first overclock, very little success

[jalapaeno]

i decided i was gonna build my next computer, so i did. o/c seemed like a good idea so i tried to put a system that would be relatively successful. unfortunnetly ive had little success. pretty sure its due to human error, plus im getting temps that are a little high even without an o/c. 45.5c at idle and 60c at load. any ideas, id be very grateful.

thanks

 

[PELarson]

First take a deep breath and relax. Now describe the system you put together and what you did to try and overclock that system.

 

[JSSheridan]

Those temps could be improved. Try cleaning the current thermal interfact stuff off of the CPU, reapply it and installing the HS and fan again. What voltage are you applying to the cpu right now anyway? Good luck. Peace.

 

[Duvie]

Granted Abits will register higher temps then most a 45.5c idle with a zalman fan is a bit high at stock 2.4ghz speed...


What thermal paste are you using???

 

[jalapaeno]

ok. achieving zen-like state.

started with an abit is7, added p4 2.4c, kingston hyperx pc3700 256mb x 2
ati radeon 9800 pro, zalman cnps7000-cu hsf, thermaltake 420w psu, 120gb 7200rpm sata hdd
before i added the zalman i was using the stock p4 hsf, the temps havent changed with the new hsf.
45c idle, 60c load

so for o/c

all i really did was change the fsb, highest it would go was 205
not sure what to set the rest of the settings to, ive got just enough knowlegde to be dangerous
memory timings- not sure what the best settings to use, best it would boot with is 2.5,3,3,5 but wasnt very stable
by spd is 3,3,3,8

 

[jalapaeno]

and im using arctic silver 5, think i may have applied too much, would that make that big of a difference?

 

[THUGSROOK]

Originally posted by: jalapaeno
and im using arctic silver 5, think i may have applied too much, would that make that big of a difference?

yes,
apply it exactly as directed.

 

[THUGSROOK]

Originally posted by: jalapaeno
all i really did was change the fsb, highest it would go was 205
not sure what to set the rest of the settings to, ive got just enough knowlegde to be dangerous
memory timings- not sure what the best settings to use, best it would boot with is 2.5,3,3,5 but wasnt very stable
by spd is 3,3,3,8

set your cas setting to their rated specs manually.
set GAT to auto, NBS800, 2.8v vdimm, 1.55v vagp

....go straight to 250fsb, 5:4 mem ratio.

HTH

EDIT: almost forgot! ...set AGP/PCI ratio to "fixed 66/33"

 

[Duvie]

The master has taken a liking to you young one....Follow his instructions and it will rock!!!

That as5 is thicker then as3 but should be applied paper thin almost like a transparent layer you can almost read the marking on top of the IHS plate. The AS5 and thermal paste in general is just meant to fill the microscopic groves of the IHs plate. If the IHS plate had no imperfections you wouldn't even need AS5 or anything as it would transfer perfcetly by having the copper make full and even contact....

Aslo make sure you do not have the hsf applied so tigh that it may be bending the board severely causing an uneven contact...

 

[jalapaeno]

do you have any idea how helpful youve been, ive spent hours online reading and trying to figure this out. thanks, now im gonna try out your advice

 

[jalapaeno]

now running at just over 3ghz, oddly the temps havent changed at all, and maybe just a little lower. right now im reading 45c before it wouldnt go below 45.5c. Im gonna hafta reapply the thermal paste for sure, i know i put too much. that shouldnt be difficult tho. im sure its not screwed on too tight. prime95 failed almost immediately, so im gonna take it back to 2.4, but it seems im on the right track.

 

[Duvie]

Defintely do as I think you should be in the low 40's at least...The swing with a good hsf like that still will bein the 14-15c range from idle to prime95 load.....


One thing....I and others like pastorjay noticed with our 2.4ghz overclocks that you wont see much of a emperature increase at idle and still very little in load until you get to a point were you starting boosting the vcore.....


Give us a rundown on all your settings as you have them now....give usa list of all you voltages and temps as seen by the hardware doctor program....

 

[Abzstrak]

Also, run your system with the case open to rule out a case airflow problem...

 

[jalapaeno]

okay, took thugsrook's advice.

gat= auto
nbs800
mem=5:4
agp/pci= fixed 66/33
cas = 3-3-3-8
dimm v = 2.8 (2.77 in abit eq)
vcore = 1.50
agp v = 1.55v
sys temp = 33c
cpu temp = 45c
pwm temp = 35c
room temp = 23c


prime95 error:

FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.4999991173, expected less than 0.4
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.
1 errors, 0 warnings

 

[Duvie]

Is that 1.5v the actual one being reported??? Try bumping that up a notch as 1.525v is real default for those chips....

I also like to bump the vagp to 1.6v minimum as the northbridge chipset vcore is set from this...As you jack the fsb this needs a boost as well..try it....


Also list all the ram settings including all the PAT settings...

may want to try 3:2 ratio as well as some memory has issues at certain fsb with the abit and certain ratios...

 

[THUGSROOK]

in bios~
disable CPC and RDA (last 2 under GAT)

if that dont work try cas 3-4-4-8 (the rams specs)

 

[Soulkeeper]

yeah just be carefull with those voltages
don't wanna see ya ruin your brand new system


good luck

 

[jalapaeno]

prime95 still fails after disbling cpc + rda, increasing vagp to 1.6, and setting timings to 3448.
not sure exactly what the PAT settings are
temps the same.
point about the voltages: i dont want to go too nuts o/c
just wanna boost performance for everyday use and games

 

[Duvie]

Boost the vcore up .025v in the bios..If prime last longer then it points to the right direction.....You will be fine up to 1.6v actual so don't worry about it....


Try that 3:2 ratio as well...See if it lets prime go longer...If we can get it stable at 3:2 we may be ableto go higher and run with cas 2.5 or lower timings which will improve performance...

 

[jalapaeno]

prime still fails right away, even with the vcore at 1.550 and the mem at 3:2
plus, the temps are still a little high, 45 idle 60 at load, consistent whether its o/c or not

 

[THUGSROOK]

this isnt making sense....

did you clean up the thermal paste yet?

 

[JustStarting]

memtest at current settings with both sticks of RAM...
if it fails try memtest at Thugs 8-4-4-3 settings...

if it still fails
try 1 stick of ram at a time...

power supply voltages???

 

[jalapaeno]

cleaned up thermal paste, temps the same. checked some of the abit forums, found out that the board shows temps 8-10 degrees higher than they really are, mine are really closer to 35 and 50, which seems right. prime still fails, as of yet not stable at 250fsb

 

[jalapaeno]

got it running stable at 2.8 ghz, not sure where to go from here. whethere to tweak it where its at or go for more

 

[TAKKLE]

what are your current voltages and timings etc...