAM or the mobo or even the HDD itself.

If the OS is old and been around for a while, well that could be your problem right there.

 

[kingvercetti]

I have a question, with all stock voltages, and the only overclock being my CPU from 2.4GHz to 3GHz (Q6600), and a ratio of 1:1.2 which leaves my RAM at stock clocks, do I still run a risk of damaging the RAM? Because I've had a stick die on me and I don't know if that was something to do with it or if it was a coincidence. It's all nice and stable by the way.

[Drunk Russian 9]

 

If your CPU had problems at stock speed, what the hell made you think it's gonna run any better OC'ed it?

You say you got BSODs and other instability issues. Ok. Is this a nice clean install of the OS or some mucked up one that you've had running for a good while?

If it's clean and fresh and at stock speed you got BSOD and more, then problem could be with the CPU but it could also very well be the RAM or the mobo or even the HDD itself.

If the OS is old and been around for a while, well that could be your problem right there.

The thing is, I didn't know if the heat damaged it or not. That's why I asked.

 

My OS is as clean as can be(Windows 7 can't be that old), my hard drive is brand new. Same with MB and Ram.

 

And the thing is, I did all that you stated above. I ran prime test @ 3.6 GHz (400x9) and that gave me issues right away. So I say screw prime test; I go to 410 and the system doesn't start at all. I manually reset settings with the pins, and then try 410x8. . . x8.5 . . . x9.5. All the same result. 378x9.5(which I'm currently running at) gave the highest stable clock. Which sucks since I can't clock it higher no matter what . . . better cooling, more voltage etc.

 

Are there any tests I can run to determine what's wrong?

 

Oh and "There is no hard and fast rules to OCing that says 'this CPU or that CPU will get this and that speed when OC'ed'."

But voltages do have official maximums for each chip. Which I used to no avail.

 

So can I return this chip to Intel and blame it on their heatsink?(Ofcourse I will not mention a word about my OC'ing.)

 

If you need any more info: CPU-ID

Edited April 16, 2009 by Drunk Russian 9

[SyphonPayne]

I have a question, with all stock voltages, and the only overclock being my CPU from 2.4GHz to 3GHz (Q6600), and a ratio of 1:1.2 which leaves my RAM at stock clocks, do I still run a risk of damaging the RAM? Because I've had a stick die on me and I don't know if that was something to do with it or if it was a coincidence. It's all nice and stable by the way.

Well if you were doing 333x9 with a FSB:DRAM ratio of 1:1.2 then your RAM would be running at 400MHz (800 DDR) which if it is PC2 6400 RAM is guaranteed to run, but sometimes RAM can be duds even at their rated speed. A lot of the times, companies are actually factory-overclocking 667MHz DDR2 and testing them to guarantee a certain speed, but again they can still die, in which case you need to RMA.

 

One thing to check is your voltage and timings, a lot of high-performance RAM with tighter timing need between 1.9-2.2 volts, just about all of them will run at 2.0 volts, but if your timings are looser (say 5-5-5-18 as opposed to 4-4-4-12) you can run 1.8 volts just fine which a lot of motherboards default at 5-5-5-18 1.8 volts.

[Wolf68k]

You did 400x9 and Prime95 failed, why did you think going higher would make it any better?

That's like stress testing a new car engine, blowing a head gasket and you saying, 'Ah screw it, give it a bigger cam and more NOS'. It doesn't work that way. If Prime fails then it fails. And yes there are other programs that can do the same thing Prime does but don't expect them to give a better result.

 

Not sure what you mean by resetting the pins unless you have old or whack mobo that uses jumpers on the mobo to adjust the FSB which I haven't see that in ages.

 

Put everything back to stock, just reset the BIOS and whatever else you're doing. Run Prime95 at stock settings/speeds/etc.

If it fails at stock then you have and issues with the mobo, CPU and or RAM. Fix that first. No point in trying to OC damaged goods.

