HTT overclock help. Crosshair IV

[reflex]

Hey all,

So as I posted in my other thread, I've destroyed my 3rd MSI 890FXA-GD70.
I've asked for a refund and now I bought a Asus Crosshair Formula IV in the hopes for better reliability.

I'm having some issue with getting the HTT up.
I basically want to run around 285MHz, such that I can either run 4GHz or something a bit lower with a dropped multiplier.
This bios is a bit new to me and I haven't been able to find a guide on the web.

At the moment I can't get over 266MHz.
270MHz it doesn't post.
I'm running my multipliers lower as to eliminate RAM,CPU and CPU/NB instability. Also disabled turbocore
I've tried increasing the NB and SB voltage to 1.2V. I also tried making the CPU VDDA voltaage 2.6V (Not sure what this does exactly)

I tried basically using my overclock I had on my MSI board but no luck there either.
Which was:
CPU 285*13 = 3705MHz @ 1.3625V
NB 2850MHz @ 1.25V
HT 2850MHz
RAM 1520MHz 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1.56V

This was stable on the MSI.

I must be doing something wrong that I can't get past 266MHz HTT.
A few tips from the experts would be greatly appreciated.

Asus Crosshair Formula IV
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
4GB Samsung 1333MHz el cheapo RAM
MSI 5770 HAWK crossfire
Corsair TX650W
WD 1TB SATA3 Black 7200rpm
Seagate 1TB SATA II 7200rpm
Corsair H50
CM Storm case

[reflex]

No one? I'm sure this board can do better. Just not sure what is holding it back

[reflex]

Here some screenshots of what I tried earlier today:
Also checked, with HTT @ 260MHz is BSOD will loading windows

[Albertini]

No one? I'm sure this board can do better. Just not sure what is holding it back

I had exactly the same problem!

board wouln't be stable at bckls ~ 265 - 299. 300 was fine though!

all components were driven with a divider that resulted in a sub-default frequency (cpu, ram, ht-link) but I never got it stable... UNTIL I changed the gskill ripjaws for some kingston hyperX.
now I can use bckls from 200 all the way up to 3xx.

So I relly suggest trying another kit of ram if available, I don't think it's the boards fault.

[RCG_Bex]

Skip the inbetween stuff, 200 / 250 / 300 are the easier to keep stable. But it's different depending on your RAM speed. Really makes life easier if you have 1600Mhz RAM as it divides better. And you'll be more likely to get the speed it's rated for.

[reflex]

Well I know this ram runs perfectly at 1600MHz.
300MHz was a no go for the HTT. Is there any specific voltage I need to increase?
Does not post at 300, but it looks like it tries a few times judging by the LEDs on the mobo. Then when it does post it say "overclocking failed"
At 270MHz it didn't do this, it would just sit with a black screen. I find that odd.

[Dr_Swizz]

Try increasing the NB voltage a bit.

[reflex]

I set it to 1.3V, not sure how high I can go before its dangerous. On standard voltage it is 53 degrees celsius while running P95 blend
I'm just wondering why I could get much higher HTT on my old board. Judging by reviews and other peoples OCs this board is far more capable.
That's why I think it may just be something I am setting incorrectly or not at all.

[charged3800z24]

It is possible... I am looking for my settings I had for this. I was using an older bios though..

Edit: So why do you need 300HT-Ref? It isn't needed for a decent OC.

[reflex]

Well I am looking to run at around 3.85GHz which is around 275MHz HTT. I liked running the 13.5 multiplier with the NB @ 2850 with HTT of 285MHz.
Not that much of an issue, but I can't even get past 260 odd...
I just went for 300 after the people here said it is easier to get those stable.

[reflex]

I found a solution!
Increased tRef to 350ns and hey presto! It posted on 285MHz. Going to try higher now, just happy that it got this high already!
Thanks to the following post:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=256357

amdsempron_xs was the one that posted the tRef thing. So thanks if he happens to read this.

[reflex]

Post on 300 as well. Knew it was something silly....

[arroyo]

I have the same problem with HTT wall on Asrock 890GX Extreme 3 (at HTT=269). Somebody know how to set tRef in Asrock bios?

[reflex]

Hey arroyo, I just had a look at your manual on the web.
In your bios in the "memory timing" section I think your tREF is referred to as "TRFC0"

Give that a shot, I think there may be one per a ram slot or bank. As I see that there is "TRFC0" and TRFC1"

Hope it works!

[arroyo]

Nope. It is not the one. TREF and TRFC are different timings. On TRFC0 I can set 90/110/160/300. Already tried TRFC at 300 and HTT wall still exist.

[reflex]

Hmmm I dunno then hey. That was the only thing I found in there that looked similar, at least timing wise to the tREF I was setting.
Have you tried amdsempron_xs/Daveburt714s other suggestion of raising vDIMM, which I think is the memory voltage.

[charged3800z24]

Post on 300 as well. Knew it was something silly....

Glad it works now. Strange thing is, I didn't have to change this. Just goes to show, no congig is alike

[reflex]

It's more than likely the cheap memory.

[moorhen2]

Chipset voltage a tad high me thinks.

[reflex]

Oh yeah, that was just an experiment to see if it would boot at anything higher than 260HTT really.
I'm running it stock now even with 300HTT. I'm a bit scared when it comes to voltage :-/

Anyway, I did a couple of 3dmark runs.
3dmark11: 5524
3dmark06: 23504
3dmark vantage: 20226

[reflex]

arroyo,

I check and my bios says something like this:
DRAM REF Cycle Time and on the right of the screen it says TRFC. I will double check that later though

[Daveburt714]

Looks like you guys have this pretty well figured out, but I thought I'd post this anyway....

This was one of my best HTRef clocks and pretty close to stable on water.
It show most sub voltages, so it might help a little.