E6750 w/ MSI P7N Diamond getting past 2.8GHz

[overlord20]

Need some help with a little problem I've been having overclocking my e6750:

I'm relatively new to overclocking, but I've done quite a bit of research on the subject and here's what I've got so far. Stock voltage, according to CPU-Z is 1.33v, which seems a bit high for the CPU compared to others, but no matter. I've turned off all the necessary features in the motherboard settings according to this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178286, tried tweaking the CPU voltage to around 1.40v, northbridge up to 1.225v, and VRAM to 2.1v, but I still can't post past 3.0GHz. I'm running XP Pro 32bit w/ SP3 and Vista Business x64 w/ SP1 and neither will post. The 3.0GHz isn't even stable with stock, so I have to tweak even for that. I'm looking for about a 3.4GHz overclock, which should be no prob for the CPU or mobo, so I don't know what the problem is.

I am running 4x1Gb sticks of OCZ PC6400 plat. rev. 2, so that may be an issue, but I'm not really sure. Supposedly I should get 4-4-4 timings with 2.1v, but no luck. I'm keeping the RAM clock and CPU clock with 1:1, so currently the RAM is underclocked.

My mobo, if you're unfamiliar with the p7n diamond, has basically any feature I want to use for overclocking, so I'm open to suggestions.

My sys:

e6750 @ 2.8GHz, 1.33v
OCZ StealthXtreme 600w
OCZ PC6400 plat. rev. 2 @ 5-5-5-15, 2.1v
MSI P7N Diamond w/ BIOS 1.1, (780i based)
XFX 9800 GTX XXX 740/1140/1850
Gemini II cooling w/ 2x120mm dual out, idle 35C, load 55C
Antec 900 w/ 4x120mm + 200mm out
XP Pro 32bit & Vista Business 64bit

 

[flyin15sec]

Can you list the complete settings of your BIOS? Mostly Voltages.

I would try at least 1.3v - 1.4v to the NB for 1600FSB.

I also have 4 x 1gig Platinum in a 650i motherboard, and I found that with 4 sticks 4-4-4-12 does not work. I had to use 5-5-5-15.

 

[overlord20]

Currently at 2.8GHz everything is pretty much at stock, which looks like this:

DOT Control: Disabled
Intel EIST: Disabled
System Clock Mode: Manual

FSB Clock: 1400
DRAM Clock: 700

CPU Voltage: Auto
DRAM Voltage: 2.1
NB Voltage: Auto
SB Voltage: Auto
NB Memory Reference Voltage: Auto
DIMM Memory Reference Voltage: Auto
Memory Terminator Voltage: Auto
CPU GTL Reference Voltage: Auto
NB GTL Reference Voltage: Auto
FSB Terminator Voltage: Auto
SB Sleep Mode Voltage: Auto
PCI Expander PLL Voltage: Auto

Spread Spectrum: Disabled


When I tried the 3.2GHz overclock I changed only these settings:

CPU voltage: 0.5000 (it does it where it adds however much voltage to stock)
NB Voltage: 1.225

and obviously the clocking speed.

I'm a little afraid to touch a lot of the voltage settings on the majority of stuff, since I'm not really familiar with the limits of each and exactly what they do. If anyone is more experienced with the settings I'd be willing to try something, but I don't want to just go and experiment and kill my system.

As for the RAM, that sounds about right, and I really don't mind the CAS at 5-5-5-15, since I really can't tell the difference on most things.

 

[overlord20]

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I do have advanced RAM settings, if anyone thinks that will help, with the following catagories:

CAS Latency
tRCD
tRP
tRAS
tRRD
tRC
tWR
tWTR
tREF
1T/2T memory timing

I don't really know what a lot of those are, so any advice would be helpful.

 

[flyin15sec]

I have an E6850 on my EP35-DS3L and the VID was 1.35v. For a 1600FSB I had to use 1.41v vcore. Adding .05v to your Vcore, should net you 1.4v. That is right around the voltage of my CPU.

Also change your NB to 1.3v or higher. Nvidia NB requires a bit more voltages. You should be safe up to 1.5v.

All other voltages should be fine on Auto.

 

[IH8U]

Throw the MSI away, and get an ASUS, or Gigabyte board (even ECS, Foxconn, and Biostar are better choices).

 

[overlord20]

Throw the MSI away, and get an ASUS, or Gigabyte board (even ECS, Foxconn, and Biostar are better choices).

Well, I got a really good deal from Newegg on the MSI for about $160, so I'll be keeping it for a while. Besides, I haven't had any other problems with the board, and it keeps my components cool with the circupipe technology.


On another note, I upped the NB voltage to 1.35v, keeping CPU at +0.05v, posted in xp and vista, but OCCT failed after 10 minutes. I'll try bumping the CPU voltage up another notch and maybe the NB.

 

[overlord20]

Looks pretty stable so far with NB at 1.375 and CPU at + .0625. OCCT running for 30 mins. so far and stable in Vista.

I will be wanting to overclock to 3.4GHz, so I'll work my way up from there. Anybody think I should tweak the Reference voltages or the FSB terminator? I haven't found a whole lot of info on those, so if anyone think's they're important, let me know.

Also, anyone familiar with the OCZ RAM, do you think it can handle the 450MHz? It seems like, despite the fact that it's OCZ Platinum, that most people have had a lot of trouble overclocking. Any suggestions?

 

[overlord20]

Gah! Crashed after 78 min.

 

[overlord20]

So, managed a stable overclock at 3.2GHz with +.0675v CPU and 1.375v on FSB. I'll keep working for a 3.4, but thanks everybody who helped out.

 

[Huttfuzz]

CPU termination is the CPU FSB voltage. That can be upped to 1.4 also for more stability.