Overclocking an E6600 using EVGA 680i mobo

[n7]

Originally posted by: Hyperlite

Originally posted by: n7
AT's results:
X6800 = 525 FSB
X6800 #2 = 450 FSB

4 different E6600s :Q = 450 FSB

And all 2 MB C2Ds = 500+ FSB

so we need someone to try an E6300 in the 680?

Yeah, except who teh eff is going to want to run an E6300 with a $300+ mobo & SLI...

I know there will be some, but most getting that combination will be getting E6600s, which i suppose means they can get 9x400 in most cases.

Eh, not looking like it's worth it unless SLI is needed.

 

[lopri]

Dual SP is extremely slow.. This board needs some time to mature.

 

[ShoNuff]

Originally posted by: lopri
Not sure if I'm going to pursue max FSB, though. (mostly because it's not needed) My interest is in:

1. Performance difference between Sync/Async under same memory freqency
2. Performance difference between 1T/2T under same memory frequency

But it seems true that there is something going on with FSB. The FSB bug seems almost intentional in that it feels like a brick wall. I've only had this board up and running only for hours, however, so can't say much other than the boot is super fast.

Update: Got DDR2-800/3-3-3-1T working.

Seems like you are making good progress. Have you had the opportunity to asses the difference in performance between 1T and 2T?

I have the same board but I will not be able to get in up and running for a couple of days.

 

[Shimmishim]

1T vs. 2T should be very interesting.

what platform was the whole 1T vs 2T debate, nf4?

seems like it's not a big difference but for those wanting to squeeze every bit of performance from their system... i guess running 1T is worth it!

 

[skrewler2]

Hey Lopri, I too haven't OC'd much just because it's such a timesink. My HSF is coming in sometime next week so I'll try more serious overclocking then, I just tried bumping the FSB to 300mhz and everything seems stable, ran 3dmark06 etc. I'm just wondering if once you get a stable overclock, if you could please, please please pleaaaase!! send me the settings of your BIOS. I know your settings wont match mine, but it will at least give me an idea of what I'm aiming for.

my CPU is e6600 evga 680i sli mobo, 8800gtx, ocz platinum pc6400 ..

the part that mystifies me is the memory timings TRAS, TRAD.. seriously a puzzle to me, and I've really not been able to ever find any kind of explanation of what these settings are, how they effect your system, why and when you should raise or lower them.. all I know is in general, lower is faster and higher is slower.. but even when I was OC'ing my Winchester, raising the timings would make the system not post so I just kinda gave up.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: lopri
450FSB is a no-go so far. What was the max FSB in AT review? With 4MB CPUs.

One of our X6800 processors reached 2100 FSB, confirming NVIDIA's claims of overclocking an X6800 in their labs to 2070 FSB. Not only did we reach 2100 FSB (525) at a 7X multiplier (3.675GHz), we managed to reach that speed at default voltage. The system has run at those settings for several days without incident and has handled every test and benchmark we have thrown at the system. However, it should also be pointed out that a second X6800 CPU would not overclock 1 MHz higher than 1900 FSB (450) on this same motherboard, even though that X6800 reached a similar 4GHz maximum overclock and similar "default voltage" overclocks.

We have yet to find anything obvious that would explain these differences in maximum FSB in the X6800 chips we tested. Revision and Stepping explained nothing, and we also had four retail E6600 we tested that would not reach above 1800 FSB. We are looking into these findings further and hope to find some explanations to share with you that will explain these maximum FSB differences among 4MB Cache Core 2 chips.

Interestingly, all of the 2MB cache Core 2 processors we tested reached at least 2000 FSB, with the two tested E6300 reaching 2100 FSB (522x7 and 6x525). We were prepared to call the amount of cache the defining difference in FSB performance until the late X6800 reached 2100 in our labs and NVIDIA confirmed their own 2070 results with an X6800 Extreme. We are much more confident that 2MB Cache chips can top 2000 FSB and we are very anxious to find something that will help you identify 4MB cache chips that will reach the "magic" 2000, 2070, and 2100 FSB overclocks.

