I'm new to OC'ing, and have a question

[Frog]

Hello.

I was hoping if I tell you the Bios OC settings of my new rig, you would be able to guide me, or tell me if the settings are correct.

I bought this machine a couple of weeks ago, and it came overclocked.

This is a gaming rig.

CPU Freq. = 3200.0 / FSB Reference Clock MHz = 1600 / CPU Multiplyer = 8x / PCIe = 100 / SPP <-- MCP Ref. Clock, MHz 200.0 / SPP --> MCP Ref. Clock, MHZ 200.0 / NForce --> 5x / CPU Core (1.40000) 1.35v / CPU FSB (1.4v) 1.4v / Memory (2.100v) 2.100v / NForce SPP (auto) 1.40v

If you want me to paragraph this instead of forward slashes let me know.

I would appreciate any help from anyone with experience.

Thank you.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

 

[Frog]

I am going to reset my bios and see if any game I own needs me to overclock. I am also going to get batteries for my camera so I can take pictures of my rig, since I really don't know what I have yet, and maybe then someone will be interested in helping me, a little, with overclocking.
Meanwhile I'll read some more about what stess test softwares I need to test this rig for stability. I was told Vista doesn't like to be OC'd.

 

[Fumz]

Vista doesn't care one way or another whether you overclock or not; in this respect, it's no different than XP. The only thing that matters is whether or not your OC is stable? If it is, Vista will be just fine with it. If it isn't, it won't matter what OS you have. An unstable OC will crash any machine.

The "problem", if it can be called a problem, is that typically Vista users have a lot more RAM than XP users, especially 64-bit Vista users. It is this increased amount of RAM that makes getting a Vista OC more stable; not Vista per se. Usually, as RAM increases, the harder it is to get high clocks (it's a memory controller thing). However, if you've chosen your parts right, this should not be an issue.

There are a lot of guys who are just flat out dead set against overclocking here because of the obvious inherent dangers... and, for the most part, you should not reject what they say because overclocking can damage your hardware; however, if it's done right and within reason, and if you educate yourself on the process and seek out a guiding hand, then you should be just fine.

Before you clear cmos, make sure you've saved your settings in the bios re-loaded feature... if you have that option available? If you don't, then before you erase your current settings, write them all down so you can return the system to the state it's in now.

Btw, you said the machine came overclocked. Who did the OC? Factory, friend or local PC shop?

 

[Frog]

The thread title should have said, "I'm new to OC'ing, and have a question". I bought the computer from someone who had it for a year and overclocked it himself. I am going to get some batteries today for my camera, and I will take pictures of the bios settings and of the rig, to post on here. Maybe it will be helpful, and that way I can compare the bios settings to see what actually is the difference. I didn't want to reset cmos, just load the defaults. I will print the pdf manual section of the bios, so I have somewhat of a clue to what I'm seeing in there.

Thanks for the reply. I will get back.

 

[Frog]

Here is my computer.

Here is the settings of the bios. Sorry for the blur.

 

[Fumz]

... that way I can compare the bios settings to see what actually is the difference. I didn't want to reset cmos, just load the defaults. I will print the pdf manual section of the bios, so I have somewhat of a clue to what I'm seeing in there.

6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Either way you'll lose the overclock you currently have if you do this and don't write down your settings (although a picture is more than enough) or have a bios re-loaded feature (that bios should).

If you don't mind me asking, are you having an issue with the current OC, or is it that you just want to see what the rig does stock?

Btw, nice looking machine. How loud is it?

 

[Frog]

... that way I can compare the bios settings to see what actually is the difference. I didn't want to reset cmos, just load the defaults. I will print the pdf manual section of the bios, so I have somewhat of a clue to what I'm seeing in there.

6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Either way you'll lose the overclock you currently have if you do this and don't write down your settings (although a picture is more than enough) or have a bios re-loaded feature (that bios should).

If you don't mind me asking, are you having an issue with the current OC, or is it that you just want to see what the rig does stock?

