P5B Deluxe/E6300 Woes...I don't get it...

[Dr. V]

check my sig for system specs.

i had the original old 06x0 BIOS (THINK it was 0670) either way it was the very first one that came with the board.

i actually did get 2095MHz with it stable for a few days (so basically it worked lol) but now i upgraded to 0910 (which is supposed to make OCing BETTER and more STABLE and able to go FURTHER) yet at 350x7 (with memory at 1:1 which i cant even change for some odd reason) = 2450MHz the thing SOMETIMES boots into windows, and when it does i get errors all over the place. this happens pretty much on any clock -- even going to only E6400 speeds (305x7 = 2135MHz) i get the same issue. literally sometimes before the Welcome Screen for windows XP pops up, the thing restarts on its own, but the BIOS does NOT give me an error of overclocking (which it usually does if that happens when i was pushing it to 3.0+ before haha) and just posts, and does the same thing again (or logs in and errors up really quick). here are some bios screenies:


the main screen for "Advanced" where the fun begins


this is the CPU Configuration main screen (as highlighted in the first picture)


this is the wonderful RAM section - Northbridge Configuration (Chipset > Northbridge Chipset Configuration when referring back to the first picture)


here is where the money is. AI Tuning set to Manual! (in "Jumperfree Configuration")

i honestly don't know what's going on here. my cooling is great, at stock everything i get below 35*C idle and on about 75-80% load i get no higher than 50*C, 100% load never higher than 57-58*C. this thing is more than safe up to 61.4*C, and a voltage of even 1.4V (in the bios before the voltage drop) won't bring it to past 67*C (ive tried it). im not sure what the hell a BIOS upgrade could do to make this WORSE. here are the conditions of the new BIOS upgrade (along with a whole bunch for the previous 3 that are supposed to help overclocking)

Version 0910
OS DOS
1. Update Jmicron option ROM to 1.06.59
2. Fix AC Power loss function not correct
3. Support x4 DIMM
4. Moidfy Write to Precharge Delay default from 10 to 11
5. Enable support for EIST under VISTA
6. Finetune Q-Fan rule
7. Support SLP 2.0
8. Fix BBS device string not correct under AHCI mode
9. Enable Disable USB capability
10.Support ASUS WIFI-TV card
11.Revise CPU temperature calculation algorithm for PECI
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 0804
OS DOS
1. Support conroe L processor
2. Update JMicron option rom 1.06.22
3. Modify CPU fan low limit speed from 800 RPM to 600 RPM
4. Implement ASUS CGI performance with ATI 1950 graphic cards
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 0711 OS DOS
1. Fix DRAM frequency incorrectly display problem under auto, standard and AI N.O.S mode
2. Add check ATI CrossFire VGA card routine
3. Add ASUS Cross Graphics Impeller (ASUS C.G.I) feature
4. Reduce system full reset of times
5. Patch some VGA card can't found when NB Vcore value has been set too high
6. Fix DDR frequency 889 unstable by SPD
7. Enable support for NVIDIA 7950GX2 cards under recovery mode
8. Fix CPU frequency not correct when use ES CPU and lock free fuction enable
9. Fix memory display message not correct under multi-language
10. Add new CPU Ucode to support Kentsfield B3 stepping CPU
11. Fix chassis fan 2 speed not correct when fan speed too low
12. Fix ATI CrossFire can't work when using with 800FSB Prescott CPU
13. Enhance Chassis Q-Fan sensitivity
14. Improve memory compatibility
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and i have version 0910. there is 1004 out but thats only to support the new 1333 FSB Conroes coming out.

hellpppp? i haven't had a problem with OCing before, especially not like this, and this is on a board MADE for OCing and getting some of the BEST results!!

[Dr. V]

never mind the crt monitor!!!

[screwballl]

I am thinking you may need to bump the memory timings up a little... I would run memory scans first and foremost, it is possible that a previous OC may have zapped a stick of memory. Especially using DDR2-533 which generally doesn't have a lot of OC headroom. May be time to step up to DDR2-667

[Quakindude]

First off, the max CPU temp for your processor is about 61.5C. I wouldn't go over 65C for any length of time.

