E6600 GA-965P-DQ6

[lariva]

I think I need some serious help with this, the last system I have overclocked was P 100 which speaks to the "vast" experience....

The hardware

Motherboard: GA-965P-DQ6
CPU: E6600
Memory: Corsair Twin2x2084-8500C5
Video: MSI 7900GT HD
Motherboard bios: F3 or F4 (tried both)

I cant seem to get over the 360 / 365 Mhz FSB.

Thus far I'm working only with CPU, RAM, Videocard and cpu cooler - no drives are connected to the system, nothing else is plugged in. As a first step i decided to find the limitations of CPU / MB / RAM and when settings are known move ahead with an OS and then refine the settings based on stability (i dont want to endlessly restart with 3 hard drives in place - cant be a very healthy thing to do).

To find the limitations of memory and front side bus, I lowered CPU multiplier to x7 and started playing around with FSB, MCH, Memory

I kept PCIE bus locked at 100, although i did try a few times on "auto" as i didnt know what else to do - the result is the same

The results were not very rewarding. The highest I could push the board up to boot consistently is 360 Mhz at 365 it might or might not come up.

Raising MCH and FSB voltage did nothing good, I tried going up to +0.4 and +0.2 respectively and no change.

In parallel i kept the memory divider such that the memory frequency would be under rated 1066 Mhz, I also supplied additional power to the memory of .3 which would drop it just below maximum of 2.2. Memory Depending on the bus frequency memory was anywhere between 760 to 1000 running on 2.1v.

In the end, no matter what i did, the system would not go over 365, a few times i managed to get it to 375, but when booted it would show as 374 and sometimes lock up on the next boot.

The "non-bootable" comes in two flavors; the first is when the bios locks up in a rebooting cycle inviting a reset, the other is when the board resets and reloads secondary BIOS and resets the settings;
Only once i managed to get the board to come up to 400 Mhz long enough for me to see the post on the screen and then it went back and reloaded secondary BIOS.

If anyone could throw me a hand; I'd truly appreaciate it.

In an ideal (which I can see is unreachable) I'd want to get to 500 Mhz FSB with ether 6x or 7x multiplier on the CPU depending on the heat factor.

I have seen people postinng numbers around 480Mhz FSB, and it seems to be far enough from 360 for me to conclude, I'm doing something very wrong.

If you are responding, please include voltages...

thanks.

 

[Hando567]

have you updated the bios to F4 final yet?

 

[lariva]

I was flipping beteen F3 and final F4 last night with nearly identical results.
could you post your settings please? If possible please include the voltage.

 

[Hando567]

heres the settings i have. as you can see i dont have my FSB as high as you were able to reach but its 100% stable.

Clock ratio at standard 9x
CPU host frequency at 300
C.I.A 2 Disabled
System Memory Multiplier is set to auto
DRAM timing is manual (only availible after you hit Ctrl + F1 as are the next 4 settings)
CAS# Latency - 4
RAS# to CAS# Delay - 4
RAS# Precharge - 4
Cycle Time (Tras) - 12
Memory performance enhancement - Disabled
DIMM overvoltage +0.325V
FSB Overvoltage +0.05V
CPU Overvoltage(Vcore) set to 1.33125V (normal is 1.32500V according to MOBO) although CPU-Z its set at 1.296V

 

[lariva]

Thanks.
BTW, I have just spent about 30 minutes talking about DDR18V Fail message with Corsairs tech support; from what they told me:

twin2x2048-8500c5 is "incompartible" with DQ6 board; after 10 minutes into the conversation it turned up that the reason why memory is not qualified to run is because GA didnt allow to adjust voltage on the version of the BIOS that corsair evaluated the board on. Further, the memory requires 2.2 volts instead of default 1.8. After digging a bit into the subject we were both puzzled as:

if you assume default memory is running at 1.8 volt, you need to add 0.4 in order to accomodate 2.2 requirement. Yet, the system comes up with 1066 Mhz frequency (BIOS report) at "normal" setting. From this we could only conclude that it must be providing 2.2 by default

That makes me wonder a bit, since gigabyte has NOTHING on this subject other then "normal voltage is provided"

hence, i'm not sure whether GA got out of specifications and is putting out 2.2v by default or if this memory is so good that it runs at 1066 at 1.8 volts whereas the manufacturer says 2.2 and no less....

heres the settings i have. as you can see i dont have my FSB as high as you were able to reach but its 100% stable.

