Just got a P35-DS3L/e6420. Want to achieve 3.7GHz stable!

[lektrix]

My hardware:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Rev 2.0 w/ F5 bios (I have the restart/bios glitch but it's tolerable)
Intel e6420 8x266=2.13GHz
Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 2.2V
Thermalright Ultima-90

8x400=3.2GHz, 1.4V, memory @ 4-4-4-12 @ 1.8V seems stable for 2hrs...temps are 30/58 however in Orthos and 30/55 for Prime95 (recorded by SpeedFan)..

Since I don't plan on going past 500FSB, my RAM should not be a factor. In fact I will just manually set it at SPD timings of 5-5-5-15 2.1V until I find my highest stable OC, and then tweak my memory timings.....

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: lektrix
Any guides out there on the optimal settings for OCing on my specific board?

That all depends on what your specific board happens to be.

Thirdly, core0/core1 are obviously my CPU temps and they are always the same.

You may have to add 15C to those temps, depending on which processor you have.

Yet the Vcore1 is 1.34V and Vcore2 is 1.86V? WTF?

Vcore 2 is your vdimm, if you have a P35 chipset.

 

[lektrix]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: lektrix
Any guides out there on the optimal settings for OCing on my specific board?

That all depends on what your specific board happens to be.

Thirdly, core0/core1 are obviously my CPU temps and they are always the same.

You may have to add 15C to those temps, depending on which processor you have.

Yet the Vcore1 is 1.34V and Vcore2 is 1.86V? WTF?

Vcore 2 is your vdimm, if you have a P35 chipset.

My board is in the title .

DS3L, aka Gigabyte P35-GA-DS3L rev 2.0 .

Well core0/core1 are around 30 idle, and 45 when I run two instances of Prime 95.

Vcore2 dimm? That makes sense then . Forgot about vdimm.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: lektrix
My board is in the title .

Umm, either my short term memory is even worse than I had thought, or I just missed the title completely.

Well core0/core1 are around 30 idle, and 45 when I run two instances of Prime 95.

Vcore2 dimm? That makes sense then . Forgot about vdimm.

Use the newest version of CoreTemp, for your core temps. SpeedFan still doesn't have it right for some of the newer processors.

Also, you should find all of the information you need in this thread. Even though it's not exactly the same motherboard, everything in the two BIOS's should be the same, at least from what I've been able to tell. Also, if you happen to have any specific questions, let me know; I've got a Gigabyte P35-based motherboard.

edit: That only applies to the latest version of CoreTemp, version .95.4.

 

[lektrix]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: lektrix
My board is in the title .

Umm, either my short term memory is even worse than I had thought, or I just missed the title completely.

Well core0/core1 are around 30 idle, and 45 when I run two instances of Prime 95.

Vcore2 dimm? That makes sense then . Forgot about vdimm.

Use the newest version of CoreTemp, for your core temps. SpeedFan still doesn't have it right for some of the newer processors.

Also, you should find all of the information you need in this thread. Even though it's not exactly the same motherboard, everything in the two BIOS's should be the same, at least from what I've been able to tell. Also, if you happen to have any specific questions, let me know; I've got a Gigabyte P35-based motherboard.

edit: That only applies to the latest version of CoreTemp, version .95.4.

I just ran Orthos for 7 minutes with SpeedFan 4.33 and Core Temp 0.95.4 side by side. Both of the Core 0/1 readings on SpeedFan (SF) and CoreTemp were the same on load and they're around 1-3C off on idle. SF offers more temperature readings though as it shows Temp1, Temp2, the hard drives, and voltage readings for the CPU, RAM, and PSU. Problem is SF can't be run as a service, so I gotta manually open up the program everytime I start my computer.

The other thing is after 7 minutes of Orthos, my load slowly went from 45 for 5 minutes to 58. Don't know if 58 is the ceiling or not but by the looks of it, load temps might hit 60. How the hell does my chip idle at 30s, then almost double to 60 at load?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: lektrix
The other thing is after 7 minutes of Orthos, my load slowly went from 45 for 5 minutes to 58. Don't know if 58 is the ceiling or not but by the looks of it, load temps might hit 60. How the hell does my chip idle at 30s, then almost double to 60 at load?

I couldn't tell you. If you're using the stock heatsink, those are really good temps. If you have a good heatsink, those aren't very good temps. Plus, your processor temps are dependent not only on your heatsink, but also case airflow, ambient temp, and how much vcore you're giving that E6420. Oh, and if you still have EIST and C1E enabled, then you're gonna have much lower idle temps, also.

 

[lektrix]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: lektrix
The other thing is after 7 minutes of Orthos, my load slowly went from 45 for 5 minutes to 58. Don't know if 58 is the ceiling or not but by the looks of it, load temps might hit 60. How the hell does my chip idle at 30s, then almost double to 60 at load?

