OC problems on Maximus Formula SE

[Gripp]

i'm trying to run my first manual OC - spent a month or two reading most everything here and on the ocforums getting a feel for all of the nuances and now i'm trying..
but every time i think i have it it down the comp proves me wrong...
first, my system specs are

ASUS Maximus Formula SE - no WC running bios rev 0803 (er, was it 2...?)
Intel Q6600 G0 on Tuniq Tower + Scythe 88cfm
2x1GB Ballistix DDR2
EVGA 8800 GTX800 @612/1458/945
Corsiar 520WHX PSU
2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB in raid 0 X256 stripe
1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB Storage

the temps from one core to another only vary around 7C from each other - 0,1,3 are all about the same, 1 maybe 2C hotter on load and 2 usually about 5C lower than the rest
so i believe my HSF is mounted well and that the -5 may be a very small cry for lapping...

my step for step story:
my first step was to determine what all of my stock voltages were using asus probe and checking with other other progs
they are:
Vcore: 1.16 (1.21 per everest) - set to 1.18 as "stock"
-PLL: 1.54
-NB:1.36 (1.39 per everest)
-SB: 1.07 (1.1 per everest)
-RAM: 2.0
-FSBT: 1.23 (1.3 everest)
-ram ref: 1.00
-FSB term: 1.26

i set all of those in the bios plus set my:
-strap to 400
-the ram static read control to enable
-twister to light
-transaction booster disabled with a relax state of 0
-load line calibration enabled
-CPU GTL 0.63x
-NB GTL 0.67x
-and had initially set all advanced CPU featers to disabled, but after initially finding 3.0 on stock the only thing i believed to be stable and reading some more i went back and enabled a couple of items:
Execute Disable Bit and CPU TM Function for added security

note too, that after making this change (and every change for that matter) i ran OCCT for 30min, or an hour, i dont remember now... too many changes, lol. but i did test it regardless

-from there my very first stab at it was to try 9x334 on stock volts and a 1:1 divider right off the bat just to see if it would boot - it did, and even more it appeared to be stable.

-next, after some testing i ran it at 367 but it wouldn't stay stable... i kept having to bump my vcore up further and further until i got to 1.25 (yeah, that is from 1.18 just 0.3Ghz ago...) this was the point my temps were breaching my comfort level - but it appeared stable! ran Prime for several hours and left F@H SMP running @100% for about 12 hours, but day two i decided that i had needed to do the full 12+hours in prime just to be certain i was stable...
this time prime wouldn't even run for a second... nothing... and the system seemed to start to become unstable almost instantly after that

-since my temps were already at the line i booted back in and dropped it back down to 334 and set Vcore to 1.2 and ran the 12 hour test.. over the week i left it at his setting and stayed stable

-this weekend, i used this as my "starting point" - 9x334 @ 1.2
i started by pushing it up to 340 ran OCCT for a 30minute test, then 345 then 350 then 355 when i got an error in the 30 minute test
tried pushing volts up from here, but again even at 1.23something i was getting errors (they did take longer to hit with each increase though)
but at that point i was getting to my temp threshold again and got tired of testing... so backed off to 350...
ran prime (again) stable overnight (~13hrs) and an hour of OCCT stable

i should note that this morning, at about this point in my OC tour, i stopped all of the ASUS boot progs b/c i was having lots of issue with core temp, speepfan, everest... pretty much anything monitor related that i tried to run.
disabling them seems to have fixed the issues with the progs themselves - but could it be the cuase of my correct problems?

now that i am "stable" and have found the wall...
-i set my strap down to 333
run an hour OCCT - stable
-then, i pushed my mem up to a 5:6 of 421x2
ran OCCT for an hour, and then prime for an hour
stable
-so i dropped my timings to 4-4-4-15 and did the same thing
still, stable

used the comp the whole day again and once the wife wanted to TV back i set OCCT to run an infinate to further check stabilty with no real expectation that i would get an error...
but i came back a couple of hours later to a BSOD calling code 050 (apparently memory issues) and the machine wouldn't post claiming "det mem" as its problem... just pulling the plug for 30 seconds got it back up though
the ASUS bios also told me "failed [OC]"
-dropped my mem back down to 1:1 and relaxed the timings set the strap back to 400
set OCCT again, and an hour later came back to the same memory related BSOD!!!

at this point i increased all voltages by a slight amount:
-Vcore:1.21875
-PLL:1.56
-NB:1.41
-ram:2.1 (remember, it is running at less than 400 at this point.. so really i'm -giving it more than it needs)
-FSB term: 1.3

then ran OCCT and got a crash code 4 after 17minutes
(i read somewhere that this code is a fault on behalf of the program, not the system though. however, it is still a memory related crash, so i'm reluctant to ignore it... what do you guys think?)

now, this very second, it is still blinking code 4
not sure what to do from here... please help!

