Oc'ing opty 185

[cboath]

I just went to a foxconn nf4uk8aa board and have been messing with oc'ing on it. (my previous board couldn't do squat.

I have it stable at 2.86 - with a FSB of 220, and had to up the voltage to 1.425.

Trying to go to 225, system failed to post. Upped voltage to 1.45 with 225, still failed to post. Went back to 220, all is well.

I have the RAM locked at normal bus of 220, and the HTT to 4.

Is there anything else I can do? Or is 220 going to be the limit with the current hardware (stock fan)?

Just wondering if it's worth putting any more effort into.

Thanks!

 

[MarcVenice]

Nah, probably some kind of FSB gap, lower the multiplier and up the FSB to 240/250 or so. It probably will boot like that. There's no gaurantee that your CPU will do more then 3-3.2ghz though, so you MUST lower the multiplier ! And make sure the ram run at 133/166mhz, so that it doesn't go above 400-440mhz real speed. And how much ram you running, 2gb ? 2x1gb or 4x512mb?

 

[cboath]

It's 2x1gb OCZ at 3-3-3-8-11 i believe.

Odd, the bios says it's locked at 200, yet cpu-z is showing it at full 220. I guess i'm looking to set a manual spedd of 166 somewhere, correct?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: cboath
Odd, the bios says it's locked at 200, yet cpu-z is showing it at full 220. I guess i'm looking to set a manual spedd of 166 somewhere, correct?

No BIOS can lock memory speed, it goes up when FSB/HTT goes up. BTW, what you're experiencing is what happens when you clock your RAM too high.

 

[cboath]

I'm sure you're right. Where i thought the ram was being locked at 200, obviously wasn't that. The RAM settings were on auto (and in a 3rd location) and set at FSB speed. I lowered the ram to 133 and got it up at 13x225 (2925).

I had earlier tried 12x250 and it blue screen at the login prompt, but that was at 166.

Present memory speeds are all manual and:

http://www.sitharchives.com/board/cpuz1.png

Should i try lower that 12x? and should I use the ram settings from the image above? or should i give that a go at 133 on the ram? I feel dumb for missing the timing on the ram.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: cboath
I just went to a foxconn nf4uk8aa board and have been messing with oc'ing on it. (my previous board couldn't do squat.

I have it stable at 2.86 - with a FSB of 220, and had to up the voltage to 1.425.

Trying to go to 225, system failed to post. Upped voltage to 1.45 with 225, still failed to post. Went back to 220, all is well.

I have the RAM locked at normal bus of 220, and the HTT to 4.

Is there anything else I can do? Or is 220 going to be the limit with the current hardware (stock fan)?

Just wondering if it's worth putting any more effort into.

Thanks!

Lookee here

 

[cboath]

FWIW, the multiplier is now in the bios.

In that article, he left off at 8x280 (2240) and is using a single core 3500+ chip it appears.

I see what you're saying since i got stuck at 220, too.

Is it going to make much differnce to get to 3.0ghz via 250x12 or 233x13 or 300x10? - not that it'd actually hit 300, but is one of the 3ghz's faster or better than the others?

Oh, what temps am i looking for? Presently 39C core1, 44 core2. Good, bad, or mid range?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: cboath
FWIW, the multiplier is now in the bios.

In that article, he left off at 8x280 (2240) and is using a single core 3500+ chip it appears.

I see what you're saying since i got stuck at 220, too.

Is it going to make much differnce to get to 3.0ghz via 250x12 or 233x13 or 300x10? - not that it'd actually hit 300, but is one of the 3ghz's faster or better than the others?

Oh, what temps am i looking for? Presently 39C core1, 44 core2. Good, bad, or mid range?

If you are running 1.45v I don't think thats too bad. I try to stay below 50c.

 

[cboath]

I think 2.86 might be the wall still.

12x250, doesn't boot (bluescreens after login, before loading interface)
12x240, errors on prime
13x220, fine
13x225, errors on prime
13x230, error loading windows.

