P5W-DH Overclocking issues

[Koez]

I have been trying to overclock my new system with no luck. I am not able to change the fsb and i cant see many of the options such as "AI Tuning" and enabling or disabling C1E and EIST. I have tryed several different bios but I cant seem to get it to work. Any help would be appreciated. (o btw I'm running the board with a E6600, OZC Gamextreme 700W, geforce 7950 GT KO OC)

 

[Sheepish]

Hey, having been overclocking my own P5W-DH the past few days I can tell you to follow Wusy's guide for what to disable/enable in the bios.

EIST (or C1E cant remember which is which) can be disabled in Bios > Advanced > CPU Settings > Virtualisation Technology > Set to Disabled.

C1E I think is in Bios > Advanced > Jumperfree Config.
Also in there, set Performance mode to Standard and AI Overclocking to Manual.

Its also possible EIST has been enabled with either the Asus At Home (bottom of Jumperfree Config > Disabled) or the AI Quiet (disable) feature in Power > Hardware Monitor.

Once they are all disabled you should be able to adjust voltages and the fsb.

 

[Koez]

I have AI Quiet set to dissabled
C1E is dissabled
EIST doesn't seem to be listed and I can't change Virtualisation Tech, it is in grey and i can't select it

 

[CompuTronix]

The following is from wusy's OC guide:

Part1. Tidying Up Your BIOS (not all BIOS may have those options)
*You must update your BIOS to the latest version before proceeding*

1. Disable ‘AI Tuning’ for ASUS, ‘C.I.A.2’ for Gigabyte
2. Set PCI Express (PCIe) frequency @100Mhz (‘Auto’ for DS3/DS4/DQ6)
3. Set PCI frequency @33Mhz
4. Disable Hyperpath 3 (for P5W DH only)
5. Disable any ‘spread spectrum’
6. Disable Q-Fan (for ASUS only)
7. Disable ‘Limit CPUID Max to 3’
8. Disable any overvoltage protection
9. Disable ‘C1E’
10. Disable ‘EIST’
11. Disable Virtualization Technology
12. Disable No-Execute Memory Protect
13. Disable any other thing you don’t use
14. Do not enable any speed enhancements you see

Hope this helps.

 

[Koez]

I followed wusy's guide and now i flashed to another bios and it seems to be ok. I just dont see "AI Tuning" as an option in my bios.

 

[CompuTronix]

That's good news. Of course, it's difficult to disable AI Tuning if it's not shown. Hmmm? To which version BIOS did you flash?

 

[CompuTronix]

Also, the following link is an excellent cooling mod (shown in my sig) for the Asus P5W DH Deluxe, which addresses a problem with some boards topping out around 380Mhz FSB.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106563

With part one of this mod, my board is stable up to 414Mhz maximum, so I did not perform the hardware volt mod in part two. Also, I took the mod a step further by adding a 40mm fan to the northbridge heat sink to further reduce the temperatures. The fan is a Cooler Master Blue Ice SLC-S41-U1, and is on the shelf at Comp USA for $10.00. Just discard the heat sink that's boxed with the fan, and use the supplied screws. It's a perfect fit, and the three wire plug will allow the motherboard to monitor the RPM.

 

[Sheepish]

Topping out at 380? I cant run stable at 355
Im happy at 340mhz, its enough of an improvement over 266 for me right now seeing as this is my first OC. To get 345 to post I need to bump vcore a notch and even then I ran into stability issues at 355.

Im not exactly using the full potential of my sexy pc6400 c4 geil ram :/

 

[Koez]

That's good news. Of course, it's difficult to disable AI Tuning if it's not shown. Hmmm? To which version BIOS did you flash?

1707
So far ive topped out at 338 with the vcore at 1.4 and it runs at 62C on full load. I'm not too confident of raising the vcore more as I think the cpu is running pretty hot as it is.

 

[CompuTronix]

Don't feel squeamish about pushing up your vCore. Once it becomes apparent that a vCore bump is needed to OC higher, as a rule of thumb, the C2D requires an increase of about .05 volts per 100Mhz.

For example, if your highest stable clock is 345 x 9 (3.1Ghz) @ 1.35 max stock vCore, then you've got about 300Mhz of OC ceiling remaining, so you should reach 356 x 9 (3.2Ghz) at 1.4 vCore. This varies among E6600's. The goal is not to exceed 1.5 vCore and 50c full load on both cores.

The cooling mod link explains in detail how vMch (northbridge chipset) affects FSB stability and OC ceiling, but as a second rule of thumb, it requires an increase of .05 vMch per 10Mhz FSB. For a second example, you shouldn't have to increase stock 1.5 vMch to 1.55 until around 370 ~ 380Mhz. This varies among P5W DH's.

Again, don't feel squeamish about red vMch numbers in BIOS; it's OK to crank it to the max, with the cooling mods installed.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!

 

[CompuTronix]

You and Sheepish seem to be running pretty close here, but yes, that's too hot for an OC'd system. Are you running the stock cooler? If so, a high end CPU cooler will drop those temps big time.

Also, not to pick on nVidia, but the 79xx series recirculates hot air inside your case, and doesn't do you any favors when you're trying to keep an OC'd CPU cool. This is exactly why I'm running a 19xx series, because of the dual slot rear exaust cooling solution, which the 8800 series also have. Something to think about.

