OC'ing my Prescott 3.4

[PaganRanger]

Ok,

I have been playing around with my system:
Specs:

Ausus P4P800-E Deluxe
Pentium 4 3.4E (@ 3.71) HT enabled
Artic Cooling Freezer 4
EVGA 7800 GS SuperClock 256mb
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro
2 x 1GB Corsair XMS TwinX 3200c2 (2-3-3-6 @ 2.75 volts)
2 x 120GB Western Digital (1200JD) Sata in Raid 0 (on Intel Raid ICH5)
1 x 250 Maxtor PATA (7200 RPM)
2 x Pioneer DVD-RW 111D
Antec SmartPower 2.0 450 watt

I was looking at Asus Probe, with the P4 at stock 3.4. I was getting a voltage fluctuation between 1.408 - 1.468. Temp was at 39c idle. I ran several video benchmarks (3dmark '06, '05, '03 & Aquamark). The temp never raised above 50c under load. All benchmarks completed.

So, I bumped up the P4 to 3.71. Same voltage fluctuation. Temp was at 41c. Ran bench marks again and under load, the CPU never raised above 52c.

Great, right?

Well, I decided to stress test w/ Prime95.

The first time I ran it, the computer froze after about 1 hour. I rebooted, keeping same settings. Check the temp history and the CPU temp never went above 52c.
I ran again, this time it lasted 8+ hours. Then computer rebooted. Again, temp never above 52c.

So I started again, this time watching the voltage on CPU-Z. The voltage, under load was dropping down to 1.324 and fluctuating between that and 1.403.

So, I have a couple of questions:

1. Is it normal for the voltage to fluctuate? even at idle? (My AMD 64 3700+ Clawhammer seems to stay rock solid in a Shuttle XPC SN85G4v3).

2. My temps seem in line. Is that correct?

3. Should I increase the voltage to the CPU? If so, what would be a safe voltage to try? (Right now, I left it at default).

4. Perhaps I am pushing my power supply too hard, especially with the 7800 GS. I have not had any problems with this system, other than Prime95. Should I replace the power supply? (This, of course is not the answer I want to hear, however, may need to hear)

I am at work, so I have left it running Prime 95 for a 3rd time. I'll see what happens when I get home. Also, I plan on running Memtest86 tonight.

Thank you for any suggestions!

 

[BassBomb]

intel's version of cool and queit?

 

[PaganRanger]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
intel's version of cool and queit?

I am not sure what you mean.

 

[D-Man]

This is inherent with this board the latest bios helps a bit but it still roams.
I have 4 of these boards with 4 different power supplies and the voltage still varies. I would bet you would see more on this with a google search.

A friend of mine has a P4C800E and the voltage does not wander.

I have a P4 Prescott 2.8@3.4 and if the voltage drops the machine crashes I set my voltage to 1.525 If I remember correctly and it drops to 1.482. This machine would run 3.5 if I could get the voltage stable @ 1.488

 

[PaganRanger]

Thank you for the input. I am beginning to suspect the motherboard as well. Bummer, because socket 478 is a dead path, and I don't want to sink any $ into a new motherboard.

How high can I bump the voltage on the CPU and still be safe?

 

[Mloot]

I have an Asus P4C800-E Dlx and it has the same voltage droop problems. I think my 3.0c would overclock farther than 3.2 if I could get the voltage to stabilize.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: PaganRanger
Thank you for the input. I am beginning to suspect the motherboard as well. Bummer, because socket 478 is a dead path, and I don't want to sink any $ into a new motherboard.

How high can I bump the voltage on the CPU and still be safe?

Yeah, I had the voltage droop on my P4P800 as well. 1.525-1.55v should be safe for a prescott, I wouldn't go any higher than that. And watch the temps closely, throttling kicks in at lower temps when you increase the vcore, so throttling could kick in around 67c instead of the normal 72c.

 

[PaganRanger]

UPDATE

Thank you everyone for the input.

After some more research, I can see that my problem is indeed the voltage droops on the Asus board. You guys lead me in the right direction.

I upped the vcore to 1.55, however that made my idle temp 49c. So, I backed it down to 1.50v. My idle temp is now 44c. (at stock voltage, my idle was at 39c).

I started running the Prime95 torture test and it has been running for 12 hours now (and still going). Voltage is still getting a droop. It is fluctuating between 1.376 - 1.428. I am running the FSB at 218. and the processor at 3.7. The temp has ranged between 58c -~ 62c. Mostly it stays right at 59c.

