First Time Overclocker With Professional Results

Well, at the beginning of this year, I not only built my first PC, I also Overclocked it. I bought all my parts according to recommendations I had read in countless threads.

Now, all my hard work and exhausting research has officially paid off.

Here is my Hardware:

Asus P5B-Deluxe
E6600 - L631A383 @ 3.6 Ghz @ 1.46 vCore
eVGA 7600GT KO @ 651/826
2 x Ballistix DDR2-1000 @ DDR2-800 4-4-4-12
Samsung 18X DVDRW Combo
Seagate 320GB 7200.10 SATA 3.0
Thermaltake Armor Black Tower case w/ 25 cm Fan
OCZ GameXtreme 600W PSU

Here are my awesome results:

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7945/resultsgh1.jpg

As usual I would appreciated comments and suggestions.

If you think I could easily go higher, tell me, and give me some suggestions as far as settings to try.

Thanks,
mawsoccer

Nice job!

Only thing I would recommend, is that small fft's basically test cpu stability, not really system wide, so if you are looking to get an idea of system stability for a 24/7 overclock, I might suggest using a blend test in orthos instead of just small ftt's.

I have that crucial ram also, mine does 4-4-4-8 @ 960mhz no problem, on the 400fsb overclock you have try the ram up @ 960 stock volts, and run a blend and see how your rig holds up.

from 3.6 up, cooling will be your limitation, you spoke nothing about cooling, it may give people a better idea of how far you xan push it, but if you are prime loading @ 56, you have a ways to go before you are too hot.

Excellent results! I really like the graph you made. If you can do me 1 favor, can you download lavalys and tell me what your memory latency is?

Newls1: Its stock speed and latency are 1000 mhz at 5-5-5-15.

I have it running at 800mhz at 4-4-4-12.

As far as Trfc settings, I just selected the setting recommended by CPU Z.

How is that new P5B Deluxe Bios?

Linflas: What voltage do u have ur ram at for 4-4-4-8 and how about Trfc settings and the other ram settings.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

Its stock speed and latency are 1000 mhz at 5-5-5-15.

I have it running at 800mhz at 4-4-4-12.

As far as Trfc settings, I just selected the setting recommended by CPU Z.

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OK, but what im talking about is download the program mentioned, and see what your latencies are at Ex: 40ns, 54ns, 61.2ns etc.......

Oh, what does that tell you?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

Oh, what does that tell you?

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Did you get a score yet? It pretty much tells you what strap your using IE 1066/1333

I get 58.7 ns

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

I get 58.7 ns

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OK, I'm betting money your still on the 1066 strap @ 400FSB, will you try 401FSB?? PLEASE

What difference would it make what strap I was on?

Would it unlock possibly higher speeds at lower voltages?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

What difference would it make what strap I was on?

Would it unlock possibly higher speeds at lower voltages?

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Its possible. My P5B-DLX changes strap @ 401 and my NB volts I dropped from 1.65 to 1.45 and so far Im stable @ 1.45Vcore @ 3.62GHz, however my latency went from 48.6ns to 60.3ns. Using the 1333 strap relaxes the NB back to if it was running @ 266 I think

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

Linflas: What voltage do u have ur ram at for 4-4-4-8 and how about Trfc settings and the other ram settings.

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4-4-4-8-14 going to have to wait till I get home on monday to tell you the rest, I am on 2.0V on a 680i chipset though.

How can you possibly be at 4-4-4-8-14 at 2.0 volts. Mine are at 4-4-4-12-24 (I think) at 2.3 volts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

How can you possibly be at 4-4-4-8-14 at 2.0 volts. Mine are at 4-4-4-12-24 (I think) at 2.3 volts.

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680i chipset clocks memory differently, dont try and compare. for what its worth on my P5B Deluxe i run 2.15v 4-4-4-4 450fsb... but i have a hipro maximizer, before it was alot more V.

