Testing / comparing : Intel D975XBX2 / Asus P5B DX ***56K WARNING***

[C Stat B]

Hoping for 1000MHz 3-3-3... It's D9GMH (I think) so that should be doable. My XBX2 is pretty crap for clocking memory though. I'll try it tomorrow when I have 5 mins anyway. I'll take some pictures for you.

PS Intel would have made it an option if it was going to damage the boards right?

[Zucker2k]

Hoping for 1000MHz 3-3-3... It's D9GMH (I think) so that should be doable. My XBX2 is pretty crap for clocking memory though. I'll try it tomorrow when I have 5 mins anyway. I'll take some pictures for you.

PS Intel would have made it an option if it was going to damage the boards right?

Not every D9GMH is guaranteed to run at that speed even with 3.0v. You might be able to pull it off however with either a 2:3 or 3:5 fsb:dram ratio. goodluck.

PS: Get a fan blowing on the RAM, heat will definitely be a huge factor at those voltages.

[SiGfever]

I have a question, I have started my over clocking trials and have noticed that when I run CPUZ v1.39 it shows my vcore @ 1.213v? This is the voltage shown during Orthos runs. I am currently at 3.10Ghz and here are my settings...

Processor: e6600 (L28F028)

vcore = "default" setting
vFSB = 1.250
vMCH = 1.525
Clock Freq = 345
Proc Speed = 3107Mhz

Memory: Corsair 2x1Gb 5400c4 675Mhz 4-4-4-12

Mem Ref = 266
Mem Freq = 533
tCL = 4
tRCD = 4
tRP = 4
tRASmin = 12
voltage = 1.84

Orthos (1hr 5 min)

Core0 = 39c
Core1 = 39c

TIM = Arctic Cooling MX-1

Is this correct for my vcore is there somewhere else to properly read it?
Thanks.

John

Edit: Also in the bios it has the "default" setting for vcore, what does that equal in volts?

[Charloz24]

Normal boot = no beeps. Clarify though... Does no boot mean the POST is successful but the OS doesn't boot or does it mean no POST either?

Are you completely removing power from the motherboard (I.E. unplug or turn off the PSU) when you make voltage changes?

Yeah I meant no POST at all.... I must then put the jumper in maintenance mode, load custom setings etc.

I also tried to unplug power....

Is there something that I could have missed in the BIOS.

Eist off
VT off
C1E off
Watch dog off

???

[GamingDaemon]

Whew, a lot to read here! And it's been said many times, but let me say it again, "You Guys ROCK!". And may I say that gtj must have built the damn E6600 he knows so much!

I do have a question about a couple of things. First, my batch # is L640A683. So that is week 40, "A" stepping. Is that ok?

Also, in other threads on other boards, I have seen mention of never going over the default 1.35 vcore setting when overclocking, and that if you have to, then you have a bad E6600 and you should RMA it. But this thread begins with upping it to 1.500. Are these other threads just confused??

Thanks in advance!

[slappynutz]

Are these other threads just confused??

Maybe not confused, but extremely conservative. Personally, I'm running my E6600 at stock voltage because the chicken in me doesn't like idle temps over 40c, which is what they approach at 1.5. Plus I can get 3.24ghz stock and the trade-off between temps, fan noise, and an extra 0.36ghz which won't even be felt in games was a bit too much for my tastes. I like cool and quiet. 2.4ghz --> 3.24ghz is a massive jump for a processor not needing extra voltage ... pretty impressive enough for me.

Listen to gtj, and most other overclocking guides. 1.5 is fine.

I have a question for our resident master myself ... I'm running the exact same OCZ Plat Rev2 memory you are ... at the rated 4-4-4-15. Thinking of starting to tighten the timings ... should it be able to do 4-4-4-11? Faster?

Or, conversely, would I get better memory performance by going from 266/533 to 266/667 ... overclocking the memory to 902mhz? Voltage is stable with 4 sticks at 1.92 underclocked at 722mhz right now. Just wondering what you think.

[gtj]

I have a question, I have started my over clocking trials and have noticed that when I run CPUZ v1.39 it shows my vcore @ 1.213v? This is the voltage shown during Orthos runs. I am currently at 3.10Ghz and here are my settings...