I am going to leave the test running when I go to work today. By the time I get home, it should be close to 24 hours.

Now, this does not solve the voltage problem. I read quite a bit about the volt mod on this board. I just have to get up the sac to do it. It looks pretty easy, however soldering my motherboard just sounds scary.

I have a couple more questions:

1. Are my temps acceptable? (44c idle, 59c under load)? At stock voltage my temps were 39c idle, 52c load.

2. If I do the volt mod, could I expect to reduce the voltage to at or near stock to get better temps?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: PaganRanger
UPDATE

Thank you everyone for the input.

After some more research, I can see that my problem is indeed the voltage droops on the Asus board. You guys lead me in the right direction.

I upped the vcore to 1.55, however that made my idle temp 49c. So, I backed it down to 1.50v. My idle temp is now 44c. (at stock voltage, my idle was at 39c).

I started running the Prime95 torture test and it has been running for 12 hours now (and still going). Voltage is still getting a droop. It is fluctuating between 1.376 - 1.428. I am running the FSB at 218. and the processor at 3.7. The temp has ranged between 58c -~ 62c. Mostly it stays right at 59c.

I am going to leave the test running when I go to work today. By the time I get home, it should be close to 24 hours.

Now, this does not solve the voltage problem. I read quite a bit about the volt mod on this board. I just have to get up the sac to do it. It looks pretty easy, however soldering my motherboard just sounds scary.

I have a couple more questions:

1. Are my temps acceptable? (44c idle, 59c under load)? At stock voltage my temps were 39c idle, 52c load.

2. If I do the volt mod, could I expect to reduce the voltage to at or near stock to get better temps?

Thanks again for the help!

59c is good for load, one question though, are you running 2 instances of prime95? if not you are not running your CPU at 100% load due to the hyperthreading.

 

[PaganRanger]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
59c is good for load, one question though, are you running 2 instances of prime95? if not you are not running your CPU at 100% load due to the hyperthreading.

Yikes! I am not running two instances of Prime95. I thought I only needed to do that if I had a dual core processor.

I will try that when I get home and see what that does to my temps.........scary.....

 

[Duvie]

You will definitely be in the 60's now....Are you using stock cooler??? I wuld invest in a better hsf and get those temps down out of the 60's to mid 50's.....

I htink stock prescotts throttle around 70c....since you raised vcore (stetvy told you about lowering of throttle point with raising of vcore) it is conceivable throttle point may be mid 60's or a hair lower...prime95 will not detect this so get an app like throttlewatch to check on that....

 

[PaganRanger]

I'll find that program to watch the throttle.

I have the Artic Cooling Freezer 4, which is supposed to be pretty good. However, the heatsink contact was textured. It was manufactured that way, which seemed strange. I may need to lap the HS. I have never done that, however, I have some junk HS that I can practice with.

And I was happy with my Prescott (at stock voltage) idling at 39c :roll:

 

[PaganRanger]

UPDATE

Ok,

I downloaded throttlewatch (Great program!).

With one instance of Prime95 and P4 3.4 @ 3.7
temp: 58c
CPU usage: One bar at 67% the other at 10%, on average
Vcore: Set to 1.500
Actual Vcore: 1.376-1.426 (damn droop)
Throttle: 0%

So, started 2nd instance of Prime 95, w/ same settings:
temp 59c (went up to 61c)
CPU usage: 100% (both bars)
Same Vcores
Throttle: between 10% - 44%

SO

I backed the vcore down to 1.450%:
Idle: 44c
Running two instances of Prime95:
Temp: 57c
CPU Usage: 100%
Actual Vcore: between 1.328 - 1.366
Throttle: 0%

It has been running like that for about 2 hours. No crashes or hangs.

I am going to leave it running for 24 hours and check the results. I am hoping this setup will be stable for now. I have decided to do the volt mod and lap the heatsink. My goal is to lower the voltage and temps.

 

[PaganRanger]

UPDATE

System rebooted after about 5 hours.

I'll just have to ramp it back down till I have the time to do the vmod & lap. It will probaby be a few weeks till I really have the time.

Thanks for all the advice and for pointing me in the right direction! I was so sure when I first posted that it was my power supply. I'm glad I didn't replace it without posting here first.


UPDATE: backed increased vcore to 1.475
running stable for 5 hours 100% CPU usage w/ 2 instances of Prime95
temp at 56c.........
I'll try for another run at 24 hours..........