I couldn't tell you. If you're using the stock heatsink, those are really good temps. If you have a good heatsink, those aren't very good temps. Plus, your processor temps are dependent not only on your heatsink, but also case airflow, ambient temp, and how much vcore you're giving that E6420. Oh, and if you still have EIST and C1E enabled, then you're gonna have much lower idle temps, also.

Ultima-90 w/ Yate Loon medium @ 5-7V. Airflow and ambient temp should not be a factor. I'm running on a P182 with 5 120mm fans. My computer's also in my basement which is pretty cold. I don't know which temp is the case temp in SpeedFan, but it could be Temp2: 21C? Cause Temp1: 35C is most likely the NB....

Problem 1: I tried OCing to 8x450=3.6GHz, 1.46V, 2.2Vdimm, +0.1V NB, +0.1V FSB. Booted into windows and got some Windows error but not a BSOD. Kept getting Windows errors though.

Problem 2: Running 8x420=3.36Ghz, 1.41V, 2.2Vdimm, +0 NB/FSB and while there are no errors, something feels strange. The CPU Usage in SpeedFan stays at 0-1% but suddenly spikes up to 17% and sometimes even 35% when my computer is simply IDLING and doing nothing. I have not made any changes to my computer except install DVD software and BitTornado. I also made some changes in msconfig which should help decrease CPU Usage, not increase it! Even in Windows Task Manager, my processes is only at 32 (I haven't tweaked my system processes yet) and the memory usage is only 223/3938M. Why am I spiking for no reason? Is it because I overclocked from 8x400 to 8x420?


edit: Orthos and Prime95 just failed 2 minutest into my 8x420 test. Why can't I OC over 400fsb?

edit2: I did make one change and that was enable ACHI for SATA in bios or something but I quickly disabled it. It never got past the stage of bios after installing the drivers because my computer would crash everytime I'd enter Windows. I only enabled ACHI when I was fooling around with 8x450. Can this be the source of the influx of CPU Usage?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: lektrix
Ultima-90 w/ Yate Loon medium @ 5-7V.

That's a decent heatsink, but not enough for 3.4-3.6 Ghz, with a low flow fan.

I don't know which temp is the case temp in SpeedFan, but it could be Temp2: 21C? Cause Temp1: 35C is most likely the NB....

Temp 1 is usually the Tcase temp, which is the temp above and between the two cores. Temp 1 isn't always the Tcase temp, though. Here's how to see if your Temp 1 is the Tcase: first, it will be 12-15 lower than the core temps, always, and second, it will go up at the same rate as the core temps, anytime the core temps go up, because of the software you're running. Temp 2 is almost always the chipset.

The CPU Usage in SpeedFan stays at 0-1% but suddenly spikes up to 17% and sometimes even 35% when my computer is simply IDLING and doing nothing. I have not made any changes to my computer except install DVD software and BitTornado.

That's happening because Dr Watson is running, because of the Windoze errors you got at 3.6 Ghz. Here's how to turn it off: hold down both the Ctrl & Alt buttons, then also hit the Delete button. Once the Windoze Task Manager opens, click on the Processes tab, and there will be something called drwtsn32.exe. Shut it down, and then go to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson, and there will be a file there (which will most likely be huge) named drwtsn32.log. You need to delete that file, before you reboot.

edit: Orthos and Prime95 just failed 2 minutest into my 8x420 test. Why can't I OC over 400fsb?

Most likely because you aren't running your RAM 1:1, and it can't handle the speed you're trying to run it at, although Prime95 can also fail because your temps get too high, although 60C core temps is nowhere near that point.

 

[lektrix]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: lektrix
Ultima-90 w/ Yate Loon medium @ 5-7V.

That's a decent heatsink, but not enough for 3.4-3.6 Ghz, with a low flow fan.

I did a lot of research before getting the U90 and intentionally got the U90 so that I could fit a HR-05 IFX on my Northbridge. The U90's the same as the Tuniq Tower and a few degrees higher than the U120Extreme at high clocks. It can't make that big of a difference. As for my low flow fan, I just put my Yate Loon back at 12V so it should be blowing 47cfm now. Im waiting to order a new Scythe Slipstream so I'll get 60 or so cfm next week.

I don't know which temp is the case temp in SpeedFan, but it could be Temp2: 21C? Cause Temp1: 35C is most likely the NB....

Temp 1 is usually the Tcase temp, which is the temp above and between the two cores. Temp 1 isn't always the Tcase temp, though. Here's how to see if your Temp 1 is the Tcase: first, it will be 12-15 lower than the core temps, always, and second, it will go up at the same rate as the core temps, anytime the core temps go up, because of the software you're running. Temp 2 is almost always the chipset.

