E4300 & Biostar 965PT OC problems - please help!

[Nazgul9]

First of all, hi to the anandtech community!

My system:
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300
Biostar tForce 965PT
4x1GB OCZ PC6400 Gold Edition XTC

Now, i've got a weird problem, my setup just won't overclock, and it's only mild overclocking i'm attempting. I'm trying to rise the FSB from the default 200MHz to 266MHz but to no avail. First i tried with most on auto, then i manually fixed PCI-E at 100, mem voltage was set to 2.1V (which is the rated voltage for this ram, although on auto it is set to 1.8V and runs just fine, go figure), as a precaution the mem timings were set at a moderate 5/5/5/15, the mem ratio to DDR533 (tried DDR800, too). Nothing changed anything, the computer just didn't boot, either making two long beeps and then reseting itself or hanging up during boot so that i had to clear the CMOS.

What could be the culprit here? Please, anyone with some knowledge, help!

 

[chick3nhead]

Have you tried with 2 or even just 1 stick of ram in? Also, maybe your mobo's fsb wont go that high....I have no knowledge about that board though.

 

[Nazgul9]

266MHz is the standard FSB for the Core 2 Duos E6300 and upwards. Also, the board is known to be a good overclocker, in the review at this very site they reached 500MHz for instance.

No, i haven't tried with just 1 or 2 sticks as it runs fine at its declared speed of DDR800 with everything on default. I'm not OC the ram here, to the contrary, i even tried to downclock it.

 

[Nazgul9]

Okay, flashed with the newest BIOS from 04/04/2007 and now it seems i can overclock. FSB 266 is running fine, dunno if i should go higher, 2.4GHz is quite sufficient for the time being, almost like having a E6600. Seems like the old bios didn't yet fully support the E4300.

 

[kmmatney]

You should at least be able to take the FSB up to 300 Mhz...

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Yes, I reckon you could do 300 easily. The shipping BIOS with that board is not E4300 friendly..took 'em a while to release one that was. That's Biostar for you, go figure. Btw, I'm currently running mine @ 2.85 Ghz (317x9) with just a slight bump in volts (1.328). Can't go any higher, the retail HS can't handle it, unfortunately. Curious what stepping you have...mine is a SL9TB from 1/9/07.

Compared to the E6x00 series, these aren't the best overclockers..but IMO, a 1Ghz+ o/c on the stock HS ain't too shabby...my old vid card is the weak link in the chain (for now...)

Check out this site: http://www.rebelshavenforum.com/sis-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=33

 

[Jules]

http://www.lejabeach.com/Biostar/965pt/

Try these modded bios.

 

[Polar2002]

In the beginning, I had a hard timer overclocking the E4300, too. I updated bios from above and then set memory at 400 (1:1). Now, running fine at 3.0 ghz (334x9). My heatsink is a Tuniq Tower in Antec 900 case.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Some boards have overclocking problems when all 4 slots are occupied thats y he tells u to try 1 stick or 2... and beeping noises i think it actually means memory problems.... some1 correct me if im wrong..... a lot of cases when RAM is not sited all the way through n u get beeps

 

[gammaguns]

Nazgul9,

I'm having similar problems with my motherboard too. I can't set the memory speed to 533mhz (giving a 1:1 ratio) and overclock my E6400. The FSB has to be set to 800mhz (giving a 2:3 ratio), and this limits the overclocking potential because my memory (2gb PC 6400 Geil 4-4-4-12) maxes out at 950mhz. Did the new bios allow to set the memory speed to 533mhz for better overclocking of the FSB?

thanks in advance

 

[LanEvoVII]

I have a problem adjusting the CPU voltage with the 04/04/07 bios, the changes do not take effect even after save and reboot. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: LanEvoVII
I have a problem adjusting the CPU voltage with the 04/04/07 bios, the changes do not take effect even after save and reboot. Anyone else have this problem?

Oh man I don't want to hear this. I have this board and am waiting on delivery of an E4300. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[LanEvoVII]

Anyone with the same problem?

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Are you using the official Biostar BIOS, or the one from Rebel's haven? Maybe try the RH bios?