Do you have a link for your memory? I'm wondering what the max supported memory voltage is for your stick of ram. Like Screwballl said above, relaxing the timings will help with your overclock if it's stuck at a 1:1 ratio. In the last screen shot, I see DRAM Frequency set to auto. What are the available options?

The fun, or pain, of overclocking is that you disable all protection schemes in the Bios for your CPU. You're pushing to get the highest stable overclock while not exceeding the CPU max temp. I'll over-volt my CPU if I can keep the temps well under control, but not if the temps will be too close to the upper limit. The best thing to do is overclock your CPU at the max stock voltage to the highest FSB you can obtain while keeping your temps under control. I don't use the Bios to determine what my CPU voltage is in actual use. Instead, I go off what CPU-z tells me. I can set my CPU voltage to 1.3525v, the max voltage for the E6600, but due to voltage droop, CPU-z only reads out 1.345V. So I actually end up pushing my voltage higher in the Bios to reach the max recommended voltage for my CPU.

With your CPU set to a 400FSB for an effective clock of 400x (CPU Multiplier) 7 = 2.8Ghz, that's about a 35% overclock on your CPU. While these CPU's will overclock like mad, your ram won't. If you can't figure out how to set the memory divider, you're pretty much stuck at that FSB because your memory won't get much higher without greatly relaxing your timings. You relax your timings too much and you hit the limit of overclocking vs diminishing performance returns.

This 1:1 ratio is why you keep hitting that limit to your overclock no matter your multiplier. You can only push the ram so far before it starts generating errors like you describe.

[Dr. V]

well at a 1:1 memory divider, its running at 400MHz. this is 533MHz ram...how does it work that it gets less stable when the divider is lower? isnt this BETTER because its running SLOWER than its factory setting?

also, when u say "relax" timings -- do you mean the 10-10-10-15 timings should be higher numbers or lower (just to 100% clarify) and/or the timings above it the 5-6-6-15-6-42?

more relaxed timings mean higher clocks, but TOO relaxed still makes for instability...?

i dont know how this thing was at 2.9 before the BIOS update...it seems thats the only thing that messed it up, and these little technical things in the menus i posted were the same before the update...

im gonna try setting the voltage at highest stock according to intel's website (AFTER taking the voltage drop into account) and see how high i can push it after i clarify this memory thing...

i dont have a link for the memory im pretty sure its just basic value ram. i know it may be limiting me to a point, but not this much...?

EDIT:

sorry bout the temp mishap - it is 61.4*C max (so it says on the site) meaning the most i'll go is 62-63 maybe on 85-90% load (the thing running at 100% for an extended period of time is pretty damn unlikely).

Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop Processor E6300 - SL9TA

[Dr. V]

therein lies the memory divider by the way, where i have it at "Auto".

the options are DDR2-xxxMHz

it has a whole bunch of timings. 2x the cpu freq, 2.5, 3, 3.5, and 4 all multiplied the CPU frequency.

Auto is x1. but settings those higher OBVIOUSLY make the RAM run faster, so its even less stable...

also, i bumped the timings of 10-10-10-15 to 15-15-15-15 and it wouldnt even go into windows at 350x7 = 2.45GHz and this is 1.328V core (after voltage drop)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also, this is with the 1:1 divider applied, so the RAM is at 350MHz (DDR2-533 RAM) and it isnt booting.

when i leave it at auto settings for the whole bios, it still defaults to 1:1 so everything stock im getting 266MHz on the ram that doesnt make sense...entire BIOS is default, and the RAM isnt running at its 533MHz speed... im so lost and confused

[Quakindude]

Your memory is DDR2-533. That 533 is double data rate, thus the DDR. FSB wise, it's actually 266 or 267. With your FSB set to 400, you double that for the DDR to 800 for the ram. Effectively, you're running the ram at 133/266 above it's rated speed. Nothing to complain about at all there if you can get it stable.