FYI - i ran memtest86 just one or two weeks ago with no errors (after pulling out 2 of the 4 of my sticks that is... was getting errors in the 4.3GB range on just 4GB of ram - i've read that this is normal for ballistix ram on this mobo...)
maybe the 5:6 could have killed my mem, but i wouldn't think so - the sticks should be capable of doing 2x500@2.2 without much trouble - correct?

so my questions are:
-why the "wall" were voltage increases seem to have little/not enough effect?
-why the instances of sudden instability after running fine for an amount of time?
-are there other voltages i can increase on this board to help my case?
-could it be that the mem that i am using on this board is causing all of these problems?
-could my denial of ASUS apps have had an effect on the situation?
-is my use of higher than needed voltages on the ram a cause for any concern?
-are there any other setting that i changed over this trip that may have caused this sudden instability?

i just need help narrowing down where to look really...

[Gripp]

okay... more problems just after posting this..
since it was an error code i went ahead and closed the program and tried it again. this time it gave me a code 1... not wanting to believe it i rebooted and tried again... code 1 after just a few seconds
so i went to the bios and dropped down the bus to 340
but while there i noticed the the spread spectrum for the CPU and PCIe were both ON, yet i had read that they should be off
so i, like a dip, also turned those off
rebooted to get a BSOD stating error 0x...0a5 - that my bios was not ACPI compliant!!! (?wtf?)
went back and changed the spread specs back to auto and rebooted - still same BSOD, then went ahead and set everything back to defualt
and STILL BSOD!!

i pulled the plug on my machine again, and this time it let me boot withou the BSOD
but, i'm getting some throttling type issues, on stock speeds @ 41C
so i run OCCT, code 1 on stock!!
i am not even stable on stock now
so now i go ahead and allow the asus stuff to boot again thinking maybe it created the problem... still code 1 on stock

i think i'm going to run memtest86 again tonight, but aside from that i'm really at a loss now...

[Gripp]

another update here
memtest86 threw out 47 errors before the end of the first test...
apparently i screwed my sticks somewhere in my attempts
i'm *guessing* that it could be something other than the sticks - like the NB or CPU?
but the two other sticks that i had left next to the comp are now gone!
either my wife or mother-in-law must have moved them
yet another item mysteriously moved to some unknown location over the past few weeks....
anyone have a fix for annoying women?!

edit: okay found the sticks
ran one pass on memtest now i'm going to run OCCT for a 30min run and then leave prime running over night

so now Q is, what did i do to ruin my memory? i dont think anything i did was extreme by any means... but then again i'm a noob...
it is just maybe the mem/mobo mix?
i know i have read here that they dont mix well, despite being ASUS's QVL...

[Leeghoofd]

It's not taht the rams are from Ballistix that they do what they do with everyoen else, just could be that on eof the sticks was a bit dodgey from the start and failed now... secondly the board overvolts the ram wth 0.1 ( keep that in mind) , Same for CPU PLL Voltage even when set at 1.5 it's 1.6... I just think your CPU voltage is way too low to be stable at any speed... 1.218 will givbe around 1.2 under load , my CPU has a VID of 1.215, runs fine at that speed at stock till aroudn 3ghz mark , from there on it needs 1.25Vcore set in bios to be Orthos stable, 3.2-3.4 requires about 1.3150, 3.6 around 1.475...

also id you disable transaction booster and static read control you can go low on the NB voltages... though once you start tweaking there the NB here needs around 1.43NB voltages to run stable 400FSB (mine is watercooled so temps stay within 35°C range) also make sure you place a fan over the NB to keep it well cooled...

If I was you I would look in the Intel thread and look up the Asus Maximus Formula SE thread, stat from scratch and start to dig there for more info...