 

Return it to Intel? Doubt it. Return it to who you got it from? More likely, but it depends on how long you had it.

Possibility you already screwed up the CPU? From the sound of it, high probability.

[Abel.]

I have a question, with all stock voltages, and the only overclock being my CPU from 2.4GHz to 3GHz (Q6600), and a ratio of 1:1.2 which leaves my RAM at stock clocks, do I still run a risk of damaging the RAM? Because I've had a stick die on me and I don't know if that was something to do with it or if it was a coincidence. It's all nice and stable by the way.

I have the very same question, everything seems very stable at the moment, however.

[anus]

@Drunk Russian 9, Your CPU not being stable at 3.6GHz or higher can be caused by a lot of things, like the RAM not liking higher speeds (if your RAM is overclocked), your motherboard not being able to handle that high of a FSB (which I really don't think so, as that board is one hell of an overclocker) or it could be that the CPU just isn't a good overclocker.

 

BUT, none of this matters if the CPU is not stable even at stock speeds before you started overclocking. That simply means that you have a bad chip. Return it ASAP.

 

@kingvercetti and elanman, Nope, if the RAM is running at stock speeds with the stock voltage, you have nothing to worry about. It will NOT get damaged, if it does, that means that the RAM couldn't even run at the speed the manufacturer specified and you should return it since that basically means that the RAM is bad.

 

And don't worry about RAM so much. They don't get damaged as easily as some people make it out to be. There are people who have got their 800MHz sticks to 1066MHz even with no problems. So, just like any other sort of overclocking, just remember to stress test the RAM and increase voltage accordingly and you won't have any problems.

[Drunk Russian 9]

 

You did 400x9 and Prime95 failed, why did you think going higher would make it any better?

That's like stress testing a new car engine, blowing a head gasket and you saying, 'Ah screw it, give it a bigger cam and more NOS'. It doesn't work that way. If Prime fails then it fails. And yes there are other programs that can do the same thing Prime does but don't expect them to give a better result.

 

Not sure what you mean by resetting the pins unless you have old or whack mobo that uses jumpers on the mobo to adjust the FSB which I haven't see that in ages.

 

Put everything back to stock, just reset the BIOS and whatever else you're doing. Run Prime95 at stock settings/speeds/etc.

If it fails at stock then you have and issues with the mobo, CPU and or RAM. Fix that first. No point in trying to OC damaged goods.

 

Return it to Intel? Doubt it. Return it to who you got it from? More likely, but it depends on how long you had it.

Possibility you already screwed up the CPU? From the sound of it, high probability.

1. I wanted to see if the system would atleast boot.

2. Resetting pins=reset bios

3. Shall do.

4. I'll try it anyway.

 

 

@Drunk Russian 9, Your CPU not being stable at 3.6GHz or higher can be caused by a lot of things, like the RAM not liking higher speeds (if your RAM is overclocked), your motherboard not being able to handle that high of a FSB (which I really don't think so, as that board is one hell of an overclocker) or it could be that the CPU just isn't a good overclocker.

 

BUT, none of this matters if the CPU is not stable even at stock speeds before you started overclocking. That simply means that you have a bad chip. Return it ASAP.

I guess all I can do is run prime for a couple of hours on stock clock then.

 

EDIT: 5 hours on Prime95 so far . . . no errors yet. Maybe I just got a bad OC'ing chip, then

Edited April 16, 2009 by Drunk Russian 9

[anus]

Is your RAM running faster than stock speeds? Are you using the stock timings?

 

Also, try overclocking your CPU on another board. If it gets to 3.6 or higher without problems, it's just your board not liking high FSB.

[XMike]

Would it be worth it to try and overclock a Pentium D at 3.0 GHz on stock cooling or would I just be wasting my time?

[anus]

Go for it. Any overclock you manage will definitely have improve your chip's performance obviously, but keep in mind though that no matter how much you overclock, you won't be able to match up to a Core 2 CPU.

