overclocking past 2.9ghz

[shortshift23]

i have a q9450 with a foxconn p45a-s. i am running it at 2.85ghz right now but as soon as i go pas 2.9ghz, i get a crash on OCCT within the first 2 minutes. when your overclocking before 3ghz, you should not have to change the vcore right? thats at least what i heard. also when your upping the FSB, does it automatically bring up the dram frequency? im running my 4gb ocz 1066 at like 1135 right now, is there anyway to only overclock the cpu and keep the ram at the stock frequency? also would my crashing after 2.9ghz be a motherboard problem or a voltage problem?

 

[w153r]

You should be controlling your RAM freq manually. You should have a "multiplier" (2.0,2.5,2.4 etc etc), your RAM freq is your FSB multiplied by your RAM (divider/multiplier), I would first start by under clocking your memory (so you can see what the highest OC is for each component, dependent of each other. So if your RAM is 1066, underclock it to 800. Then slowly crank up your CPU, after you find the max CPU OC, underclock your CPU to say stock (2.4? not sure what the q9550 is at stock. Then slowly OC your RAM. Once you find the max threshold of both, set the the max OC for each, and see how your PC reacts. I would personally leave your RAM at 1066 and look to OC your CPU only.

 

[kyeana]

Set the ram divider to 1:1 and then try continuing the overclock (dont worry about overclocking the ram, just keep it at a 1:1 ratio).

That may or may not let you continue the overclock, you might have to increase the vcore as well to achieve a higher overclock. For a good guide on this check out this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

 

[kamkal]

the mem is linked to the FSB speed

set it to 1:1 so that it runs with your fsb

your q9450 has an fsb of 333 (quad pumped to 1333)

your memory runs at some ratio to the 333 speed

so 1:1 will set your mem to 333, but since it's ddr2, it will be 667 effective (u can see this "discrepancy" when you load up CPU-Z and it will report your mem speed at 333 if you set your ratio 1:1, but really it is 667 effective since it's ddr)

so then you raise your FSB to OC your CPU and the mem will increase in speed in turn, since your memory im assuming is at least ddr2-800, it will work fine without much screwing around with mem voltage upto fsb of 400 (400 x 2 = 800)

after that you may have to up the voltage on the memory to get it to run at speeds higher than 400 x 2


as for the CPU, up until 400FSB, you only need to look at the cpu's vcore since that is the only component you are really pushing past its limit at this point; since the memory can run to at least 400mhz without any vcore adjustments. Once you get past 400fsb, you have to look at vcore amd mem voltage to get a stable OC.
For the memory, you should look at the the manufacturer's specs and see what voltage it needs to run at given speeds and adjust your voltage accordingly

lastly the chipset is also a a major factor in this; the chipset is being pushed as well but most p35/p45 can push upto 400fsb without having to up the northbridge (chipset) voltage, so if you find that you have increased cpu volts, mem volts but the oc is not stable, you may want to look at your northbridge voltage and try increasing that by one step

 

[shortshift23]

hm well i set the ratio to 1:1.66 or something like that. my motherboard is a piece of **** for overclocking. it doesnt give me any real options besides changing the fsb and ratio of the ram. and for vcore it just has settings from 0-30. all in all i still have a crash in OCCT past 2.9ghz after every different combination. maybe my mobo just isnt meant to oc or something

 

[kamkal]

set the ratio to 1:1, you may have to turn off auto settings for the ram/fsb ratio

according to your 2.9ghz speed, your fsb is set to 363 or so

that is a mild OC in terms of the CPU and FSB

the 1:1.66 mem ratio is preventing you from going further since the mem is running past its oc limits

 

[kamkal]

as long as you are able to change fsb, ram ratio, and a few voltages, that is all you really need to oc since most of the clocks are generated from the FSB

 

[jitpublisher]

The RAM speed is everything. Keep it running under or at it's rated speed, and you will find that going further with the overclock is much easier.....ram gets very fussy, very quickly when run over spec.

 

[Zorg]

Post your full specs including the PSU and CPU heatsink and I'll help you with your specific settings. Post model numbers.