[Gripp]

It's not taht the rams are from Ballistix that they do what they do with everyoen else, just could be that on eof the sticks was a bit dodgey from the start and failed now... secondly the board overvolts the ram wth 0.1 ( keep that in mind) , Same for CPU PLL Voltage even when set at 1.5 it's 1.6... I just think your CPU voltage is way too low to be stable at any speed... 1.218 will givbe around 1.2 under load , my CPU has a VID of 1.215, runs fine at that speed at stock till aroudn 3ghz mark , from there on it needs 1.25Vcore set in bios to be Orthos stable, 3.2-3.4 requires about 1.3150, 3.6 around 1.475...

also id you disable transaction booster and static read control you can go low on the NB voltages... though once you start tweaking there the NB here needs around 1.43NB voltages to run stable 400FSB (mine is watercooled so temps stay within 35°C range) also make sure you place a fan over the NB to keep it well cooled...

If I was you I would look in the Intel thread and look up the Asus Maximus Formula SE thread, stat from scratch and start to dig there for more info...

thanks for the response
i ran memtest over night - got 6 passes and no fails
now i've swapped out one of the good sticks and put in one of the bad to figure out just what stick it is (maybe get an RMA?)

my volts i'm not sure of... i mean right now at stock asus probe is listing the vcore at 1.15! thats lower than i've seen it before... but it ran OCCT stable for ~45min (i wanted to start the ram tests...)
thats 1.15 load or not by the way...

i did read almost the entirety of all three of the Maximus extreme threads
even posted in one, but the post was lost like 3 pages in after just a few hours...
wasn't a real important question anyways...
those threads are where i got most all of my other settings (aside form voltages) and what bios to use, and where i found that these sticks aren't always treasured by this mobo...

i know all of my voltages are well below anything anyone sets for 400+ FSB... but, if i understand correctly, the vcore is about right for stock according to the UVOC thread
but i'll give it a try (maybe the 1.23 range, you think?)
i do know, however, that at 1.25 my temps hit around ~65 under load... i was trying to keep below 60 give or take a few degrees... but given that 3.3Ghz wasn't even stable at that voltage i decided to back

i'll give the NB voltage suggestion a try - though, i'm not WC - as a matter of fact i have NOTHING cooling the NB.... but it runs about 45C under load on stock and i understand that if i'm under 49 then i should be safe to add a little voltage (let me know if i'm missing something here please)
the way my case is set up i dont know that mounting over the holes on the water block would really help though, but i can give it a shot

i really dont want to throw in the towel and just stick with 3.0GHz.. but damnit losing ram really kind of scared me (just when i was getting comfortable hitting save and close in the bios too...)


i do have a general question of volts:
what order is it best to increase them (when just pushing the FSB) ???

i know vcore is first, but is that doesn't seem to be cutting it would i want to try my PLL next? my FSB term? maybe the NB? none of them?...

i think i've read that after ~400FSB that increasing the three of them is a good idea.. but what if my needs occur a little lower?

thanks again

[Gripp]

after testing both yesterday it turns out both gave errors while the other two sticks did not...
leads me to believe that i did actually end up frying them somehow...

can anyone help me figure out what i did wrong here?

[Spyrus]

Leaving auto some voltages is sometimes tricky.
Maybe at your first tries you have them as auto.
I have left auto only the GTL references of mobo.
Remember that mobo overvoltages some voltages
especially vdimm is 0.08-0.1V more.
Hardware monitor will give you the values.

These are my setting for now 24/7

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
FSB Frequency : 450
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 333
PCI-E Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR2- 1081
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 12
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 2
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 30
Write Recovery Time : 6
Read to Precharge Time : 3

Read to Write Delay (S/D) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (S) : Auto
Read to Read Delay (D) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (S) : Auto
Write to Write Delay (D) : Auto
DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
Ai Clock Twister : Moderate
Transaction Booster : Disabled
Relax Level : 0
CPU Voltage : 1.33
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.6
North Bridge Voltage : 1.38
DRAM Voltage : 1.92
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.3
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : Auto
North Bridge GTL Reference : Auto
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : Auto
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : Auto
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : Auto
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU Volt
Voltiminder LED :

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 8
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Disabled
Vanderpool Technology : Disabled
Execute Disable Bit : Enabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled


USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support : Disabled

[Gripp]

wow, my machine go up in smoke if tried those settings...
but i'll give the ram ref voltages at auto a try
this is my last couple of sticks of memory though (i'm going to stay clear of doing other than loose 1:1 in that regard...)

"Legacy USB Support : Disabled" it was right after changing that one value that i started getting the ACPI error... not sure if it was actually related or if it was just my ram being shot (i'm assuming the latter - but i'm sure i'll find out this weekend...)

it was set to enable by default on my board... i use a bluetooth-USB wireless mouse and keyboard - could that have had an effect?
i'm sorry, i'm not certain what all that setting controls