Help! E8400 + GA-P35-DS3R can't reach 3.9GHz

[Penley]

My System Specs:
-Intel E8400 - SLAPL Q746A489
-Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R Rev 2.1 (F11 BIOS)
-2x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800
-Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme w/ 120mm fan
-EVGA GeForce 8800 GT Superclocked Edition
-Western Digital WD500KS SATA HDD
-OCZ PowerStream 520W PSU
-Windows XP SP2


Problem 1: Unable to reach 4.0+GHz:

When I got the system put together a week ago I first tried dropping the multiplier to 6 and upping the FSB in increments of 3 while trying to pass 5 loops of memtest #3 and #5. Stopped at 490 MHz at 2.2V RAM, 5-5-5-15 timings and +0.1V on the MCH and FSB. I figured It would be a cinch to OC to 4.0GHz. Tried 3.9GHz and Orthos failed after an hour.

Steps Taken:
1. Tried Vcores in BIOS up to 1.365 (Intel max spec) for CPUZ of 1.24V and still no Orthos pass at 3.9 or higher.
2. Tried upping MCH to +0.2V
3. My temps in coretemp were 46C idle and up to 55C load (but I have one stuck core that doesn't move from 46C) so I tried reseating the heatsink twice and no change in temps or stability
4. Tried Memtest on those settings and failed on test #3. Figuring it might be the RAM, I tried one stick at a time and got no errors on either. Tried both in the other two DIMM slots and then no errors. Tried again for Orthos and again no go.

Finally decided to settle for 3.8GHz (which gave me 8-hour orthos stable) until a new BIOS rev comes out and more data is available to see if I should RMA the CPU because of the faulty temperature diodes. That leads to problem number 2...

Problem 2: System instability and BSOD at 3.8 and 3.75 and now stock:

I thought it was stable at 3.8, but the past two days I've been waking up to BSODs while the comp was running at idle during the night. BSOD messages include: "Page_fault_in_nonpaged_area", "driver_irql_not_less_or_equal."

I dialed back to 3.75GHz and it seemed to run alright. Ran Crysis on very high for two hours with no hiccups, then again BSOD on idle sometime during the night. Now my system refuses to boot into windows and says "atapi.sys - Address at BA71D259 base at BA70B000, Datestamp 41107b4d." My guess is something in my XP install was corrupted. Will try a restore from a backup image when I get home tonight.

What can I do differently?
I'm really surprised because I thought that at the very least 3.8 stable would be a breeze with this setup. What can I do differently? I would really appreciate any help you can offer!

BIOS settings for 3.75GHz:
Standard BIOS Settings
Internal Device BIOS
OC Settings 1 of 2
OC Settings 2 of 2

 

[Anubis]

are you making sure your PCI/PCI-e Bus is staying locked? it really hates running faster then normal

 

[Penley]

It is set to auto, which the manual says equals locked. Though I can try manually specifying it at 100. Though it didn't give me any trouble when I was testing the FSB.

 

[Tempered81]

looks like you may need more vcore than 1.24 cpuz actual for 3900mhz in a 8hour orthos run.

 

[aussiestilgar]

I have a very similar setup to you, same board, bios, CPU and RAM. All I can suggest is that you try a different FSB setting. I have found that some settings just don't work no matter how hard you try. I have Vcore at 1.318v bios, running 450x9 with RAM 1:1 4-4-4-12 timing @ 2.2v. All other volts are stock. I manually set PCIe to 100.

Unrelated tip: Disable Gigabyte's SATA/RAID (purple) controller by disabling Onboard SATA/IDE device.

Edit: Also try loosening the RAM to 6-6-6-18, and try it at different volts too. Start at 2.0 and go up to 2.2 if needed. Or just leave it on auto while you try and get the OC stable. CPU-Z showed my timing as 7-9-9-25 or so while I had it on auto and was stabilizing my OC.

 

[hellcinder]

Change that auto on your pcie to 100 instead just in case its upping the speed.

