E8400 Asus P5Q Deluxe OC help

[lagvoid]

I have my E8400 (E0 stepping) overclocked to 4ghz right now and it is prime stable 24 hours. My problem is that I feel the vcore is too high, but I don't know what other settings I should adjust in order to lower the vcore volts.

I booted into xp with 6x515 (all other settings auto) to try and rule out FSB wall. I followed the Alert Topic (no new messages) HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - A Guide v1.7 guide but I'm not sure where to focus on now.

CPUID showed auto voltage @ 1.224. Manually set vcore at 1.2 and my RealTemps were 38 idle and 44 load. I had to up vcore to 1.325 in order to have prime run through the night. Anything lower and I would come back to the computer finding it had restarted without reporting and errors . I tried leaving all other settings on auto and adjusting them to default voltages but xp wouldn't load with anything under 1.3. I understand that every cpu is different, but from what I'm seeing everyone else running to achieve 4 ghz I feel like I just need to manually set other voltages.

Currently running stable at 4ghz (445x9). Bios set at 1.325 CPUID voltage reads 1.312 on load. Real temp reported 39 on idle and 61 max on load.

Hardware Setup:

E8400 E0 stepping
Asus P5Q Deluxe
OCZ Vendetta 2 (bolt-thru kit)
OCZ Platinum Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1000 (set to 5-5-5-15)
GTX 260
Seagate 640gb hd
Antec Neopower 650w Blue
Antec 300 case

Software:
Win XP Pro 32-bit
Stresstesting - latest version of Prime95 that loads multi core processors.
RealTemp TjMax @ 100
CPUID

Bios settings:
CPU Spread Spectrum - Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum - Disabled
C1E - Disabled
SpeedStep - Disabled

Everything else is left at default setting.

Here are my available bios settings. They are not mine. Pictures linked from overclockersclub.com.

Advanced CPU Settings
Ai Tweaker - OC Settings 1
Advanced memory settings - don't think I need to mess with this at this point, but just throwing it out here.
Voltage settings


Any key settings I should adjust to try and lower vcore?

I've read that bios vcore and cpuid vcore will vary due to vdroop, but what should I be reporting or basing off of?

Thank you for taking the time to help me out!

 

[disports]

Your vcore is fine. It's below the Intel limit of 1.3625.

 

[OCGuy]

Why are you worried about that vcore again? 1ghz OC only adding .06 Vcore?

 

[lagvoid]

I've just seen so many people running 4ghz between 1.2-1.27. I would like to lower my vcore as well to lower overall temps and leave room for growth down the road

 

[disports]

Well it all depends on the chip. Some people will get lucky and get better chips while others will be unlucky and get chips that are worse. Don't let it bother you.

 

[Big Lar]

Originally posted by: smithrwon
Well it all depends on the chip. Some people will get lucky and get better chips while others will be unlucky and get chips that are worse. Don't let it bother you.

What "smithrwon" said.. tho you could try 63/63/61 on the gtl's

Larry

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Its Prime stable? :laugh: Why don't you try OCCT stable

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: smithrwon
Your vcore is fine. It's below the Intel limit of 1.3625.

Yeah 1.31 volts for 4005mhz 24hours prime stable is not bad at all.

tad bit more vdimm & vtt might allow a lower vcore - just a guess - but it may not since you have no probs at 515mhz on the FSB & ram. Since your temps are good, that may not be an issue. Lapping the IHS & HSF base might give lower temps, requiring less volts. Watercooling setups usually require less vcore for the same speed because the cpu remains cooler!

could you take a screenshot of you running prime with some cpu-z cpu/mobo/ram/spd and coretemp open?

 

[lagvoid]

Had to bump up vcore a little after locking the system up doing a lot of data transfer and running multiple programs.

Here is a screen shot any how.

http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ocph9.jpg

Yeah, 4ghz is amazing especially from what I was using before. I shouldn't have set my expectations on hitting it at a lower vcore/temp just because other people were. I just wasn't sure if the NB or something had to be adjusted for my particular case. I played around with the volts but it didn't seem to make a difference like vcore changes did.

 

[lagvoid]

Update: I switched to 8.5x471 and dropped my vcore back to 1.325 in bios (cpuid shows 1.31 again on load). I ran OCCT for about 6 or 7 hours with no issues and switched over to Prime for the last 3 hours. I'm hoping the motherboard/cpu just didn't like running at 9x445, giving me more room to work with.

Edit: OCCT put my max load temp to 62

 

[Tempered81]

shesh, your ram has no problem at 471mhz? sweet. What vdimm do you need for 471mhz?

how fast can you get the cpu with 1.40v in cpu-z (load) and 9x multiplier?

 

[lagvoid]

I tested the ram/mobo up to 515mhz before I started doing any Oc'ing. That was on auto vdimm though. It's currently set at 2.1 vdimm and I'll see how low I can drop it later when I'm trying to reduce voltages all around.

I haven't upped the vcore past 1.33 yet since I was still testing how stable it was at 4ghz. The computer is in my room so heat is a concern of mine. I might try reseating or lapping the cpu/hs to lower temps down the road once I become more familiar with all the standard range of voltages (nb, sb, etc).

Edit: Forgot to mention, the OCZ ram I have is DDR2 1000mhz. I believe that's factory tested DDR800 to 1000mhz so I haven't made any real achievements

 

[Tempered81]

ah somehow i got the idea you had 800mhz ram.