E2xxx and E4xxx overclock thread

[brencat]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Yup...with E4300. Temp is 7 to 9c lower. I still use the heat spreader but only as a spacer for my BT CPU cooler. Lapped top and bottom of heat spreader. All E2xx0 and E4xx0 use paste. Only E6xx0 are soldered to the chip.

Ha! I certainly expected YOU to do this Serpent. I had my suspicions when you posted 3.47ghz in the IP35-E thread. Taking nothing away from your OC experience, the newer E4300s just don't clock as well as the 1st-gen ones. The best OCs with recent chips are occurring precisely b/c of what I asked about and what you apparently have already done. Nice work... :thumbsup:

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I've worked with four other E4300s (built around 1/07). All were able to hit +3.2GHz @ 1.465Vcore. My current chip is the hottest, but it also has the greatest overclocking potential. That's why I removed the heat spreader. Chip can easily run at 3.58GHz with 1.505Vcore as long as the room temp is under 66F.

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Yup...with E4300. Temp is 7 to 9c lower. I still use the heat spreader but only as a spacer for my BT CPU cooler. Lapped top and bottom of heat spreader. All E2xx0 and E4xx0 use paste. Only E6xx0 are soldered to the chip.

So you removed the IHS, lapped it, then re-installed it?
Did you use AS5 or some other thermal compound between the CPU die and the bottom of the IHS?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Someone gave me a lifetime supply of AS5. That's what I use for thermal grease @ MOSFETs, NB, and SB. Top and bottom of heat spreader were lapped with 2000 sand paper just for fun.

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Someone gave me a lifetime supply of AS5. That's what I use for thermal grease @ MOSFETs, NB, and SB. Top and bottom of heat spreader were lapped with 2000 sand paper just for fun.

Nice, a lifetime supply of AS5 :thumbsup:

I may do this before assy.

Wow, this whole E4xxx thing is reminding me of the old Celly 300A days, this is what makes building/modding computers fun again.

 

[qliveur]

So let me get this straight, SR.

You popped off the IHS with a razor blade, got rid of whatever cheap-assed thermal compound Intel was using and replaced it with AS5, lapped both sides of the IHS and put it back on and you got a 7-9C improvement? That's huge. It's amazing what a little elbow grease can do.

I'm very interested in these Allendales because of their price/performance potential and I'd read about the IHS not being soldered to the wafer, but I didn't know that anything could be done about it.

I've also read that there are better thermal pastes out there than AS5, such as shien-etsu(sp?), and I wonder if using one of them would yield even better results than what you've gotten.

 

[Avalon]

CPU: E2140 L2 SLA3J Q706A148
FSB and Multi: 363x8 @ 2.9Ghz (haven't pushed it, more than happy)
Vcore:1.35
Mobo: Gigabyte P35 DS3L
RAM: 2GB of HP D9NLH @ 726mhz 5-5-5-15 1.9v
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra-120 w/120mm Sunon

Oh, I've been hearing mention of an M0 stepping. How does that compare to the current ones?

 

[zach0624]

The M0 stepping is supposed to decrease temps and volts and appears in new e4400s and all e4500s.

 

[Markfw]

The best I could do with my E4300 was 2.9, I dumped it quick....

 

[Brunnis]

CPU: E2160
FSB and Multi: 9*334
Vcore: 1.30V
Mobo: ASUS P5B
RAM: 4GB DDR2 667 @ 835MHz
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme with 1000RPM 120mm Nexus

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: qliveur
So let me get this straight, SR.

You popped off the IHS with a razor blade, got rid of whatever cheap-assed thermal compound Intel was using and replaced it with AS5, lapped both sides of the IHS and put it back on and you got a 7-9C improvement? That's huge. It's amazing what a little elbow grease can do.

I'm very interested in these Allendales because of their price/performance potential and I'd read about the IHS not being soldered to the wafer, but I didn't know that anything could be done about it.

I've also read that there are better thermal pastes out there than AS5, such as shien-etsu(sp?), and I wonder if using one of them would yield even better results than what you've gotten.

I took apart a free three-blade razor shaver for the cutting edge. Lapping the bottom of the heat spreader can be a little tricky since this surface is below the seating plane. If you don't have access to a machine shop, then you can cut up a credit card and use the flat edge and sand paper to polish the ID surface. I also clean-up the seating plane of the heat spreader by removing 0.001" to 0.002" of material.

Thermal compound is used to fill air gaps. If you have a nice surface finish (the top of the CPU core is polished to a mirror finish at the factory), then the type of compound is irrelevant.

I'm not sure if all E2xx0 and E4xx0 will see the same temperature drop with this mod. This particular chip runs HOTTER than the other four chips, but it can also hit 3.16GHz at default Vcore.