I didn't see but what CPU cooler are you on? Your temps look good so im assuming its something better then stock.

I wouldnt try pushing past 400fsb as that will hurt performance, you are best off staying on the 1066 strap... but what you should try doing is moving to the 4:5 divider... 500mhz ram speed would give you a significant performance boost, 4:5 is the sweet spot on 965 chipsets... The P5B for whatever reason sucks in 4:5, but you should be able to do it at 400fsb.

So keep my FSB at 400 and put the memory at DDR2-1000?

As far as my temps, I have an unlapped Tuniq Tower.

how are you measuring vcore? software or DMM? software is wrong....unless comfirmed with a Digital multimeter(DMM)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Revv23

680i chipset clocks memory differently, dont try and compare. for what its worth on my P5B Deluxe i run 2.15v 4-4-4-4 450fsb... but i have a hipro maximizer, before it was alot more V.

I didn't see but what CPU cooler are you on? Your temps look good so im assuming its something better then stock.

I wouldnt try pushing past 400fsb as that will hurt performance, you are best off staying on the 1066 strap... but what you should try doing is moving to the 4:5 divider... 500mhz ram speed would give you a significant performance boost, 4:5 is the sweet spot on 965 chipsets... The P5B for whatever reason sucks in 4:5, but you should be able to do it at 400fsb.

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Not trying to hijack, but how would one stay on the 1066 strap with an fsb of 500mhz? My mem won't do 600mhz so am I screwed?

BTW nice first time OC.

Well, I have been using software to check the Vcore, I dont know where I can get a DMM nor would I know where to test on my mobo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

Well, I have been using software to check the Vcore, I dont know where I can get a DMM nor would I know where to test on my mobo.

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Radioshack for the DMM. search for vmods and you will find where to measure.

How much do you think it would cost?

im assuming you have an "A" because i run 3.8 @ 1.3750 BIOS @ 1.38~1.39 load.. (AW9-D Max)??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PanteraGSTK

Not trying to hijack, but how would one stay on the 1066 strap with an fsb of 500mhz? My mem won't do 600mhz so am I screwed?

BTW nice first time OC.

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The only way to do that on the P5B deluxe is to start computer at 399 fsb and clock up to 500. However, this takes alot of Vmch volts and really good cooling, its not for 24/7 running. Don't get FSB strap and Memory ratio confused, they are two different things.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

So keep my FSB at 400 and put the memory at DDR2-1000?

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Correct, you want to be sure you are still on that 1066 strap for the super fast mem performance...(to do this set fsb at 390, boot up, and then set fsb at 400, if mobo does double restart strap changed, and it didnt work, but if mobo boots right up without the double reset you are still on 1066) you will probably need to raise your mem volts a bit for DDR-1000, but that kit should be able to handle that speed without much issue.

Edit - you may need to raise the NB volts a bit to get 4:5 going, but i see you are already on 1.55v so that should be good, but thats just something to try if it doesnt work righ away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

How much do you think it would cost?

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Here ya go. Radioshack link.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

How much do you think it would cost?

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Hey there mawsoccer...

There is no real reason to buy a DMM unless you are planning on modding the board... you can clock just fine without one. so what if onboard monitoring tools are a bit off... we dont need to be that precise anyways..

The only time you need to be precise when checking volts is when you are testing your vmods... which you dont really need any on this board.

Well, I got it on a 4:5 ratio right now, but I dont notice too much difference. I dont run at 3.6 daily, the temps are a bit high and the vCore is getting up there, maybe after I lap it.

I run it at 3.4 Daily at much lower vCore and temps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j4mes

im assuming you have an "A" because i run 3.8 @ 1.3750 BIOS @ 1.38~1.39 load.. (AW9-D Max)??

