E6400 seems stable at 3.2 but need some tweaking help

[Hulk]

Here are my system specs:
E6400
P5B Deluxe
Corsair 6400C4
Seasonic S430
Tt Big Typhoon

Just built the system last night. Started right up and ran default no problem. Tested with Prime 95 for a few hours and it was solid.

I left everything auto and moved FSB to 400. 3 out of 4 times it wouldn't post but just give 1 long beep followed by 3 short. When it would post it would go into windows and seem stable. I actually ran Prime 95 for a half hour to test it but didn't let it go because of the flakey starting.

Then I start to mess around with various BIOS settings but can't seem to get it to post reliably every time. So I do some reading around and make a bunch of changes all at once.

Memory goes to 5-5-5-18 (and that is what cpuz is reporting)
Vcore set to 1.4, cpuz showing 1.336 under Prime 95 load
Memory voltage to 2.1
PCIe set to 96
PCI set to 33.3

With these settings it is rock solid (running Prime 95 now) and it boots/restarts correctly every time.

What is the best way to determine what the problem was? Should I try to tighten the memory timings first?

I just don't know what to do next?

Thanks for any advice. This is my first time overclocking since 300A/450A. There are a lot more variables now!

 

[Duvie]

I dont know...problem with changing everything at once....Too mnay variables and we cannot determine which once fixed it and what it was isolated to. I have similar issues with both S3 boards....One happens after 505fsb, which my chip cannot doanyways so I dont know if it was cpu...ram was not a factor as I isolated it with timings...but it could have been a power issue with the board....


This has happened to many boards


On my 2nd S3 mobo it happens at a much lower fsb since it is a higher multiplier of the E6400...It gets bad to the point where if it does boot it wont recognize the hDD...I have to tinker with or pull cmos battery to get it to recognize HDD and reboot again....

Like you once it is running it ran 12 hours of prime95 Small FFT, and blended...also has ran for 1 week F@H with no issues...

 

[Hulk]

I'm going to first try tightening up the memory timings and see what happens.

If that's good then I'll slowely back down the vCore.

I have a feeling it's one of those. I really don't care about backing down the memory voltage since I don't think 2.1 is too much for the Corsair 6400C4 since that what Corsair specifies for this chip.

I'll report back to let you know what happens. Maybe I can help someone else with my results.

 

[FightTest]

You could try setting your FSB to 401-405. I've read about Asus boards having issues at 370-400 being at the top of the strap and needing the rollover to be stable. Also why 96 for PCIe and not 100?

edit.. also I just noticed your "left everything auto" part. Go back and fix that. There's a bunch of stuff that should be disabled and other voltages to look at beyond the vCore. Look around on here/Toms/HF/XS for overclocking guides if you don't know what you should be changing.

 

[Hulk]

I read a long thread on "Extreme - something forums" last night about problems with the P5B Deluxe with PCIe set at 100.

I reset my memory to 4-4-4-12 and thus far am not having the boot problem.

It's either the Vcore bump or the PCIe at 96 that is making the difference for me.

I'm going to run Prime95 for a bit to make sure I'm still stable...

 

[blurp]

Orthos Prime 95 'blend test' will be a good stress for your modified memory timings. In my case this test is more sensitive than memtest booted from the CD. YMMV.

 

[n7]

Do things one at a time!

Up CPU with RAM timings loose, & then when you find the CPU's max, then start messing with RAM.

Don't start messing with both at the same time, or it gets hard to tell what's causing issues.

Read thru here for ideas too:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1953173

 

[caberguy]

might be too obvious but you didn't say... did you check the manual for what error 1 long and 3 short beeps is coded to? I've never used ASUS but I know that G-byte has a beep code list at the back of the manual.

 

[Hulk]

The manual doesn't give an error code for those beeps!

Like I said above it's either the Vcore bump or PCIe at 96 that is giving me a reliable boot up.

Just been to busy to check it lately...

 

[Duvie]

vcore bumps did nothing for me in my situation.....I always set the pci-e to 101 on my boards though...

 

[Hulk]

Do you know what that does exactly? Or why 96 seems to be helping my situation?