E4400 bad overclock, plz help

[abstractcore]

specs @ sig...
Currently I have my E4400 at 2.7GHz and it is rock stable after a 24hr run of Prime95 (small FTTs). My temperature never goes over 52c load with the stock cooler (coretemp 0.94/speedfan). My voltages right now are: 1.325 (stock) for the vcore, 1.9V for my RAM, everything else is stock. I disabled CIA2, CIE, EIST, CPUID and no execute memory protect. SMART fan is on auto. Graphics booster (which I have no idea what it does) is on auto.

Ok, here is my problem, once I reach 2.72GHz I have to bump the voltage up to 1.335 in order for it to be stable in Prime95 (otherwise I get 1 error with anything less than that). Then once I reach 2.75GHz I have to bump my voltage again, which I forget how much but by about 2 more ticks. Than I tried 2.79GHz but it failed Prime95 in under a minute (although I didn't bump the voltage this time). I also tried to bring the multiplier down to x8 but it yielded the same results.

So basically I can't get past 2.7GHz without bumping my voltages high or being stable.

I have a couple things that could be the problem:
- I am using the BIOS version that came with the mobo and have never flashed to the newer ones, I could try flashing to a newer BIOS but I am not sure which BIOS version is the best to have for my Gigabyte P35 DS3R (rev 1.0).
- I need to buy an aftermarket cooler to bring my temperatures down, although my temperatures aren't bad.
- Loosen the RAM timings or ratio, oh and by the way, right now they are at stock: 5-5-5-18 (1:1 ratio)
- Rare but: my NB heatsink somehow could be loose.
- Simply a bad overclocking chip I got...

So... what do you guys think?

 

[abstractcore]

bump...
I just ordered a Arctic cooling freezer 7 pro for $20 on newegg, just to see if temperature is the problem.

 

[abstractcore]

come on, any1? My last bump i guess.

 

[evilr00t]

come on, any1? My last bump i guess.

Sounds like a FSB wall.

 

[abstractcore]

on the mobo or CPU?

 

[abstractcore]

bump...
I also just flashed to F4 BIOS. I still get the same problems. Although I haven't played around with it too much yet, but I tried bumping to 2.72GHz and its unstable on prime95 in elss than a minute...again.

 

[little_scrapper]

Sounds like the top for that CPU. Your Temps were just fine. 52C at load is pretty good. 65C is really only considered "warm", your not "hot" untill you get into the 70's. Bump your voltage to 1.4Vcore and see how far it will go. I need 1.36 to get over 3Ghz.

 

[abstractcore]

Yeah, with my new HSF arriving tomorrow I will do that.

One question, in your sig you say you lapped your E4300 and stopped with just a 600grit. I am very interested in lapping, but I cannot seem to find grits above 600. Would it be ok if I just start w/ 400 and ended with a 600grit? I ask this because most guides I see on the internet recommend to end with at least a 800-1000grit...

 

[qw3r7yju4n]

dude you answered it yourself. loosen the timings. unless of course you have some crazy ram multipliers? its my .02

but seriously, you get good eggs, and bad ones.. you could have the latter.

 

[abstractcore]

to what should I loosen them to? I know the basic fact that loosening the timings simply means raising the number by 1 or 2 but thats about all I know about it. Like could I go 5-5-5-24 for example? Or do I have to raise them together?

 

[MadCow809]

sounds like you need more voltage.. try increase more voltage, i had the same problem with stock settings, had to increase the vcore a bit in order to crack 3ghz

 

[abstractcore]

Ok my ACF7 Pro arrived yesterday.
It did not help the fact that I need crazy voltages in order to increase my clock speed. However, now I dont have to worry because of lower temps. It decreased my temps @ 2.7GHz from 52c w/ stock cooling to 46c w/ ACF7 Pro.

My E4400 is now running at 326*9 (2.934Ghz) at 1.425v (1.392v on CPU-Z because of vdroop) stable after 2hrs of Prime95. My temperature is 56c under load after 2hrs of priming.

My only concern now is how high I should go on the voltage. I am also concerned that my temps will probably be creeping up in the high 50s, because I am estimating that I would probably need 1.45v or one tick below that (maybe 1.44v like you).

 

[cybrnook2002]

just speculating. To start with there are two revisions of this chip, L2 Stepping (which has been rumored to be the great overclocker), then the M0 stepping which is what I have. M0 is said not to overclock so great as far as heat in concerned, but of course it varies from chip to chip. With the AF7 you should be good, that also what I use, caught a good deal on newegg. First, If your looking for a daily pc to run 24-7 I would seriously consider venturing into the 1.4 1.5 volt ranges as you will prob burn your chip out in no time.

OK, the max recommened for this chip is 1.35 volts´. Which I what i would like to keep it at. Second, what speed ram are you running . For the sake of this im gonna say DDR2 800. Soooo with your memory divider set at 1/1 Ram/cpu I would loosen your ram timings to about 5-5-5-12, set them to there recommended voltage, mine runs at 2.1, but thats me. Manf website should tell you. Then, start to bump your FSB. NOHTING CRAZY like 200mhz off the bat. I would shoot for 200mhz increased to 250 x 10 mulitplier which will have you at 2.5 ghz. Run PRime 95 test, if all is ok, then up to maybe 270 fsb which is 2.7 ghz, prime 95 repeat.
And continue, if you can reach 3.0 then great job! When you reach your highest clock, perhaps you can start to tighten your ram timings for better performance.

ALSO ALSO ALSO, Def update your BIOS. Bios update is always crucial when overclocking. BUT, make sure you are aware that you do it carefully as you can brick your MB is you do it wrong, But it s pretty easy. After teh update, turn off pc, clear cmos, reboot, and reset everything in the bios. Oh, and set all your voltages to manual not auto, like PCI EX, PCI E, etc.........