Processor: e6600 (L28F028)

vcore = "default" setting
vFSB = 1.250
vMCH = 1.525
Clock Freq = 345
Proc Speed = 3107Mhz

Memory: Corsair 2x1Gb 5400c4 675Mhz 4-4-4-12

Mem Ref = 266
Mem Freq = 533
tCL = 4
tRCD = 4
tRP = 4
tRASmin = 12
voltage = 1.84

Orthos (1hr 5 min)

Core0 = 39c
Core1 = 39c

TIM = Arctic Cooling MX-1

Is this correct for my vcore is there somewhere else to properly read it?
Thanks.

John

Edit: Also in the bios it has the "default" setting for vcore, what does that equal in volts?

It's a little deceiving. cpuz, rmclock and orthos are showing you the Voltage ID (VID) set by the processor which instructs the Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) what voltage to supply. The processor can reduce that voltage automatically (C1E or the thermal monitors) or the OS can reduce it via SpeedStep. Neither the the processor nor the OS EVER increases the voltage by themselves. Each processor has hard coded it's default VID. Most of us see this as 1.3250v but they can definitely vary. You can check the processor packaging if you got a retail kit OR look at the processor voltage as displayed at the bottom of the processor tuning BIOS page to see what your processor's default VID is.

Now the fun part... You can alter what the VRM actually delivers by changing the vcore (processor voltage override) in BIOS. Assuming you're processors default VID is 1.3250v and you set 1.4000v in BIOS what you're actually doing is telling the VRM "When the processor asks for it's default VID, (1.3250v in my case) really give it 1.4000v". You'd think that if the processor asks for a lower voltage that the VRM would scale accordingly but it seems that if you set a vcore other than the default, the VRM always delivers that voltage even if the processor asks for a lower one.

If you really want to see what's being delivered, you HAVE to use a program that reads the aSC7621 sensor chip. IDCC, IDU, Everest, Speedfan, Sandra, etc. My personal favorite is Everest because you get EVERYTHING. You'll probably notice that the voltage is slightly lower than what you expect. If you're vcore is set to 1.5000v and the processor is asking for the max voltage, you might see 1.49 or something. That's normal.

If you have a calibrated multimeter you can REALLY see what's going on by measuring the voltage at the output of the VRM. There's a post somewhere back at the beginning of this thread that shows the correct point on the MB.

[GamingDaemon]

Thanks slappynutz and gtj! It's a great world when you get such good information so fast.

As for my question about my Batch #, CPU-Z shows me as being Model "F", Stepping "6", Revision "B2". Is that equivalent to "A" stepping? I heard that "F" stepping is a better batch than mine.

[gtj]

Yeah I meant no POST at all.... I must then put the jumper in maintenance mode, load custom setings etc.

I also tried to unplug power....

Is there something that I could have missed in the BIOS.

Eist off
VT off
C1E off
Watch dog off

???

You don't have the jumper REMOVED do you? That's recovery mode.

Also can you sleep the machine sucecssfully instead of power off?

[gtj]

I have a question for our resident master myself ... I'm running the exact same OCZ Plat Rev2 memory you are ... at the rated 4-4-4-15. Thinking of starting to tighten the timings ... should it be able to do 4-4-4-11? Faster?

Or, conversely, would I get better memory performance by going from 266/533 to 266/667 ... overclocking the memory to 902mhz? Voltage is stable with 4 sticks at 1.92 underclocked at 722mhz right now. Just wondering what you think.

I believe you'll get more bang for your buck at 266/667 rather than trying to tighten your timings. You'll probably have to loosen your timings to 5-5-5-15 to run at DDR2-902 but that's what I'd do. Grab Sandra or Everest and run the benchmarks both ways.

[gtj]

Thanks slappynutz and gtj! It's a great world when you get such good information so fast.

As for my question about my Batch #, CPU-Z shows me as being Model "F", Stepping "6", Revision "B2". Is that equivalent to "A" stepping? I heard that "F" stepping is a better batch than mine.

I'm going to get flamed for saying this (if anyone notices) but I think the whole stepping/week thing is a load of crap. I'm quite sure there are differences among the steppings and weeks but I'm not sure anyone has ever come up with evidence that every cpu of a certain week or stepping is "better" or "worse" than every cpu in another week or stepping. Defining "better" or worse" is whole other story. You get what you get.

Now to answer your question: I have no idea.