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Yes, I do have a week A chip. What week is urs? Sounds like you got a pretty good chip there if ur running at 1.4 vCore. What kind of cooling do u have and what are ur temps like?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Revv23

The only way to do that on the P5B deluxe is to start computer at 399 fsb and clock up to 500. However, this takes alot of Vmch volts and really good cooling, its not for 24/7 running. Don't get FSB strap and Memory ratio confused, they are two different things.



Correct, you want to be sure you are still on that 1066 strap for the super fast mem performance...(to do this set fsb at 390, boot up, and then set fsb at 400, if mobo does double restart strap changed, and it didnt work, but if mobo boots right up without the double reset you are still on 1066) you will probably need to raise your mem volts a bit for DDR-1000, but that kit should be able to handle that speed without much issue.

Edit - you may need to raise the NB volts a bit to get 4:5 going, but i see you are already on 1.55v so that should be good, but thats just something to try if it doesnt work righ away.

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I wasn't getting the strap confused with ratio. I have to (well, I don't HAVE to) use 1:1 because I am limited to my 7x multiplier. I'd rather not have to use clockgen or anything as I want it to boot at my OC. I'm planning on getting a 6400 or a 4300 to fix my multiplier issue. I just want somebody to make a board that lets you choose what strap you are on. I've reads lots of reviews of commando's, strikers, quadgt's rd600 and I'm not really impressed with their oc performance vs the MUCH less expensive S3 I have. I just want my BIOS options, asynchronous ram ratio's, 2 full pci-e x16 slots, 3 pci slots, 2 pci-e 1x slots, 8 phase power, better board arrangement, sli and crossfire support, and bug free BIOS. But I guess I'll never be happy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PanteraGSTK

I wasn't getting the strap confused with ratio. I have to (well, I don't HAVE to) use 1:1 because I am limited to my 7x multiplier. I'd rather not have to use clockgen or anything as I want it to boot at my OC. I'm planning on getting a 6400 or a 4300 to fix my multiplier issue. I just want somebody to make a board that lets you choose what strap you are on. I've reads lots of reviews of commando's, strikers, quadgt's rd600 and I'm not really impressed with their oc performance vs the MUCH less expensive S3 I have. I just want my BIOS options, asynchronous ram ratio's, 2 full pci-e x16 slots, 3 pci slots, 2 pci-e 1x slots, 8 phase power, better board arrangement, sli and crossfire support, and bug free BIOS. But I guess I'll never be happy.

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Yes it's true there is no perfect board, you jusst have to find one that suits you best. Its too bad that there can't be something better out there.

Personally i think the 2 best boards are the quad GT (as long at you dont need more then 510fsb) because it runs 1066 at all times and will even do 1t. The second one would be thenew DFI 965 infinity, but that is untested still and not in retail yet -however it looks really promising.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mawsoccer

Well, I got it on a 4:5 ratio right now, but I dont notice too much difference. I dont run at 3.6 daily, the temps are a bit high and the vCore is getting up there, maybe after I lap it.

I run it at 3.4 Daily at much lower vCore and temps.

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Thats your desicion, you were asking for tips about getting more speed, 4:5 is faster, do any comparison benchmarks and you will see it. your 24/7 clocks are your call in the end.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Revv23

Yes it's true there is no perfect board, you jusst have to find one that suits you best. Its too bad that there can't be something better out there.

Personally i think the 2 best boards are the quad GT (as long at you dont need more then 510fsb) because it runs 1066 at all times and will even do 1t. The second one would be thenew DFI 965 infinity, but that is untested still and not in retail yet -however it looks really promising.



Thats your desicion, you were asking for tips about getting more speed, 4:5 is faster, do any comparison benchmarks and you will see it. your 24/7 clocks are your call in the end.

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AnandTech maxed out the fsb at 525 on the 1067 strap. Makes me want one real bad....except BIOS issues.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by newls1

OK, but what im talking about is download the program mentioned, and see what your latencies are at Ex: 40ns, 54ns, 61.2ns etc.......