 

[Sheepish]

Thanks for the advice CompuTronix. The NB mod is a little extreme for my liking right now. I definately wouldnt want to see temps of 61c although from memory at 1.385 vcore I was hitting 56-57c at load which I wasnt too keen on, although I may have put up with it if I could have gone a good bit past 355fsb. Now ive settled with 340fsb and a notch or two below the recommended 1.37 vcore (for my E6300) im content with load temps of 47c.

I sort of feel... sad ive finished overclocking already but I wouldnt trust myself to peel off the NB heatsink just yet. I cant afford to screw up

 

[Koez]

You and Sheepish seem to be running pretty close here, but yes, that's too hot for an OC'd system. Are you running the stock cooler? If so, a high end CPU cooler will drop those temps big time.

Im actually using the TTBT. This is a friends system that I am overclocking because he doesn't feel comfortable doing it. I came here for help because I'm not very familiar with asus boards but more with DFI. He got the system assembled by the company he bought all the parts from (NCIX) and they put the Big Typhoon on for him. I checked how tight the thumbscrews were and I can still tighten it w/o any problems. I'm not sure if i should tighten it some more or even remount the hole thing.

 

[CompuTronix]

Im actually using the TTBT. This is a friends system that I am overclocking because he doesn't feel comfortable doing it. I came here for help because I'm not very familiar with asus boards but more with DFI. He got the system assembled by the company he bought all the parts from (NCIX) and they put the Big Typhoon on for him. I checked how tight the thumbscrews were and I can still tighten it w/o any problems. I'm not sure if i should tighten it some more or even remount the hole thing.

What are the temps at stock clock & vCore?

 

[mickeddie]

I have the Scythe Ninja and am at 3.2ghz. My system is stable with Orthos but my temps are 62 under load and 50 idle, using Intels TAT. I'm thinking I should reseat my HSF at some point, but from other posts I have been told that my temps are fine. I mean I'm not running my system under load ALL of the time. I am playing Neverwinter Nights 2 now and had TAT running and my temps were in the mid 50's when I reviewed the temp log.

I did NOT do any of the cooling mods mentioned in this thread. iirc my system at default bios settings was around 30-32 idle.

I guess I can play with the voltages a bit and see if I can drop my temps. Which voltage would you lower first...ICH, MCH, or vcore?

Also, is there a way to "save" the bios settings so when you flash the bios you do not have to re-set all of the overclocking settings?

 

[CompuTronix]

What is your vCore?

 

[mickeddie]

Here's everything:
FSB 356
memory voltage: 2.1
vcore 1.425 (at the next lowest notch my system was not stable with FSB of 358. I did not try lowering vcore since I lowered my FSB to 356)
MCH 1.55
ICH 1.05

 

[CompuTronix]

Your settings look fine, but that still doesn't explain high core temps, so how's the ventilation and wiring in the case?

 

[mickeddie]

Ventolation is fine. I have the 2 fans near the CPU blowing out.

I think my cable management could use some help.

Here's are 2 pictures. Don't cry too loudly.

http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture024ua4.jpg
http://img167.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture025we9.jpg

 

[mickeddie]

Follow up...with my case OPEN my temps dropped about 10 degrees. I played with the cables a bit and with the case closed my temps at load (Orthos with the "blend" setting) my temps dropped a few degrees. I am now at 58 under load and 50-51 at idle. I will play with the cables more and see what happens.

 

[kwalker]

you should try pulling out the center drive bay and installing another 120mm fan that really helps with air flow in the P180.
dont forget about the two screen filters in front of the case.
they plug up fast.
Your case looks like a bomb went off :lol:

 

[CompuTronix]

Well there ya go mickeddie...ya fixed it!!! Seriously though, another lesson on airflow; it's amazing how much neatness counts. Thank you for sharing this with us!

 

[mickeddie]

you should try pulling out the center drive bay and installing another 120mm fan that really helps with air flow in the P180.
dont forget about the two screen filters in front of the case.
they plug up fast.
Your case looks like a bomb went off :lol:

Thanks for the reminder about the filters...they were a little dirty.

Tomorrow I'll power down my machine and re-route some cables.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your help! I never thought about airflow, nor was it ever mentioned to me before. I figured if the CPU HSF was free of clutter I was fine. I never thought about the cables impeding the inflow vents in the front of the case.

For those of you that have a p180 and the p5w can you post your pics for me to see what you did with the cables?

 

[kwalker]

Ive cleaned up the clutter after this shot but this will give you an Idea what I did

 

[bordy]

I'm at 400 x 8 atm (3,2GHz) with my E6600 without doing anything to my mobo except taking off the covers over both bridges :lol:

My settings are:

vDimm: 2,1V
vCore: 1,425V (Intel stock cooler for now, Thermalright Ultra 120 on the way )
vMCH: 1,60V (80mm fan shooting on the NB)
vICH: 1,05V

These settings will allow 400 FSB and 3,2 GHz using a multiplier of 8...

With the Intel stock cooler, 1,475V and vMCH at 1,65 I think, I've been able to do an easy 3,3 GHz (8 x 413) but the temperature were a little high so I'm waiting for my Ultra 120 to arrive

Hope it helps