**Official e8400/e8500 Retail OC Thread

[mrcape]

Bench result -
superpi 1m 9.98 seconds on air with 1.42 vcore @ 4.65ghz

Video (w/8800gts) with 24/7 clock -
3dm05 - 25600
3dm06 - 15600

24/7 -
8.5x500 4.25ghz 4-4-4-12 1.325v in bios

[JTeg86]

Bench result -
superpi 1m 9.98 seconds on air with 1.42 vcore @ 4.65ghz

Video (w/8800gts) with 24/7 clock -
3dm05 - 25600
3dm06 - 15600

24/7 -
8.5x500 4.25ghz 4-4-4-12 1.325v in bios

Very nice...any AQ3 runs with it at 4.2Ghz by chance?

[mrcape]

I haven't used aquamark with this chip. If I have some time over the weekend I can try it.

[THRASHER2]

Here is a few a Have

[drakore]

Here is what i got:

e8400 9x450 @ 1.41V (cpu-z load) ~1.46 in bios Gigabyte X38-DS4
FSB Overvoltage control: +0.15V
MCH Voltage: +0.125V
Crucial Ballistix 2x2GB 2.2V DDR2-900 4-4-4-12

I tested it for about 7 hours on orthos without any issues.

I can get it boot with 1.47V (cpu-z) @ 475x9 but it tanks after like 7 minutes of orthos. It doesn't lock up the system or anything, but orthos generates an error. Does anything think i need to bump my voltage on my cpu more, or does my FSB/MCH voltage look a little low? The memory definitely isnt an issue.

Thanks!

[mrcape]

Not sure about your bios optiions, but I would start over at 4ghz and try tuning gtl and maybe apply manual memory settings. Try to get stable at 4ghz with as little voltage as possible and keep pll, NB and fsb term low. you should be able to get stable with lower vcore unless your chip is weak.

If it's the just chip holding you back then a bump more vcore will probably help but I can't advise going over 1.4v at all.

[drakore]

memory settings are manual... trust me memory is not an issue, i am only loading the cpu anyways. I dont see and pll or gtl voltage options on my board, i guess they aren't offered on the gigabyte x38-ds4.

What kind of NB and FSB voltages are people using?

[Darkangel93]

Does anyone have an E8400 Q804 batch results? Just got mine in, at work, so I can't play with it quite yet. But have searched everywhere with no one mentioning this batch at all. Retail Box also.

[mrcape]

No doubt. Just mentioning some things to try in case you hadn't. Setting the gtls manually can sometimes help you get higher clock with less vcore. I think it might help to ask some people on the same board/bios too to see their settings. Maybe there's a better bios for your board.

Just for general reference, neither of mine need more than 1.2v fsb term and 1.4v nb to bench and 3dmark at over 4.7ghz with 545fsb. So I would say you can try to keep those low at first.

Just for kicks, have you tried using 8.5 multi and higher fsb?

[M3kk]

Q749A224 E8500 anyone?

[bellinghamwa]

What voltage would y'all recommend for the CPU FSBwith a E8400 on 790i at 3.6 (1600 linked/synced)? The CPU Core is on Auto (1.32v in CPUID).

I had all voltages (except RAM) set to Auto, but was experiencing lagging and freezing in Crysis. I manually increased the CPU FSB to 1.35v from Auto-1.30v and increased the SPP to 1.40v from Auto-1.30v, and it lags less, but was wondering if I should increase the FSB to 1.4v instead of 1.35. The only problem is that it is in red instead of green. Before I put the E8400 in I had a E6750 and it automatically set the CPU Core and the CPU FSB to 1.4 (green).

[Ovidiu]

Well all the e8400's i know can do 3600 with default voltage, mine too. So i think you should try it this way first and stop using auto voltage.

[bellinghamwa]

Should increase the CPU FSB to 1.4v or leave it at 1.35v? Either way it is manually set since auto was 1.3v and was unstable.

[mrcape]

Geez I don't get why you guys are needing so much vcore to get stable under 4ghz.

1.4ghz would keep my chip stable at about 4.4 - 4.5ghz. I know it's partly because it's a great chip, but even my crappy 748 chip is stable at 4ghz with 1.36vcore. I think you guys need to dig into the settings more.

[fireice2]

@mrcape

You have a really nice chip there!

btw, what are your GTL settings @ 4ghz?

I'm seeking to lower my voltages by a few notches.

[mrcape]

I guess it depends on the FSB and vtt you use. If I use 8x500 fsb, with 1.15vtt which I prefer, the gtls are 59/59/59. If you are at 4.05ghz with 1.29vcore, like in your sig, that's doing pretty damn well too. For some reason I had better luck with 8x and 8.5x multis for that speed.

[stephen23]

Q807a241 What You Think?

my Q807A191

[Mykou]

@mrcape

You have a really nice chip there!

btw, what are your GTL settings @ 4ghz?

I'm seeking to lower my voltages by a few notches.

I think you should be already satisfied - Your chip does as well as my xeon
Q746A534 at same vcore ( + 4h orthos small ffts stable ) , stable at 3.6ghz for 1.15v load and 3.75 ghz with 1.20v load.

my other Q807A091 is stable at 4ghz for 1.20v but seems to be more unpredictable ( maybe IHS concave )

[Hughyhunter]

Should increase the CPU FSB to 1.4v or leave it at 1.35v? Either way it is manually set since auto was 1.3v and was unstable.

