GA-P965B-S3 Can't overlock even 1mhz?!?!

[Ribfeast]

I just got an E6600 running on a Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 motherboard (apparently a great overlocker) with 2GB Corsair 6400-C4 ram.

When I head into the bios and go from a 266fsb to anything (even 267fsb) it will post, then restart again at the default 266fsb. The restart will happen just after the bios post page, and just before the IRQ listing page that normally follows.

I've tried bumping voltages a fraction (it has an auto function that adds about .1V to the ram anyway), but still no go - it beeps, restarts then boots up again at default, as if there is some safeguard in place.

I've also lowered the divider for the ram in case it was crap ram causing the problem, but still no go.

There is a function on the mobo that allows some vague "dynamic cpu adjustment for maximum performance" and I can boot into vista with it on the lowest setting (cruise), but I get some pauses in applications and just had a blue screen.

I'm back at default now, and while it still is fast I can't help but think 3ghz should be attainable? Should I throw more voltage to the ram?

CPU idle is is high 30s to low 40s (Celsius) with a big zalman 120mm copper cooler.

BIOS for the motherboard is the only one available F8 (1/11/07)

I read that disabling the 3 conroe options for thermal throttling help, but alas it didn't work.

Any help would be fantastic as I'd love to unleash the true speed of the E6600

 

[Ribfeast]

Note:

I'm playing with the idea of flashing the bios with F7 however my board is a rev 3.3 board, and right now F8 is the only bios out for it.
I am running a 8800GTX with a brand new 620W Enermax Liberty PSU.

 

[Ribfeast]

Ok problem not solved but I'm going to try running the ram higher - the corsair is rated at 2.1V and it is currently on 1.8V (board default).

Will see how it goes, along with disabling Legacy USB support (another thread mentioned this).

After that I'll clear the bios and take the battery out, and if that doesn't work I'll commit hara-kiri or something

 

[Cheex]

Off topic...but...i have to ask....

What is "hara-kiri"????

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Hara-Kiri: Japanese Ritual Suicide

 

[Ribfeast]

Well I've tried disabling legacy USB support, and upped the voltage to 2.1v for the RAM with no change - posting at the new speed, then when the screen goes to the IRQ stage the machine does a warm reboot and is back on the video bios startup process again.

I'm at a loss with what to do here but am certain it's related to the motherboard and some protective feature - it makes no sense not being able to edit the board's settings even a tiny amount and have this happen. Without another bios I can't really do much else but wait (and fall on my knife)

 

[yiranhu]

Your information is REALLY not complete for us to make any sense of your problem. For example, what is your PCI express speed set to? You need to manually set that to 100 instead of auto. Your memory setting should be at 1:1 (or 2.00). Your memory timing should be fixed to something very relaxed while you're playing with FSB. For example, set your memory timing to 5-5-5-15. Set your memory voltage to the correct memory voltage (2.1V = +0.3V). There's no reason why you can't run at 333 FSB at least.

 

[yiranhu]

Oh yeah, i forgot:

disable CIA 2

It's no good.

 

[Ribfeast]

Hi yiranhu, thanks for the feedback - I'll be trying out the fixed 100 to the PCI-X and relaxing the timings (it was set to auto PCI-X speed).

The ram is currently at 1.8V which is likely a problem, and it is currently running at 4-4-4-12 which I'll relax. One thing that does concern me is I made an attempt raising the FSB while running a lower multiplier with the ram (it was running at something like 50-100mhz below the 800 mark) and I still had the issue. CIA 2 is still enabled so I'll be sure to disable that tonight.

I've noticed that when booting cold or fiddling with FSB settings I sometimes get one low longer beep before getting the healthy blip sound from the motherboard on a healthy boot. Research tells me the single longer beep is memory related, so I'll focus especially on relaxing the timings and raising the memory voltage by .3V to rule out the ram being a likely party pooper.

Thanks for the info, will give an update in a few hours!

 

[Ribfeast]

No luck

I've tried all of the above (CIA 2 was disabled as it bluescreened my PC), upped the ram voltage and relaxed to 5-5-5-18 timings. I upped vcore slightly to see if that helped but the result was the same - reboot and back to defaults just after the post page and before the IRQ listing page.

When I upped the vcore I got a sequence of quick beeps then a hard reset, wheras normal attempts would either be a warm reset where the page returns back to the video bios screen rather than the IRQ one, or it would be a reset with a lower longer beep then a happy mobo chirp.

I'm at a loss with what is going on and why 1 mhz is not possible - I'm keeping the .3V on there to keep the ram at 2.1V, however I guess it is stock speeds for me

 

[shroud72]

Have you tried to run Memtest86+ overnight just to rule out the possibility of bad memory? Is your system completely stable at stock speeds, have you tried to run Orthos for 8+ hours? What PSU do you have?

 

[Ribfeast]

I'll give memtest86+ an overnight run tonight, as well as Orthos (I haven't benchmarked or stress-tested the system yet).

The system is 100% stable and runs for over 15 hours a day without any problems. I often play games like wow and HL2 for hours on end, and haven't had any unstability at all. The PSU is a few days old, it is an Enermax 620W Liberty.

Keep the suggestions coming guys, I'll see how the stress testing goes tonight

 

[JJordan]

Where did you find a rev 3.3 board in stock? I want a DS3 rev 3.3.

 

[yiranhu]

Originally posted by: JJordan
Where did you find a rev 3.3 board in stock? I want a DS3 rev 3.3.

Even after all his problems?

 

[yiranhu]

Also, disable those enhanced features of the CPU that you don't need.

If you take a few pictures of your BIOS screens, we might find something that could be useful.

 

[JJordan]

Yes, even with all is problems.

 

[mcurphy]

Marked for later.....

I've got the same board (though not sure on rev level), same RAM at 4-4-4-12 @2.1v, and same CPU. I haven't really messed with any settings besides the RAM volts and timings so far.

I've had it running for 4 weeks now and was planning on OC'ing it this weekend. There's some good tips in this thread on BIOS settings that I wasn't aware of

I'll post my results when I get some time to make the adjustments.

EDIT: BTW, is one BIOS recommended over the other? My board came with F6 and I haven't updated it since everything has been running smooth and stable at stock speeds. Should I switch to a different BIOS if I plan to OC?

 

[Ribfeast]

Ok both memtest and orthos ran without any hitches, system remains rock solid stable. I kind of hoped it would be a fix like replacing the bad ram but my gut feeling points to the board not letting me overclock due to something in the bios (I eagerly await F9 for it).

I'm going to take some pictures of everything tonight, one thing I have noticed is a cold boot results in a 1 or 2 long low beep before the successful blip. This is the same beep I get sometimes when I attempt overclocking.

I got the board from a local supplier in New Zealand, the DS3 was pulled from supply (their system said DISCONTINUED next to it).