My E2160 hits a wall at 2.7GHz. Any ideas?

[imported_latuszek]

thanks... but I have the latest bios (F12) I also tried downgrading to F10 to see if that would make a difference (they added E2160 support in F10) but it's the same if not worse.


So far, the e2160 @ 2.4ghz is not a whole lot faster than the pentium 805 @3.0ghz it replaced. At most 10-20%

 

[Zoomer]

Have you tried setting the multiplier down and setting the FSB to 400Mhz? I've noticed my gigabyte to be particular and have numerous issues mid 350, but it all cleared up when I set it to 400Mhz.

Try it. At the very most, you'll need to clear the CMOS. Make sure you know how to before doing it, of course.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Zoomer
Have you tried setting the multiplier down and setting the FSB to 400Mhz?

Actually, try 401 Mhz. Some of the P965 boards had serious problems with 400 Mhz, that magically disappeared at 401, because they didn't change northbridge straps until 401, instead of 400, like others did.

 

[imported_latuszek]

Tried 401x6 and it wouldnt even post. RAM at 802mhz (it's stable to ~900mhz). The reason I am thinking it might be a weak processor is that it is not stable at 2.4ghz with less than 1.45 volts. If it's stable at 1.45 volts but not at 1.4 for example, doesn't that mean it's the processor holding me back?

Also I've seen alot of places say to try setting the RAM at a 1:1 ratio. does that mean the 2.0 memory multiplier? the 4.0?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: latuszek
Tried 401x6 and it wouldnt even post. RAM at 802mhz (it's stable to ~900mhz). The reason I am thinking it might be a weak processor is that it is not stable at 2.4ghz with less than 1.45 volts. If it's stable at 1.45 volts but not at 1.4 for example, doesn't that mean it's the processor holding me back?

Yep, it sounds like it's your processor, if it's requiring 1.45v for 2.4 Ghz. Then again, it very well could be your motherboard. If your motherboard has huge amounts of vdroop, that would require setting your vcore way too high, so once it drops, it would be enough.

Also I've seen alot of places say to try setting the RAM at a 1:1 ratio. does that mean the 2.0 memory multiplier? the 4.0?

2.0 would be 1:1. 4.0 would be 1:2, or 400 Mhz/800 DDR2.

 

[imported_latuszek]

Thanks. I've also seen vdroop mentioned alot of places and that my board has alot of vdroop. any way to measure this? I've watched cpu-z, speedfan, and gigabyte's application to look at vcore while i put the cpu under load and it doesn't move away from 1.44 volts. That doesn't seem like alot of vdroop to me?? But is it accurate?

 

[imported_latuszek]

By the way. Can too much voltage damage the processor even if it is plenty cool?

Should I just go ahead and try like 1.6?

 

[clickynext]

I think overclockability is just luck of the draw. My E2140 isn't totally stable anywhere above 2.7ghz, even with increased voltage.

Yes, too much voltage can damage the processor even when you're using great cooling. I would argue that voltage has a much higher potential of causing damage than temperature.

 

[amenx]

Its the luck of the draw, bear in mind your chip is not even rated at 2ghz (e2160 = 1.8ghz), the ones you see doing 3ghz are more often the 2ghz chips and above. Still I've seen many e2160s doing 3ghz, the Tech Report review had it at 3.4ghz, which shows what they are capable of, doesnt mean they all will do that or even 2.7ghz. Still 2.7ghz is a 50% OC, try getting that out of an AMD.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

50% should hit 3.2GHz with a capable board. You'll see 2.8GHz and 3.6GHz at the other ends of this bell curve. All of these chips are based on the same core design.

Expect to see 2.4 to 2.8GHz with many P965 boards.

 

[amenx]

The e2160 has a 9 multi I believe, therefore its an easy OC on the board. Many p965 boards do 450 fsb easy and a 3ghz OC is only 333 fsb.