Overclocking A Pentium D 915

[Cheex]

1.
The 243 is still stock volts. Increasing the vcore doesn't seem to help the situation so i set it back to default.

2.
As for ClockGen...I'm not getting the PLL Control or PLL Setup. Just Clocks and Options.

 

[Cheex]

Well I'm stable as high as 3.5GHz (25% OC) (stock volts) but i have hard drive detection issues when booting. So...
Now I'm stable at 3.4GHz (22% OC) (still stock volts) with no issues.

1. Why was there a problem with detecting my hard drive when I went higher?
2. How do I now go higher without having that problem?

 

[Cheex]

I reduced the clock speed even further and still i had detection issues. Everything seems fine from stock (2.80GHz) until 3.20GHz. Anything higher, I get detection issues.

My HDD is connected in the first SATA port (SATA 1). Also tried connecting the hard drive to the SATA 4 and still had issues.
I'm worried...

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: Cheex
I reduced the clock speed even further and still i had detection issues. Everything seems fine from stock (2.80GHz) until 3.20GHz. Anything higher, I get detection issues.

My HDD is connected in the first SATA port (SATA 1). Also tried connecting the hard drive to the SATA 4 and still had issues.
I'm worried...

Overclocking requires experience/knowhow if you're serious about it.

I don't think you realise some information. For example your HDD's aren't being detected because the PCI and/or PCIe bus speeds are over specification, these contribute to a flaky sub-system.

I'm surprised you went for a Foxconn motherboard. An Asus P5B is much more suited to overclocking and cheaper than the high-end P5W DH.

Also remember that if your goal is 3.73GHz CPU speed, this will still only be just that. You still lack HT of the EE 965. Also running memory at 533MHz makes for a slower system, particularly in applications that access memory frequently such video/audio encoding.

Your CPU will have no problems getting to 3.73GHz providing the right settings and cooling. Your Vcore needs to be about 1.35V most probably and PCI/PCIe speeds should be locked to 33/100MHz respectively.

It all depends how much your motherboards allows you, this is in essence the bottom line.

 

[Cheex]

Well first off...I went with the Foxconn because of my budget limitation and also the fact that it was based on the P965 chipset which has been receiving great reviews. Also, reveiws on the board itself showed that while it can't outperform (except in a few instances) the more expensive boards, it held its own pretty well against them performance-wise.

Next, is the fact that PCI and/or PCIe bus speeds have no direct option in the bios to lock them (unless i'm overlooking them). Also, does Spread Spectrum have anything to do with this?

Next...I know that I will be lacking the HT of the EE965 but getting to 3.73GHz will still be a 'milestone'.
As for memory, I don't really do any encoding (might mess with it sometime). I'm more of a gamer/audio user with a touch of photoshop.

Further on, I pretty much know that my CPU isn't limited to where its at now. I know it has a lot of headroom for overclocking (like all Pentium D's). So 3.73GHz and 4GHz is definately possible.

Bottom line: Are you sure when you say that my HDD isn't been detected because of incorrect PCI and/or PCIe bus speed? If so, how can i lock them?

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: Cheex
Well first off...I went with the Foxconn because of my budget limitation and also the fact that it was based on the P965 chipset which has been receiving great reviews. Also, reveiws on the board itself showed that while it can't outperform (except in a few instances) the more expensive boards, it held its own pretty well against them performance-wise.

Next, is the fact that PCI and/or PCIe bus speeds have no direct option in the bios to lock them (unless i'm overlooking them). Also, does Spread Spectrum have anything to do with this?

Next...I know that I will be lacking the HT of the EE965 but getting to 3.73GHz will still be a 'milestone'.
As for memory, I don't really do any encoding (might mess with it sometime). I'm more of a gamer/audio user with a touch of photoshop.

Further on, I pretty much know that my CPU isn't limited to where its at now. I know it has a lot of headroom for overclocking (like all Pentium D's). So 3.73GHz and 4GHz is definately possible.

Bottom line: Are you sure when you say that my HDD isn't been detected because of incorrect PCI and/or PCIe bus speed? If so, how can i lock them?

Spread spectrum is to do with modulating the FSB to reduce EMI emissions or in other words white noise. For Overclocking it should be turned off.