Those results pretty much sum things up in one word: FSB bugfest

My problem with this review is they listed the quad pumped FSB numbers and not the actual Mhz they achieved. Although it's easy to do the math it's a little irritating to read.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
1T vs. 2T should be very interesting.

what platform was the whole 1T vs 2T debate, nf4?

seems like it's not a big difference but for those wanting to squeeze every bit of performance from their system... i guess running 1T is worth it!

I'm curious about the real world benefits of 1T vs 2T memory, not bandwidth or theoretical numbers.

Anyway if you're running DDR2-1000 at 4-4-4-15-2T it's still probably going to be faster than DDR2-800 at 3-3-3-12-1T.

 

[lopri]

PI time is definitely slower on this board but everything else seems either on par or superior to that of 975X. I don't know what to make out of this. BIOS is true to nForce name and gives a lot more control to users than Intel chipsets. I think it'll take some time to master all possibility. So far, I'm learning one by one as I spend more time.

Skrewler2: I will upload some pics for you after dinner.

 

[lopri]

Skrewler2: These are sort of a fail-proof setting for me. (Link/Unlink inter-changeable) Your mileage may vary. I've disabled; CPU/SATA Spread Spectrum, C1 Halt State, LinkBoost, and NVIDIA GPU Ex. 1T is somewhat flaky to get working @800MHz, but it works flawlessly @770MHz, which is very weird. Also I noticed the async memory isn't totally arbitrary in that it clocks by whatever logic the board employs. That is, there are memory clock intervals that differ by FSB you set. For example, setting 770~821MHz under 1644FSB (411FSB quad-pumped, 3.70GHz) results in memory speed 770MHz, 822~XXXMHz result in 822MHz, and so on. Again the value changes by FSB.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/7908/dsc01146wy8.png
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/158/dsc01147qa0.png
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5273/dsc01149qr9.png
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2223/dsc01150kg4.png
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2786/dsc01151qy8.png
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7553/dsc01152kv7.png

My CPU and memory needs somewhat less voltages for same frequency on this board than on 975X. (especially memory) But that was kind of expected. Note the tight sub-timings under memory configuration. I predict tweaking those settings will give many users aggravating moments.

 

[skrewler2]

Originally posted by: lopri
Skrewler2: These are sort of a fail-proof setting for me. (Link/Unlink inter-changeable) Your mileage may vary. I've disabled; CPU/SATA Spread Spectrum, C1 Halt State, LinkBoost, and NVIDIA GPU Ex. 1T is somewhat flaky to get working @800MHz, but it works flawlessly @770MHz, which is very weird. Also I noticed the async memory isn't totally arbitrary in that it clocks by whatever logic the board employs. That is, there are memory clock intervals that differ by FSB you set. For example, setting 770~821MHz under 1644FSB (411FSB quad-pumped, 3.70GHz) results in memory speed 770MHz, 822~XXXMHz result in 822MHz, and so on. Again the value changes by FSB.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/7908/dsc01146wy8.png
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/158/dsc01147qa0.png
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5273/dsc01149qr9.png
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2223/dsc01150kg4.png
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2786/dsc01151qy8.png
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7553/dsc01152kv7.png

My CPU and memory needs somewhat less voltages for same frequency on this board than on 975X. (especially memory) But that was kind of expected. Note the tight sub-timings under memory configuration. I predict tweaking those settings will give many users aggravating moments.

Thanks so much

 

[skrewler2]

Wondering what your CPU temps are like at these settings? I managed to replicate your settings quite easily, but until my tuniq hsf comes in I don't want to keep it like this

 

[Bryf50]

Is this board made by Jetway like the other EVGAs?

 

[tylerw13]

just remember that in certain fsb settings there are holes where the board wont post as was stated in the andantech review...hopefully they fix it on next bios update

 

[skrewler2]

This is weird, nTune shows my CPU temperature at a constant 58-60C which freaked me out, yet in the BIOS (after immediate reboot) shows it at around 40-44C which isn't bad imo. I'm thinking (hoping) that the nVidia monitor isn't reporting a correct temp.

