e7200

[yadge]

I used to have an e6550 overclocked to 3.4ghz. Then I got a 4870, and it was only stable at about 3.3Ghz.

So I decided to buy an e7200 and sell my e6550, because I've seen that most people can get them to around 4Ghz. I also ordered 2 gigs of ram to go with the ram I already had.

I got everything today, and put it all together. I started overclocking, and the most I can do is 3.4Ghz, regardless of voltage. I went up to 1.4 volts, and the ram was at 2.2 volts, even though it wasn't even overclocked.

I was hoping to get to about 4.2Ghz, because I have a good cooler and a case with good airflow.

If requested, I will post more detailed specs about what I have, but I was just wondering if this could be a power issue. Like maybe my power supply isn't enough.

I don't think this would be the case, because things aren't under load when it's first starting up. (it always crashes when vista is loading when I go past 3.4Ghz.) Can a not so good power supply limit an overclock?

Thanks for any help.

 

[orangegator]

A poor quality / underpowered psu could certainly affect overclocking. List your entire system specifications and the setting you're using to overclock so we can help you troubleshoot.

 

[roadrunner197069]

What motherboard do you have. I've had motherboards that dont like 2.2v ram no matter what. Is your Ram DDR2 1200? or 1066? If it is drop the volts to 1.9 and run it at 400 1:1 with the CPU. "If you have a P35/P45 X38/x48 mobo" If you have a Nvidia chipset, you probably arent getting nothing more.

Forget about 4.2 on the e7200 on air. My friend tried on water with a good board and it was a no go. With good air it will run 3.8 stable on a good mobo. I have built many of these on air, and 3.8 is the sweetspot. A few go to 4, but good luck getting to for, or over. Try the e7300 or wait for the e5200.

 

[orangegator]

What motherboard do you have. I've had motherboards that dont like 2.2v ram no matter what. Is your Ram DDR2 1200? or 1066? If it is drop the volts to 1.9 and run it at 400 1:1 with the CPU. "If you have a P35/P45 X38/x48 mobo" If you have a Nvidia chipset, you probably arent getting nothing more.

Forget about 4.2 on the e7200 on air. My friend tried on water with a good board and it was a no go. With good air it will run 3.8 stable on a good mobo. I have built many of these on air, and 3.8 is the sweetspot. A few go to 4, but good luck getting to for, or over. Try the e7300 or wait for the e5200.

An e7200 can do 4.2Ghz on good air cooling. I just built a system with an e7200 @3.8Ghz 1.35V bios with an OCZ Vanquisher (mediocre air cooling). During testing I tried it at 4.2Ghz 1.4V and it booted to windows just fine. but crashed prime95, It just needed more voltage and better cooling. I've read of many people getting 4.2ghz+ on air. But yes, you need a good motherboard for it.

 

[yadge]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
Memory: GeIL and A-DATA 800mhz
Cooling: Tuniq Tower and Antec 900
PSU: Rosewill 550 watt

I know that the RAM isn't exactly the same, but they can both do at least 900mhz at 2.3 volts (what I used to run my ram at) and 900 is more than enough for what I need. I didn't get the same exact ram because newegg didn't sell the ram I originally had anymore.

And I know the PSU isn't really the best brand, but it is pretty decent and has good amps.

I'm confused, because before with my e6550, I had it at 486 fsb for a speed of 3.4Ghz. The ram was running at 972Mhz. So I know my motherboard can handle the speed, and I know my ram can handle the speed. And although I haven't tried the new ram at high frequencies, they do work fine at 900 mhz at 2.2 volts. (A-DATA is the new ram)

So in the bios, I disable all the speedstep stuff, and I put the fsb at 379, with the ram at 758. Multiplier is at 9.5 so this is 3.6Ghz. I figure 1.35 volts should be enough for this. When I start it up, it starts to load, and then it either restarts, or a blue screen flashes for a tenth of a second and then restarts. The ram and the motherboard are both well within what they are capable of, and I have even tried upping the voltage on the processor up to 1.425. I just can't get it above 3.4Ghz, and I'm thinking it's a power issue, but I also think my power supply is fairly good. The only reason I think it might be the PSU is because I had to back down a little bit on the e6550 after I got my 4870.

When I go to 3.4Ghz, I set the fsb to 358, ram on a divider so it's at 790, and voltage is 1.3.

I've also tried getting to 3.6Ghz with different multipliers, like going 400mhz with a multiplier of nine, and ram at 1:1. Still doesn't work.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.

Oh, and also, when it restarts, it doesn't reset my overclocking settings, so it doesn't seem like it's unstable, is seems more like there's something else wrong.

EDIT: And also, the temps are pretty good. Idle is 40(which is actually a little worrisome, my e6550 idled at 30 or so) but after a few minutes of stress testing it only gets to about 58, and I just want to stay under 70. So I have room there, and this is with all case fans on low and tuniq tower on lowest setting.