HDD's not detecting is either PCI/PCIe bus too high or memory set too high or with too agressive timings. I don't know your BIOS, but looks for options that say PCI Express or PCI, or options that let you force 33MHz, it's most definetly then a setting to lock the PCI bus to 33MHz. PCI Express is very much the same, but not all boards have these two features, especially the budget boards. That's why I said an Asus P5B would be your ticket to paradise, OK I didn't say it as that but it's an overclockers dream without going to the P5W DH (more expensive).

Do explore your BIOS slowly, or look through your motherboard manual (not as good), you should find all your overclocking options in one place under "Advanced chipset settings" or similar.

Check for BIOS updates also, some add stability/new features.

If you can increase the voltage on your memory, do that as your 533MHz memory should do 667MHz no problem, or eve 800MHz depending on its quality/applies voltage. 2.2V is very safe, and higher is also possible without concern.

Since your multiplier is locked, your best bet is to aim for 14x266 (3.73GHz) or 14x400 (4.2GHz). I don't know how well your board reacts to running out of spec, but it's worth a go.

 

[Cheex]

I know that some boards have PCI/PCIe bus speeds locked by default/manufacturer and this can't be changed, which is good. Maybe they are locked and that is why there is no bios option for them.

The mobo came with the most recent bios, so no problem there.

The voltage on my memory is what i'm not sure of. I saw something in Everest which suggested to me that it was 1.8V. EDIT: Everest says: Module Voltage - SSTL 1.8.
Does this relate to the HDD detection problem? If so, how?
I can set memory timings in the bios and also the MHz. Should I set it to 533MHz or set it to Auto?
Should I raise the voltage and loosen the timings to 5-5-5-15?
Also, the bios doesn't give me the option to set memory dividers. So it does that on its own. Currently the memory (according to the post screen) is booting at ~640MHz.

What do i do???
Thanx in advance.

 

[Cheex]

Confirmed: My default RAM Voltage is 1.8V.

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: Cheex
I know that some boards have PCI/PCIe bus speeds locked by default/manufacturer and this can't be changed, which is good. Maybe they are locked and that is why there is no bios option for them.

The mobo came with the most recent bios, so no problem there.

The voltage on my memory is what i'm not sure of. I saw something in Everest which suggested to me that it was 1.8V. EDIT: Everest says: Module Voltage - SSTL 1.8.
Does this relate to the HDD detection problem? If so, how?
I can set memory timings in the bios and also the MHz. Should I set it to 533MHz or set it to Auto?
Should I raise the voltage and loosen the timings to 5-5-5-15?
Also, the bios doesn't give me the option to set memory dividers. So it does that on its own. Currently the memory (according to the post screen) is booting at ~640MHz.

What do i do???
Thanx in advance.

If there is no PCI/PCIe lock in the BIOS, assume this means your board will scale these frequencies as you raise the FSB accordingly. Because of this, it may lead to the problem you're having.

I don't recall how fast your RAM is currently running, but set it to the lowest possible to determine if it's causing problems. If you cannot increase the memory voltage then at 1.8V, you're not going to get far, which is yet another reason to keep it at default or low. The reason to only overclock one thing at a time (or limit the amount other parts of the system overclock) is to not get confused in what's causing system instability. By keeping the memory very slow for example, you can rule it out if say you get errors in SuperPI or a game crashing. You know it's the Vcore in most cases, or the northbridge voltage if say you are at a high FSB/high memory frequency (since the memory controller is in the northbridge). As for setting memory = default, this just means it will run at whatever Foxconn believes is the standard setting. This will depend on the FSB of your CPU. I would bet it's 533MHz for 800MHz FSB CPU's and 667MHz for 1066MHz FSB CPU's. Do remember however that as soon as you overclock the FSB, a memory setting of default will scale from 533/667 upwards too. It's best to set the memory manually (force it) to 400, 533, 667 etc.

When overclocking, always try and picture what else is being overclocked in your system, and what may this unveil. For example you know now that not locking the PCI/PCIe also causes it to scale with the FSB. The PCI speed will scale linearly until 1066MHz FSB (266MHz quad pumped) before its reset to 33MHz. This is because Intel set out this design so 1066MHz FSB CPU's can run with everything else within specification.

What BIOS options DO you have? And what exactly have you proved to be stable at 3.36GHz (CPU)? CPU? Memory? Entire system? What happens at say 241MHz FSB? You said 3.5GHz stable in an earlier post did you not?