Clock ratio at standard 9x
CPU host frequency at 300
C.I.A 2 Disabled
System Memory Multiplier is set to auto
DRAM timing is manual (only availible after you hit Ctrl + F1 as are the next 4 settings)
CAS# Latency - 4
RAS# to CAS# Delay - 4
RAS# Precharge - 4
Cycle Time (Tras) - 12
Memory performance enhancement - Disabled
DIMM overvoltage +0.325V
FSB Overvoltage +0.05V
CPU Overvoltage(Vcore) set to 1.33125V (normal is 1.32500V according to MOBO) although CPU-Z its set at 1.296V

 

[Hando567]

see thing is it will run at 1066 at 1.8V but the timings will be atrocious (or atleast not to spec) i know my patriot requires 2.1V but booted and ran at DDR2 800 on 1.8V. but when i checked the timings they were 5-5-5-15 as opposed to the spec 4-4-4-12. i manually adjusted the voltage to 2.1 and changed timings to the spec 4-4-4-12. so your memory will run at 1066 on 1.8V but your timings will not be per spec. add +.4V in the bios (a bit more if you are OCing the memory something like + .425-+.45 should do) and try all your tests again. well get this yet. also if the board is too slow you can contact me on my aim adress which should be in my profile but if not its the same name as i have here. just say that your from TGF and if im there ill be glad to help. (or any other IM service for that matter i have them all but ICQ)

 

[lariva]

Thanks.. got to get aim installed The board wont let +0.4 happen, it will report DDR18V Fail in the bios, same will happen with anything higher then 0.325; I'll try a few things and ping you if need to. Appreciate the help.

Am i correct to assume your timings were set on auto adjust and with 1.8v and it got auto-set to 5-5-5-15?

Corsairs memory that i have has default timing at 5-5-5-15 but at 1066 by spec and supposedly it is possible to tune it down to 4-4-4-12 when running at 800 mhz. (the pending question is whats the point of buying high frequency memory then when you can get dd2800 and clock it at the same 5-5-5-15@1066 vs 4-4-4-12@800)

 

[Hando567]

marketing my friend, marketing. and i just remembered. install easy tune 5 from the CD that came with your MOBO. on the main screen it gives you memory voltage as long as you hit "advanced mode". see what it says. if its at 1.8 or something not 2.2 then your memory has some problems running at its spec voltages. if its over 2.2 then we can go from there. and yes it was on auto @ 1.8V and was running at 5-5-5-15. also if you memory is able to be tuned down to DDR2800 at 4-4-4-12 then its the same as the DDR2 800 CAS 4 that corsair makes.

 

[cme2c]

Corsairs memory that i have has default timing at 5-5-5-15 but at 1066 by spec and supposedly it is possible to tune it down to 4-4-4-12 when running at 800 mhz. (the pending question is whats the point of buying high frequency memory then when you can get dd2800 and clock it at the same 5-5-5-15@1066 vs 4-4-4-12@800)

Those numbers are numbers of clock ticks. At 1066 you get 266 million per second. at 800 you get 200 million per second. 5@1066 is 18.8ns approx, 4 @ 800 is 20 ns.

 

[lariva]

The only good part about it - Twin2x2048-8500C5 cost me $395 whereas 2x512MB 8000UL memory go for a nice 254 (which would make 2 Gigs a bit over 500)...

MHz, Clock rates and then dollars on top of it truly make your head go around

Based on what i have seen before and some comments from Corsair techs - some chips will manage to get to low latency, but not all - thats just pure luck

 

[Hando567]

heh. well when you get around to it let me know how the OC results are and ill see what else i can do to trouble shoot.

 

[lariva]

I figured I'll post everything i have here - maybe it will help others.

Gigabyte really flipped the bird to everyone who is running 2.2v memory

I have had a few conversations with Gigabyte and here is the end result - The board is recommneded for Quote: "... maximum of 2.15 volts..." supplying anything higher then recommneded value will result in an error in a BIOS under PC-Health menu "DDR18V Fail" this is a warning message only and does not affect anything other then cosmetics. The board will continue to function, however, "... it is still not recommended..."

If Gigabyte knows that memory manufacturers are using the same D9 micron chips rated to run at 667 Mhz and there is only (one?) company that supplies the true 800 Mhz memory (cost-prohibitive) why build a board and advertise it at 1066 Mhz wheras that will pretty much guarantees to require2.2 volts or result in memory errors...

Speaking of memory - are there any ideas as to how tight i can go with timings on 2.2v@1000+ Mhz? Corsair rated it at 5-5-5-15; auto detection produces 5-5-5-18; i wonder if there is a way to tighten it a bit lower (5-4-4-12) - has anyone had any luck with corsair or other micron d9 chip based sticks?

(looks like these guys managed to bump it up a bit)
4-4-4-12@920 MHz 5-5-5-15@1104 MHz
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2005


Also, Easy Tune 5 supplied on the CD Does not work, based on Gigabyte's comment over the phone developers are still working on it. WTF?

Finally, one annoying component is the Intel's ICH8/RAID5 -
The performance is good, as good as one can expect from the Striped Raid w/parity. However, in my experience every powerloss (or crash) results in a drive needed to be re-initialized (i.e. recalculate checksums). Is there a concept of transaction rollback in that controller?