[Drunk Russian 9]

Is your RAM running faster than stock speeds? Are you using the stock timings?

 

Also, try overclocking your CPU on another board. If it gets to 3.6 or higher without problems, it's just your board not liking high FSB.

1. No, stock speed besides FSB increase.

 

2. Don't got another board lol . . .

[Drunk Russian 9]

Kay guys, I'm trying to find out what is holding my PC back in GTA IV. First I want to check hardware.

 

I ran a blend test from Prime for 1 hour, everything comes back normal. I will do a CPU test soon aswell.

 

My current overclocks are

 

RAM: 4 4 4 12

CPU: 9.5 x 380 = 3.61

GPU: still working on..

 

What can I use for GPU OC testing? Besides GTA IV. Is the Crysis demo an effective test?

 

Also, My PC still hates to go above 3.6GHz. At 3.7 I get BSODs 2 minutes into windows. All voltages stock.

 

Another thing, I'm considering this CPU cooler if I'm able to push it past 3.6GHz. Suggestions are welcome.

Edited August 12, 2009 by Drunk Russian 9

[anus]

I'm pretty sure it's your CPU that's holding you back in IV.

 

For a GPU stressing program, FurMark is by far the best. Use the "stability test" in it to stress the video card and check for artifacts, errors, BSoDs, etc.

 

And don't get that cooler, get this instead. It's the Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ. For some reason it's under the Evercool brand, but the pictures show that it's Titan. It's the best CPU air cooler available at the moment.

 

As for your overclock, maybe you've already tried this, but try loosening up the RAM timings and see if you can hit higher speeds?

 

 

[Drunk Russian 9]

 

As for your overclock, maybe you've already tried this, but try loosening up the RAM timings and see if you can hit higher speeds?

Will try now, however my RAM is rated at 4 4 4 12 on the box Not to mention I can feel the performance boost.

 

EDIT: I gave you the wrong information. My ram is at auto speeds, which is 5 5 5 15 I believe, not 4 4 4 12. And when I tried to start up with 4 4 4 12 with this overclock, it tells me oc fail. On stock fsb settings however, it boots up fine.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Drunk Russian 9

[anus]

Instead of keeping them at auto speeds, try setting manually to 5, 5, 5, 15 and see if you can hit higher clocks. If not, try loosening the timings some more and see if you can hit higher speeds.

[Drunk Russian 9]

Hmm. Put it at 6 6 6 18 and reached 395 x 9.5 (3.75) with no BSOD. However, Prime fails within milliseconds.

 

Also, GTA IV makes it BSOD after a couple seconds of play. However plays very smooth lol.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Drunk Russian 9

[anus]

I think your RAM is just not good overclocking RAM. Weird since "Extreme Performance" sort of suggests it's one of the best by them.

 

But yeah, if you can get a spare stick of RAM from a different manufacturer, try it and see how far you can OC.

[Drunk Russian 9]

Well, I just did a memtest @ 4 4 4 12 stock FSB and it passed.

 

I don't know what's wrong. I'm lost. Maybe it's something else?

[SyphonPayne]

What is your RAM rated to run at default? 800MHz?

 

You probably are overclocking the RAM past it's rated speed and it's causing instability. Generally people overclock the FSB first, then overclock the RAM.

 

You should probably lower your memory multiplier to make the RAM run at or below it's rated speed in the mean time while you find your max FSB and/or CPU clocks.

[ptiko]

This thread should come in very useful for when I do my first overclock.

[Drunk Russian 9]

 

What is your RAM rated to run at default? 800MHz?

 

You probably are overclocking the RAM past it's rated speed and it's causing instability. Generally people overclock the FSB first, then overclock the RAM.

 

You should probably lower your memory multiplier to make the RAM run at or below it's rated speed in the mean time while you find your max FSB and/or CPU clocks.