 

[Cheex]

At 3.36GHz, I never get the HDD detection problem. Anything higher is more like hit and miss. Sometimes it see it and sometimes it doesn't (most times it doesn't).
At 250FSB (3.5GHz), the system booted properly, detected everything, booted into Memtest86+ and everything went fine. Then booted into XP and did dual Super Pi 32M and 8hr 16min 30sec of Orthos blend test. It was STABLE.
Then i started to notice the hit and miss scenario. So I played around with the FSB and realized that 240FSB (3.36GHz) is the highest I can go without have detection issues. Everything else is still stable.

From your previous post...
Are you saying that I should raise my voltages (if so, by how much) and head straight for 266? After all that is my first target. Let me know.

 

[GFORCE100]

Well if you head for 1066 so 3733MHz for the CPU, this will restore your PCI and PCIe to 33/100 respectively.

Just keep your memory at 533MHz for now.

Bump up your Vcore (CPU voltage) to 1.35-1.4V and then Prime95 it. If stable lower your Vcore down. You should probably get it down to 1.35V or less, depends on the stepping of your processors, C1 or D0. You can check this by looking at the intel spec finder comparing your Spec code (SLxxx printed on the CPU (laser) or on the box (black ink, side sticker).

Give it a go, the chances are you'll get 3733GHz stable just like that. It's down to your motherboard too, i.e can it operate at 1066MHz FSB without errors, there shouldn't be any problems as your chipset is mature (C1 stepping, a variant of the 975X which tops out at C0 stepping).

If you can change your memory voltage, do so later and increase your memory speed to 667MHz and/or lower your RAM timings. At 553MHz it's possible to do 3-3-3-8 on cheaper memory and 3-2-2-8 on more expensive memroy at 2.2V or less.

An easy way to see how memory latency/bandwidth influences performance is to download Everest (Google it) and run the PhotoWorxxx test. It scales a lot depending on memory sub-system performance. It shows how sensitive is an encoding/decoding application, in this case with compressed graphics. Such results will correlate to audio/video encoding as they access/use memory a lot.

 

[Cheex]

My CPU is a C1 stepping.

Ok well i'm going to set the the vcore at 1.4V and head for 266. Memory, i'll leave that at 533 and use 4-4-4-12.
I'll do that now and let you know what happens.

 

[Cheex]

The first run, it posted and then the boot manager opened, I selected to boot into XP, started to load and then it crashed.

266 is a no-go. Raised CPU voltage to 1.4V and RAM to 2.2V. Loosened the timings to 5-5-5-15 and still nothing. Cleared the CMOS and set FSB back to 240 and RAM timings to 3-3-3-9 and booted without a hitch.

What now??? :disgust:

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: Cheex
The first run, it posted and then the boot manager opened, I selected to boot into XP, started to load and then it crashed.

266 is a no-go. Raised CPU voltage to 1.4V and RAM to 2.2V. Loosened the timings to 5-5-5-15 and still nothing. Cleared the CMOS and set FSB back to 240 and RAM timings to 3-3-3-9 and booted without a hitch.

What now??? :disgust:

You may need more Vcore, I needed 1.45v for 3.7ghz with both of my 920's.

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: stevty2889

Originally posted by: Cheex
The first run, it posted and then the boot manager opened, I selected to boot into XP, started to load and then it crashed.

266 is a no-go. Raised CPU voltage to 1.4V and RAM to 2.2V. Loosened the timings to 5-5-5-15 and still nothing. Cleared the CMOS and set FSB back to 240 and RAM timings to 3-3-3-9 and booted without a hitch.

What now??? :disgust:

You may need more Vcore, I needed 1.45v for 3.7ghz with both of my 920's.

Yup follow this advice, though the 920's were all B1 stepping, yours is C1 which is less power hungry, cooler, and requires less Vcore usually.

It's your board, make sure when you set it at 266 (1066), it's not overclocking anything.

 

[Cheex]

How do I make sure it not overclocking anything else?

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: Cheex
How do I make sure it not overclocking anything else?

Make sure there's no BIOS option that should be set differently/higher when you set the FSB to 1066 (266). It might be forcing a memory speed higher than what your memory can sustain.

Also try applying a higher Vcore, even 1.5V just to see if it's not the CPU, but I highly doubt it is.

 

[Cheex]

Ok i'll go for +0.2500V (1.5V) and try it again.
Should i leave memory at default (1.8V) or set it to what voltage?

Also, what does Auto Detect PCI Clk do?

