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

[Fumz]

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. ... 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.

1) Suite yourself. You've been warned about loading Windows before testing settings; my hands are clean should anything go wrong. 2) Be sure. 3) You have 8GB's. That's a lot and you may require a slight bumb in voltage. I'm not saying this is certain, but you may. You'll only find out through thorough testing. 4) Again, Prime95 is useless for you. You have a quad core, Prime only tests 1 core. You need to run two instances of Orthos to test all 4 cores. 5) memtest is a series of tests. Each test is unique. When you run it you will see that it goes through tests 1 through 9 in sequence. If you get an error during tests 1,2,3 or 4, then that tells you that there's an issue with your fsb... perhaps insufficient vcore. If you get errors in tests 5 and above, then that tells you your memory has an issue; either insufficient voltage or incorrect timings.

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?

I don't know what the nVidia memory tester is. I've never used any of the nVidia tools because they've always proven to be problematic. If I were you I'd uninstall them all.

Memory timings could be a problem, I don't know, you haven't run memtest? Google your RAM and see what other guys with 8GB's run on your board. It may turn out that the auto timings are just fine, then again, you may have to make some adjustments? It's doubtful since you're unlinked and at 800MHz, but it wouldn't hurt to double check.

To take a snapshot inside Windows just hit the PrtScr button on your keyboard and paste it into Paint, then upload the pic somewhere and link it here.

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 .

Auto works fine with what, overclocking or stock? johngalt and xguntherx have both OC'd q6600 quads with your board. They can tell you more specifically what voltages to use; however, keep in mind that no two rigs are alike, even if they're made with identical parts. What works for one guy may not work for another, but they can give you a good baseline.

Your bios may indeed be a problem. However, before I just went and updated it, I'd find out how well it overclocks? If all they did was add support for 45nm cores, and did nothing else, then there's no point to it.

 

[Frog]

Nvidia mem test is the test that is in the bios. It runs before Windows loads. I can set it to test fast, medium, and slow.
I just got off the phone with XFX support and they recommend the P08 update for the Q6600 processor, so I will do that.
Prime 95 tests all cores 0-3. Did you know that, or are you saying it sucks and I should use orthos twice instead? I tried to look up how to set both stress test software, but no info, and in other forums people are asking the same question with no reply.
I am still wondering what the bsod errors I got and posted here mean.
Are you getting frusterated yet Fumz? I have some new bald spots on my head next to the grey hairs. lol
The overclock I am running now is the best I seen this computer run since I got it, minus the two bsod errors.
Thank you Fumz. You have been helping me non-stop since I registered to this forum. I really appreciate it.

 

[Frog]

Well, I updated the bios to P08 and the OC setting I was using before the update, won't work. I get a warning to reset the changes that I made. The bios added a couple of things. Now I can set the f.s.b. to 1.5v if I wanted to now, and it has a option for what OS is used for future compatibility.
How do I contact johngalt and xguntherx for some help.
For now I will leave it stock, so my hair can grow back a little.

 

[Fumz]

Ah, k. Some boards offer the option of running memtest in their bios; however, you should still opt for the original as you never know if the board's version is running an older version of memtest. I've had a few boards that have offered this option, but never have I seen or heard about setting it to fast, medium or slow. Memtest runs as fast as your cpu will allow and it takes a certain amount of time to get through 1 pass for certain amount of RAM... ~ 20 min for 2GB's @ 1 pass. Ideally, in order to tax all the address ranges, a system isn't considered memtest stable until it can pass 8 hours of either a continuous loop or looping test 5. That's overkill, imho, but I do it anyway on all new clocks just for my own piece of mind.

It's no surprise that your board maker suggests the new bios; however, the Q6600 is an older core and nobody is tweaking bioses for those cores anymore; they've moved on to the 45nm cores. That's not to say they haven't improved the bios in terms of overclocking stability, they may very well have, but in order to find out what you want to know, you're going to have to read what guys running the bios say... not just listen to some college kid reading from a prepared script on the XFS tech support hotline.

Prime95 only tests 1 core. That the load is spread over 4 cores doesn't mean it's now able to load all 4 cores. Orthos is Prime95, it's just two instances so dual core guys don't have to bother hassling setting up two instances of Prime95. Since you have 4 cores, you will have to run two instances of Orthos; they've yet to put out a quad core version of the benchmark. I can tell you now you're going to see higher temps than you ever would running the rig normally. Be aware and monitor this test. Just know that in normal day to day stuff, you're never going to see the machine get this hot.

Nah... I'm not frustrated at all. :D


DO NOT set vcore to 1.5 volts. 1.45 is the max you should set your core at. If your cpu does not overclock as you'd like it to with 1.45 volts, then that's just the luck of the draw, and you drew a bad one. Much of overclocking is dependent upon luck. Some cores clock well, some won't clock at all. It is what it is. However, before deciding that yours is a dog, I would go back and carefully do things according to the "old" link provided earlier. Yeah, it's going to take a while, but you'll be pleased with the results if you do things right.

**edit**

I'm sure this weekend both john and gunther will find their way to this thread. Like me, they love this stuff.

 

[johngalt]

FUMZ - my eVGA board has that option too - it is nowhere near as comprehensive as Memtest86+. Oh, and you're lucky I even came in - 21 hours at Uni is kicking my derriere - and not nicely either.