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I'm almost afraid to post as ya'll obviously know way more about OC'ing than my simple bump the FSB and maybe the vCore experiences. I'm also new to Intel CPUs as this is also my first Intel experiment since PIII days.

Also forgive the lengthy post but I wanted to try to get all info out in one shot.

So far I'm impressed with both the E6400 proc and the ASUS mobo. They might end up going into my main desktop.

First, the system & purpose; This thing is a headless dedicated number cruncher (BOINC) and must run fairly reliably 24/7/365 at FULL load. It has VNC on it and I hook up a KVM switch to do setup and BIOS changes. But it might go days w/o being checked.

The system consists of an E6400 (Allendale I believe), an ASUS P5B-E mobo (way more mobo than I normally use for this stuff) zip-tied into a plastic basket along with a PSU, a single IDE 30GB drive, a $33 PCIe vid card (also don't normally spend $$ on vid cards) and two 512MB sticks of Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 memory. For more than a mental image here's a rather dated pic - http://www.skipsjunk.net/info/texcrunch7.html

Oh yea, I picked up a Corsair Nautilus 500 for about half price and am cooling this thing with it. Full load temp right now is at ~48C via CoreTemp.

I have reasonably stable (haven't had time to thoroughly test yet) settings that net me 3.2GHz (400 x 8) and RAM at 1:1 with following settings in BIOS:

CPU Frequency: 400
DRAM Freq: DDR2-800

Mem Voltage: 1.90v
CPU VCore: 1.3875
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.300v
NB VCore: 1.25v
SB VCore: 1.50v
ICH Chipset Voltage: Auto


I have also ran with the following setting to get to 3.3GHz:

CPU Frequency: 413
DRAM Freq: DDR2-826

Mem Voltage: 1.95v
CPU VCore: 1.4000
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.300v
NB VCore: 1.25v
SB VCore: 1.50v
ICH Chipset Voltage: Auto

The system "feels" a big sluggish at the 3.3GHz settings. So I downloaded Everest Home v2.20.

In the 3.2GHz (8*400) config Everest reports:
Read 7782
Write 2326
Latency 57.0

BOINC Benchmarks FP:3002 INT:6262

In the 3.3GHz (8*413) config it reports:
Read 7141
Write 2298
Latency 72.3

BOINC Benchmarks FP:3100 INT:6495

I've also had it running at 3.36GHz but not yet stable.

I'm assuming the slower memory timings are a result of the "strap switch" being discussed.

My questions ("finally" they say)
1) For use with number cruncher apps should I give away the memory latency and go for the MFLOPS or stick with my 3.2GHz settings?

2) What if I move this to my general usage (occasional FPS game) desktop?

3) Any tips on what the voltages other than VCore and VDimm should be?

Once in a while I hear my ol' IDE drive doing what sounds like the heads latching down and unlatching! If I push things to far one of the results I've seen is "no drives detected" coming from "Jmicron". Is this the SB?

Any info, advice or tips appreciated. -- Skip


.................................................. .....................
CPU-Z v1.39 REPORTS:
Name Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Code Name Conroe
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2.13GHz
Package Socket 775 LGA
Family/Model/Stepping 6.F.6
Extended Family/Model 6.F
Core Stepping B2
Technology 65 nm
Core Speed 3200.2 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 8.0 x 400.0 MHz
Rated Bus speed 1600.1 MHz
Stock frequency 2133 MHz

Northbridge Intel P965/G965 rev. C1
Southbridge Intel 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) rev. 02
Graphic Interface PCI-Express

Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 1024 MBytes
Memory Frequency 400.0 MHz (1:1)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 4.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRDC) 4 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 4 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 12 clocks
Command Rate 2T

Mainboard Vendor ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Mainboard Model P5B-E
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version 1002
BIOS Date 01/30/2007
Memory SPD
Module 1 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 512 MBytes, Corsair
Module 2 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 512 MBytes, Corsair
Software
Windows Version Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c