 

[Penley]

Aussiestilgar, I will give that a shot. An unrelated question, any tips on getting a SATA hdd to operate in AHCI mode with XP? I tried the floppy F6 method and the after install method and neither one would allow XP to recognize the HDD. Finally, with RAID enabled, do you get that annoying message on boot about Intel's sata drivers? I got a message every time I had AHCI enabled.

 

[Triton67]

Do memtest again, #5 and #8, atleast 30min on each.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

I've got pretty much the same setup as well, Intel E8400, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800, EVGA GeForce 8800GT SC, with my older EVGA 8800GTS, I was able to hit 4.2GHz without a problem and Orthos at priority 10 for 20 hours, no problems.

Then a few weeks ago I upgraded to the EVGA 8800GT SC, and since then I'm only able to get up to around 3.85GHz reliably that I can prime or game for any amount of time. I'm not sure what the issue is, the only thing that's changed has been the 8800GT tho, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't see why the videocard would matter if I've got the PCI-E locked at 100, I've also messed around with the PCI-E overvoltage, set it to +2, still no go.

3.85GHz is great and all, I'm not too concerned about it, but it is puzzling.

 

[aussiestilgar]

Originally posted by: Penley
Aussiestilgar, I will give that a shot. An unrelated question, any tips on getting a SATA hdd to operate in AHCI mode with XP? I tried the floppy F6 method and the after install method and neither one would allow XP to recognize the HDD. Finally, with RAID enabled, do you get that annoying message on boot about Intel's sata drivers? I got a message every time I had AHCI enabled.

Yes the SATA drivers have to load every boot. I don't know about the AHCI mode, I leave mine in RAID mode.

I don't know why but if you both hit a wall once you use the EVGA SC card, then perhaps thats the cause. Weird.

 

[Penley]

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx
Then a few weeks ago I upgraded to the EVGA 8800GT SC, and since then I'm only able to get up to around 3.85GHz reliably that I can prime or game for any amount of time. I'm not sure what the issue is, the only thing that's changed has been the 8800GT tho, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't see why the videocard would matter if I've got the PCI-E locked at 100, I've also messed around with the PCI-E overvoltage, set it to +2, still no go.

Weird, that never even occurred to me! I'll have to pop in my old X800XL and see if it makes a difference.

 

[M1A]

You guys sure its not an issue coming out of sleep mode or something? Seems to be ok if you are using it just when you let it go over night right? I know little tweaks are what it takes for getting these overclocked this much and different boards and hardware can all be a bit different. I also have a 8400 as you see below and have been through this. I believe my setup is somehow limited with the video but cannot prove it. Mine is set to 100 also but when my BSOD or lockups appear it seems to be video related. On occasion overclocked I had the system video freeze's and still had audio in a game. Also my memory (ballistic 800) is at its limit running at desired 1:1.

 

[Zenoth]

Ah, you've got the dreaded Crucial Ballistix (I've been tempted by them due to their low prices)...

Usually BSODs are related to Memory instability.

You've got a Gigabyte motherboard, so if you find those memory timing settings try these:

ACT to ACT Delay: 3 to 4 (try 4 first)
Rank Write to Read Delay: 9 to 11 (try 10 or 11 first)
Write to Precharge Delay: 10 to 14 (you can try 10 from the start, but you should perhaps stay at 12 first, or maybe 11)
Refresh to ACT Delay: 30 to 44 (try a much lower number to start with like 68 or 70, I myself am using 68, or else I get issues)
Read to Precharge Delay: 3 to 6 (try 4 or 5 first)
Static tRead Value (Performance Level): 8 to 10 (try 9 or 10 first)
Static tRead Phase Adjust: Auto (usually is set to 0 with BIOS factory/optimized default settings, and 0 is Auto, normally, but if it says 1 or 2 while being grayed out and is set to Auto then reset the BIOS settings and see what gives)

 

[Penley]

Zenoth, what are your main mem timings and voltage? And what are you running for your FSB/multi?

My Static tRead Phase Adjust was reading "1" on optomized defaults, so I cleared the CMOS jumper and now auto gives me "49", which seems wildly off. I'm not sure what that means. I will conduct some memtesting to try to diagnose the RAM.