[SiGfever]

It's a little deceiving. cpuz, rmclock and orthos are showing you the Voltage ID (VID) set by the processor which instructs the Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) what voltage to supply. The processor can reduce that voltage automatically (C1E or the thermal monitors) or the OS can reduce it via SpeedStep. Neither the the processor nor the OS EVER increases the voltage by themselves. Each processor has hard coded it's default VID. Most of us see this as 1.3250v but they can definitely vary. You can check the processor packaging if you got a retail kit OR look at the processor voltage as displayed at the bottom of the processor tuning BIOS page to see what your processor's default VID is.

Now the fun part... You can alter what the VRM actually delivers by changing the vcore (processor voltage override) in BIOS. Assuming you're processors default VID is 1.3250v and you set 1.4000v in BIOS what you're actually doing is telling the VRM "When the processor asks for it's default VID, (1.3250v in my case) really give it 1.4000v". You'd think that if the processor asks for a lower voltage that the VRM would scale accordingly but it seems that if you set a vcore other than the default, the VRM always delivers that voltage even if the processor asks for a lower one.

If you really want to see what's being delivered, you HAVE to use a program that reads the aSC7621 sensor chip. IDCC, IDU, Everest, Speedfan, Sandra, etc. My personal favorite is Everest because you get EVERYTHING. You'll probably notice that the voltage is slightly lower than what you expect. If you're vcore is set to 1.5000v and the processor is asking for the max voltage, you might see 1.49 or something. That's normal.

If you have a calibrated multimeter you can REALLY see what's going on by measuring the voltage at the output of the VRM. There's a post somewhere back at the beginning of this thread that shows the correct point on the MB.

Thanks gtj,

Mine does say the vid is 1.3250v but as in the picture of CPUZ above it shows 1.213v. I just did the 3207Mhz run for 1 hour 20 min in Orthos at the same settings and everything ran fine. I will continue the next advance (3.3Ghz) at these settings until they no longer run fine, then the tweaking begins.

I think that I will purchase Everest since you posted that they have fixed their issues with this processor.
Thanks again,

John

[MuttonFlanks]

You're definitely safe at those settings. You could even move the memory to 667 which would make it run at its rated speed.

Sorry if I keep repeating myself but at 667 it would be running on 4:5 ratio right? Is that any worse than 1:1?

Anyways I had a bit of a scare last night. I tried 400FSB just for the hell of it and of course my computer wouldn't boot. I thought ok I've seen this before, just go to maintenance mode and reset. Nothing showed up on my monitor. So I thought uh oh, tried leaving the CMOS battery off for 10 minutes, still nothing. Tried in regular mode and got 3 long beeps. Looked it up in the manual and it said 3 beeps = no memory.

What?!?! Did I accidentally fry my memory So I took out my memory and tried one stick. It worked. Put in the other stick, and that worked too. Everything seems to be fine now, phew. I hate this overclocking thing, makes your heart sink when you think you've done something terribly wrong.


Edit: I just checked CPU-Z and answered my own question. It's at 677 4:5 ratio. So I guess my real question is, is it better to run at the rated 800DDR2 speed or to achieve a 1:1 ratio?

[SiGfever]

gtj,

I just purchased Everest Ultimate Edition v3.50, I can't remember which page of the thread that you posted the patch for the issue that people were having or has it been fixed in v3.50?
Thanks...

[gtj]

gtj,

I just purchased Everest Ultimate Edition v3.50, I can't remember which page of the thread that you posted the patch for the issue that people were having or has it been fixed in v3.50?
Thanks...

It's NOT fixed in that version. Get 3.80.0948 from the following thread...
http://www.lavalys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2273
That's the last official beta release.

Or get the latest and greatest 0951 from this thread...
http://www.lavalys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2276
It has a fix for getting SMART data from drives on the Marvell controller.

Basically you just unzip the download into the install directory.

[gtj]

Edit: I just checked CPU-Z and answered my own question. It's at 677 4:5 ratio. So I guess my real question is, is it better to run at the rated 800DDR2 speed or to achieve a 1:1 ratio?

In this case, it's better to run at the 4:5 ratio because the 1:1 ratio is a severe underclock for the memory when you have the FSB set to 320.

Just remember, with 4:5 as you raise the FSB from 320 you'll start OVERCLOCKING the memory so go back to the 1:1 ratio.

[SiGfever]

It's NOT fixed in that version. Get 3.80.0948 from the following thread...
http://www.lavalys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2273
That's the last official beta release.

