The Maximus Formula Thread - Help/OCing/Guide/Rampage conversion

[Talonman]

^^^to this guy... here is my settings for just below 4ghz... and imma run this every day, by the time this cpu burns up *been overclocking for years and years and years... even oc'd a amd 80486dx4 to 112mhz and ive NEVER EVER seen a processor go bad from general everyday use with these volts* it will be long past overdue for an upgrade.

Thanks for the post...

Looking at your settings I Changed:
DRAM Static Read Control: From Disabled to Enabled.
Ai Clock Twister : From Light to Strong.
CPU TM Function : From Disabled to Enabled.
Vanderpool Technology : From Disabled to Enabled.
Legacy USB Support : From Disabled to Enabled.

Primed for 1 hour error free. Keeping all setting changes.

That was the easy part...

Test - FSB FREQ From 414 to 416 using Prime95 - Result: Core 2 Hardware Failure in 4 minutes.
(Verified current setting still cause errors above a 414 FSB Freq.)

Test - Kept 416 FSB FREQ, but increased FSB Term volts from 1.44 to 1.46 - Result: Core 3 Hardware Failure in 4 minutes.

Test - Kept 416 FSB and FSB Term 1.46v, but also changed:
CPU Voltage : From 1.46250v to 1.506.
CPU PLL Voltage : From 1.50v to 1.56.
Result: Prime95 ran error free for 10 minutes.

Test - Restored FSB Term volts to 1.44
Kept - CPU Voltage of 1.506, and CPU PLL Voltage of 1.56, but also increased FSB FREQ to 418.
Result: Prime95 ran error free for 10 minutes.
(I do not believe upping the Term volts was helping me with my FSB wall. I returned them to what the were and still ran clean with the upped CPU voltages.)

Test - Kept CPU Voltage of 1.506, and CPU PLL Voltage of 1.56, but also increased FSB FREQ to 420.
Result: Prime95 ran error free for 10 minutes.
(Short test but looking good)

Test - Kept CPU Voltage of 1.506, and CPU PLL Voltage of 1.56, but also increased FSB FREQ to 430.
Result: System booted into Vista fine, and had the CPU clocked to 3.87GHz, but Core 3 had a Hardware Failure in 3 minutes.

Test - Kept CPU Voltage of 1.506, and CPU PLL Voltage of 1.56, but also lowered FSB FREQ to 425.
Result: Prime95 ran error free for 10 minutes!

I wanted to see if I could successfully run a 430 FSB, but only up the CPU PLL Voltage, not the CPU voltage:
Test - Kept CPU Voltage of 1.506, but upped CPU PLL Voltage from 1.56 to 1.62, and returned the FSB FREQ to 430.
Result: Hardware Failure in 3 minutes.

Tried again by upping the CPU PLL Voltage more!
Test - Kept CPU Voltage of 1.506, but upped CPU PLL Voltage from 1.62 to 1.64, and kept the FSB FREQ to 430.
Result: Hardware Failure in 3 minutes.

Action Taken: Returned the CPU PLL Voltage to 1.56v

Conclusion: My FSB Frequency wall of 414 was being directly caused by the voltage supplied to the CPU's core. My CPU Voltage setting of 1.46250v (BIOS), only will get me my 3.7GHz on my Q6600.

My new CPU Voltage setting of 1.46250v (BIOS), looks to be good for about 3.8GHz. Everest does read lower than the BIOS'es setting, but how high can I feel good about setting my voltage to in the BIOS for my Q6600?

I think I could have 4.0GHz if I am willing to overvolt my CPU a bit more?

These are my current best BIOS 907 settings: Always looking for advice.

Under Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : Auto
CPU Ratio Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 425
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 400
PCI-E Frequency: 110
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-850MHz
DRAM Command Rate : 2T
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS# Latency : 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 5
RAS# Precharge : 5
RAS# ActivateTime : 18
RAS# to RAS# Delay : Auto
Row Refresh Cycle Time : Auto
Write Recovery Time : Auto
Read to Precharge Time : Auto

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 : Strong
Transaction Booster : Auto

CPU Voltage : 1.506v (BIOS)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.56v (BIOS)
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51v (BIOS)
DRAM Voltage : 1.80v (BIOS)
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.44v (BIOS)
South Bridge Voltage : 1.05v (BIOS)
Loadline Calibration : Enabled
CPU GTL Reference : 0.63x
North Bridge GTL Reference : 0.67x
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : Auto
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : Auto
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.50v (BIOS)

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

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Under Advanced
And CPU Configuration:
CPU Ratio Setting : 9
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : Enabled
Vanderpool Technology : Enabled
Execute Disable Bit : Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled

Under Advanced
And USB Configuration :
USB Functions: Enabled
USB 2.0 Controller : Enabled
BIOS EHCI Hand-off : Enabled
Legacy USB Support : Enabled
Port 64/60 Emulation : Disabled