YANWT: Winchester 3000+ stuck at 2.1GHz

[MDE]

Winchester 3000+
Zalman CNPS 7000A
Epox 9NDA3+
2x512MB PC3200 Mushkin

I've updated to the latest BIOS (1-11) already. I'm stuck at 235x9 (4x HTT) ATM. Vcore is 1.5V, I bumped the chipset voltage up and VDIMM is at 2.7V, memory set at 166MHz (running 193MHz at 235HTT). If I try 240HTT the system hangs on boot either detecting the RAID array or when it's about to load the OS. I've tried bumping the HTT multiplier down, relaxing the memory timings and dropping the multiplier to 5. Anything else I can try before throwing in the towel? I'm a n00b to Athlon 64 overclocking but I'm not a noob when it comes to OCing in general.

 

[Shenkoa]

You hit every nail. Sounds like either a board or CPU limitation, you got unlucky.

 

[Tweakin]

This may sound silly, but you say you CAN run a 6800GT on a quality 380W PSU. I wonder how much amperage you have on your 12v rail?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Tweakin
This may sound silly, but you say you CAN run a 6800GT on a quality 380W PSU. I wonder how much amperage you have on your 12v rail?

18A. I ran a P4 3.2C @ 3.6 with this PSU, it shouldn't hold me back.

 

[Insomniak]

I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say this:

Rule #1 of overclocking: YMMV.

You pay for stock. Anything you get on top of that is bonus, and you should be happy with it. I cannot fathom people who feel gypped when they only reach ~3300+ speeds on a 3000+ processor. Trying for more is fine, but you should always remember that you only pay for stock, so you should never make any purchase where you're not prepared to live with stock as your highest speed.

 

[Sparky19692]

Amen:

Henc I went with 3500+

 

[Markfw]

I am stuck at 2.2 on a 3200+ (hence why I went 3200+)

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Insomniak
I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say this:

Rule #1 of overclocking: YMMV.

You pay for stock. Anything you get on top of that is bonus, and you should be happy with it. I cannot fathom people who feel gypped when they only reach ~3300+ speeds on a 3000+ processor. Trying for more is fine, but you should always remember that you only pay for stock, so you should never make any purchase where you're not prepared to live with stock as your highest speed.

I NEVER EVER ONCE said that I should definately get 2.7 or even 2.1. I'm just wondering if I had a setting wrong or something that could have been holding me back. I'm back at stock now because none of my USB ports are working. Whenever I plug my mouse in I get a "Device not recognized" error and it shows up as an unknown device in Device Manager.

 

[Markfw]

Bad motherboard ? something in the bios disables ? Bad bios flash ?

And BTW, by 3200+ has a 6800GT on an Antec true power 380 and is VERY stable. Also, I OC'ed to 2,2 BEFORE I put in the 6800, so that is not the oriblem with my OC and proves the 380 is enough for the 6800GT !!!! So I agree with your sig !

 

[MDE]

Well I cleared the BIOS and that didn't help, so that rules out a BIOS setting. I also tried forcing USB 1.1 instead of 2.0 and that didn't help. I emailed Epox so we'll see what they say. I'm going to try re-flashing the BIOS and if that doesn't help Epox is probably sending me a new board.

 

[Balex99]

You know, I kept losing my USB stuff when I would overclock using the nvidia system utility and bumping the bus up that way. Only way to get it woking again was to turnoff machine and unplug power then restart.

Just some added info. Hope you find your problem.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Balex99
You know, I kept losing my USB stuff when I would overclock using the nvidia system utility and bumping the bus up that way. Only way to get it woking again was to turnoff machine and unplug power then restart.

Just some added info. Hope you find your problem.

THANK YOU!!! That made me remember that the USB troubles started right after I tried the NVSU. Now on to OCing a bit more .

 

[Spikesoldier]

this is the exact combo that i am going to get here in a few days, except im going to be using some original samsung pc3200 instead. i had the mushkin memory in my shopping cart, but decided to get the samsung locally here.

good choices, bad luck.

where did you order the cpu from?

edit: you have the same heatsink as me also.

 

[MrK6]

Sounds like a software limitation to me. I never really trusted software overclocking, do it through the BIOS and I'll bet you can go further :thumbsup:

 

[mickles]

SATA ports being used are 1 and 2 or 3 and 4?

 

[Jhatfie]

Originally posted by: mickles
SATA ports being used are 1 and 2 or 3 and 4?

Good question. My DFI had a problem when using anything other that the Nvidia SATA ports, then ones using the sil3114 would give me all kinds of headaches when overclocking. Also, I did not notice if you mentioned it or not, but you may want to set your AGP frequency to 67mhz in bios. Some nForce3 boards will not enable the PCI/AGP lock properly until you set it to above 66mhz.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: MDE

Originally posted by: Tweakin
This may sound silly, but you say you CAN run a 6800GT on a quality 380W PSU. I wonder how much amperage you have on your 12v rail?

18A. I ran a P4 3.2C @ 3.6 with this PSU, it shouldn't hold me back.

Although that might have worked then, 18A is not enough for overclocking. It is considered the bare minimum for CPU's today.

What brand PSU is this? I would upgrade to something with a higer amperage, but if it is a cheap PSU fluctuations and spikes might be holding you back.

-Kevin

 

[sukhoi37]

i got the same problem with you.
you should try set the vdimm to 2.8V and vcore to 1.6v

 

[MDE]

- Ordered from Newegg.

- I am OCing through the BIOS but tried the NV Utility for $#its and giggles

- SATA ports 3 and 4, my Silencer blocks 1 and 2. All four run off the chipset but 3 and 4 run through and external PHY

- PSU is an Antec True380. It worked FLAWLESSLY with the P4 and two extra PCI cards, I'm 99% positive the PSU isn't holding me back at all

- AGP is set to 67MHz, upping the VDIMM is pointless as my RAM is already underclocked and VCORE is pointless as it won't run a higher bus even if I drop the CPU multiplier

 

[slurmsmackenzie]

did you try making a larger jump in your FSB (or AMD equivalent). i've heard alot of people hitting a wall at a lower FSB. then try something in the 2.4 - 2.6 range and maintained stability.

 

[Rhoel]

I don't have the same system, but the antec 380 is more than enough to overclock. I have a similar setup, but socket 754. My 3000+ is overclocked to 2.5ghz and my 6800gt is at 400/1100 24/7. Not stable at 2.6, but I don't think I'm power supply limited.