 

[Hando567]

not sure but the ET5 opens in the taskbar when you open it not to your desktop. DO NOT UPDATE ET5 TO THE NEWER VERSION ON THE SITE IT WILL NOT WORK. but the version on the CD does so run that if you want. and theyll probably fix the memory voltage error in the next bios.

 

[lariva]

Yeah,m i have discovered it the hard way - hit upgrade and see half of the necessary files go missing.

Ether way, i have come across something really wierd - As my FSB goes up my test results for Dhrystone and Whetstone go down(!!).

The funny part is that windows reports (in case of 350Mhz FSB) 3.15 Ghz CPU, memory runs fine with 3:2 (@1050 Mhz) and when i run Sandra - i get results significantly lower then the stock speed (2.4 Ghz) that I measured through the very same application 10 minutes before....

Also, running Cinibench 9.5 confirmed - that as i increase FSB my actual performance (as in frames rendered) drops down.

Any thoughts as to what might be causing it? This is one wierd setup.

 

[Hando567]

honestly i have no clue. what did you use to OC bios or ET5? im hoping bios lol. but yeah thats kinda wierd as when i OCed my performance went up. ill think on this one a bit.

 

[lariva]

solved....

Since my case has not arrived yet and the system is pretty much built out on my desk (yeah i know) i opted to avoid the thermal paste until the case comes (i didn't feel like mounting the the motherboard with the cooler on it and). I knew that i cant run the system hot for long - figured if i can get the configuration done i can go back to using my laptop... well thats exactly where the problem was. Yet even at OC speeds temps were reading reasonably low (40s)

The issue was very simly the insufficient cooling. CPU temperature was showing up as 36 through 42 degrees but not the entire CPU was evently cooled. I remembered Intel giving me a presentation on woodcrest and how it can shut off branches to conserve power... eveidently that also works as a defense against overheating. As soon as i got thermals under control i got my nice 30k in Dhrystone. What i'm very surprised by is the fact that CPU didnt shut the board down and instead proceeded with partial (?) branch elimination.

Equally surprising is the fact that the performance degradation was directly proportional to FSB frequency increase which was directly proportionate to the heat...

Now i need to tighten the memory to something reasonable (the dumb thing auto detected it to 5-8-8-24) and post complete configuration guide here.

BTW, does anyone have any clues as to divisers for fan speed on this board with Big Typhoon fan? I set mine to 8 that results in some ~900RPMs reading (before it was showing me some obsene 14k ) is there a set of rules to the specifications on the fan / motherboard reading and the RPMs?


Updated:

Host Clock - 350 Mhz
CPU Multiplier x9
MCH Overvolt: +0.0
FSB Overvolt: +0.0
PCI-E: Locked at 100Mhz

Corsair Twin2x2048-8500C5 timings:
4-4-4-12@800 Mhz @1.9v - Stable
5-5-5-15@1050 Mhz @2.0v - Stable
5-4-4-11@1066 Mhz @2.2v - Seems stable, still in testing

despite some sites posting successful tests of the same memory:
4-4-4-10@1066 2.2 volts - i was not able to reproduce it - memtest86 shows errors very early on. Bringing up the voltage to 2.25 got slightly better results, not perfect though. I have stopped and went back to 5-4-4-4-11




- As always, thanks.

 

[lariva]

Update:

F5 Bios Seems to be doing wonders. Where I had a 350Mhz FSB wall, it is now gone. System is running stable at 400. Going to give it a push now and see how far it can go.

Update: F5 BIOS allowed me to go as far as 400Mhz FSB, no more then that - at 420 it is unstable at 430 it wont boot.

Thus far:

Memory timed at 5-5-5-18
FSB😀RAM 4:5
CPU voltage is 1.45, i suspect 1.425 would work but i'm too lazy to run through the battery of tests
Memory +0.4v which drops it to 2.2v as per corsair's spec

 

[necron]

Hi, I have a similar set up

E6600
P965-DQ6
2 x 1GB OCZ Gold PC2-6400
2 x 250 sata3G
X1600 Pro
F5 bios

I have the stock Intel cooler on atm, but I have a Zalman 9500 here to go on. Just wonder ing with the coolers you guys have on, did you have to mount a back plate? If so how did you get around the crazy cool.......Or are you just fastening them without back plates?

I havent tried to oc it yest. Not with the stock cooler on it

 

[lariva]

For mine - i had to mount the back plate and every time I had to take the cooler off, I was cussing those that designed the damn screws to hold the cooler to the backplate, it is near impossible to mount the cooler once everything is installed (the case gets in the way).

The other component of this MB that irks me is the fact that the first memory bank is too close to the video card slot and my MSI 7900GT blocks the lock for the memory chip, hence - if i need to take the memory out, I have to yank the video first - not something you need to do every day, but when you do, most annoying.


Also, why in the world wouldn't you spend another $71 on a third 250GB drive and set up with RAID5 ? The performance gain AND data protection...