Or get the latest and greatest 0951 from this thread...
http://www.lavalys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2276
It has a fix for getting SMART data from drives on the Marvell controller.

Basically you just unzip the download into the install directory.

So is v0951 the full version with the BadAxe2 fix so it would be the only one to download?

Edit: Never mind I downloaded the 0951 version and applied it over my v3.50.

[GamingDaemon]

Well, you guys should be getting a cut from Lavalys since I jsut plunked down $30 to buy Everest Ultimate. I also got the beta version you guys are talking about, 951. Very cool. All of my benchmarks put me at least #3, if not #1 or #2 in each test.

Going to run Orthos now and go to bed. Thanks again all!!

[MuttonFlanks]

In this case, it's better to run at the 4:5 ratio because the 1:1 ratio is a severe underclock for the memory when you have the FSB set to 320.

Just remember, with 4:5 as you raise the FSB from 320 you'll start OVERCLOCKING the memory so go back to the 1:1 ratio.

Thanks for all the help gtj, I'll remember your advice when I decide to go higher

[hotchoc]

Guys need help urgently. Almost killed my pet dog cos of this board (he tried to chew my shoes)

Here goes:

Intel BX2 (upgraded to bios 2663)
E6600 (stock - no OC yet)
2GB G-Skill 6400PHU2-GBHZ
Corsair 620W
XFX 7900GT (stock - no OC yet)

*IDE BenQ 1650 DVD-Writer
*1X WD 320GB YS SATAII
*1X WD 120GB IDE

*Device(s) are checked and fault free (i.e. runs, boots up properly in a different pc)
- disabled [secondary controller] and [boot to network] in BIOS
- installed intel drivers from CD (chipset, LAN except RAID)

Scenario 1
- Plugged in everything including the dvd writer, sata hd into the black port (sata 0,1,2,3) and ide hd.
- Installed XP via the black sata ports
- While loading XP halfway (say 7-8 bars), XP just hangs and freeze in the loading page
-------> XP loads in 5 secs and works perfectly once dvd writer has been unplugged from the ide cable (yes i have tried 2 different ide cables and still the same *&^#$^#* thing). I need to use my dvd drive !!!!!

Scenario 2
- Plugged in everything including the dvd writer, sata hd into the blue ports (sata 4,5,6,7) and ide hd.
- XP cannot be installed via blue sata ports (says my hd is not detected). Hence i just transfer the sata hd from the black sata ports to the blue ones (makes sense???)
- While loading XP halfway (say 7-8 bars), BSOD and pc reboots
--------> BSOD still occurs after dvd drive has been taken out

Scenario 3
- Installed XP into IDE hd via black sata ports (sata 0)
- Plugged in sata hd into black sata1
- XP boots fine (15 seconds)
- Sata HD is detected only once windows have finished loading (it appears as a new hardware found)
- no dvd drive has been plugged in as XP will just hang if i do so)

Scenario 4
- Installed XP into IDE hd via black sata ports (sata 0)
- Plugged in sata hd into blue sata 7
- XP boots fine (15 seconds)
- Sata HD is not detected inside windows !!!??????
- no dvd drive has been plugged in as XP will just hang if i do so)

As for now, am using the sata hd (via black sata0) and ide hd together but with the absence of the dvd writer

Questions
1. Help - what's wrong with plugging in my dvd drive? Am sure it's not faulty
2. Are my sata connectors (mobo) f**ked?
3. Are my rams f**ked?
4. What's with all the weird wordings that appear on the bottom right of the screen after i have updated my BIOS (i.e. E9, 0, 94,B2, etc)

Many thks in advance

[MuttonFlanks]

Check your SATA setting in BIOS. Is it IDE or ACHI? The reason Scenario 2 fails is because you disabled the secondary controller, which is what the blue SATA ports are on. Make sure you are using a version of Windows XP that has SP2 on it. I ran into some problems installing on my computer too because my Windows disc was before SP2 came out. Also, try hitting the F6 key when XP install is loading all those drivers on the blue screen and load the Intel Matrix Storage drivers on the floppy disk that came with your mobo. Good luck.

[GamingDaemon]

hotchoc, I've heard people having trouble with SATA DVD Burners with this board. I thought it was fixed with the 2663 BIOS but perhaps not.

