Need help with overclocking

[kozary]

my rig specs:

 

Mobo: ASUS P5Q SE/R P45 chipset

RAM: Transcend 2gb, 667mhz valueRAM at its best

CPU: C2D E7300 2.66ghz

gfx: GTX285 but using a 6600 with 400watt psu

CPU cooling: Zalman 9700LED

400watt PSU will be getting back my 1000watt from RMA

very good case ventilation no heat gatherings anywhere

standard CPU voltage- 1.144v under load

 

Well the problem is that i cant get 4ghz stable, plus i noticed that i am using a higher voltage then all the other dudes who have E7200-7300s to stabilize the same frequencys

I read that someone had his E7200 stable @ 3.6ghz without bumping the voltage up and ive seen 4ghz pulled off with 1.37volts. i have to increase voltage to get 3.1ghz stable....... With my current overclock i get 3.6ghz stable with 1.336volts (1.35 in BIOS) and i cant get 4ghz stable at all but bumping the voltages did help i stoped at 1.44v (1.45 in BIOS) since i thought it was pointless to keep increasing voltages without properly considering it. i got 3.8ghz fairly stable with 1.4v in BIOS. But i think this CPU should have it in it to get 4ghz without those voltages

 

The things that i looked into already:

VDroop - i have allready taken care of this with load line calibration voltage increases under load

Vtt (FSB termination voltage)- i tried 1.1 thru to 1.4, no luck there

NB volts - tried 1.1 and 1.3 and 1.4 still no luck

SB volt - increasing this just made it more unstable

RAM- it is pretty likely my 667mhz ram is a hold back it runs @ 800mhz with 4ghz, i have ran it upto 889mhz stable enough to benchmark

mb- maybe this mobo is to low to OC well

heat- reaches 47 in Prime95 with 3.6ghz.

NB and CPU skews- i messed around with this a little didnt really do anything

degradation- i noticed that after going to 3.4ghz and ran intel burn test with a stock heatsink which was very damn stupid i noticed i had to bump voltages to maintain overclocks that i had already deemed stable. Also when i first got this thing i got to 3.4ghz with no voltage bumps and ran crysis and . fine. Maybe i left the TM function off and damaged my CPU?

crappy chip- i heard that some people get chips that just wont overclock very far. =\

PSU- due to this PSU's age it may not be giving the best supply of power causing instabilities somewhere

 

The things i have left it the RAM, PSU and Clock skews and the GTL Reference voltage which i did play with a little and it didn't really help me.

 

All suggestions and help is very highly appreciated

 

 

P.S i did use my mates Kingston 4gb 1066mhz in my PC once, i bloody forgot to try overclocking =[

 

edit: i probs should have posted this in the overclocking section...lol

Edited June 6, 2009 by kozary

[kozary]

No replys??

 

nice no one want to up there post count or you al on holiday? even if this was posted in the wrong section after 24 hours a mod should have moved it 23 hours ago

[jgv115]

Disable the termination voltage thing.

 

Show us screenshots of CPUZ. Memory, SPD and the main page.

 

I think your memory is stopping you.

[Verran]

Ram is probably holding you back. 667 is pretty weak if you want to clock to 4Ghz. Also, the 400W power supply probably isn't doing you any favors either. What brand is it?

 

Also, there is the possibility that your chip has just reached its ceiling. Just because other people got higher doesn't mean you necessarily can too.

[kozary]

 

 

 

 

I got my 1000watt PSU back from RMA, but im starting to think its this motherboard. @ 3.6ghz if i stress the Northbridge by running GPU and CPU stress test it crashes after a few mins...

 

btw dosent the Vtt (fsb termination) make it more stable?

 

and i think this ram could cause crashes but i know it can take upto around 850mhz before any major unstability.

 

@ Verran you could be right.

 

 

 

edit: i got it stable enough on 3.9ghz @ 1.44volts to benchmark with 3dmark.

Edited June 8, 2009 by kozary

[jgv115]

You want the RAM to be not overclocked until the end. So change the ratio between the FSB and the RAM to 5:4

Edited June 8, 2009 by jgv115

[kozary]

You want the RAM to be not overclocked until the end. So change the ratio between the FSB and the RAM to 5:4

 

the lowest is 1:1 well on this mobo it is

 

I think its my motherboard causing unstable gameplay etc. and my CPU toping out at around 4ghz.

3.6ghz isnt even stable in game no matter how much vcore is used to its northbridge i would think.

 

any advice? the last things left is GTL reference voltage and Skew settings. havent messed around to much with them yet..since they dont help to much

Edited June 9, 2009 by kozary

[jgv115]

Take the FSB down and find a stable speed.

[kozary]

i have got all the . stable as...all i needed was an extra 0.1v on Northbridge and 200ps skew on CPU. easy done for 3.6ghz i did the same for 3.9ghz and got that stable @ 1.44v it seems my chip is at its limits.

 

thanks for helps

[jgv115]

let's see some screens

[kozary]

Ram is probably holding you back. 667 is pretty weak if you want to clock to 4Ghz. Also, the 400W power supply probably isn't doing you any favors either. What brand is it?

 

Also, there is the possibility that your chip has just reached its ceiling. Just because other people got higher doesn't mean you necessarily can too.

 

 

let's see some screens

 

@Verran DDR2-667 weak? i managed to OC it 901mhz and pulled 8663mbps in sandra...no screenshot lol forogt to take one =[ and cant be .ed overclocking them again.

 

@jgv155 ill get a screenie of the 4ghz which i got stable in the end @ 1.5v in BIOS which was the max...LOL i didnt get a screen of that since i was too lazy to however i did screen it with 4ghz up with Prime95 just starting up. ill post them tomorow.

 

also i ran this chip with a 1.4v vtt and it didnt seem to harm it, also the vtt was paired with upto 1.49v for around 20 mins seemed ok =]

 

im finished trying to get anything higher without better cooling its a no go that for sure.

 

thanks dudes.

[The Punkinator]

i got stable in the end @ 1.5v

 

Geez I wouldn't be going up to 1.5v but I guess thats me.