Disappointing 3500+ O/C...what else can I do?

[Parasitic]

Ok, I have concluded that the 3500+ I have is a dud that doesn't clock too well. I got the chip to post at 2662MHz (242*11) and any higher on the HTT fails to boot. I've tried to raise the Vcore but still got no more than that ceiling.

My max HTT is 360MHz. Right now I am running 250*10, stock voltage and 2.65V DDR.

BTW CPU-Z identifies my chip as a Manchester...but I should those are dual cores?
If I returned this and got a 3700+ instead, would they overclock higher than 2.5~2.6?

 

[F1shF4t]

My 3200+ only made 2.5ghz at 1.425 volts, i think its just up to luck to get a better overclocking one.

In fact i think the venice should overclock better than the sd core, since it has less cache, less heat etc.

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
Ok, I have concluded that the 3500+ I have is a dud that doesn't clock too well. I got the chip to post at 2662MHz (242*11) and any higher on the HTT fails to boot. I've tried to raise the Vcore but still got no more than that ceiling.

My max HTT is 360MHz. Right now I am running 250*10, stock voltage and 2.65V DDR.

BTW CPU-Z identifies my chip as a Manchester...but I should those are dual cores?
If I returned this and got a 3700+ instead, would they overclock higher than 2.5~2.6?

what mem settings you using? are you using a divider?

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim

Originally posted by: Parasitic
Ok, I have concluded that the 3500+ I have is a dud that doesn't clock too well. I got the chip to post at 2662MHz (242*11) and any higher on the HTT fails to boot. I've tried to raise the Vcore but still got no more than that ceiling.

My max HTT is 360MHz. Right now I am running 250*10, stock voltage and 2.65V DDR.

BTW CPU-Z identifies my chip as a Manchester...but I should those are dual cores?
If I returned this and got a 3700+ instead, would they overclock higher than 2.5~2.6?

what mem settings you using? are you using a divider?

Mushkin PC3200 Black Level I. Those have Mosel chips and aren't terribly good wit timings. I am running 5/6 divider and the RAM is running 208MHz, CAS 2.5-3-3-7 at 2.65v. I am not upping the volts yet because it doesn't seem to respond too well either. I've gotten them to run at 233MHz but at CAS 2.5-4-4-8 and 2.9v.

 

[Parasitic]

Is the 3700+ much faster than 3500+ at stock? Is the increase in cache worth my while?
The reason I am asking is that I can still return my 3500+/NF4 SLI combo for a 3700+/RS480 combo for $90 less.

 

[Shimmishim]

hm... did you lower the LDT from 5x or 4x down to 3x?

can you try upping the vdimm voltage to 2.75?

yeah. try those first.

 

[Parasitic]

I did...but the ceiling seems to be 2.6GHz still.

 

[furballi]

3000, 3200, and 3500 are basically the same CPU with different multiplier. Most runs out of gas around 2400 to 2600MHz. It's much easier to overclock when working with a 10x or 11x multiplier.