**Official e8400/e8500 Retail OC Thread

[PhilDoc]

techguy - yeah I would definitely do an OS reload. When I was OCing with my ty Q743 chip, I was BSODing and hard-locking all over the place. Pretty sure XP did not like that one bit.

Wow, first ity Q743 I've heard about. You must have been bummed. Most I've seen will easily do 4.2G

[Mav451]

Heh, well I knew it was bad when I was at 1.36vcore (WIN) and I was still struggling to make 3.96Ghz stable. I mean, even MORE vcore and still not 4Ghz? It truly made me sad panda. Even my current chip is fairly average, but there's just too much uncertainty with these chips to just get another and hope for the best.

[PhilDoc]

That sucks, but you just never know. From your sig, it looks like you have a real nice chip. Nice low volts for 4G.

[Mumid]

Finally got new memory in last night, G.Skill PC8000 4GB kit. Man is this stuff fast. With some additional cooling on the northbridge and RAM I'm testing the limits of stability @ 525 FSB and 4.2GHz. I can load Windows and use it normally, but have not yet stabilized serious benchmarking/stress-testing. Was able to get a quick Super Pi 1M run in though - 11.125 seconds. Everest mem speeds were 8.66GB/s copy, 8.5GB/s read, 11.1GB/s write, and 54.5ns latency. I feel like a little more tuning (and an O.S. reload - thanks to earlier corruption) could get things running perfectly at these speeds.

Unfortunately, I've got to pump some serious volts through the various components even for the relative stability I have now. 1.425 Vcore (1.4 in Windows under load), 2.1 Vdimm, 1.57 Vmch, Vich 1.55, Vtt 1.2375, GTLREF @ stock 63%. Also had to raise tRFC to 55 (all other timings auto). I don't think it's a smart idea to raise any of these voltages further on air cooling, except Vtt. I think I can probably tighten some of the sub-timings on the RAM, since I'm only o/c'ing the DIMMs by 5%.

Anyone else have such luck with this board (or any P35 board for that matter)? 525 FSB has surpassed my expectations. If I can get this to be stable I'll be happy, at least until Nehalem :p

No screenies ATM, I'm at work. Will post tonight.

Yeah, I can get it upto that on my setup no worries, however, I keep it at the settings in my sig because it gives me better memory bandwidth. Try lowering your performance level, at 500fsb it gives me 10.1GB read, 10.6GB write and 9.3GB copy bandwidth and a latency of 48.2ns with my Ballistix 6400 ram.

[Obitus]

It seems I've finally found the magic numbers. Though I think I can tighten the ram timings a little. This was at 1.4vcore. I think I might be able to back down to maybe 1.375, but I will play with it and see. I just wanted to hit 4Ghz stable.

[k0k0]

all chips do 4ghz ?? I need to do 500x8 on my Abit P35 with DDR 8000 OCZ and follow one chip to do 4ghz for a party of my city and ned to know if all E8400 does 4ghz with wc.

or wich step I have looking for.

thanks

[mk-ultra]

i think most of em do it, the best needs less volts to get there

my 745 needs only 1.312 for 4ghz, and some will do it with even less

if you add WC to the equation i doubt you won't reach 4ghz even with a not so much good clocker

[dnottis]

E8400 Q748A219

Still pushing higher, orthos'ing 4.2Ghz currently. But here's what she did so far. Lapped and water cooled.

[Psitech]

My E8400 can do 4.05 stable @ 1.26v. I got this from tankguys before they ran out and specifically asked for this batch.

[ThatGuy16]

My E8400 can do 4.05 stable @ 1.26v. I got this from tankguys before they ran out and specifically asked for this batch.

I'm running the same voltage 24/7 stable. Mines a Q745A567

[dropglock]

Here's my benchmark.... compare link.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5704056

[techguy2k5]

500x8 is as high as it goes with 100% stability for me. Finally that G.Skill memory I got paid off and allowed me to hit 4GHz. I'm going to see if I can tighten the timings at all since I'm only running the RAM @ stock 500MHz & SPD timings.



Sorry no CPU-z or memset, this was all I had time for before I left for work this morning.

[clokker]

Still tweaking but looks promising so far...


And so close...


Only voltage adjustments so far are setting the RAM to 2v and upping the vCore to 1.3 (in BIOS).
Currently testing same settings with a vCore of 1.28...trying to see how low it'll run before upping the FSB again.

[Dostoyevsky77]

More photos sigged. Good job, everyone else!

Batch: Q745A731

[turtletrax]

Wow, first ity Q743 I've heard about. You must have been bummed. Most I've seen will easily do 4.2G

I have a Q743 and it is awesome. It is on air in my HTPC as I type this running 4Ghz (8x500) at 1.25v and in my WCed DFI rig I had it running 4.3Ghz at 1.43v. Could have easily done more with more GTL tuning but I wanted it for low volt 4Ghz 24/7 use in my HTPC and did not want to bork it.

[clokker]

Just throwing this up because it surprised me so.

Flashed to the new Gigabyte F12 BIOS- only apparent change is the ".5 multiplier" option- and was considering where to go next with my chip when I recalled some talk about a "hole" in the FSB that seems to sit around 450 or so.

I wondered how deep that hole might be and decided to try 8 x 500, just kind of randomly picked it out but the resulting numbers had a pleasing symmetry to them...nice round 4000MHz clock speed, RAM exactly at it's 1000MHZ advertised speed and a rated FSB of 2000 even.
Figured it might boot to desktop but not much more.

Well, it did boot and seemed OK so I set up an Orthos run and left to run some errands.
This is what I came home to...