 

[zach0624]

updated

 

[rbk123]

Originally posted by: zach0624
updated

Hey Zach - you can change my 3.2Ghz entry to 1.425V instead of 1.445. I've proven it's stable at that voltage and had updated my post accordingly.

 

[lopri]

I guess I'll add my E2140 in the database. This thing does ~340FSB and I believe that's the CPU's max (for whatever reason). And it does it at its default vCore. I tried it on 3 different boards and even attempted BSEL mod, but only to no avail.

E2140(L2 Stepping) @2.67GHz
8x334
1.312V
DFI P965-S
Buffalo Firestix
Thermalright Ultra-120

Orthos Running
Stopped

The performance is very good (I can even have it @2.64GHz under 800 strap) and well had I bought this CPU for an actual build I'd be happy with the result. But I bought this CPU dreaming of 100% OC and the CPU isn't even stretching its leg (default vCore..) so it's kinda pissing me off..

 

[zach0624]

@rbk123 I just updated your vcore thanks for the update
added lopri's cpu

 

[RocKKer]

Please add my results:

E2180 Q712A452 @ 3.33GHz
9x370
1.4V
Abit IP35 v13 bios
AC Freezer 7 pro
Crucial Ballistix (2 x 1 GB) 1:1.20 DDR2 900 MHz 5-5-5-15 2.10v

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Too much heat with the Freezer? 1.4V is a very mild oveclock with those C2D chips.

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: RocKKer
Please add my results:

E2180 Q712A452 @ 3.33GHz
9x370
1.4V
Abit IP35 v13 bios
AC Freezer 7 pro
Crucial Ballistix (2 x 1 GB) 1:1.20 DDR2 900 MHz 5-5-5-15 2.10v

Rockker, that's a nice result. If you don't mind, where and when did you purchase that chip?

Edit: NVM, I just realized all E2180 are MO stepping.

I agree with Serpent...with a better cooler you could probably try for higher OC if you're only at 1.4 vcore now.

 

[Arkainium]

Originally posted by: RocKKer
Please add my results:

E2180 Q712A452 @ 3.33GHz
9x370
1.4V
Abit IP35 v13 bios
AC Freezer 7 pro
Crucial Ballistix (2 x 1 GB) 1:1.20 DDR2 900 MHz 5-5-5-15 2.10v

I'm curious why you dropped the multiplier to 9x from 10x?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

He had problem overclocking at 10x. 9x is a tad better since he could run at higher FSB speed and RAM speed. IP35-E can handle 500MHz FSB. 460MHz +/-30MHz is the sweet spot if you're an overclock freak.

 

[Arkainium]

How much vcore would you say is too much for these chips? Where do you draw the line between living on the edge and being just plain foolish?

 

[zach0624]

updated

edit:Arkainium I am pretty confident that my e4500 can take over 1.45V real and stay under 67C TAT I wouldn't put it much over that without reseating my tuniq for better contact.

 

[Arkainium]

TAT doesn't seem to work with my setup; E2180 and Abit IP-35E. I get an error, "Error enumerating On Demand Clock Modulation support."

Anyway, initially I was using the stock heat sink which didn't do so bad actually. I managed to get to 3.2ghz (10x320) at 1.335V but my orthos load was peaking at 70C. At this point I already felt this chip was well worth the money, but I knew I could take it further.

So then I put on a TR Ultra-120 Extreme which brought the temps down a bit, but for the money I paid for it, I wasn't overly impressed. I was doing 3.33ghz (10x333) and orthos load was peaking at about 60C.

Then I decided to take it to the next level. So I lapped my hsf and cpu, but that really didn't help all that much. I got like 2-3C improvement.

Now this is where I just got foolish. I really wasn't expecting my processor to live through this, but I figured at $90 it wouldn't be a huge loss, so I removed the IHS. This helped a ton! When comparing stock to the Ultra-120 Extreme mounted directly on top of the core temps dropped by about 25-30C overall.

So now I'm trying to decide how high I want to take the vcore without frying my chip after a week. Right now I'm stress testing at 3.6ghz (10x360) at 1.495V running orthos small ffts with temps peaking at 60C.

I have a new power supply coming in tomorrow and I wonder if that'll change anything because the one I'm working with right now is a cheap 400w from my old computer. While OCing sometimes my computer restarts and I wonder if it's not enough vcore or my power supply can't keep up. I really only just got into overclocking.

If the new power supply doesn't improve my overclock, I'll probably stay at 10x360 if I deem it to be stable enough. I'll post an update after I settle and do some more testing.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: Arkainium
so I removed the IHS. This helped a ton!

Help, what is a IHS?

Thanks
Hermit

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I'd limit Vcore to about 1.505. At that voltage, I was able to achieve full stability with E4300 at 3.58GHz. But there's a catch. My room temp must be 66F or lower. The Big Typhoon cannot keep the CPU core temp from breaking 82C at 75F room.