Help me over an overclocking wall!

[brentster10]

I have been doing some overclocking recently with good results. I got my Q6700 from 2.66 to 3.2Ghz, stable after 8 hours of prime95, not passing 48C in Coretemp.

The settings for this overclock are:
3.2Ghz (320fsb*10)
System Memory Multiplier=2
DRAM timing=Auto
DDR2 OverVolt=+.3V to achieve my ram's rated voltage of 2.1V
Core Voltage(VID)=1.28...

Hardware:
Q6700
EP35-DS3L
4Gb Corsair xms2 800 4-4-4-12

I can get my PC to boot up @3.33Ghz but it blue screens after less than 5 minutes of prime95. It never passed 45C, so it wasnt overheating. I tried raising the VID and the same thing happened. I tried raising the FSB overvoltage and the North Bridge voltage, but that didnt help either.

I changed the memory multiplier around, and raised the timings to 5-5-5-15 to no avail. I am beginning to think it is a problem with my ram.

I want to go higher, but I am having trouble. Anyone with decent knowledge of the subject please feel free to give me your two cents.

 

[cd14]

Put your ram multiplier to 2 or 1:1 which will give you 666 and put the timings to auto. See if it benches.

 

[darkguset]

Also try downloading the latest BIOS from Gigabyte's website. It solved my problems!

 

[Foghorn]

I have the same memory as well and I think it might be something to do with the memory and getting the timings right and voltages, there rated to be great for overclocking but every time I change the timings to 4-4-4-12 and up the voltage to 2.1 it becomes unstable.

I have the latest bios from Gigabyte so I don't know if that will solve your problem.

 

[brentster10]

I will be returning to my house tomorrow, I evacuated for gustav. When I get on the computer try getting the memory frequency down. I might try raising the timings even more, maybe like 6-6-6-18. I might have to update the bios though i have heard it is slightly troublesome.

 

[liubros]

your vcore seems low. i will increase vcore 4 bracket at a time and see if it is stable. if it is, step down 1 bracket, if not, step up 4 bracket again. take a look ate the spec voltage, give it 10% more than spec max is no problem. i would not over volt the ram. it is perform below 400mhz, default spec volt will do the work. if things don't work out by increase vcore, start to adjust set vtt (FSB voltage) 1 backet up. and redo all vcore testing. still not stable, up vtt 1 bracket again, but make sure it is below 1.5v

 

[brentster10]

I did raise the vcore a good deal. I overvolted the ram to get it to its rated 2.1V. I raised the fsb voltage and that did not work.

 

[faster3200]

I did a bit of research and it seems this ram really likes voltage and loose (CL 5) timings. If you up to about 2.3v you should be able to hit 1000mhz+ easily unless you got a bad stick.

I would also suggest setting your divider to 1:1 as was suggested above and see if that improves things. If you really do suspect bad ram you can always run memtest and see if it errors out.

EDIT: I should say that 2.3v is somewhat scary voltage for 24/7. I don't know what IC your ram has though it could be fine. I have been running 2.3v 24/7 for about a year on a spare comp and so far it is ok.

 

[brentster10]

EDIT: I should say that 2.3v is somewhat scary voltage for 24/7. I don't know what IC your ram has though it could be fine. I have been running 2.3v 24/7 for about a year on a spare comp and so far it is ok.

What is IC? I am going to mess with these settings and post my findings.

After messing changing many settings around and trying several different configurations I am still unable to run over 3.3Ghz
I set the FSB to 400 and the CPU multiplier to 8, resulting in 3.2Ghz which I had previously had running stable at 320*10.
I thought that if i could get the computer stable with an FSB this high and the memory in 1:1 ratio, then it should be fine at a lower fsb with a higher overall clock speed.
The settings
FSB: 400
Mem Frequency: 800
5-5-5-15
DDR Overvolt: +.4
FSBovervolt: +.1
NbridgeOvervolt: +.1
Core Voltage: 1.3V

It booted without a hitch, and was stable in p95 for 10 minutes(Yes, short time). I then shut my computer down and tried different settings.

I tried
380*9(3.4Ghz)
same settings as above
Core Voltage: 1.31875V
It failed to boot.

I then mixed several things around multiple times resulting in failure every time.

I tried 330*10
mem frequency 660
same settings as original
Core Voltage: 1.31875
It booted fine and ran p95 for about 10 minutes.

I then tried 332*10 same settings as last time but it bluescreened in p95 after about 15 seconds.

So for some reason there is a wall at 3.31-3.32Ghz that I am unable to get over. What is going on?

 

[faster3200]

IC stands for Integrated Circuit. Basically there are a few different companies (Micron, ProMos, Qimoda, Elpida, Powerchip, etc.) that make the chips that go on the circuit board that you see on ram. Compaines (like Corsair) just buy a bunch of these ICs to make their ram.

To test ram I would actually recommend using memtest that way you don't have to boot into windows.

I would also suggest upping your vcore. I know on my Q6600 I need close to 1.45v to reach my final clock, of course that is around 4.0ghz. Still 1.32 is fairly low especially when you factor in vdroop. I would also factor in your mobo as a limiter as Gigabyte boards aren't particularly stellar OCers.

 

[brentster10]

I just raised the vcore to 1.35V and tried 333*10 with above settings, and it blue screened after about 10 seconds of p95 like it has been doing.
Hopefully it is not my motherboard.
For memtest, do I install it on a flash drive then boot up with that in?

 

[faster3200]

I don't know how you got to the point where it blue screened. Usually you will just encounter instabilities. Try going back to a safe speed and upping the vcore to 1.4v or so. 1.35v is kind of low when you factor in a vdroop of .5v or more. For memtest I think you can install it on a flash drive but, I usually just burn it to a CD.