When we say relax the timings, we mean higher numbers. If you've got all sorts of error problems at 5-5-5-15, relaxing the timings would mean 6-6-6-15, then 6-6-6-18 if that doesn't work. When you get to squeezing every last timing out of ram, you can make differentiating increases. If stock timings were 5-5-5-15, you may go with 5-6-5-15 or 5-6-5-18. Just depends on what your ram can run at. Every single stick of Ram and processor is different. What may work with one CPU may not work with the next CPU even though it has a sequential serial number. This is why we point out that even though Joe Blow on XYZ forums said he can hit a 451FSB on his processor doesn't mean you will be able to. Same goes for ram.

The new Bios update can change many things about how your overclocking experience goes. Everything from reporting better temps and voltages to increased compatibility with USB devices to better RAID performance as well as allowing Ram/CPU overclockability can be affected. If you get better results with an earlier Bios revision, and the newest Bios didn't fix a problem you specifically were having, there's nothing wrong with rolling back to the previous Bios release.

Finally, just a couple things to keep in mind when overclocking.

CPU multiplier x FSB = CPU Ghz.

Intel CPU's have a Quad Data Rate for their Bus ratings. So if a CPU is rated at 1.86Ghz with a 1066 Bus Speed, to figure out the FSB speed to set in the Bios you divide 1066 by 4 which equals 266.5. You have to use a whole number in the Bios, so you set it to 266 or 267.

266 x the CPU multiplier (7 in your case) = the actual Ghz speed of 1.862Ghz.

Now where this can really screw with people is when they go from one Bios to a different mobo that uses the full QDR figure. So to overclock their CPU, they have to use figures, like my mobo, of 1066 and above.

My CPU is a E6600 with a 9 multiplier and a stock 1066 Bus Speed. For me to overclock MY motherboard, I have to keep the following in mind.

To reach a given Ghz rating for my CPU, I have to do pretty much the same math, just a bit different. If I want a 3.4Ghz rating for my CPU, the math looks like:

3400 (3.4Ghz) divided by Multiplier (9 for my CPU) x 4 (Quad Data Rate) = 1511.11. So my FSB will go from a stock speed of 1066 to 1511 or 1512.

You following the way the math works depending on how your Bios requires you to enter the FSB for overclocking?

[Dr. V]

yea i always understood the math of all of it. the problem was compatibility and stuff.

im gonna try raising those times, probably to 6-5-6-15, or 6-5-5-18 just to start, and then im gonna see where my ram can take me from there (and thanks for DDR smack in the face i was getting confused by the CPU-Z readings...i did know that by the way as hard as it may be to believe=()

so it seems Auto, which 1:1, is also the same as the very first option in the drop down menu of speeds. the others are there for specified targeted memory speed upping i guess. im gonna leave it at the lowest rather than auto (always just to be safe) and im gonna see where i can take this thing.

i was even booting 3.0GHz before with an hour or 2 prime95 stable before, but 2.9 was a good 12-14 hours which is why i went by that.

either way im gona try rolling back the BIOS to 0804 first, then if that doesnt help back one more to 0711. these 2, and the one even before 0711 have the higest success rates. 0905 is too new i cant seem to find any results yet.

thanks, and i'll post some updates as they come along!!

[Quakindude]

This is what I like about the 680i motherboards. You can unlink the CPU and overclock the CPU independently of the Ram, meaning that you can have value ram that doesn't overclock at all yet still overclock the nuts off the CPU.

My AMD system, with the dividers, is still at the mercy of how well the ram performs.

[screwballl]

ok so stock with the E6300 should be:

533 MHz memory x 2 Memory multiplier = 1066 cpu fsb
base bus 266.5 x 7 cpu multiplier = 1865.5MHz

so if it is auto/defaulting the memory multiplier to 1, then it is possible that it is setting the fsb and memory to 400MHz at 1:1 thus underclocking both the memory and cpu (for use with Pentiums that use the 800Mhz bus like the E4300).
Using 1:1 timings:
So memory multiplier at 1 = 800MHz cpu bus with DDR2 @ 400 (E6300 speed 1400MHz)
Memory multiplier at 2 = 1066MHz cpu bus with DDR2 @ 533 (E6300 speed default 1.86GHz)
Memory multiplier at 2.5 = 1332MHz cpu bus with DDR2 @ 665 (E6300 speed OC'd to 2.33GHz)

this last entry is why I am using DDR2-667 with my upcoming build, get a small OC while keeping the memory at its stock speed.