*Update* Now it is reading "0" after I set the voltage to 2.2V and set the times to the ones Zenoth suggested. So far memtest 5 and 8 stable for 30 min at 3.9GHz. Trying for 4.05GHz memtest now.

 

[lopri]

I don't think it's common to have E8400 run @4.0GHz with just 1.24V. You'll need at least 1.30V after the droop. (meaning 1.425V in the BIOS for your board)

 

[Zenoth]

Originally posted by: Penley
Zenoth, what are your main mem timings and voltage? And what are you running for your FSB/multi?

My Static tRead Phase Adjust was reading "1" on optomized defaults, so I cleared the CMOS jumper and now auto gives me "49", which seems wildly off. I'm not sure what that means. I will conduct some memtesting to try to diagnose the RAM.

I'm currently testing for a 3.70Ghz setting...

MB Intelligent Tweaker (MIT)
Robust Graphics Booster: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio: 9x
CPU Host Clock Control: Enabled
CPU Host Frequency(Mhz) : 410
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) : 100
C.I.A.2: Disabled
Performance Enhance : Standard
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) : 2.50A (4:5)
Memory Frequency(Mhz): 1030
DRAM Timing Selectable : Manual

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time: : 5
DRAM RAS# to CAS# : 5
DRAM RAS# Precharge : 5
Precharge Delay(tRAS) : 15

Advanced Timing Control
ACT to ACT Delay(tRRD) : 4
Rank Write to READ Delay : 10
Write To Precharge Delay : 10
Refresh to ACT Delay : 68
Read To Precharge Delay : 4
tRD : 9
tRD Phase Adjustment : 0 / Auto
Command to #CS Timing: : 2

Clock Driving and Skew Control
CPU/PCIEX Clock Driving Control : 1000mv
CPU Clock Skew Control : Normal
(G)MCH Clock Skew Control : Normal

System Voltage Control : Manual
DDR2 OverVoltage Control : +0.40v (2.25v)
PCI-E OverVoltage Control : Normal
FSB OverVoltage Control : +0.20v
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control : +0.175v
MCH Reference Voltage Control : Normal
DDR Reference Voltage Control : Normal
DDR Termination Voltage Control : Normal
CPU GTLREF1 Voltage* : Normal
CPU GTLREF2 Voltage* : Normal
CPU Voltage Control : 1.33500v (1.312v in CPU-z)
Normal CPU Vcore : 1.22500v

But keep in mind that both motherboards are different, and you are on a P35 chipset. I wouldn't suggest that you use my settings as a reference at all or it might give you issues and I wouldn't want to be responsible for any permanent damage it may cause to your hardware.

With that said I'm currently testing (as I type this) in Orthos Blend has been going on for only 30 minutes. Because so far I've been having big over-clock issues (it always fails Orthos and Prime95). The longest period of time I've been able to be stable was 5 hours and 33 minutes at 3.6Ghz with slightly different memory timings than the ones shown above, and different voltages too, along with a different memory/FSB ratio. I believe that my Power Supply might not be good enough and it causing serious energy fluctuations which have a negative impact on any of my over-clock settings so far. That, or my memory sucks (faulty), or the BIOS isn't good enough... or a combination of any of those three possibilities, but it ain't the CPU itself since I've already isolated it (Small FFTs test, CPU only stress test passed with 20 hours stable, but as soon as I put in the Memory in the Blend test it fails).

 

[Penley]

Zenoth, I think you are on to something with the advanced mem timings. I know you have a an X38 chipset, but I think I can draw some assistance from your timings. I had been just leaving them all as auto and concentrating on the standard timing control only. But I think the auto was setting the advanced timings way too low. Bumping up the timings is so far giving me memtest stable at 4.05GHz (9x450) 1:1 divider. 15 minutes and counting. (I'm writing from another comp). I'll give it another 15 and then try an orthos run on blend with CPU at 1.38V BIOS (1.344V CPUZ) to see how it goes. Will report later. Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx
I've got pretty much the same setup as well, Intel E8400, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800, EVGA GeForce 8800GT SC, with my older EVGA 8800GTS, I was able to hit 4.2GHz without a problem and Orthos at priority 10 for 20 hours, no problems.