Btw, nice looking machine. How loud is it?

I just wanted to see if the computer gets the blue screen of death at startup without overclocking. I want to learn how to overclock. I want to stress test everything before and after overclocking, if I need overclocking.

Thank you, I thought it looked nice when I was buying it off the original builder ($525.00 minus the scsi, 1 Raptor150, Plextor DVD burner, and the 2 hdd coolers). Loud?, I can't here myself think with the exhaust fan in my window to pull cigarette smoke out, and the scsi drive. Other than that it's not bad. I wear Sennheiser HD 485 headphones when I'm gaming anyway. Speaking of gaming, time to test the stock system abilities.

 

[Fumz]

I've just put two and two together (yeah, i'm slow). You have another thread in the main forums, right? In there I detail how you can get the system to not automatically restart after a bsod... do that so you can find out exactly what the errors are.

 

[Frog]

I've just put two and two together (yeah, i'm slow). You have another thread in the main forums, right? In there I detail how you can get the system to not automatically restart after a bsod... do that so you can find out exactly what the errors are.

Yes, thank you. I did get f8 to take me to safe mode and unchecked automatically restart. No errors yet. :crossfingers:

Well I tested a rally car game Dirt, with same settings, high and ultra with screen resolution 1600x1200 @ 75Hz, and I see a slight difference. for instance, I can see fence posts, plenty far down the track, but the fence itself appears late. Maybe less frames per second but definately more stable, less glitching.

I am going to test a couple more games.

 

[Frog]

Thank you to who ever changed the title of this thread for me. Take a Rep Power point when I get another.
I want to overclock. Is 33 - 37*C a little warm for Idle?
What does the CPU Mult. do in relation to playing a video game, and does the Q6600 processor need 8x mult. setting in order to overclock?
Basically, what is the step by step procedure to overclocking this processor on a XFX680i SLI LT Mboard with 8GB of 800Mhz Extreme DDR2 Corsair ram?
I get loss of frames per second in Dirt when multiple cars are racing at the same time. I want to start low, like 2.8GHz. Can anyone help me please.

 

[Fumz]

Your idle temps are fine. While 37 is a little on the warm side idling, 33C is good enough. Perhaps you could look into your fan situation and maybe get one that pushes a bit more air past the cpu heatsink? It's not so much idle temps that matter; what matters is your load temps. You'll want to keep those under 60C.

The multiplier is how a cpu derives its speed: multiplier x front side bus (system clock)= cpu speed. It's not relevant to your games; you could lower your multiplier, increase your front side bus and still arrive at the same cpu speed, or higher than stock, if you wish and if your board can handle a high fsb (although high fsb isn't really important anymore, cpu speed is).

For example, when you began you had a rated fsb of 1600MHz, a cpu speed of 3.2GHz and an 8x multiplier. Intels are "quad pumped", which means that your fsb is really 400MHz (400x4=1600). So, 400MHz fsb x 8x multiplier = 3200MHz = 3.2GHz. Easy, right?

Read these two links, they're short, and you should be good to go:

http://www.vistax64.com/overclocking-cooling/177835-intel-overclocking-guide.html

Howto: Overclock C2q (quads) And C2d (duals) - A Guide V1.7 - OverclockersClub Forums

 

[Frog]

Thank you. I will read them before I fail any more at this.
Should I use the flexible fan that is blowing on the ram to blow through that Asus heatsink? You can see it in the pictures.

 

[Frog]

The How To is a little old. Can you tell me what software I need to do testing. I allready have the latest Core Temp.
Also, how do I log temps under load?

 

[Fumz]

The How To is a little old. Can you tell me what software I need to do testing. I allready have the latest Core Temp.
Also, how do I log temps under load?

...

It's "old" because it doesn't need to be any newer. Come back with an i7 and then you'll get a different guide; until then, read the guide that instructs on the cpu you own. The software you need, along with the links to it, are all provided in the really really old guide.

