Do core2duo's (in my case, a e2160) run into FSB walls?

[PingSpike]

I had my rig prime stable at 330x9, for 10 hours, running ram 1:1.
Passes memtest86 one pass when using a ratio to get DDR2-800 as well.

With the same cpu voltage...at 340x8 (lower cpu speed) 1:1 memory ratio. I get reboots just in memtest86. At 350x8, it doesn't boot at all.

It almost seems like I'm running into a FSB wall...feeding more voltage to the chipset seemed to have no affect, and anyway this is a p35 chipset and 340 is barely above the speced FSB for the chipset.

 

[brencat]

Did you remember to disable C1E and EIST before you lowered the multi from 9x to 8x?

Assuming you did, most E2XXXs and E4XXXs have FSB walls in 375 - 400 FSB range. A select few have gone as high as 425. It is possible of course to have a bum chip that can't break 340. Max core speed for most is in the 3.1 - 3.2ghz range +/- 200mhz.

Can you list your system specs -- mobo, bios#, vcore used, PSU, RAM type, timings used, and vDIMM?

 

[gorobei]

if you read anand's asus x48 m/b review, the info on mch/fsb strap selection explains the real issue.

 

[PingSpike]

I'll list what I remember, I'm not at home right now. I believe I disabled both C1E an EIST (but I don't know for sure, I'll check this when I get home) I think I may have missed this because in memtest it always seems to list the clock rate as what I would expect it to be if it was using a 9x multiplier. Still, I was almost positive I checked this in my last troubleshooting session.

Abit IP35-Pro motherboard, I think its bios 10, not sure
4x1GB cheap pc5300 HP ram from that deal
500 watt enhance PSU
e2160, which is the crappier stepping? L2? I think I have the crappier one, I confirmed that last night
I was using 1.385vcore, ram on SPD@1.8vDIMM

I could have a bum chip...which I wouldn't be to upset about, 2.9 isn't really that bad or anything. But I was actually hoping to run either ~330x9 1:1 ram or ~370x8 1:1 ram. I prefered the last one.

Does running memory for core2duo's on a divider introduce any kind of performance hit?

 

[Spikesoldier]

try the BSEL mod and see if it responds

 

[brencat]

Definitely check to make sure C1E and EIST are disabled if you are going to use any other multi besides the default 9x. Frankly, it's really not necessary though as total core speed is more important than maxing the FSB. These E2XXXs run best on the default multi.

Anyway, I also noticed you have 4 sticks of 333mhz rated RAM but are still trying to use only 1.8 vDIMM while you attempt to push the FSB higher. Raise that to 1.9v or 1.95v, plus manually set the first 4 timings to 5-5-5-15 and command rate to 2T, rather than leaving everything on Auto. See if that solves your problem. More vMCH is not necessary at your FSB speeds. Once everything is working fine, then you can try and tighten the timings to 4-4-4-12 if you want.

Notice that on my IP35-E with all 4 slots filled, I needed 2.05 vDIMM @ 406mhz using the 4:5 divider and 4-4-4-8 timings. To do 3-3-3-6 timings with all 4 slots filled @ 1:1 (325mhz), I needed 2.1 vDIMM, FYI.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: gorobei
if you read anand's asus x48 m/b review, the info on mch/fsb strap selection explains the real issue.

Ok...I'm really failing to understand what that article is talking about in the strap section. I'm going to need a cup of coffee and a lot less cold medicine I think!

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: brencat
Definitely check to make sure C1E and EIST are disabled if you are going to use any other multi besides the default 9x. Frankly, it's really not necessary though as total core speed is more important than maxing the FSB. These E2XXXs run best on the default multi.

Anyway, I also noticed you have 4 sticks of 331mhz rated RAM but are still trying to use only 1.8 vDIMM while you attempt to push the FSB higher. Raise that to 1.9v or 1.95v and see if that solves your problem. More vMCH is not necessary at your FSB speeds.

I had the sticks running at 800mhz (400mhz) while running the chip at stock speeds, at 1.8vDIMM. And I always tried bumping the vDIMM up to even 2.0 when I couldn't get the system to boot properly with the lower multiplier.

 

[brencat]

Ping -- see my edited previous post. If you've already tried upping the vDIMM, make sure you manually set the timings loose to 5-5-5-15, as well as command rate to 2T rather than leaving them on Auto.