Whats Going On? Can't Get Past 390FSB on DS3?!

[Yukon Trooper]

I cannot get my board to do over 390FSB for the life of me. No matter what voltage combination I try it is impossible. No matter what CPU multi I use I can still not get respectable FSB's. I can run 8x390FSB on stock volts for 8+ hours but soon as I try to go over 390 it kills me. I have tried combinations all the way from 400FSB-500FSB and nothing works. I have tried the default 8x multiplier as well as 6 and 7. All settings in BIOS that I don't need are turned off, ram is at 1:1 with manufacturers suggest volts and stock timings. I have tried different BIOS versions to no avail.

 

I did 8 hours of memtest fine for 8+ but it shouldn't be my ram because I am not coming even CLOSE to its rated speed.

 

Cooling is not an issue as it is open on the kitchen table and I have a fan blowing directly on the NB and CPU temps are well within range.

 

I have not updated Windows at all. All I did was install Windows, activate it, installed Orthos, Coretemp etc. and started to OC. Does updating Windows have any effect on overclocking? I don't think this would be the issue because a lot of the time when I up the FSB my board doesn't even POST.

 

It is interesting to note that this is a replacement DS3 for the one I RMA'd because my first one had booting issues where it would constantly boot from floppy no matter what. This replacement is an open box unit per NCIX's policy. They will replace RMA's with open box units if they are tested and everything is ok. Obviously they don't test for overclocking but it makes you wonder why the original owner returned it. Considering the DS3's heavy enthusiast base maybe he returned it for these odd FSB problems I am having.

 

Is it also possible my CPU is a dud? This CPU can do 3ghz stable on stock volts so it doesn't seem like it should be a bad CPU. Input anyone?

[red930]

I did 8 hours of memtest fine for 8+ but it shouldn't be my ram because I am not coming even CLOSE to its rated speed.

 

Keep in mind that the DS3 is not really known for good memory clocking though, keep it low.

 

What voltages are you giving the NB and PCI bus?

 

What kind of vdroop are you seeing? Even using Everest or CPU-Z.

[Yukon Trooper]

Well I updated my BIOS to F12 again and did a long CMOS clear and I seem to be able to hit better clocks now. And I can also now push above 400FSB with a 7X multiplier. It seems like my chip is the culprit as soon as I start to go over 3.3ghz it starts to crap out. At 3.3 I need 1.5V so I decided to bring it down to 8x400 = 3.2 and use 1.475V. This is odd though as I can get all the way to 3ghz with stock volts. Could it still be the board limiting me or can some CPU's run out of headroom that quick?

 

Anyways I'm going to leave it at 3.2 and lower the voltages and timings as much as I can for now. Currently its Orthosing at home with +0.1 to the PCIE, +0.1 to the MCBH and +0.2 to the FSB. I have my ram running at 1:1 so its at DDR-800 and volts at 2.2. Timings are 4-4-4-12 but I think at DDR-800 I should be able to take this ram even lower.

 

It's odd though... you'd expect a chip that can do 3ghz at stock voltage shouldn't need 1.475 to do 3.2. I guess this is possible though? My temps are fine BTW so I don't mind 1.475 at 3.2. I'm actually using an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro because I'm waiting for my Thermalright 120 Extreme to get here. I think I'll leave it on though because I get loads of 51-52 max under Orthos. This is inside the case with the side off though and its been cool here the last few days. Once ambients climb and I put the side cover one I'm guessing I'll get loads of around 55-57. Not to mention that loads shouldn't be as high during games as in Orthos so more like 54-56. Plus I don't want to unload everything, mount the Thermarlight and put it all back together again.

 

I think what I'll do here in a couple months is pick up a e6750 or even an e6850 if prices drop again and then I'll know for sure whether or not my board might be a little less stable than most DS3's or if it is indeed just my chip. I can then mount my Thermalright when it is needed.

 

For now a C2D 3.2ghz DDR2-800 should be screaming fast for games, especially coming from a X2 2.7ghz DDR1-400 system.

[CPDMF]

I had an E6400 that would do 3.2 on stock volts but needed 1.525 to get to 3.4. I have seen a number of others that act the same way. My E6700 scales the way you would expect it to though.

[Thraxz]

My old E6300 was like that too. No worries. The E6300 was the worst thing ever. Hard to break 3.0... lets put it that way.

[Guest InFeKtioN]

Soooo...... maybe I shoild stay away from the 64??'s ???

 

 

CPDMF ..... what do you think of that IP35 board ?

 

I was considering the Gigabyte IP35 ......

[CPDMF]

I wouldn't necessarily stay away from the 64XX 's. There isn't anything wrong with them. With all the new part numbers Intel is releasing I imagine they will be binning a little tighter to maximize profits.

 

A couple of friends got me this IP35 because I screwed up and killed my 680i. It is actually a sweet board. Clocks better than my Asus and carries more performance clock for clock. After only one night with the board I passed the clocks I had on my Asus with both CPU and memory, with the original release bios so I imagine as new bioses are released it will get a little better.

 

I haven't seen much on the gigabyte, I was kind of holding out for X38 until I killed my 680i.