 

[shortshift23]

ok well my motherboard only has like 4 settings which is 1:2, 1:1.66 and 1:1.33 right now im at 1.1.33 and im at 370 fsb so 2960mhz. and so far it is stable. you guys were right about the ram being very fussy when you go over the rated timings because right now im at around 980 on ozc reaper 4gb 1066. for Zorg, i have a q9450 with a zerotherm nirvana 120mm, foxconn p45a-s motherboad with updated bios, ocz reaper 4gb 1066, corsair 650tx psu, evga gtx260 core216 superclocked, wd 150gb 10k rpm hard drive, and antec 900 case. so far it is stable so this is more promising then before. also at these speeds im am at 53c max under 100% load in a hot room, when its cold (like right now) im at 48-49c max under load if that helps

 

[shortshift23]

i know =( i just feel like all the oc manuals online including the very good one on here doesnt apply to my board cause its like foregin to me lol. on the bright side though! i am at 3035mhz at 380fsb with a dram frequency at 1000. running stable at 52c under load at 100%. so it looks like going 1:1.33 did do the trick. thank you for helping. i just think im going to stay at this part of ocing cause it just seems like messing with the vcore on this mobo will give me some trouble (sixth sense). o well, you get what you pay for i guess haha. oh and the stupid motherboard wont let me go precisely on 2.1v for my ram its either 2.089 or 2.14 how dumb is that =(. i knew i should have gotten an asus or evga board. but i got it for 69 dollars on zipzoomfly so you cant argue the money you know. thanks again

 

[kamkal]

i know =( i just feel like all the oc manuals online including the very good one on here doesnt apply to my board cause its like foregin to me lol. on the bright side though! i am at 3035mhz at 380fsb with a dram frequency at 1000. running stable at 52c under load at 100%. so it looks like going 1:1.33 did do the trick. thank you for helping. i just think im going to stay at this part of ocing cause it just seems like messing with the vcore on this mobo will give me some trouble (sixth sense). o well, you get what you pay for i guess haha. oh and the stupid motherboard wont let me go precisely on 2.1v for my ram its either 2.089 or 2.14 how dumb is that =(. i knew i should have gotten an asus or evga board. but i got it for 69 dollars on zipzoomfly so you cant argue the money you know. thanks again

hehe that's a good price, cant beat it and it can OC a bit

good luck with future OCing

 

[Zorg]

Give me a break because I'm doing this by the manual and haven't dealt with the mobo before. Give me feed back on what you find while following this. I don't know what the default is for some of these settings so just verify them.

O.C. Configuration
Spread Spectrum [Disabled] Should be default
CPU clock[400]
PCI Express[100]
CPU : Dram Clock Ratio [Disabled]

O.V. Configuration
VRAM Voltage Control [6] [Apply settings] it should actually be 6.25 but 6 will do easily.

Advanced Chipset Features
Northbridge Configuration
Remap Memory [Disable] Should be default
Here is where the manual gets a little murky, it looks like a new entry should pop up.
Memory Speed Adjust [Manual] or [800] set the memory to 800 in the new entry if it pops up.
memory Timing By SPD [Enabled]

Reboot and see if it posts.

At this point you should be at ~3.192G/1600 FSB with a RAM speed of 800 and SDP timings. The RAM is 1:1 but is actually set by unlinking the CPU/memory. Assuming it works like the manual says.

If not it won't post and either come up reset or you can default the CMOS (BIOS) and we will go at it from a different direction.

Run CPU-Z after boot and checking temps with Core Temp.

 

[Zorg]

I see I took too long to respond. Oh well, keep it in mind. Running your RAM at 1000 doesn't get you any real world performance gain and is hard on the RAM leading to premature failure, 800 is a lot safer.

 

[V3NOM]

^thats not the point. the point of ln2'ing is to see how fast a piece of hardware can be pushed so they can set the frequencies from the factory. it also gives us a glimpse of the mainstream performance we should be getting in a few years.

 

[Zorg]

blackwater11, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

If you want to post a stupid off topic rant, then start your own thread. I'm sure there will be plenty of people to jump on you.

OCing with LN2 is for the FUN of it. Some people like to claim that they made their machine run the fastest.

Clearly no one is going to use them for any other reason, or didn't you understand that.

 

[Zorg]

the f*ck does this have to do with this thread?

i know, NOTHING.

Take a breath it will be ok.

 

[shortshift23]

haha thank you both for the great help kamkal and zorg. well why would my ram have such a problem running at 1000 if its rated at 1066? wouldnt it be built to last for a long time at even 1066? and also if i change the vcore to setting to 6 how much more heat do you think it would generate? also i did update the bios so it gives me the option to goto 1066 to support my memory. right now im stable at 3035mhz at stock vcore which is great if you ask me. the one thing i didnt get is, i heard that oc'ing my cpu will help my gpu by not bottlenecking it, but after i did the overclock it did not help with scores on vantage at all, is that just because its vantage and will i actually see more performance in real world applications? also will vista ultimate 64 bit with sp1 effect oc'ing and performance? right now im just on vista 32 bit without sp1. and blackwater, your not much help at all so go complain elsewhere please

 

[Zorg]

OK, since the OP didn't want to hear my post and had declared himself done, I feel is my right, nay my duty to take back the hijack.