The ram runs at 800 dual channel mode (so 400). My ram speed is set on auto. I don't see a multiplier though; the auto function has settings such as:

 

200/667

200/800

266/667

266/800

266/1066

333/667

333/800

333/1066

400/800

 

I'm not familiar with these values, so can you advise me which one to choose?

Edited August 13, 2009 by Drunk Russian 9

[SyphonPayne]

Depending on the board, it probably should not be on auto.

 

I'll check back to see what you find.

 

EDIT: I meant memory divider, not multiplier. Anyway I see your settings, looks like it lists the FSB frequency plus the rated frequency for the RAM.

 

I see you are running an E8500 with 800MHz DDR2, so your stock setting would be 333/800. Your CPU has a stock clock multiplier of 9.5.

 

If you change that value to 400/800, instead of 3163Mhz (3.16GHz), your CPU will run at 3.8GHz. Your RAM will still be at stock settings so if it's not stable it's not the RAM. You may have to lower your CPU multiplier to 9 which is 3.6GHz, or up your voltage on your CPU in small steps. You said it runs at 3.6GHz at auto voltages from what I understand, so for 3.8 you may need 1.3 volts, maybe more, maybe less, in your VCORE. I'm not sure though as I run a 65nm Q6600 as opposed to your 45nm E8500, which runs on lower volts. I believe 1.3 volts is safe though. Might even need 1.35 volts. It all depends on the chip. You will need some patience to figure out the proper volts if it doesn't work the first time.

Edited August 13, 2009 by SyphonPayne

[Drunk Russian 9]

Well, I set it 400/800, and it booted up, ran fine, but CPU ID still shows 3.1GHz. Or was I supposed to set it at a higher bus speed?

[SyphonPayne]

Okay, I read up on the bios on your DFI board, I also have a P45, but mine is an MSI board so the BIOS options are completely different, rather confusing actually, but I pretty well understand it now.

 

So here's why I recommend trying first-hand.

 

Set DRAM speed to 333:667.

Set CPU Clock to 400MHz

Set CPU Clock Ratio to 9X (might have to enter 9.0X or something along those lines)

Go to CPU Feature, disable EIST and C1E

 

 

Okay, this will set your CPU to run at 3.6GHz, for testing purposes. If it works this way and is stable, we now have a good starting point.

 

Afterwards you can change the "CPU Clock Ratio" back to 9.5 for 3.8GHz, then if it's unstable you know it's the CPU. In which case you need to up your CPU VCORE.

 

Let me know how this goes. You should run CPU-Z and get your core voltage and report it to me as well.

 

Also, for a good (fairly) quick way to test stability, takes about 40 minutes, run Intel Burntest on maximum stress for 10 loops, also might want to run a temperature monitoring test, make sure your tjunction is running under 75C on that stress test and you won't ever have to worry about temps for anything else, as this test gets the CPU hotter than it will ever get normally.

 

If you pass IBT, then we will get into getting you to 3.8GHz. Any further than 3.8GHz in my opinion won't be worth the trouble. Can't run your RAM at 1:1 past 3.8 anyway, unless you feel like overclocking the RAM.

 

By the way, Core Temp is one of the best programs for getting your tjunction temperatures.

 

EDIT: Edited out stupid Google URLs

Edited August 14, 2009 by SyphonPayne

[Drunk Russian 9]

Okay . . . here are my results:

 

I set the settings you said to put, PC booted up fine, will do a prime test to check.

 

However, I tried 9.5 like you said, and the PC came to the windows screen and BSODed. Changing Vcore to 1.3 did nothing, still BSOD'ed at windows screen.

[SyphonPayne]

Did you try 9 first? Ran IBT?

 

9.5 multi might need 1.35 volts.

[Drunk Russian 9]

Yes, I have tried 9.

 

1.35 doesnt work, 1.4 doesn't work, I even raised the NBCore to 1.35, still BSOD.

 

Will do prime on 3.6 later.

 

[SyphonPayne]

Yeah, as I said, it will take patience.