Stock HSF, so I won't be keeping it like this, and I even turned down the CPU voltage and system still seems stable at 400FSB x9 3.6ghz. Just thought it was amazing how easily this thing overclocks. Not a pain in the ass like overclocking my AMD.

 

[lopri]

Idle ~40C
Load ~60C

Both by nTune and CoreTemp. (Ironically nTune reports higher temps) It's great that the setting worked for you! Tuniq is great, you'll be able to lower the temp by quite a lot.

 

[n7]

Nice bios pics.

Definitely some learning i'd have to do to tweak on one, but at least i know all the major settings.
I especially like how they separate CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS from the rest of the memory timings...makes it's more n00b-friendy

Looks like a decently laid out bios, something i often find is an issue.

 

[pat767]

These are all nice numbers everyone, but I need someone to walk me through this, practically holding my hand...

I've no clue how to proceed to OC this 6600 ... Then again, I've searched the web, and the terminology used is different that what we find in the bios of the 680i...

Can someone walk me thru it, or point me to a link or something?

Thanks..

 

[skrewler2]

What terminology is different?

Check out those screenshots of his BIOS settings. For some reason one of hte BIOS settings (sorry havne't totally woken up yet, I can't recall which), made my GFX card run like crap. So, I ended up setting them to defaults, set memory/FSB to unlinked, and just raise your FSB .. I was able to hit 350 FSB (I think you input 1400 in the BIOS..) without any voltage increase... ymmv. BTW, once you find what seems to be stable (i.e. running Orthos for like 20 minutes each time), you should run Orthos overnight to make sure it really is stable. My Tuniq comes in Thursday so I'll try more serious OC'ing then.

 

[Skott]

Originally posted by: pat767
These are all nice numbers everyone, but I need someone to walk me through this, practically holding my hand...

I've no clue how to proceed to OC this 6600 ... Then again, I've searched the web, and the terminology used is different that what we find in the bios of the 680i...

Can someone walk me thru it, or point me to a link or something?

Thanks..

I'd wait for a bit since the early adapters are being the guinea pigs and learning the ins and outs too. Once more time has given to what these mobos can do then you'll see a guide. Also I'm guessing XS will be the first to put one up. They are the first to do so usually. Check there daily if you are looking for a walk thru.

Btw, I think Gary said NV was working on a update for this mobo in the next week.

 

[blank98]

hah I got the exact same system

 

[Galadul]

Hey, I have the same system, e6600 and evga 680i, corsair dominator 2gb 4-4-4-12 (the ones with DHX), BigTyp 120VX HSF

I had two questions...
1. First, my Hiper 580w PSU, which I thought was pretty kick ass, and certainly was on my AMD system, has a 4 pin ATX connector, not an 8 pin. Is this a real issue? Should I not be overclocking until I get a 8 pin atx PSU? For now I'm running 3600 @ 1600 fsb, mem 1:1 synch. Seems stable, but haven't had time to run any comprehensive stress tests, and this weekend I'm whisked away for work. (Any free stress test programs to recommend?)

2. My ram, Corsair Dominator TWIN2X6400C4D 2048MB. Anyone have any experience overclocking these babies? Currently running them at 4-4-4-12 2T @ 2,1 volt as per factory specs. Now, I'm only interested in gaming performance, not how long it takes to convert wav to mp3 or various memory benchmarks or any of that. So basicly I guess what I'm asking is if there's any point to raising Mhz or lower the timings on these babies if I'm mainly concerned about gaming?

First time I'm using this forum btw, great thread so far

 

[pat767]

I've tried to mimick settings as per screenshots provided in this thread ...

However I find it strange that I cannot boot ino Windows above 3.4 ghz... while most of you are getting 3.5 or 3.6 on the E6600....

What am I doing wrong? Should I raise voltages?

I'm a bit lost...

 

[lopri]

pat767,

Yes, you may need to give a bit more voltages for CPU. DMM-measured vCore is lower than what's set in the BIOS by 0.04~0.05V. (Interestingly, vDIMM is higher by 0.05~0.06V.) Also make sure to set 2T mannually since the board will often attempt to boot at 1T.
We have a thread going on here.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1958010&enterthread=y