Took memory timings down to 2-2-2-8-12-2T

Voltages:
CPU 1.45
HTT 1.22
MEM 2.76
Chipset 1.50

I've read enough to know not to push the cpu voltage much farther than this (stock was 1.35ish), but I don't know where to hold the rest.

 

[MarcVenice]

Why did you lower the timings to 2-2-2-8 ? The lower you make them, the bigger the chance that it will fail on prime. You should relax them to 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-15, then try to OC the max out of your CPU, then tighten the timings again. And you should try 230 too, with 1.45vcore and those relaxed memory timings. And you did use the lowest memory multiplier, right ? The 100/133 one ?

 

[Regalk]

DO not confuse him further with DDR2 settings - he has DDR and Skt 939/940. Most DDR should do 3 4 4 8 1T 12 to 14 or so. It is the command rate (CR) you should watch 2T is for stability and 2 2 2 8 is much too tight. Once you find the max OC for the cpu then tighten the memory
Did you try lowering your multiplier ? (most of these optys top out around 2800 to 2900)
I run th eOpty 165 at 325 X 9 (the 165 was the best of all of the optys)
Voltages on mem etc looks about right (2.80 V is about the max for DDR without proper cooling)

 

[MarcVenice]

It's standard procedure to take memory out of the eqaution by loosening the timings, making dead sure it's not the ram that's causing orthos to fail. It's no confusing in any way, shape or matter, it just has to be done.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Yup, as noted.

Loosen the timings 'big time' - lower the divider to 133 (or 100). Don't give up!

Keep a spreadsheet of settings. Don't be afraid of dropping your voltages - this will account for discrepancies in readings. That link article above got a fsb speed of 280 so we know it's possible. We just have to figure how to get you there.

Use the bios to loosen your memory timings and see if CrystalCPUID will allow you to further tweak your cpu voltages and gain control of your cpu multiplier.

Since you got your cpu multi I'll assume you updated to the most current bios - sometimes going back one 'version' in bios can uncover tweaks/settings that can better control your OC.

 

[cboath]

I've not messed with memory timings in the past, so i thought 2 was loosening them. Guess not Just looking at sigs with people having 3.2ghz+ with 5-5-5-5-15, etc i assumed higher was tighter. Well, i guess that proves the saying 'when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me'.

I'll knock the timings down and give 'er another whack.

Thanks for the support and feeback you guys. You've been more than great!

Edit, and i did take the speed down to 133.

 

[cboath]

Trying 225x13 again...

The CL setting has options of 2, 2.5, and 3. So, using 133mhz, and the following timings:

2-2-2-8-12-2T - failed at 4 minutes (from yesterday)
3-4-4-8-12-2T - fails a 7 minutes
3-5-5-10-14-2T - fails at 6 minutes

Obviously, i'm no expert, but i take it that means it's probably not limited at the memory end, correct?

12x240 at 3-5-5-10-14 stable so far. (prime for 30mins)

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: cboath
Trying 225x13 again...

The CL setting has options of 2, 2.5, and 3. So, using 133mhz, and the following timings:

2-2-2-8-12-2T - failed at 4 minutes (from yesterday)
3-4-4-8-12-2T - fails a 7 minutes
3-5-5-10-14-2T - fails at 6 minutes

Obviously, i'm no expert, but i take it that means it's probably not limited at the memory end, correct?

12x240 at 3-5-5-10-14 stable so far. (prime for 30mins)

Woo hoo! 3GHz here you come!

I actually replaced the -6150 version of that mobo for someone with the SLI version. Just for giggles I tweaked on it a bit and got almost a 20% OC (if I remember correctly) on an XP 3200+.

Don't be afraid to go 3-5-5-12-15-2T or drop the HT to [8/8] or drop back on the volts if you freeze up. And doing a ""burn-in"" at 12x240 for a day or so may not be such a bad idea.

wtg!

 

[cboath]

11x260 is looking good, too.

Bios is odd on the FSB, it goes 200-210 in increments of .5. 211-240ish at increments of 1. The 240's are in increments of 2 - (no clue on that) and it returns to increments of 1 at 250.

I'd guess my best shot at 3ghz would be 12x250 as opposed to 11x273, wouldn't you think? I had issues before at 12x250, but i believe i had the memory at 2's.

