OCing on Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Mobo & C2Q Q9550

[HecDTec]

I am just upgrading from a MSI K8N Neo4 NForce4 939pin mobo & AMD Athlon 4200 CPU @ 2.5ghz. I searched on Anandtech for P45 Mobos and found that EP45-U3DP was given the Gold award so I purchased it. It seems overclocking is trickier on the Core2 Cpu and P45 chipset ( I can imagine an X58 & I7). Going by the EP45-U3DP article I went straight for the setting attempted to reach 4.25 Ghz. Every Attempt ended in a Freeze up. I finally backed up on most of the settings and it boots to 3.4Ghz. Way short of the 4.25Ghz reached in the article. The Folloing are the settings used by the article versus the ones I used.

Article
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3508
CPU Clock 500Mhz
Memory Clock 1200Mhz
CPU v 1.425
PLL v 1.70
Vdimm v 2.00
Vtt v 1.38
Nb 1.38 (not exactly sure what this is as I have MCH Core and ICH Core voltages)

Current
CPU Clock 400 Mhz
Memory Clock 1080Mhz
CPU v 1.35
PLLv 1.50
Vdim v 2.00
Vtt v1.30
MCH v1.30
ICH v1.30

Pime 95 temp 2.83Mhz @ 60c
Pime 95 temp 3.4 @ 90c
System temp @ 45-47 c

What should be the procedure of raising which voltages first, second, third etc.?
Is 90c temps normal? I read these processors go to 130 c at full throttle. What then would be safe. I'm using CPU-Z, Hardware Monitor Pro 6.0 and Prime95 v25.11.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

These were my old settings with my DDR2 1000 -

Make sure you have the latest bios first of all.

Now, if you have all dimm slots occupied it will be alot harder running high fsb for something like 4Ghz... my 4Ghz is done by 500fsb by an 8 multi. I am running a 2x2 config & DDR2 1000 so I don't have to worry about hitting a memory wall when trying to overclock; thus 500fsb is my max without overclocking the ram. My Q9550 is almost near the Intel vcore max. In bios it's at 1.375 but with vdroop it is a steady 1.34v and stable.

First I would drop your multi to 6 and run Memtest86 vX.XX to see if your ram is stable at 1:1 ratio. You'll need to burn Memtest to a disc and boot into it. So say if you have DDR 900 then 450fsb would be 1:1 and DDR 800 would be 400fsb at 1:1 and so on. This way you test to see if your memory isn't the problem. After about 3 100% passes in Memtest86 (you can do this longer but i'd do 3 at minimum) boot into windows at the same low multi of 6 and 1:1 ratio of your ram. Mine was 6mulit x 500fsb = 3Ghz in windows. This way I knew there wasn't so much pressure on the CPU and RAM there-by isolating the motherboards subsystem. This is where you test the NB. One of the best apps to test the MB subsystem (NB circuitry) is Prim95 Large FFTs.

A few settings I have:
**Clock Chip Control**
CPU Host Freq - 500fsb
PCI Express - 100

**DRAM Performance Control**
Performance Enhance - (I would keep yours at standard until you get a stable OC then play with this)
System Memory Multi - I am using 2.00D

>>> Standard Timing Control
Manually set these to the Memorys factory settings (mine are 5.5.5.15)

>>> CPU ***ALL OF YOURS IN THIS AREA MAY VARY FROM MINE***
Load-Line Calibration AKA LLC - Enabled
CPU Vcore - 1.37500v
CPU Termination 1.320v
CPU PLL - 1.650v

>>> MCH/ICH
MCH Core 1.400v

>>> DRAM
Dram Voltage - 2.080v (my max is 2.1v - try keeping it under the very max)

MANUALLY SET THOSE VOLTAGES AT STOCK FIRST then raise them accordingly. You've eliminated your memory by testing your memory's Max advertised rating so that's when stuff like Vcore, Termination, PLL, and MCH Core come into play. There is a .0500 difference between the Vcore and Termination so try to keep that difference at all times.
You will probably pass P95 Large FFTs at the lowest multi at your max 1:1 ratio and/or fsb.

So, when you start getting blue screens and or not booting into your OS that's when you slightly raise those settings. PLL & MCH (MCH is your NB) would be a good place to start. Then, if you keep failing your boot or blue screen in P95, raise your Vcore: but keep that Termination at a difference of .0500v

With that, you should keep testing till you reach your OC goal. Be careful not to overheat your chip beyond 70*c on the cores. 70*c is conservative but good advice.

You may also want to test your system stability with LinX - maybe 20 or 30 passes at the most memory you're allowed by the app. This will heat your system up tremendously so keep an eye on your core temps. I personally use Hardware Monitor which monitors your core temps and Northbridge temps as well as giving your voltage readings, fan speeds, etc..

If you have any more questions feel free to pm me.

Have Fun and Good Luck!

 

[Shmee]

what is your memory rated for? 1200 MHz may be way too much for it...try a different memory ratio. Oh, Ic that it is rated for that LOL. Still, make sure you have enough NB and VDIMM voltage for that high FSB and memory frequency. Also, you may need to up the Vcore a tad bit more, depending on the chip.

 

[Shmee]

my friend faxon recomends setting the memory to a 1:1 ratio, making for 1000 MHz @ 500 FSB. This will be much easier on the NB at that high FSB. that way you can tighten timings, or lower memory voltage.

He has a Q9650 @ 4.2 with 8 GB and he said setting the memory to synced was what got him there a lot easier.