Then a few weeks ago I upgraded to the EVGA 8800GT SC, and since then I'm only able to get up to around 3.85GHz reliably that I can prime or game for any amount of time. I'm not sure what the issue is, the only thing that's changed has been the 8800GT tho, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't see why the videocard would matter if I've got the PCI-E locked at 100, I've also messed around with the PCI-E overvoltage, set it to +2, still no go.

3.85GHz is great and all, I'm not too concerned about it, but it is puzzling.

Sure it's not your power supply? More power draw for the video leaves less power for the CPU, perhaps the CPU power is getting unstable?

 

[Zenoth]

I would like to update information concerning the suggested settings for "Read To Precharge Delay", I've previously written that it should be set (ideally, but not an obligation at all) between "3 to 6", but I made a typo, I got that one from an old sheet of paper on which I taken notes for that one had settings that never worked for me. The newer timings I would suggest for that one is 7 to 10 instead (an information I've gotten from a technician at the official OCZ forums and from an e-mail (technical support ticket) I had received from a Gigabyte tech guy).

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx
I've got pretty much the same setup as well, Intel E8400, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800, EVGA GeForce 8800GT SC, with my older EVGA 8800GTS, I was able to hit 4.2GHz without a problem and Orthos at priority 10 for 20 hours, no problems.

Then a few weeks ago I upgraded to the EVGA 8800GT SC, and since then I'm only able to get up to around 3.85GHz reliably that I can prime or game for any amount of time. I'm not sure what the issue is, the only thing that's changed has been the 8800GT tho, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't see why the videocard would matter if I've got the PCI-E locked at 100, I've also messed around with the PCI-E overvoltage, set it to +2, still no go.

3.85GHz is great and all, I'm not too concerned about it, but it is puzzling.

Sure it's not your power supply? More power draw for the video leaves less power for the CPU, perhaps the CPU power is getting unstable?

I would say that, except the 8800GT g92 is supposed to pull less power than the g80 8800gts I had before.

 

[Avalon]

Your CPU likely can't do what you are trying to make it do. 4Ghz is by no means guaranteed, even on a Wolfdale. Besides, your CPU-Z voltage sounds too low for a passing orthos grade at that speed. I need 1.32V BIOS/1.25V CPU-Z to Orthos 12+ hours at 3.8Ghz using the same E8400 and board you have.

You also didn't try to start straight at 4Ghz, did you? If you did, that may have damaged your chip, and could be the cause of your instabilities at stock speeds.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx
I've got pretty much the same setup as well, Intel E8400, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800, EVGA GeForce 8800GT SC, with my older EVGA 8800GTS, I was able to hit 4.2GHz without a problem and Orthos at priority 10 for 20 hours, no problems.

Then a few weeks ago I upgraded to the EVGA 8800GT SC, and since then I'm only able to get up to around 3.85GHz reliably that I can prime or game for any amount of time. I'm not sure what the issue is, the only thing that's changed has been the 8800GT tho, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't see why the videocard would matter if I've got the PCI-E locked at 100, I've also messed around with the PCI-E overvoltage, set it to +2, still no go.

3.85GHz is great and all, I'm not too concerned about it, but it is puzzling.

Sure it's not your power supply? More power draw for the video leaves less power for the CPU, perhaps the CPU power is getting unstable?


I would say that, except the 8800GT g92 is supposed to pull less power than the g80 8800gts I had before.

Well, there are quite a few forum threads out on the Internet about problems with G92s and PSUs. I came across the issue at Corsair's site. Does seem odd ...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Avalon
You also didn't try to start straight at 4Ghz, did you? If you did, that may have damaged your chip, and could be the cause of your instabilities at stock speeds.

Why would that damage the chip?

 

[aussiestilgar]

Penley, I was searching around for some information on a separate issue and found some posts on other boards that you made. The CPU fan on the rev2.1 DS3R is not being controlled (always at 100%). Did you end up resolving that issue? I have the same problem.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Apparently the Crucial Ballistix could be the issue, apparently a lot of people have problems with this RAM, especially OC'ing.

I'm going to picked up 2 sticks of 2GB Corsair PC6400 tomorrow, hopefully it will help.