No dont increase it at all. At 400mhz you should be 100% stable with all voltages in auto (especially the cpu vcore considering auto set's it to 1.325... I set it below auto to 1.225 and I have mine @ 3.6ghz also) on both 780i/790i chipsets. First off are you Orthos stable for over 2 hours? IF you are YOU are not NB/SB unstable. TRUST me you will have errors if you are SPP/MCP was unstable. As far as going out of the "green" zone on your board. DONT DO IT! A lot say to set SPP to 1.5v for above 450mhz stable. I dont agree. I ran my E8400 @ 450mhz or 4.05ghz for months with low "green" voltages on all SPP/MCP/Vcore/FSB. I even kept spp<>mcp to auto. Not a bit unstable.
If you are having Orthos stability issues than maybe (sine you are only 400mhz) RMA that chip or motherboard. Especially if you have to go outside "green" voltages.
The E8400 should be able to go to 400mhz or 3.6ghz without touching voltages (accept) memory, and even should be able to set voltage blow what auto does. If not I would recommend RMA.

[bellinghamwa]

No dont increase it at all. At 400mhz you should be 100% stable with all voltages in auto (especially the cpu vcore considering auto set's it to 1.325... I set it below auto to 1.225 and I have mine @ 3.6ghz also) on both 780i/790i chipsets. First off are you Orthos stable for over 2 hours? IF you are YOU are not NB/SB unstable. TRUST me you will have errors if you are SPP/MCP was unstable. As far as going out of the "green" zone on your board. DONT DO IT! A lot say to set SPP to 1.5v for above 450mhz stable. I dont agree. I ran my E8400 @ 450mhz or 4.05ghz for months with low "green" voltages on all SPP/MCP/Vcore/FSB. I even kept spp<>mcp to auto. Not a bit unstable.
If you are having Orthos stability issues than maybe (sine you are only 400mhz) RMA that chip or motherboard. Especially if you have to go outside "green" voltages.
The E8400 should be able to go to 400mhz or 3.6ghz without touching voltages (accept) memory, and even should be able to set voltage blow what auto does. If not I would recommend RMA.

This was my first OC so I was hoping all AUTO settings would work. However, I was experiencing lag and freezing while playing Crysis and was unable to run the Crysis Benchmark with these settings --> 1900x1200;All High; 4xAA. I tried the benchmark 7 times and it crashed everytime with a blue screen. Then I went into the BIOS and increased the FSB from 1.30 to 1.35 and the SPP from 1.3 to 1.4 and it ran the benchmark the first time. Also the lag in Crysis has been reduced.

[Technophobe]

The E8400 should be able to go to 400mhz or 3.6ghz without touching voltages (accept) memory, and even should be able to set voltage blow what auto does. If not I would recommend RMA.

How would Intel accept an RMA like this i.e. can't overclock to 3.6 using default voltages? Wouldn't they just reject the RMA straight away or test it with default voltages @ 3GHz spec (test Ok) and then return it. Has anyone got any experience with this sort of return?

I know my Q745A740 can't do 3.6GHz stable with what BIOS thinks is default (1.225), I have to boost it to 1.248v (load) to be stable. Not everyone has a good batch.

[Hughyhunter]

This was my first OC so I was hoping all AUTO settings would work. However, I was experiencing lag and freezing while playing Crysis and was unable to run the Crysis Benchmark with these settings --> 1900x1200;All High; 4xAA. I tried the benchmark 7 times and it crashed everytime with a blue screen. Then I went into the BIOS and increased the FSB from 1.30 to 1.35 and the SPP from 1.3 to 1.4 and it ran the benchmark the first time. Also the lag in Crysis has been reduced.

Trust me I understand Crysis being very picky and crashing. However you have to run Orthos or PRime95 in order to KNOW if you are having stability issues. Crysis benchmarking tool is not for testing stability. I too have had random crashes with that tool and it had nothing to do with my overclock. It's probably a fluke that it worked the second time around with increased FSB voltage. Use ORthos and PRime95 to find out if you are stable. Otherwise you are working backwards.

How would Intel accept an RMA like this i.e. can't overclock to 3.6 using default voltages? Wouldn't they just reject the RMA straight away or test it with default voltages @ 3GHz spec (test Ok) and then return it. Has anyone got any experience with this sort of return?
I know my Q745A740 can't do 3.6GHz stable with what BIOS thinks is default (1.225), I have to boost it to 1.248v (load) to be stable. Not everyone has a good batch.

Good point. However I dont think he has a bad chip or mobo. I think he is not doing Prime and doesnt know for SURE if it's stable. Crysis benchmark is the stability ISSUE. I have had problems with it as I'm sure others have too.
However... You having to raise your auto voltage to 1.248 is not a problem. It's your motherboard just not giving it enough voltage at that clock speed. My mobo gives it 1.325 @ 3.6ghz. That's way too much. I was able to get it stable at 1.225 in bios. 1.20 in cpu-z. I dont think you have a bad batch also. It's just your mobo not give enough (isn't a bad thing) and requiring more to push it to 400mhz. But by all means 1.25 and below is great for 3.6ghz IMO

[realrena]

my Q807A191

Is this under water? If not, what cooling do you use?
46C at load seems unbelievable for air... (or am I wrong?)

[Hughyhunter]

Is this under water? If not, what cooling do you use?
46C at load seems unbelievable for air... (or am I wrong?)

Yes... You might be slightly misinformed... I get about that on air!

[CrazyNutz]

Yes... You might be slightly misinformed... I get about that on air!

For sure!!! At 1.232vcore air should fit the bill nicely. Damn I wish I had that chip!