Can't Seem To Break Much Over 3GHz

[Ulfhednar]

Tried everything I can think of, including but not limited to; Bumping the vCore, looser memory timings, boosting the MCH and FSB but I just cannot seem to get much higher than 3GHz and I'm aiming for at least 3.2GHz if possible.

Anything much higher like 3.1GHz or 3.15GHz and it just falls over under SP'04/3DM06 (not just errors, crashes.)

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, this chip is owning me.

Currently: -

BIOS revision: F5e (have tried F4e plenty)
Throttling Crap = Off

Frequency: 3.01GHz
FSB: 400MHz
Mem: 2.0/800MHz
Timings: 4-4-4-12

Core: 1.325 (stock)
Mem: +0.3v (2.2v?)
FSB: Stock
MCH: Stock

Cooling: Scythe Ninja Plus
Temps: Well under 50ºc under load (dual SP'04.)

 

[myocardia]

Try 5-5-5-15 memory timings, along with lowering your vdimm to 2.1v. You also might be running out of power. What psu are you using?

edit: You do have EIST turned, don't you? If not, turn it off, and leave everything else where it's at, for now.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Try 5-5-5-15 memory timings, along with lowering your vdimm to 2.1v. You also might be running out of power. What psu are you using?

I tried looser timings (5-5-5-15) and lowering the vdimm (not at the same time though), but dropping the vdimm at 4-4-4-12 (well within spec) seems to make it not want to boot at all. I'm running it on an Akasa 460w with a combined 12v of 28A (nothing to worry about though as it's a solid PSU with plenty of protection) which could be running low and is replaceable if needed.

I will try with the RAM at 5-5-5-15 and 2.1v, I do suspect it's the RAM that is falling over and giving me this headache (though a mate got his up to 1100MHz on 4-4-4-12, this stuff is really good. He's also a miracle worker though.)

As for the EIST is that the throttling crap? If so I have that all shut off.

Addition: I should've mentioned it's like 10hr stable at 3GHz under dual SP'04, so it should be able to go further unstable. If it's the PSU though it would make sense it would hit a wall.

 

[myocardia]

My best guess is that it's your psu. 28A isn't very much 12v power, to be running dual 3 Ghz processors, plus a 512MB X1900XT, plus 2GB's RAM, etc.

edit: Not that the RAM is using the 12v rail. Also, no, EIST isn't related to throttling, it's Intel's version of Cool n Quiet. But, unlike CnQ, you can't use it while overclocking, at all.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: myocardia
My best guess is that it's your psu. 28A isn't very much 12v power, to be running dual 3 Ghz processors, plus a 512MB X1900XT, plus 2GB's RAM, etc.

Aye, I don't have a multi on me right now but from benchmarks (6.5k in 3D Mark 06) I don't seem to be having any problems at all. The PSU is replaceable if anyone can tell me for sure that it's bottling out at 3.1GHz, but TBH I think I'm just being an idiot with my RAM settings somewhere and it's falling over.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Just went into the BIOS to make sure we were talking about the same thing (in regards to EIST.) I have C1E, TM2, EIST and the virtualization tech all disabled as per recommendation by a friend.

This is my first Intel OC (have used AMD since high school) and I was told that most of those things throttle the CPU or slow it down when idle, and that the virtualization thingy is just a PITA.

If any of this should be on, feel free to let me know.

 

[myocardia]

No, actually all of that needs to be off. What are your voltages reading with SpeedFan?

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: myocardia
No, actually all of that needs to be off. What are your voltages reading with SpeedFan?

Good question. I already had speedfan installed, but I've been using coretemp to record my temps as it's far more accurate for these chips. According to speedfan my voltages are as here and I will be the first to admit that I never really paid attention to these figures and am not sure if they're good or bad.

 

[darkman00]

Hi, I have my e6300 at 3570Mhz (currently running Orthos) and man was it a stuggle to get there! Been at it for two days. I would recommend you flash to F4e. After you flash remember to reset the cmos.

Start with the cpu freq at 400. Set mem multiplier to 2 and lock pci at 100.
Set memory to 5-5-5-15, vdimm +2, pci-e voltage +1, FSB volt +1, (G)MCH +3 and cpu volt to 3.75.

Run dual prime or Orthos for 10 mins, if pass go up +5 on bus until you fail. Then raise you cpu voltage up by .250. Repeat processs!

Good luck!

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: darkman00
Hi, I have my e6300 at 3570Mhz (currently running Orthos) and man was it a stuggle to get there! Been at it for two days. I would recommend you flash to F4e. After you flash remember to reset the cmos.

Hi there. I tried the F4e revision BIOS for quite some time with the same results, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and try the F5e BIOS.

I have tried all the rest, unfortunately. Except for running my memory at 5-5-5-12 @ +0.2v that is, so I will be giving that a try later when I feel a little less stressed out at this thing. I also didn't try increasing my PCI-E voltage, do you think that would really help? I always figured it was best to lock it at 100MHz and stock volts.

Can get 10hr+ dual prime stable and 6.5k in 3D Mark 06 at 3GHz but any more and I get crashes.

 

[myocardia]

It has to be your psu, man. It's only got a 14A and a 15A 12v rail, which do not equal 29A. They equal about 24A, if not less. In this review: link, they used a 2.0 Ghz A64 3200, and a 6600GT video card, and it did just fine. But, that doesn't mean that it's gonna power dual 3 Ghz C2D cores, along with an X1900XT.

If I were you, I'd back your OC down to 2.8 Ghz, and wait until you have the money for a bigger psu. Do you live in Europe? If so, look into getting one of these: Hiper 580 watt psu's. They're very nice, especially for the money.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: myocardia
It has to be your psu, man. It's only got a 14A and a 15A 12v rail, which do not equal 29A. They equal about 24A, if not less. In this review: link, they used a 2.0 Ghz A64 3200, and a 6600GT video card, and it did just fine. But, that doesn't mean that it's gonna power dual 3 Ghz C2D cores, along with an X1900XT.

Aye I wasn't taking the efficiency of the PSU (which is 70-80% on these) into account when I said 29A, but this PSU is perfectly capable of handling this setup (just not with heavy OCing it seems.)

If I were you, I'd back your OC down to 2.8 Ghz, and wait until you have the money for a bigger psu. Do you live in Europe? If so, look into getting one of these: Hiper 580 watt psu's. They're very nice, especially for the money.

Aye I'm in the UK, and a new PSU was on the cards sooner or later anyway as this system has been upgraded piece by piece over the last month. I've actually seen people warning others against the Hiper PSUs and recommending the Enermax Liberty 500W instead, would you say this is a better buy?

 

[myocardia]

Well, Enermax is one of the best psu's you can buy. I'm actually running a 500 watt Liberty on this system. But, nearly everyone that i've heard of who bought one of those 580 watt Hipers was happy with it, even when overclocking. Of course, I would (and did) get the Enermax Liberty, I just didn't realize it was available there.