I just want to say, blackwater1 we value your input and will speak of this offense no more.

I present cascade phase change, from people that have more time and are better men then I. :bow:
[why don't we have a bow smiley?]

There are plenty more in the link.

I have to add, blackwater11, these could be, and I suspect some are, 7/24 machines. That assumes you have the dough for the electric bill and can put up with the noise.

Under the Ice • View topic - Cascade Cooling to the Extreme

Being a bad a$$, is having one of these as your office machine.

I did use a Tornado, so I know semi loud wait... quiet compared to that.

Although, I have thought of putting the compressor on the other side of the wall. Sweet!

 

[Zorg]

You had to post right before me claiming my right, nay my duty to hijack, that's just in poor taste. :lol:

I have 4 out of 8 sticks of Ballistic RAM dead sitting in front of me. They were D9s and run at spec 2.2V at 800, no hanky panky.

I will not tell you what to do, do as you please.

I have seen a lot of posts here that say buy 1.8-1.9V RAM at 800. I wonder why? That's right, they found out the hard way.

If you want the proof that the higher clocked RAM is of no real world value, just ask and I will provide.

As far as the frames per second I must defer to the more versed here, of which there are many. I still have an x1950 and I don't care. It does play the time shifter demo pretty good though. :lol:


By the way, RAM can die at any speed or voltage, and it seems they do all to frequently.

I have no reference for your other comments. Since this thread has obviously deteriorated, you are welcome to go to ground zero and try my settings and PM me with your results.

 

[V3NOM]

^hey man never fear i can save you! Due to the unknown mystical forces contained within Micron D9 IC's, if you put them in a antistatic/plastic bag in a freezer for 24 hours, you have an 80% (i reckon probably higher, the other 20% probably didnt do it for long enough or low enough temp) chance of reviving them! LONG LIVE MICRON D9'S! :lol:

 

[Zorg]

Yeah, for how long? I have a long term solution, send them back, or throw them in the trash, I haven't decided if I have the energy.

It's more aggravating to me to have them fail again.

I have to addend, I will use a mobo as a Frisbee in order not to deal with warranty. Just buy a new one, and I have no money, so don't get the rich kid idea.

Wait, you saw in the tiered phase change pics and you are not responding to the knowledge of that, must be old news. Lord knows that it has been done long before these posts. 2004... what... who do they think they are? :lol:

 

[V3NOM]

it seems to be permanent fix according to those 80%. may as well give it a go! nothing to lose really.

 

[Zorg]

it seems to be permanent fix according to those 80%. may as well give it a go! nothing to lose really.

[Deleted as non responsive]

I think I get it, throwing it away is a permanent fix? Something else? Help me out here.

Ah, freezing them for 24 hours, got it. I'll give it a try, but as I told you, I am skeptical. I have 4 sticks so we'll see.

 

[kamkal]

haha thank you both for the great help kamkal and zorg. well why would my ram have such a problem running at 1000 if its rated at 1066? wouldnt it be built to last for a long time at even 1066? and also if i change the vcore to setting to 6 how much more heat do you think it would generate? also i did update the bios so it gives me the option to goto 1066 to support my memory. right now im stable at 3035mhz at stock vcore which is great if you ask me. the one thing i didnt get is, i heard that oc'ing my cpu will help my gpu by not bottlenecking it, but after i did the overclock it did not help with scores on vantage at all, is that just because its vantage and will i actually see more performance in real world applications? also will vista ultimate 64 bit with sp1 effect oc'ing and performance? right now im just on vista 32 bit without sp1. and blackwater, your not much help at all so go complain elsewhere please

usually if the ram is rated at whatever voltage it is *supposed* to be safe to run at that speed all the time but yea you are pushing the ddr2 technology past spec even with 1066 sticks

and once you are running the mem faster than your FSB, the gains are very small

as for the bottlenecking the GPU, yes increasing your CPU's speed should lessen the bottlenecking but you will only really see that in real world apps like the games and all that, vantage isnt really going to be bottlenecked from what i know of it, it is mostly useful for a "is my system working within spec" type of test cuz you can compare your scores to other ppl that have similar system to yours and it makes sure that your system is performing near where it is supposed to be