 

[cboath]

Oh, and i dropped the HTT down to 3...

 

[MarcVenice]

12x250 goes easier on your ram then 11x273. Besides, 273 is getting a bit high FSB wise. I know it's around the maximum my nforce 4 s939 mobo would do. Btw, your CPU might do 3.2ghz, but it might be getting to hot to be comfortable with if you stress it at those speeds. Not sure what kind of HSF you've got, but do keep an eye on temperatures.

 

[heyheybooboo]

^^^ what MV said

Originally posted by: cboath
11x260 is looking good, too.

Bios is odd on the FSB, it goes 200-210 in increments of .5. 211-240ish at increments of 1. The 240's are in increments of 2 - (no clue on that) and it returns to increments of 1 at 250.

I'd guess my best shot at 3ghz would be 12x250 as opposed to 11x273, wouldn't you think? I had issues before at 12x250, but i believe i had the memory at 2's.

unless there's an OC ""ugly hole"" on the fsb - meaning that some fsb speeds are very OC unfriendly - you've got a 13 multi - don't be afraid to use it

231fsb x13 = 3GHz - and if you get there stable you can re-up the mem divider to 166. 'Theoretically' you could go 13x240 with the 166 divider and keep pc3200 to spec.

When you reach the stable speed you want - you can start tightening up those ram timings.

Do the math! Write everything to a spreadsheet! Run the minimum voltages at which you are stable.

 

[cboath]

Here's the breakdown:
Works: 12x240, 11x260

Fails:
12x250 - in vista, gets to the little circular windows logo and freezes and sound stutters.
11x265 - fails prime in 4 minutes
13x225 - fails in 6 minutes
12x246 - fails in 4 minutes

And, these are with the ram at 133 and 3-5-5-12-15-2T and 1.425 volt.

At the moment it's back to 12x240 and 1.425 temps 44C/44C after rebooting and up 10 minutes or so.

Is it worth relaxing the ram any more? or changing voltage?

 

[Regalk]

Originally posted by: cboath
Here's the breakdown:
Works: 12x240, 11x260

Fails:
12x250 - in vista, gets to the little circular windows logo and freezes and sound stutters.
11x265 - fails prime in 4 minutes
13x225 - fails in 6 minutes
12x246 - fails in 4 minutes

And, these are with the ram at 133 and 3-5-5-12-15-2T and 1.425 volt.

At the moment it's back to 12x240 and 1.425 temps 44C/44C after rebooting and up 10 minutes or so.

Is it worth relaxing the ram any more? or changing voltage?

It would help if you post your specs and brand of memory. Not sure how good an overclocker is the Foxconn board but looks like it could do a fair bit.
I disagree with the above posts about looseing the timings to almost DDR2 levels - that is not standard procedure for DDR in my opinion and I have been at this for over 10 years. Example - You loosen the timings for PC3200 DDR spec at 2.5 3 3 3 7 as follows
Run at say 3 4 4 9 and CR at 2T (that should be loose enough!)
Run memory speeds at close to 200 or less (depending on rated speeds)
Ensure that HTT Link is set to 4X (201-250FSB) and to 3X (250-333FSB)
For low end RAM do not use more than 2.7 volts (highe end takes 2.8)

Use CPU-Z to check your speeds

And finally please read the overclocking stickys in various forums to increase your knowledge

 

[cboath]

It's posted above as OCZ, further specs would be:

Perfomance
Model: OCZ4002048PFDC-K
DDR 400
CAS Latency
Timing 3-3-3-8
Voltage 2.6V
Has heat spreader with ULN2 Tech

 

[HannibalX]

Replace the stock cooler. My Opty 185 did 3.2 GHz with Patriot ram no problem with a better cooler.

 

[killster1]

Ok i stopped reading after a while im curious as to what OCZ ram you have.. usually ocz will set it up to run at the timings they have on sticker at speeds on sticker.. so why not try 3 3 3 8? And use MEMtest first should take like 20 mins to do a full pass then two prime 95's going at once.. also might install speedfan check out other temps..