Help OCing.... Again

[Yellowhello]

Hello everybody,

As most of you know, I got a water cooling system and I also lapped my CPU. Before this, I had my E4300 OCed to 3GHz with few problems; but now it's just a pain in the ass.

After I installed the water cooling system, I had this thought in my head that was this: I'm water cooling now, so I should be able to OC higher than when I had my Coolermaster GeminII, which was an air cooler. Not an unreasonable thought, correct?

Now, the system will not POST if pushed AT ALL. I have tried upping the voltage all the way up to 1.4v, but to no avail.

Any help is greatly apprieciated, as it was getting just plain annoying running a 1.8GHz CPU. Thanks.

[fps justin]

is it installed correctly? you may want to remount your cpu block.

[Tyreal]

Somethings to check:
-Tightening the block too tight and it's messing up the board.
-Reset the CMOS and start all over again. You might have missed something silly.
-Damaged processor from lapping.
-Failing component.

[Yellowhello]

Thanks for the reponses guys. The temps on my CPU are extremely reasonable (in the 30C - 35C range, 40C - 45C at load; load by Orthos). You think maybe I tightened the water block too tight and it's warping the board?

I reset the CMOS, same deal, won't POST a tad over 800FSB quad-pumped; 200MHz FSB for all other motherboards other than ASUS.

About damage from lapping, can it really damage the CPU only a little bit? Either it works or it doesn't, correct? Or am I way off mark?

[Telexen]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

After I installed the water cooling system, I had this thought in my head that was this: I'm water cooling now, so I should be able to OC higher than when I had my Coolermaster GeminII, which was an air cooler. Not an unreasonable thought, correct?

Nope...the way you cool and slightly lower temperatures (when they're under control to begin with) have absolutely no effect on your watercooling ability at constant voltages. Set FSB, multiplier, RAM speed, and voltages all the same and overclocking potential should be exactly the same until the temperature reaches a critical point.

Originally Posted by yellowhello

You think maybe I tightened the water block too tight and it's warping the board?

I reset the CMOS, same deal, won't POST a tad over 800FSB quad-pumped; 200MHz FSB for all other motherboards other than ASUS.

About damage from lapping, can it really damage the CPU only a little bit? Either it works or it doesn't, correct? Or am I way off mark?

It's possible the block is too tight, but unless it's so tight that it's caused physical damage on the board or CPU I can't see that alone causing the instability.

It is entirely possible you've slightly damaged some component - be in CPU, motherboard, or RAM though. It's not either "it works or it doesn't." In my opinion, it's likely that the instability is from damaged caused by pushing the OC too far (likely voltage). Maybe even the same with RAM. It happens, and that's the risk you take with overclocking.

It's an important note that you can't get a higher overclock even with extra voltage. It points to hardware damage somewhere.

I don't know if it's possible to change the multiplier with these CPUs, but if you can I would start by testing it's limits with a lower multiplier, then trying higher.

If nothing comes of that, I would re-seat the CPU and hope for better contact.

[Tyreal]

I only suggested the block because I've heard of people not getting a video signal with gpu blocks on too tight.

[Yellowhello]

I have a feeling that the motherboard took a shit on me because:

1. The system won't POST at 801MHz, 1MHz over stock.

2. If I drop the multiplier down to 6x and raise up the FSB so that the CPU is running back at stock the system won't POST.

3. I always have the board in "unlinked mode", keeping the RAM at 800MHz, so it's not the RAM.

From what I can conclude from these 3 reasons, I believe it's the board... How 'bout you guys?

[Telexen]

Out of curiosity, have you changed your BIOS version since being able to OC better?

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Telexen

Out of curiosity, have you changed your BIOS version since being able to OC better?

Yes, went from version 801 to 805. An update, mind you, so you would think that it would OCing easier...

[Telexen]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Yes, went from version 801 to 805. An update, mind you, so you would think that it would OCing easier...

Not necessarily.

If you don't mind changing BIOS versions (some people are very worried about it failing) ... I'd downgrade and see what you get if you really want to find the answer to this.