E4300 wont post above 315FSB....

[DasSmoof]

Greetings,

I'm a novice overclocker and I just received my new PC today. I've been gradually stepping it up in an attempt to hit 3GHZ+. Well, as stated in the title, I can't seem to get it to POST over 315FSB and even at 315FSB, it seems like I'm running too much voltage. But when I was running at 300FSB, it would post, but wouldn't boot into windows (windows would reboot) until I upped it to 1.375V

So currently:
9x315FSB
Memory Multi: 2.50
Mem V. +.2
Vcore 1.425
Load temps running Orthos 58*C (Stable after 11 minutes so far)

Mem test ran fine, Orthos is running fine. Any opinions?

Rig:
E4300
Gigabyte DS3 (Rev 3.3)
G.Skill DDR2 800 Ram (2x1gig)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7
GeForce 6800GS (Temporary until my 8800GTS returns from RMA)
Fortron 450W
Thermaltake Armor Extreme Edition
80Gig IDE HDD
80Gig SATA HDD
320Gig SATA HDD

Really a bit annoyed that it wont go higher. Did I just get a bad chip or what?

 

[DasSmoof]

Well, now it seems to be refusing to post at 315 as well...

 

[kmmatney]

Sounds pretty typical for a lot of E4300 cpus. My E4400 won't go above 2.9 Ghz without a voltage increase - I'm going to try the pin mod next and see if it helps.

 

[DasSmoof]

Doesn't the pin mod only affect the FSB though? Taking it from 800 to 1333 or whatever? I'm not fully sure if what I'm saying is correct or not, but that doesn't seems as though it would give a boost to overclocking.

I'm hoping I don't have to RMA this chip, I don't really want to lose my PC for another two weeks.

Still gradually fooling with it and hoping it's something I'm doing and not my mobo/cpu.

Also, what temps should I be paying attention to? I have Speedfan and TAT running. TAT is nearly 15* higher than Speedfan. Speedfan seems to be more in line with the temps my mobo reports in the BOIS though. 63*C under load (Orthos) with TAT and 45-50*C with speedfan.

 

[DasSmoof]

As well, could it have anything to do with the PSU?
I've been able to run the thing at 315FSB for close to 15 minutes, but usually before it hits 15 minutes, it reboots (I'm talking running Orthos here), so I upped the Vcore to 1.45 (Seems excessive for only 2.835GHZ) and am running Orthos now to see how far it makes it.

Just hit 15 minutes now...

 

[DasSmoof]

I updated the BIOS (At least, I think I did. I wasn't fully clear how to do that, but I ran some BIOS update programs from Gigabytes site and now their @BIOS ultility reads BIOS F11) and reset to the optimized defaults. Still nothing. Pushing the Vcore up and up on 320FSB does absolutely nothing. The thing flat out REFUSES to post on 320.

 

[Acanthus]

Edit: nm

 

[drakore]

I have a GA-P35-DQ6 w/ e4300 and i cant post above 315 FSB either... chip limitations from new bin i guess... i have the voltage at 1.375. The older chips could go higher... but oh well... at the end of the day a 900mhz overclock is pretty good

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Yeah, see my sig...I have one from batch A278. Some people were hitting 3-3.2 with this batch, but I hit a wall @ 317, & I'm using a Freezer 7 Pro. I guess it's the luck of the draw, unfortunately...

 

[Capt Caveman]

If one was looking to upgrade, would a E4400 be a good idea for the 10x multiplier if these Allendales have a FSB wall?

 

[DasSmoof]

So, if I'm hitting the same wall as you guys, why am I needing to bump my Vcore up so much to keep windows running? It'll post fine with lower vcore, but Windows will only run for less than 15 minutes before it reboots itself. I have to bump it to 1.45 to get any stability.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Do you have a newer 4300? Some of the newer batches (ie 6600's) aren't overclocking as well as the earlier ones.....

 

[DasSmoof]

Well, I just ordered it a few days ago (the 2nd) and received it yesterday, so presumably I have a newer one. Is there any way to check the batch, sans removing the HSF?

Kind of disappointing that I can't push it any further. I'm assuming it's not my fault, because I've checked, checked and rechecked all my settings and they all seem completely fine for OCing. So I guess I am just hitting that wall. What made me realize this a little more was the fact that it wouldn't post at 8x320, so it's gotta be a bad chip

I would RMA, but I'd probably just end-up getting one from a similar batch and plus it would probably take a week and a half or more. Quite unfortunate.

 

[DasSmoof]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
Sounds pretty typical for a lot of E4300 cpus. My E4400 won't go above 2.9 Ghz without a voltage increase - I'm going to try the pin mod next and see if it helps.

Thinking about it and reading a little more let me know if that pin mod does anything for you. I wouldn't mind trying it and seeing if I could rid myself of the FSB wall, but I'm not going to bother right now if it wont do anything.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

the batch # should be located on the retail box sticker (FPO/BATCH #).

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

If you look at it another way...drop the FSB back to 300, and you're running a bit faster than an E6700 (maybe not in games, but close enough). Since you have a DS3 rev 3.3, it should be Penryn compatible...so later in the year you could upgrade to a Quad or something...just a thought

 

[DasSmoof]

Thanks for the info. I may very much consider upgrading later in the year, depending of course, how my gaming goes once I get my 8800GTS back. If it begins to be really lack luster, I think I may get something new, because even though this is a good OC, it's annoying me that it wont go any higher. I was hoping if I hit an FSB wall it would at least be just at 3GHZ.

It appears my batch number is Q705A429

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Hey, no problemo. I feel your pain...I bought into the E4300 hype & expected to hit 3Ghz w/o issues. I'm still bitter that I paid $170 for it back in Feb!

 

[DasSmoof]

Originally posted by: oldhoss
Hey, no problemo. I feel your pain...I bought into the E4300 hype & expected to hit 3Ghz w/o issues. I'm still bitter that I paid $170 for it back in Feb!

Indeed. Oh well, I suppose. At least I didn't pay too much for the processor itself and with my mobo and ram, I'm all setup for the future if I feel the want or need to upgrade to a better processor. I guess I can take solace in that and the fact that I still am getting 1GHZ extra out of the CPU.

 

[erikpurne]

RMA? Just because it won't work at 150% its rated speed? Don't be a dick, DasSmoof. You ordered a 1.8 GHz processor. Even if you couldn't get it to post at 1.81 GHz, there's no reason to RMA it. Overclocking is a gamble, and yours didn't even turn out all that badly. 2.7 GHz (300FSB) is already a 50% OC. That's 50% more than you were entitled to expect.

 

[techmars]

mod it and take off the ihs
make sure u got a spare back-up

 

[perdomot]

Two pieces of advice:

1. Change the mem multi to 2 and be sure you are using the 5-5-5-15 timings.

2. Get a better power supply. My set up is similar to yours and my 500W PSU was insufficient. Get a good 600W PSU and the problems should go away.

I had the same issue and when I checked out how much power was being drawn, it was just a bit over 500W. Since I replaced the PSU, I'm at 3Ghz with default vcore and no reboots.

 

[DasSmoof]

I was thinking it might be the PSU, but the fellow above mentioned he had this issue as well and it looks like he has a 620W Corsair PSU in his rig. I'll probably still try it anyway though, because I need to RMA my Antec 550W that burned out and see what happens with it then.

Is speedfan an accurate utility? I've heard it's not for temps but what about voltages? It's telling me that I have nearly 17A draw on one of my 12v rails and only like 3-4a draw on my other 12V rail.

As well, that's what my mem settings are and have been at while OCing. So, here's hoping it's the PSU and if not, I guess I can settle.