Any tips on overclocking my Inifinity?

[Hobag]

Hello everybody! I'm looking for some extra help and expertise from all of you about overclocking my infinity. I've never had a DFI board before but I'm not a newbie at overclocing either. My system specs are in my sig, except for for some of my other components such as my Nec dvd burner, pioneer dvd-rom, kingwin 450w psu, and and antec 1030b case. As for cooling I have a swifty MCX 462, and 6 sunon 50cfm case fans. Right now I have my system running at 11x225 @ 1.85v, nb 1.7, and vdimm 2.8. The timings are 2-2-2-11. These settings are as high as I can get having the system running stable, and by stable i mean being able to pass 3dmark2k1 and an entire day of css, but not stable enough to finish one run of prime95. I've also tried having it run at 10x235 @1.85, nb 1.7, and vdimm at 2.8 with 2.5-4-4-10 (the recommended timings for the ram to run at pc4800) and it seems stable enough, but again, it doesn't pass prime.

I've tried a number of different combination of settings like loosening the timings, and giving it more voltage (cpu, nb, vdimm) but I still can't get any higher than 11 x 225 stable. I've been able to do 11x230, but with a vcore of 1.9x!

I've tried alomst all of the bioses, from 6/19 to Hellfire rev.x (but have still yet to try tic tacs). It's really frustrating because I see so many people with higher fsb and clock speed but with lower vcore and running stable. Is there something I'm missing or doing wrong? Or is this really the threshhold for the sum of my computer parts?

I mentioned that I'm not a newbie, but I'm also very far from being a pro (ie. Shinobi ), which means i really have no idea what some of the settings do in the bios. All I ever really play around with are the basic stuff like votltages, timings, fsb and multi, and some other simple settings.

So if anyone can give me some tips or pass on some experience points to me, it would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

 

Hobag

[BigDov]

Your cpu shouldn't be hard-locked, why not drop that 11 multiplier down a bit when you increase your fsb??

[Shinobi]

I assume hes concentrating on getting his CPU overclocked first BigDov and finding its max, are you Hobag?

 

You'll get there Hobag. These boards can be a bit intimidating at first with all the options but after awhile you'll get use to it and then start to think there aren't enough options

 

For starters what are your system temps and CPU temps? Whats the stepping on that 2500? Is this the first time you've overclocked it?

 

Obviously no 2 CPU's are alike but i'd be suprised if you couldn't at least break 2500mhz with that 2500, your getting close... Temps made a huge difference for me. My CPU has always being a decent overclocker but just switching to a Thermalright SP-97 with a Smartfan II gave it a whole new lease of life... Running at the lower temps has helped with gain stability at the same overclocks as before but with less voltage.

 

Bios, Hellfires Rev3 is a decent bios but TicTacs 3DFire R2 Infinity just steals it for me due to its better Windows stability so i'd definitely give that a try.

 

Have you tried installing the Advanced Configuration & Power Interface (ACPI) PC HAL? Also try disabling APIC in the bios to see if that helps...

 

Thats a few things you can try for now anyone.

 

EDIT: Btw, that OCZ is probably either TCCD or TCC5 so for starters i'd drop the timings to about 2.5,3,3,11 and start/carry on from there... They don't need much voltage so try them at around 2.7v to 2.8v for now.

[medianOCer]

Is this your PSU? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.as...ly%20-%20Retail

 

If so, the amps on a couple of the rails look pretty low (3.3V = 22A, 12V = 15A). Maybe the power supply is up to the task, but if that's about all (or at least near what) it can handle for continuous output on the amp ratings, then you may want to look toward getting different power supply for your system.

 

I had a PSU that was of average quality and had a rating of 18A on the 12V rail. When I switched to a different PSU it made quite a bit of difference.

[Shinobi]

Well spotted Median. That PSU is definitely not the greatest choice for overclocking on these boards.

 

What are your rails like Hobag, at idle and under load?

[medianOCer]

Shinobi -

Thanks for your kind words.

 

Hobag -

I did also notice quite an improvement with the switch to the ACPI PC and disabling of APIC in the BIOS also, which Shinobi mentioned. I've seen others comment accordingly as well.

[jeremywills]

what are your temps, when I got some better cooling of the southbridge it helped me a bit, just an fyi, the included HS on the southbridge was a joke IMHO, other than that I think you are on the right track but if that south end is getting toasty that could be spoiling some of your efforts

[dr_bowtie]

Isn't there a link or thread to tell how to load ACPI? I think some people (like me) just think it's like other boards and is loaded automatically?

 

Shinobi is right.... These are what you call "enthusiast boards" which means, in english, they can be more fussy...

You can definatetly obtain a higher overclock...It's just the approach to getting there is different....At some points you have to work backwards to go forwards...

[medianOCer]

Here's 2 links with info on ACPI/HAL. If you're looking for more info, there's also the search function which can be used with this forum. That is if you want to use it. I have found it to be an excellent tool. Anyway, here's a couple of links -

 

#1 - http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread...&highlight=acpi

 

#2 - http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread...&highlight=acpi

[Mott13]

Shinobi -

Thanks for your kind words.

 

Hobag -

I did also notice quite an improvement with the switch to the ACPI PC and disabling of APIC in the BIOS also, which Shinobi mentioned. I've seen others comment accordingly as well.

 

We need to make a sticky for the hal setup!

[medianOCer]

A sticky for the HAL setup sounds like a great idea.

[Hobag]

Wow, i can't believe i've got so many replies to this thread already! You ARE really great! And sorry for the slow and lack of replies, I'm in the midst of moving to another home and it's been just hectic, barely have enough time to play with this new board

 

Anyways, since my first post, I've been running my system at 10x240 @ 1.85 and it's been stable so far (ie. css 5hrs+, 3dmark2k1, surfing etc.) although prime still won't finish one run. My temps at idle are about 43.5-44.5 C, but how do I measure the full load temps if I don't have a probe with an external display? The ram is at 2.5-4-4-10 @2.8, just to eliminate it from the equation. I know they can do better than that, but I thought I'd just be safe for the time being.

 

BigDov: shinobi would be correct, I am trying to find out the max first. But i did drop the multi...

 

Shinobi: My idle temps when it was 11x225 @ 1.85v was about 43.5 (so says mbm5 and hardware doctor of course) so i don't know how true that is. The stepping I have somewhere since I took a picture of the proc before i installed it, i'll try to dig it up and post a pic if i can.

I always thought the swifty was a decent cooler, is the sp-97 that much better? Should i be switching?

I tried switching APIC off in bios, but it doesn't even boot up if i do that. I haven't tried switching the ACPI PC hal yet in windows, but i'll give that a go along with the tictacs.

 

MedianOCer: No that is not my psu, mine is much older than that, I don't remember exactly which model (too lazy to check right now) but it has 3 80mm fans with gold grills. And yes, it's not a very good psu, that I know. My buddy and I bought the same one at the same time, and his has crapped out already... and he didn't even oc. So yeah i plan on getting a new psu, something between 480w and 550w. I was looking at the antec truepower 2.0 480 or 550w. Any good?

 

Am i missing anything? If I did, just let me know, and i'll check the thread again tomorrow at work. Thanks everybody, great help!

Cheers,

 

Hobag