Note the vCore.
It's set to 1.275v in BIOS so there's some droop under load (Orthos reports an idle voltage of 1.280, so there's a bit of inaccuracy everywhere it seems) but this particular chip seems to thrive at lower voltages.
Very odd.

Also, my temp sensors seem to be "loosening up" or something.
When I first got the chip a few weeks ago, it would NOT read below 35°c, regardless of the ambient.
I froze my tail off with a window open only to see the temp remain stubbornly fixed.
Now, under more normal conditions- i.e., window closed, me comfy- idle runs a more realistic 26-28°c...much closer to what I would have expected with effective watercooling.

Next I think I'm going to try lowering the vCore again- maybe 1.25v- and see what happens.
Meanwhile I'll enjoy the warm and fuzzy feeling that a 500FSB gives me...

[HDCHOPPER]

EXELLENT CHIP THIER ! whats the batch ??

[clokker]

Stepping: 6CO
Week: Q746
Code: A518

[WeldZilla]

I kinda feel the need to duck when i say this but, I have 2 E8400's

Hey I ordered my first one from the egg on Jan 23rd or 4th and I installed it on my P5KE- wifi. Running it with a pair of G.Skill 6400HZ proved to be a match made in heaven. I tested it with me Evga ultra on the 3D's
I found on the 3D mark's and Aquamark I did better using the 8.5 multiplier
I found on pi that going one to one yielded my best time at a leeser fsb but higher clock speed. My prcessors were bought 2 weeks apart but they were both Q746's and both packed on 1/16/08. Here are a couple results with the P5KE board, This is Air cooled with a Scythe cpu cooler but, I also have a 4 inch squirrel cage fan blowing air through the cooler and over the mem and NB as well. The system stays very cool as my fan is outside till it warms up then it will be in front of the AC outlet.
Here are my pi and AQMK3 results with the P5KE

And here are my AQMK3 results again on the 8.5 multi. Which yielded a higher cpu score. Oh and the G.Skill just took what ever I gave it!!!



Then a couple weekds later I ordered again and got another E8400 with the same pack date of 1/16/08 again a Q746
This time however I pulled my Q6600 from WZ-3 and put the processor in this machine. It runs a P5E and is liquid cooled
I also run G.Skill 6400HZ on this platform also. Again simply because it will run anywhere tight and fast!!!
Now this board does not like to run the multipliers nearly as my as the P5KE but, running on the straight 9 multi it will run right over my P5KE
Remember this machine is liquid cooled although with my cooling set up on the other they run nearly identical temps.
here are my pi and AQMK3 scores to compare I used the same 8800 ultra card in this machine to compare the 3D's
first the pi.

As you can see it is only about .07 seconds faster but, when you get up to this speed that .07 is huge!!
Check out the Aquamark cpu scores. The P5E just hammers what I could do on my P5KE.


For me both systems have been near perfection right out of the box. On the P5E I put in the processor, installed 2 x 250 gig Seagate hdd's set the fsb to 500
fired it for the very first time at 4500mhz right out of the box and installed windows XP-Pro on a fresh Raid0 array and it has run flawless for me.
Both systems are good to go and both run at break neck speeds daily as you can see by my sig where I run them 24/7.
I run a 800GTX with the P5KE-wifi system and the ultra stays home with the P5E. Everyone is happy

Another thing, I have just hammered them with voltage with absolutely no degradation at all!! not one bit. If it begins to happen I will let you know.
At my daily clock they are getting hit with about 1.544V. I think I should tell you that I have had my 2.4C SL6Z3 running on 1.662v. for over 3 years and it is still kicking.

I am not afraid of a little voltage........

WZ

[sofarfrome]

I have a Q743 and it is awesome. It is on air in my HTPC as I type this running 4Ghz (8x500) at 1.25v and in my WCed DFI rig I had it running 4.3Ghz at 1.43v. Could have easily done more with more GTL tuning but I wanted it for low volt 4Ghz 24/7 use in my HTPC and did not want to bork it.

I had the same batch as you...4.3GHz @ 1.344vcore 24/7...you should bump it up some

[Mav451]

Stepping: 6CO
Week: Q746
Code: A518

Hmm...doing way better than mine (by at least 3 vcore steps). It's pretty crazy the amount of variation even in the same batch.

[PhilDoc]

I have a Q743 and it is awesome. It is on air in my HTPC as I type this running 4Ghz (8x500) at 1.25v and in my WCed DFI rig I had it running 4.3Ghz at 1.43v. Could have easily done more with more GTL tuning but I wanted it for low volt 4Ghz 24/7 use in my HTPC and did not want to bork it.

Yep, they seem to be a great week. I agree with sofarfrome, you should crank it up some more

[ban916]

Just got done building it lastnight. My first build. Can't believe how fast it is.

[turtletrax]

I had the same batch as you...4.3GHz @ 1.344vcore 24/7...you should bump it up some

Yep, they seem to be a great week. I agree with sofarfrome, you should crank it up some more

I have stuff up my sleeve, so I guess I will let you in on it

I am working on a WCing solution for my HTPC that involves me running the Pump and rad in the Crawlspace of my Condo for silence reasons as well as low ambeints even in the winter. Bad thing is I think I need to beef up my RAD from a MCR220 to a 320 or perhaps even a TC PA 120.3 and I ned to get a EK 8800GTS block and I am semi-broke right now.

I will have the solution finnished by the summer heat and I will crank it up for sure. ATM with little in the way of accurate temp reading and my Zipang not getting enough fresh air in my Silverstone Crown, I keep the clocks modest.

I also thing you had a better chip than I did sofarfrome, yours is (was?) a gem

[tranceaddict]

Hey Weldzilla - what is the highest clock you can run on the 2 chips which is at leasst 8h+ Prime stable, and at what voltage?