New rig won't boot. NEED HELP!!!!!!!

[Elysium]

Alright, so I think my problem is the memory. I had the FSB running at 1095 with a 3:2 divider. i changed the divider to 5:4 and restarted, BAM!! Got a long BBBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!! The RAM was going to run at close to 900MHz. Ya guys think it's the RAM? What's some REALLY overclockable memory out there? Maybe a 2x512MB kit that runs at 667MHz but that overclocks really well? It's gotta be under a $100, though.

Regards, Nate

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

BTW, your first mistake was jumping straight to 2.65GHz. Never jump that big. You're supposed to go up by small increments, not giant ones.

[Stormcrow]

For under 100, your not going to get good overclocking memory. The cheaper the parts the cheaper the price, and value line memory wont hold up well for high overclocks. Those massive clocks you see people compete with are done with enthusiast memory, stuff like DDR2 1066 Micron chipped memory that costs 250+. That doesnt mean you cant overclock, just means you wont get those high scores.
Your XMS2's are plenty good enough for moderate OCing, just take everything back down to stock and slowly bump the FSB up with small increments like wtcnbrwndo4u said, usually 1-5 at a time. Then save and try booting into your operating system. It helps to write down what each setting is at when you reboot for when you have to clear your CMOS again. Go as high as your just moving the FSB up will allow, then try upping the voltage to the CPU and tweaking the modifer. Keep going in small increments until you cant load the OS or you have to clear the CMOS, back down to the last good setting, and mess with the CAS latency and voltage on the RAM.
Its a slow and painful process, and for my X2 it took around 3-4 days to complete with about 50 or so reboots just to get it to around 400 Mhz higher then stock stable. After you get as high as you can go while still booting into the OS, run Memtest and Prime 95/SuperPi to stress your system and check for errors. If errors start popping up soon after starting the programs, the system is unstable and you have to back it down some more.
Remember, if you spend more to overclock a processor then to just buy a faster one, you've defeated the purpose of overclocking to begin with (unless you got loads of dough and just want that 2.8 Ghz C2D to go faster for the hell of it)

[Elysium]

What is THE BEST memory, with no regards to price? What are THE BEST memory chips? (for future reference)

[Stormcrow]

The absolute best are Micron chips, they're really expensive but are heavy duty and often run way beyond their rated specs. My favorite brand of memory is Crucial Ballistix, as they're made by Micron and have their best chips in them and insane overclockers. Quite expensive though, a good pair will run you over 200. Another brand I've found that uses Microns and overclocks well is Buffalo with their Firestix brand, but I've heard its hit and miss on the chips with some people getting Promos or Hynix chips instead. Still, they're cheaper then Crucial. A really good, often overlooked memory is G.Skill, and you can get a set of 2x1GBs DDR2 800 with lower end Microns for about 120. This is the set I'm going to be upgrading too once I get a mobo that runs RAM at that frequency. If you live in the States:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Heres a good deal on good overclocking memory in your specs, I used this brand in my last build and it was rock solid:
Newegg.com - GeIL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

[Elysium]

So, about the overclocking, I reset the CMOS jumper and slowly worked my way up to 1095MHz FSB (2.46GHz for the CPU). I had the "unlinked" setting in my BIOS, so I kept the memory at the stock 675MHz.


My problem:

No matter what I do I just can't get it over 1095MHz FSB. It's not the RAM, it's at stock speeds. The processor can go much higher in theory. what the heck am I doing wrong?

[gvblake22]

You might need to incraese the voltage of the CPU a notch. Also, are you sure your RAM is still only at stock speed? Check CPU-Z and see what speeds your system is running at.

[Elysium]

YAY!! I took a risk and set the Vcore to 1.4500V and the FSB to 1333 (3.00GHz CPU) AND IT BOOTED AND ITS STABLE!!!

Is it possible for the processor to have a "dead spot"? It seemed like mine did!!

[One4yu2c]

On a side note, keep an eye on your temps, Yellow. And I wouldn't recommend going any higher on your voltage than what you've currently set it at.

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

On a side note, keep an eye on your temps, Yellow. And I wouldn't recommend going any higher on your voltage than what you've currently set it at.

Yeah, I checked the temps is the BIOS and its hovering around 39C-43C. Is this normal for a C2D?