I read on some forum somewhere that this guy had trouble overclocking until he did the pin mod, that takes it up to 333 fsb. Then he could overclock it further. Could this also help me? I'm sure I'll try it eventually, if nothing else works.

 

[orangegator]

I would certainly replace that psu. While the rated +12V, 35A is fine, I wouldn't trust it. The symptoms you describe do sound like a power issue. Second, make sure you have the newest bios for your motherboard. Third, run memtest86+ to test your ram while the cpu is at stock speeds. Run the ram at it's rated speeds and voltages. One less thing to worry about for now. DDR2-800 will get you 3.8Ghz for cpu without overclocking the ram. An 40C idle is fine. Mine idled at 47C and peaked at 70C under prime95. Are you increasing the northbridge voltageat all? Try +.2V for it.

 

[yadge]

Yeah, I was thinking about getting a nice 600 watt OCZ power supply. It just kind of sucks, because I was hoping this would be a nice $50 upgrade. Anyway, I'll try the memtest in a bit, I need to install service pack one because I just installed 64bit vista due to the added ram. Anyway, thanks guys for all the help so far.

And are you sure it's a power issue? I'm sure the e6550 consumed more power than this does... but I don't know. It'd be good to get a decent power supply anyway.

 

[Zorg]

The Rosewill PSU is complete junk. It may not be holding you back, but get that POS out of your machine ASAP.

If you act today 8/15 here is the deal of the year.

PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
Back to school special savings, ends 8/15
Original Price: $199.99
You Save: $90.00
$109.99
$79.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate

 

[yadge]

I know Rosewill is considered bad quality, something that I didn't know at the time of purchase, but what exactly makes it such bad quality? Is there really that much of a chance it will destroy my components?

 

[Zorg]

It's junk. Yes it's liable to grenade at any time and take out your whole system.

broken mobo? can the manufacturer fix it?

 

[yadge]

So the most I can get to is 3.43Ghz. 361fsb.

The ram passed memtest.

Did I just get extremely unlucky and get a not very overclockable e7200?

 

[Zorg]

You can't necessarily blame the CPU. The PSU, mobo, voltage or other BIOS settings could be the cause. I would look around for others with the same/similar setup and see if there are any setting changes that might help.

 

[Craxbax]

Since I didn't see it mentioned...check and update your bios to the latest available. Also I think your GTEL is default a 67% in the older bios and there is no adjustment on that Mobo. 45nm chips often do better with 63%. I haven't played with an e7200 on GA p35board (only on an ASUS P45) but other have done well them and offer more help.

 

[yadge]

So I just tried updating my bios. It said it failed... I think it might have something to do with me using vista 64 bit now. I tried several times and it failed every time. Now, does this mean that if I turn my computer off it won't boot up? I've heard with videocards that this will happen if you don't flash a bios correctly. I just wish something would work for me. And now I'm afraid to turn off the computer.

 

[rockyjohn]

For more help, go the gigabyte forum at tweaktown - they have what appears to be official gigabyte support and respond quickly - I got a response in less than 2 hours on the 4th of July.

If your moderator is lsdmeasap - who provided me excellent help - tell him hello for me.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/

 

[yadge]

Ok thanks, I've posted my problem over there now. I hope there is something I can do.... am I just screwed? Do I have to RMA it, or buy a new bios chip or something?

 

[Zorg]

If your BIOS is corrupt you will have to send the mobo back to have it flashed. The chip is not removable. Never flash with @BIOS or any other windows based flash, only use Q-Flash or other BIOS based flash.

If it is not so corrupt that you can still get it to post you may still be able to flash by pressing [END] and flash it through the BIOS. I would recommend flashing it ASAP, if you can.

 

[yadge]

@rockyjohn

lsdmeasap did help me, and everything is fine now. Thank you so much for referring me over there. I just had to use an older version of @bios. And I did say hi to him for you.

now, back to the original problem, the updated bios doesn't help me with my overclocking. I'll probably order a new power supply sometime next week, but it'd still be nice to hear ideas from other people about what I can do.

Thank you everyone!

 

[Zorg]

Too bad you will miss the Silencer 610 sale.

 

[rockyjohn]

Lsdmeasap is pretty good on overclocking too.

 

[yadge]

Yeah, he's been trying to help me with that too, but nothings worked so far. I think I just got a dud of a cpu.

Here is the thread he's helping me on if anyone is interested.

EDIT: Okay, so I tried 1.45volts, and it let me past 3.4Ghz. Before I thought 1.4 was more than enough, because I have seen people get to 4ghz on 1.4v. But anyway, right now I have it at 1.5v, and I'm at 3.75Ghz. I'm just wondering how this will affect the cpu. I know it will decrease the life, but will it make it die in like 5 years instead of 10? I'm just wondering how much it actually affects it. And what is the highest I should go?