Makes sense, thanks. Temp1 = case, Temp2 = NB .

The CPU Usage in SpeedFan stays at 0-1% but suddenly spikes up to 17% and sometimes even 35% when my computer is simply IDLING and doing nothing. I have not made any changes to my computer except install DVD software and BitTornado.

That's happening because Dr Watson is running, because of the Windoze errors you got at 3.6 Ghz. Here's how to turn it off: hold down both the Ctrl & Alt buttons, then also hit the Delete button. Once the Windoze Task Manager opens, click on the Processes tab, and there will be something called drwtsn32.exe. Shut it down, and then go to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson, and there will be a file there (which will most likely be huge) named drwtsn32.log. You need to delete that file, before you reboot.

That's one of the services I have to disable when I get a chance to tweak my Windows services. Thanks for identifying it for me. It should be listed under Windows Error Reporting Service right?

edit: Orthos and Prime95 just failed 2 minutest into my 8x420 test. Why can't I OC over 400fsb?

Most likely because you aren't running your RAM 1:1, and it can't handle the speed you're trying to run it at, although Prime95 can also fail because your temps get too high, although 60C core temps is nowhere near that point.

I am running my RAM 1:1 though. I've never run it anything other than 1:1. My RAM is rated at DDR2-1066 or 533fsb 5-5-5-15 2.2V so I have a while before I need to use any sort of dividers. 420x8 should be attainable .


Anyways, the latest I've tried is finding my max FSB. Right now I'm on 6x500=3GHz 5-5-5-12 2.2Vdimm, 1.4Vcore, all other voltages default, and Orthos has been running perfectly fine for 10 minutes. Not much, but hey, at least I'm not getting errors, BSODs are crashes. Temps are also at 30/43-47C. I have no idea why the load temps are fluctuating so much from 43-47C when it's being stressed. It was only a few hours ago when I was running 8x400 that temps hit 58C. Did setting the fan @ 12V really make that huge of a difference? I'm gonna try 6x533 next and I won't bother going any higher because my motherboard can handle 500+ fsb. The question is how can I reach 3.7ghz...

 

[lektrix]

Tried 6x533 and 6x520 but no good, bios crashes before I can even load Windows. 6x511 works though. Let's assume my mobo can handle up to 511.

Just tried 7x500, 1.45Vcore, 5-5-5-12 2.2Vdimm, FSB and NB +0.1v, got into Windows but failed Orthos in 10 seconds.

Tried 8x430, 1.425Vcore, 5-5-5-12 2.2.Vdimm, FSB and NB +0.1v, got into Windws but failed Orthos in 2 minutes.

Temps in both cases are much better though. I am never undervolting my fans again for the CPU .

Still, I can't clock higher than 8x400. What seems to be the problem here?

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: lektrix
Still, I can't clock higher than 8x400. What seems to be the problem here?

You're assuming that all C2D's will OC to 3.7GHz, WHY? :roll:

It's a crap shoot, you're at 3.2GHz and that could well be the CPU's limit. Sounds pretty rocking to me.

 

[Bigbassfrank]

3.0-3.2 seems like most of the limits..

 

[Ika]

I can't get my 6420 past 3.4ghz without some ungodly voltage (and I can't hit 3.5ghz no matter how I try). Live with it.

 

[johnnyjohnson]

If your chip failed Orthos after 2 min at 3.4Ghz, then try upping the voltage a bit (up to 1.5V). Sounds like you may even get to 3.5ghz stable if you up the vcore enough and so long as your cooler can handle it. Getting to 3.4Ghz or beyond is exceptional, so be happy that you can do that.

 

[PCTC2]

I can't get my E6400 w/ less cache past 3.496GHz (437 FSB) stable. sure, i can boot @ 3.733GHz but that's at 1.51v, in 65F ambients with all my case fans on HIGH and it's still unstable and will crash in about 20 minutes. 3.2GHz is a respectable overclock.

 

[lektrix]

http://img212.imageshack.us/my...ge=e64203320ghzpj5.gif]

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[lektrix]

my latest 6hr stable oc is 3.3ghz......

can't go any higher even with 1.5V as Orthos would die out in 10-30 minutes

My CPU chip is really limiting me I think.

 

[lektrix]

http://img219.imageshack.us/my...ge=e64203320ghzyj6.gif

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: lektrix
my latest 6hr stable oc is 3.3ghz......

That should be sufficient for web surfing.

 

[lektrix]

Originally posted by: 21stHermit

Originally posted by: lektrix
my latest 6hr stable oc is 3.3ghz......

That should be sufficient for web surfing.

Guess I wasted money buying a TR U-90 and a HR-05 IFX...most people are getting 3.3 on stock