g33k

It sure helped mine. This crappy stepping (0607) opteron couldn't get to 2600mhz without pumping 1.61v. After taking off the IHS, I was able to reach 2.6 with 1.54 volts still high, but acceptable since I barely run over 40C full load. Removing the IHS is well worth it provided you take the time to do it right. While the procedure is not hard to do, a botched IHS removal will kill your proc.

It really depends on your upgrade cycle. If you upgrade every 6 months to every year. Then you probably alright with 1.7v. Its still risky though. If you expect to keep this rig past that , try to keep it under 1.6V. If I it were me I would keep it at 2600mhz and lower volts. You wont have to worry about burining your chip out and you still have an fx-60. Glad to hear you took the IHS off. I had to take mine off too. The stepping I got is a lousy one also.

I am using the tuniq tower. Keeps temps at 40c under dual instances of P95 large test. Its a good cooler, but I wouldn't recommend it in your case. The tuniq tower is such a large and heavy cooler that I don't like moving it unless I have to.

Another 0607 here. This stepping got to 2600mhz only after pumping in 1.54V. It will go to 2700mhz but only with 1.61V! I was initially hoping just to get to 2600mhz so I will stay here and be happy. Its basically a $1200 fx-60 for $300. Now I need to work on my RAM timings. P95 large test fails after 2 hours.

Up to you. You would get faster boot times with xp on raid 0. If you don't feel like messing with it, put the page file on the raid 0 partition and set no page file for the ide. Overall you won't see that much difference, unless your ide hdd is an older one and/or your sata hdd's are raptors.

I need to thank you utetopia for posting the above timings. I couldnt even get into windows with the memory and cpu settings I wanted. But now, cpu 2.6 ghz with mem at 260mhz, priming for 10 minutes as I post. :nod: Update: P95 failed after about 90 minutes. So I upped it .03V and it seemed to help. Has been priming for over 2 hours now...

There nothing wrong with using winflash. Its worked for me everytime. You just have to know how to use it. There is a guide around if you google it. DFI wouldn't mention winflash if it was "catastophic". Good luck on the timings by the way. G.Skill Hz is pretty finicky. Memory dividers play havok on my system stablity.

Update to the new official DFI bios for the Ultra D. Search for it. As for flashing media, I use Winflash. Others use a floppy or TMod's CD.

Volts and temp kill procs. Even if your temps are low, high volts can kill your proc. Having said that, if you don't mind upping the volts, I'm sure you will reach 2.8ghz. Also, how much your cooler lowers temps better than the stock cooler has as much to do with your case and airflow than just being a better design. Tie up and cables and minimize any clutter in your case that blocks air flow. I'm not sure what hsf your opty came with, but mine came with a pretty damn good modern hsf with copper heatpipes. I don't think a new cooler will get you to 2.8 ghz. But it may help you overclock a little more while keeping temps down a bit.

First, sorry to hear about your problems. I built a system using the Seasonic S-12 5ooW last year when the Ultra-D and SLI first came out. I had no problems overclocking a 3200+ to 2.6ghz rock stable. Maybe you should try an older bios? The newer bioses are really only for the dual core chips I believe. Second, I can totally relate to your issues. I thought I was eventually going to waste away the rocker arm on my ps from so much switching. But it was all fixed after this update. Hope you get your problems resolved. Good luck!

It fixed mine. My ultra - d is rock stable. Before I couldn't reboot or warm boot without the bios crashing. It seems this new bios fixed that. Now that all the bugs seem to be gone I can start overcloking.

I just solved the problem by switching the dimms from slots 2&4 to 1&3. Odd since in the DFI board manual and in the BIOS itself it says to place them in 2&4. In any event it doesnt give me the warning anymore and my overclocked settings seem to be ok as well. This makes me a happy chappy. Thank you Angry Games and other posters.

It picks up 1gb in Windows. I will try running memtest and swapping slots/sticks.

Yep positive they are both in 2 & 4. Perhaps it's the memory giving the board a fit? It should just boot into windows without having to hit F1 correct?

Bump