 

[Frog]

That's the second time I've read that guide. I thought I had the hang of it, so I tried the same settings and found that 1.4v for my fsb works, but I just got the blue screen of death, and one earlier. The rescent was a STOP : 0x000003b, event id 6008, unexpected stop during a game. But running at 3.0GHz works great in Dirt, where stock 2.4GHz was running like crap. The other BSOD was STOP : 0x00000124 (0x0..03). Sorry, I didn't really count the zeros. How do I look up these errors?
Does anyone know how I can start a log with Core Temp, and where it would be located to view? I'm also not sure how to setup Prime 95 to stress test for long periods of time.

 

[Fumz]

BSOD's are usually due to memory related errors; not always, but usually. Are you running memtest in between tweaking the bios and booting into Windows? Seems to me not enough time has passed for you to have done a thorough job of memtesting. It's going to take time to get through a few passes with 8GB's... which leads me to think you're adjusting then loading Windows... which is a bad idea. You can end up corrupting Windows, then you'll have to re-install.

Always check your settings in memtest before you boot into Windows. Errors in tests 1-4 are front side bus related; errors in tests 5 and up are memory related. These clues can really help your OC. You may very well find, as most guys do, that along with adjusting vcore, you also have to optimize your memory timings. Just setting the RAM to run at X and leaving all the timings on auto usually doesn't turn out so hot and can really limit your OC. At the very least, you should set the cas, ras to cas, ras precharge, tras (cycle time) and the command rate. You may (and I stress may) also find that with 8GB's, a slight (and I do mean slight) bump in voltage is required on both the RAM and the chipset? Maybe not, but, figuring all this out is the fun of overclocking, right?

I would suggest finding an OC data base (find forums based on your board) that contains your board and your RAM and have a look at what others are running those sticks at. I would also not plan on immediate results... clocking right (stable) can take time.

I don't use CoreTemp so I could not tell you how to generate a log, but it seems to me that that's secondary at this point. Are you having temp issues? If you're not, then I would focus on getting the OC stable. Once you're past the BSOD's, then you can worry about logging temps over time.

You don't want to run Prime95, you'll want to run two instances of Orthos (dual prime), to tax all four cores. Download Stress Prime 2004 BETA ... but you're not ready for that yet. If you're BSOD'ing just loading, for sure Orthos will lock the rig up.

 

[Frog]

I seem to load to Windows just fine. The bsod happened playing BF2. I think the first bsod was when front side bus was set at auto, I am not sure now. The voltage is 1.9v going to the ram, same as Corsair's rating for the ram. Time to get Orthos. Overclocking isn't fun. It just makes me want to spend 500 dollars on a new and faster chip, rather than read for days to fail. But I haven't given up yet.
Thanks for the reminder to test ram first. The ram is still stock I believe, unless changing the fsb will cause them to error.
The highest temp I have seen while running P95 was 58*C. I also have NVidia System Monitor that log temps and other features that I plan to use instead of Core Temp.
"Errors in tests 1-4 are front side bus related; errors in tests 5 and up are memory related." Are you saying here that error #'s 1-4, or tests 1-4? Sorry, I never seen a memtest error before. I will set it from bios to run at startup and test it right now.
Thanks.

 

[Frog]

I ran NVidia memory test ( slow ), and I think it checks out ok, because it went right to Windows when it was done.
Fumz, I don't understand what you mean by this, "At the very least, you should set the cas, ras to cas, ras precharge, tras (cycle time) and the command rate.", but I did set the first four to stock (5-5-5-18) and the others to auto. Could auto be the problem, I wonder. Also, memory frequency works out to 799MHz.
How do I snap picture shots of windows, instead of typing what I see?

 

[Frog]

Correction, my fsb voltage has to be set to auto, I tried 1.2v, 1.3v, and 1.4v, all with errors, but auto works fine .

 

[Frog]

Another thing that might be causing me problems is the bios ver. I'm using P05, when P08 is available.