In any case, here's what I do know. The black SATA ports are the Intel RAID. The blue are the Marvell. Most people don't use the Marvell and disable them in the BIOS.

I had to re-install Vista the first time I built this PC (last week ) using the Intel RAID drivers so they would see my SATA drives. I have an IDE DVD burner so it has never been a problem.

Now I boot to Vista with AHCI set in the BIOS.

My best advice, install Windows XP with both the Intel RAID and Marvell RAID drivers and see if it will recognize your HD and DVD burner.

[SiGfever]

The more that I use this MB the more I appreciate its stability and features. So far it is rock solid and the few quirks that I have experienced I have not been able to track down yet but they are minor. My main problem was that I was trying to give it voltages equal to a lot of the postings and so far my cpu/board do not like those high voltages. I am only up to 3.2Ghz but so far so good.

I will continue tweaking and running Orthos for at least an hour till I hit the wall and then I will back down and adjust one parameter at a time to try and achieve my goals.

Oh by the way, some of you guys should be paid by Intel for all the great tech support that you are giving!

[aicjofs]

what you're actually doing is telling the VRM "When the processor asks for it's default VID, (1.3250v in my case) really give it 1.4000v". You'd think that if the processor asks for a lower voltage that the VRM would scale accordingly but it seems that if you set a vcore other than the default, the VRM always delivers that voltage even if the processor asks for a lower one.

This has been my only issue with this board. If you overvolt to say 1.5V I can't seem to find a way to get it to change withiin windows.

I run pretty high overclocks and run my computer 24/7 but during that time the CPU is idle much of the time. In the past I am able to use a CrystalCPUID or RMClock as SpeedStep/CoolnQuiet and you have controller over multi/voltage changes.

We all know the multi is being stepped down during halts but voltage doesn't which I personally like and never had a problem with while doing heavy overclocking. If I send a requested new lower VID(in for example Crystal) the voltage stays the same and doesn't lower in Speed Fan, IDCC, etc etc, but CPU-Z picks up the requested change lowering (from 1.22 to say 1.16) so the request is making it but the VRM output is constant which I would like changed.

This BIOS implementation isn't "poor"(just not the best word), but it's just an non flexible and non optimal setup if the VRM's output a constant if you are overvolting. Hopefully someone can tell me something I have overlooked on how to get this VRM to deliever 1.5V and stepdown voltage when idle in a manner controlled by the user.

A better way I think to do it is 2 BIOS options. One for VID and another for % OverVID. In this case if you set 1.35VID and 10% Overvid the VRM outputs 1.485V and the system will always take the requested VID from BIOS, OS or where ever and apply 10%. This way you can use a Speedstep type functionality(except RMClock, Crystal) and yet maintain the multipliers and voltage you want for your particular overclock.

EDIT: and oh yeah on the CPU week stepping/rev thing. Either Intel or AMD, I think it does matter.... however week to week variance I think is a lot smaller then people make it out. a week 45 or 46 I think is small, a week 20 to a week 50, I think "could" be significant, and revision/stepping can definetly bring change, not always but it definetly can.

[GamingDaemon]

I've been thinking a lot about some of the different perspectives on overclocking in this thread, and I may have changed my original goals. I bought the parts for the rig a week and a half ago and put it together last Friday night / Saturday morning (3/10). I bought DDR2-800 memory and the E6600 and the BadAxe2 so I could overclock to 400FSB and have 1:1 on the memory.

I can, I did it, it worked. But then I backed off. The temps were high and I was not sure if I had the voltages too high.

As I read thru the posts here, I started thinking about balance between high performance, the thrill of overclocking, and what I really wanted to do with this PC. I use it mainly for work (software development) and gaming (that's why I bought the 8800GTX).

Given that, I think I like where I'm at now. Can someone (gtj?) tell me if this is a good setup? I am at 350FSB, with 1:1 on memory at 4-4-4-12 and temps at 50C under load (32C idle) at stock vcore and 2.04 voltage for memory (G.Skill 2x1GB sticks). I'm a little worried about the 50C temps, but then I don't have the big 250mm side fan for my Enermax Chakra (didn't work, RMA'ing it) so all I have is the Zalman 9700LED and 2 120mm fans.

I could probably overclock higher, but I think this is a good balance for me. So, are my core temps too high under load? Are my memory timings good? Are the voltages ok? Thanks in advance...