Problems Overclocking E8400 + Blackops

[Ryan12]

Hey guys, i've been reading lots about the blackops board and have been trying to learn as much as i can about the bios settings etc

I bought this board because of the great reviews, great clock speeds and reading that people have said its great. But so far I have had quite a lot of trouble with the board, mainly the memory, i have to sometimes pull out the memory from both slots and put them back in just so the computer can post and i really cant figure out why?

Anyways i started to overclock my cpu and basically have had no luck, not even using the 'instant overclock' function. I've tried lots of bios settings that other people have been using here to get the same sort of speeds but no luck.

My system

Blackops m/b
E8400
asus 8800gt
Corsair 1600 dx9 DDR3
650 watt p/s

I'll post some bios settings etc that i've been using, but my biggest problem is that even at a small 10% increase in the overclock i can boot into windows BUT causes every single game to crash instantly.

Hope you guys can help, im not sure its a board problem or memory or something?

Ryan

[Ryan12]

Just to add to my post... I think its my memory thats the problem... im running it as low as it will go now and have been able to run my comp at 4.5ghz
vcore - 1.45
cpu pll - 1.52
cpu vtt - 1.425 ( i think)
nb - 1.67
sb - 1.52
ram - 1.8

rock solid at 4.3ghz at the moment (500*8.5)

[cadaveca]

More info pls...full bios settings, bios used, and how you are testing stability would be a great start.

[Ryan12]

Ok, I'll be able to post full bios settings later tonight.
G30 bios
And tested for 6 hours on everest
Any other overclocking previous to those settings would boot into windows and pass everest fine however simply would not play a single game eg - cod4, cnc3, etc

[cadaveca]

Unfortunately, everest is not a good stability test. Can you run any 3D benches, or does all 3D just crash?

And when it crashes, does it reboot, freeze, BSOD, drop back to desktop...???

what I do is first test with memtest(not good for cpu testing, faulty cpu will give erroneous memtest results), and make sure i can pass a full run, then bump down 5mhz on FSB, boot into windows, if that is successful, then Linpack 20 passes, then 30 mins of prime, then 3DMark06, then Vantage, then 24 hours of prime, custom test with FFT size from 8k up till cpu cache would be full, at least 12 hours, usually 24.

Any failure during those points has me start back at square one, and what is adjusted depends on how the system fails.

But, ram volts can be low, and system prime stable, but not 3d. same with chipset...

[Ryan12]

Yep 3dmark, vantage etc they work.
The games crash with win xp - and it just brings up the 'error report' box and i just click dont send and it goes back to desktop

I will test memtest when i get home. I think i will download Prime and use that, if you think thats a better test? And i will test for 12 hours :)

[cadaveca]

it's not so much of it being better, but that it does the same thing for longer. I wanna pummel my cpu into the ground, beat it into submission, so I'll throw the same thing at it for hours, maybe boring it to death...but at least I know it can handle long-term load of the same type...

The same goes for games...I'll toss in something that has a replay(currently using GRID), do a level, and then let the replay loop overnight, at least. If your vga's are not overclocked, and cpu is stable, then we can point to chipset or ram...

the "Intel Stress(Burn) Test" Here on teh forum is good for ram...you can set 50-100 interations, come back hour or so later, and look for errors(do not use error checking, or you will not know when it failed)...

The fact of the matter is that there is really no one single stability test. Prime is good, as it heats cpu up well, and can fit in cpu cache, thereby elimiating other parts, mostly.

But you'll notice I use many tests...and my system has to pass them all before I give up. OCCT, Prime95, Linpack, benches(cpu/mem/vga), games, and video encodes. I use everest memory bench to look for consistent performance, both before and after benching, might do tihngs in a different order...depends on what my goals are.

Anyway, I'm getting a little long-winded here, but give prime a go, and see what happens....most often crashes will occur within 1-2 hours, errors after such time means that cpu is basically stable, but needs a bit more tweaking...might be volts, might be heat, might be another component...

[Ryan12]

Thanks, i appreciate the replies. Since im used to having a board where u just change one or two things and off she goes... This is a learning curve using the bios and using different applications to achieve a good result... Ill update it when i get some good clock speeds and results and what settings etc

[Ryan12]

Just one more question - While using Prime is there particular settings to have it on? Because even EVERYTHING dead stock it fails before even an hour is up..

[cadaveca]

You might want to check your ram settings, board ignores SPD for my ram and sets 1333mhz 7-6-6, but SPD says 9-9-9-24...and 9-9-9-24 is not stable...

[saaya]

Just one more question - While using Prime is there particular settings to have it on? Because even EVERYTHING dead stock it fails before even an hour is up..
hmmm so what happened between rock solid at 4.3ghz and not even stable at stock speeds? :confused:

are you still using the same voltages and settings you posted above or has anything changed?

[Ryan12]

hmmm so what happened between rock solid at 4.3ghz and not even stable at stock speeds? :confused:

are you still using the same voltages and settings you posted above or has anything changed?

Ah well it was working fine in terms of doing uni work playing games. But as soon as i started Prime95 it wont even do 1 second at 4.3 before failing, so as cadaveca said i should go back and start from square 1....

Which was starting at stock speeds just to see if Prime95 would work...

Also just one question Saaya - Have you encountered any problem with memory where on random occasions you continuously get a beeping sound with error display '54' and u need to take the memory out and put it back in for it to actually boot up? Also its corsair 1600 c9 (running at 1066) stuff which i have already replaced once because i thought it was the memory

[saaya]

yes, thats a common error you get when the memory/fsb is not stable :D
see here: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=190952

Could you post the detailled system settings and specs here?
Thanks! :toast:

[Xello]

Is your memory the CM3X2G1600C9DHX part? That's the same kit that i have. On the 54 with beeping thing, that's always been a memory problem when i've had it, usually always when one of the main timings is too low.

[Ryan12]

Ok
Blackops
E8400
Corsair 1600c9x DDR3
Asus 8800gt
Antec 650 watt P/S
Thermalright 120 extreme
Antec p180 case

And ill attach some photos of settings i currently have set for 8x500 - 4ghz

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3835/18092008265wh4.th.jpg (http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=18092008265wh4.jpg)

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3748/18092008261az7.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=18092008261az7.jpg)

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/184/18092008262wv8.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=18092008262wv8.jpg)

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/4584/18092008263kh7.th.jpg (http://img354.imageshack.us/my.php?image=18092008263kh7.jpg)

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9193/18092008264xe9.th.jpg (http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=18092008264xe9.jpg)

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9231/18092008266dd3.th.jpg (http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=18092008266dd3.jpg)

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5561/18092008267rv0.th.jpg (http://img144.imageshack.us/my.php?image=18092008267rv0.jpg)

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/8002/blackopsoverclock1rv1.th.jpg (http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blackopsoverclock1rv1.jpg)

At these particular settings it has passed Prime, everest and I havent crashed.... yet, but any further overclocking sees prime not passing or games playable... I guess im just unsure what voltages to play with exactly because ive tried for hours on end to get it figured out

[Ryan12]

Is your memory the CM3X2G1600C9DHX part? That's the same kit that i have. On the 54 with beeping thing, that's always been a memory problem when i've had it, usually always when one of the main timings is too low.
Hey mate, what kind of speed can you run your memory at.. The fastest i can get it at is 1441 which i thought it was rated for 1600 :confused:

Also anyone else have any idea about voltage going over 4ghz? Looks like i have to run about 1.5 volts to get it stable over 4ghz... which is crazy hot