Frog - do yourself a favor and take the time (it'll take at least a good solid 2 days of nothing but mucking around in the settings and testing) ***before*** you go further.

If you don't, you're running the risk of many different thing,s including frying some of your hardware.

And if money is not an object and you don't care if the HW gets fried just so you can game for the next couple of weeks - I'd like to hit you up for a $10,000 gift.

 

[Frog]

Hello John. I downloaded memtest86+ earlier to see if stock settings pass, and they did in one pass. So I think I know ram isn't the problem . I wasn't over clocking the ram, I don't think, because I unlinked it to 800MHz. But the voltage was up too, 2.1v, on a 1.9v tested chip, and that's how it was overclocked when it came to me. I was also running the 8x multiplyer. With the P08 bios (recently P05 bios) I can't seem to get 9x multiplyer overclocked without testing with cranked up voltages everywhere. I might have to go back to 9x multiplyer and crank them up, but I don't understand what the multiplyer is doing when I play a game.

The best overall settings I have seen yet was 3.0GHz with the P05 bios, but with a couple of blue screen errors. Right now I have it at 800MHz ram unlinked, 8x multiplyer, and 2.8GHz. I am testing it with P95 ver. 2.5x 64 bit using the test that uses not much ram (the one on the top, sorry). Core Temp is telling me it might have spiked into the 60's, but I haven't seen it yet, it is stable in the upper 50's. I still need to tweak the voltage down a little to see where it crashes. I think it's at 1.7v.

I haven't tried a game yet, I will test the ram at these settings first. Is memtest suppose to post my chipset and the ram type? It's blank for me.

I have read that overclocking guide 3x now. It tells me to use P95, not Orthos. Fumz.?! I wouldn't mind trying Orthos though.

Thank you for making a presence, If I had 10 g's I would not be overclocking.

~EDIT~ Small FFTs is the P95 test I am running. The voltage at 2.8 is actually 1.29v and I turned the ram down to 1.9v.

 

[Fumz]

*sigh*

I'm not typing these lengthy paragraphs for my own benefit; the least you can do is read them thoroughly. Let's keep poor ole Fumz from getting frustrated thinking you're not paying attention, ok?

I can't keep repeating myself. Perhaps if you hear it from someone else the facts about Prime may sink in? Official Guide To Running Dual/Quad Instances of Prime95

Now, in case you are running a quad core CPU, you will need to run four instances of Prime 95. I will get into that a bit later.

One last time, Orthos is Prime; they are one in the same. You can run two instances of Orthos or four instances of Prime... your choice... doing either will result in the same thing, but 1 instance of Prime isn't loading four cores. Let's just accept this reality and move on.

As I explained earlier, a multiplier doesn't do anything for your games. Your games do not care whether your multiplier is 6x, 7x, 8x or 9x. Again, a multiplier is used only to derive cpu speed and has ZERO effect on your games. CPU speed has an effect, but not the multiplier. Having read the guide 3 times now, you should know this.

Now that you've read, and understood, the guide, start from the beginning. Load the board's optimized defaults and clock up in increments of 5MHz fsb at stock vcore, stock memory voltage (setting 5-5-5-15, 2t). Go up until you don't pass memtest. You will most likely fail first at the fsb, so increase vcore slightly, in the smallest increment you can until you pass... then keep going up.

Like john said and like I've said, this is going to take a couple days to do right. It's worth it, but make no mistake, there are no shortcuts or magical settings. Each machine is different so only doing the work will produce good results. It's worth it, so just hunker down and do it. Resistance is futile.

 

[Frog]

2650.54MHz (294.50 x 9.0) Stock voltages and unlinked ram set to 800MHz
I think I am making progress. I want to test the game again to see if this setting is good enough for me. Or would that be a risky thing to do at these settings with only one pass in Memtest86+ and 1 hour of two instances of Orthos?

 

[Fumz]

Why ask... you're going to do it anyway, right?

 

[Frog]

... I listened to everything you had to say. | 1 : Being that the guide was old, I didn't think you knew about the 2.5 ver of P95 that was updated to it. Even the guy that wrote the guide sais that he likes P95 2.5 better than Orthos, because you don't have to run two instances like Orthos. | 2 : I was having a hard time understanding the words you were using to describe what you were saying, and tried to google everything, but leads me to confusion any way. | 3 : (should be first) I was a little impatient at first, wanting to get some gaming in. | 4: I don't think I ever abused this computer more than the x-owner of it, and I save the settings I make in bios, so I can bring stock back, to play. If I wanted to test a setting I made, I only tested for a short period of time while logging the core temps. Never have I seen core temps over 61C while gaming.

Ask me what ever you want, and I will answer the questions to the best of my ability, and if you don't understand my words, I don't mind explaining it till you understand, unless I really don't know, than I will tell you that I don't know. What I don't know>What I do know.

2.7GHz is unstable, so I upped the voltages indivually and all together, and still wont make it past bios post. Unless it doesn't like to be exactly 2.7GHz on the dot. I even loosened the ram a very little.

Where can I be going wrong with this? I know the multiplyer set to 8x will get me passed the post screen, but the fsb frequency goes way up, I am not sure if that is a good thing, and what would be the limit unless unstableness stops me first.

BTW Fumz. I tried the print scrn button, and nothing happens, unless it did happen, and I don't know where to find the pictures?

 

[Frog]

This link is also good. Gigabyte P965-XXX overclocking and BIOS tweaking Guide - [H]ard|Forum