Weird issue when overclocking DFI NF4 Ultra-D (SLI modded)

[neothedarkone]

Hi all, I am new in all these bioses's stuff. I got my hands on a 2GB OCZ PC 4000 El Platinum kit. They sucessfully passed memtest passes @250 MHz. But each time I want to overclock @270 MHz, I have weird glitches and slowdown in D3D apps. I did an OCCT test for 6 hours and a half and it did not see any errors. The first time I did this test I had bios version 406 (official), now I flashed OCZ Tony's 704-2BTA and it seems this 'problem' does not occur up to 265MHz. Here is my configuration. Thanks for answering.

 

AMD Opteron 170

DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D (SLI Modded)

OCZ PC4000 El Platinum 3-3-2-7@1T

MSI Geforce 8600 GT Overclocked

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 80GB (ATA133) + Maxtor DiamondMax 21 320GB (SATA2)

LC Power 550 W

Bios 704-2BTA

[CPDMF]

OCCT and memtest are not definitive tests, while helpful in finding stability 3D apps are the first place memory errors and instabilities will show up.

 

Tony's 704 bios is what I used on pretty much all of my NF4's, it clocks memory better due to having a little slower internal timings. 265 is about where most of the 2GB kits give up, I had a couple that would get to 270 but never had that "sweet" set that would go any higher.

[neothedarkone]

Why does OCCT only sees error when I try to go higher than 275 then ?? The computer looks stable, the only thing that bothers is that I can't play... Oh and I'd like to ask why is my computer unstable @3 GHz (1.4V), RAM @250 MHz (2.95V) ???

[CPDMF]

Different tests have different rates of error detection, I wish there was one test that would confirm stability but the truth is there is not. Only way to determine true stability is to use every available tool. Gaming, combined with prime95 is usually my best option for determining stability.

 

Haven't seen any 170's that are stable at 3Ghz with only 1.4V, the 3 opty's I have take at least 1.5v for 3G so that would be my starting point based on the info I have right now. It would help if I had more info to fill in the gap from 2.0Ghz to 3.0Ghz.

[neothedarkone]

Ok I see, here is the the number written on my Opteron 170, could you tell me if this is a good one to overclock ? LCB9E 0703 XPMW

 

At 2GHz (stable) this is how I setup the bios

DRAM @ 200 MHz 3-3-2-7 1T

FSB @ 200 MHz

LDT @ 5

CPU multiplier x10

VCPU @ 1.35V (stock)

VDDR @ 2.60V

PCI-E locked at 100 MHz

Cool&Quiet disabled

 

At 2.5GHz (stable) this is how I setup the bios

DRAM @ 250 MHz 3-3-2-7 1T

FSB @ 250 MHz

LDT @ 4

CPU multiplier x10

VCPU @ 1.35V (stock)

VDDR @ 2.70V

PCI-E locked at 100 MHz

Cool&Quiet disabled

 

At 2.7GHz (unstable ???) this is how I setup the bios

DRAM @ 270 MHz 3-3-2-7 1T

FSB @ 270 MHz

LDT @ 3

CPU multiplier x10

VCPU @ 1.35V (stock)

VDDR @ 2.80V

PCI-E locked at 100 MHz

Cool&Quiet disabled

 

At 2.8 GHz (stable) this is how I setup the bios

DRAM @ 280 MHz 3-3-2-7 1T

FSB @ 180 MHz (~250 MHz I think...)

LDT @ 3

CPU multiplier x10

VCPU @ 1.35V (stock)

VDDR @ 2.80V

PCI-E locked at 100 MHz

Cool&Quiet disabled

 

edit : I have to add one more thing, I saw in many reviews that this 2GB kit is capable of more (285 MHz @ 2.9V or more).

Can't find the review anymore, here is one @ 275 MHz

http://www.nokytech.net/ocz_el_ddr_pc-4000...42-847-d-p.html

[neothedarkone]

@2.7 GHz (w/memory @270) I have to add that I am using 168.18 MSI Forceware Drivers in both XP and Vista. I saw a message in Vista that the driver was recovered after a first freeze... I could play fine after that.So is that a driver issue or am I wrong ?

[krazypoloc]

Try encoding a video. That is usually a really good stress test to see if your overclock is rock solid stable. Also do some benchmarks with Sisoft Sandra, I have had times when I pass Prime/Orthos fine for 8+ hours and then my system will crash Sandra or blue screen/lockup while encoding video.

[neothedarkone]

Try encoding a video. That is usually a really good stress test to see if your overclock is rock solid stable. Also do some benchmarks with Sisoft Sandra, I have had times when I pass Prime/Orthos fine for 8+ hours and then my system will crash Sandra or blue screen/lockup while encoding video.

Hi I encoded some videos with VirtualDubMod and did some benchmarks. No blue screens... Maybe what I said earlier was not clear enough, there are bugs/glitches/slowdowns only when I launch D3D/OpenGL apps/games. When encoding, browsing the web or something else, the system is running fine.

[loggan26]

A few things i notice, 1. your PSU, PSU Brands to Avoid on DFI mobo....

 

2.How to install the AMD X2 drivers, hotfix, the correct way.

 

Logan

[neothedarkone]

A few things i notice, 1. your PSU, PSU Brands to Avoid on DFI mobo....

 

2.How to install the AMD X2 drivers, hotfix, the correct way.

 

Logan

 

I'm not sure that my PSU is on this list. Does L&C refer to LC Power ?? And I do think that I installed the x2 hotfix, but not the way described in the link you provided so I'll give it a try.

 

edit : The x2 hotfix+dual core optimizer was already installed correctly...

[ReelFiles]

@2.7 GHz (w/memory @270) I have to add that I am using 168.18 MSI Forceware Drivers in both XP and Vista. I saw a message in Vista that the driver was recovered after a first freeze... I could play fine after that.So is that a driver issue or am I wrong ?

 

You getting this problem in both Vista and XP, or just Vista?

[neothedarkone]

Well... both. L&C stands for LC Power right ?