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: Cheex
Ok i'll go for +0.2500V (1.5V) and try it again.
Should i leave memory at default (1.8V) or set it to what voltage?

I would have your memory at a higher voltage, for example 2.2V just in case.

To say anything more specific to your situation, I would need to know/see how your BIOS menu/options look.

 

[Cheex]

From a review:
Foxconn's overclocking interface

I don't know how much you can tell from this but anyway...thanx.

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: Cheex
From a review:
Foxconn's overclocking interface

I don't know how much you can tell from this but anyway...thanx.

What are you setting XXXX to:

So...

CPU Host Clock Control
CIA 2

???

If you look, there's an Auto Detect PCI CLK, have you tried this as disabled?

Also, PCIE and CPU Spread Spectrum should be disabled

CPU Clock should be 266
CPU Vcore Over Voltage Setting should be = whatever it takes to get to 1.4-1.45V
DRAM Voltage Select should be the maximum, probably +0.400V

Now you can also try (and play about with).

MCH Voltage, this is your northbridge voltage. You shouldn't have to change this but 266MHz but try and see, maybe your board is flaky and requires some more juice.

CPU Termination Voltage, same as above, try increasing it, should only be required at high FSB speeds

I'm not sure what this FOX Intelligent Stepping is, sounds like auto overclocking, disable it.

Where it says Memory Performance Enhance, can you set it to anything below Normal?

Do notice you can also lock the PCI Express Freuency on yours like we discussed earlier. This together with the Auto Detect PCI Clk is worth playing with.

Maybe try changing/lowering these ACT to ACT Delay. Rank Write to READ Delay, Write to Precharge Delay, Refresh to ACT Delay and Read to Precharge Delay.

Could also be worth trying setting DRAM Timing Selectabl to SPD if possible.

Do pay attention to the System Memory Multiplier making sure that below Memory Frequency (Mhz) says 533/667 in your case.

Your board is made to run Core 2 Duo's which run at 1066MHz FSB, so it definetly can run at 1066MHz, just a case of knowing what combination of settings it needs.

Your CPU can do 3.73GHz, no doubt about it, but unless the motherboard allows it, that's your problem.

If my humble opinion is anything to go by here, I feel you've missed one/some of the above settings thus setting your board to behave difference hence the black screen/hang upon POST.

Continue playing, I feel victory is within reach here.

 

[Cheex]

The second picture is from the GigaByte DQ6 board that they were comparing the Foxconn with.

Everything you said from Memory Performance Enhance is not relevant to me cuz thats for the DQ6.
However, MCH and CPU Termination Voltage I need to play with by increasing slowly.

My vcore can go as much as 0.3V above stock and vdimm its 0.6V.

 

[Cheex]

I actually booted into XP at 266x14 (3.73GHz). Signed into forums and was about to take a screenshot of cpu-z and in all the excitement I hit the Power key instead and shut down the computer...ROFL. Wouldn't boot there again. Had to reset CMOS...i like where Foxconn put the CMOS jumper, its easy to reach and work with...lol.

Now i'm back at 240x14 (3.36GHz), again without a problem in Vista RC1.

I think the MCH voltage increase may have helped. However, what exactly is the CPU Termination Voltage?

 

[GFORCE100]

Originally posted by: Cheex
I actually booted into XP at 266x14 (3.73GHz). Signed into forums and was about to take a screenshot of cpu-z and in all the excitement I hit the Power key instead and shut down the computer...ROFL. Wouldn't boot there again. Had to reset CMOS...i like where Foxconn put the CMOS jumper, its easy to reach and work with...lol.

Now i'm back at 240x14 (3.36GHz), again without a problem in Vista RC1.

I think the MCH voltage increase may have helped. However, what exactly is the CPU Termination Voltage?[/q

Sets (overrides) the voltage at which the FSB runs, helpful at higher FSB settings.

Nothing special should be necessary to get your board to at 1066MHz FSB since it's desing to run Core 2 Duo processors, which are run at this FSB anyway.

If you experiment enough, you'll find the answer. It's all about finding the combination that makes it happen.

Possibly Google your motherboard model name with the words "overclock" or "overclocking" and it may lead some answers as to exactly what settings do the trick.

 

[Cheex]

I checked and I haven't really come up with anything much except a few reviews that I've read before.

I REALLY want to go higher with this CPU but.....*sighs*.......I don't know what to try next.