P5N-E + E8400 wont post w/ OC profile

[Tsurphr]

Hi all, new to these forums, looking for some help overclocking my new system (specs in sig). I tried to achieve the famed "stable 4.2" as per this thread on xtremesystems, but I ran into a few problems (still waiting for account validation to post this on xtremesystems).

I'm currently running the 0803 bios and all is stable @ stock speeds. However, I was unable to manually set everything to match the author's settings due to some discrepancies in the CMOS like certain options being greyed out. I assumed this was because of the order I was setting options, I figured some settings were reliant on the value of other settings.

So, seeing as how the author has the same setup as me, I downloaded his OC profile and loaded it into my bios, then my system wouldn't post at all! I had to reset the cmos using the battery/jumper to get it to boot up again.

Any suggestions? I designed this rig to be an OC machine and I cant OC please help!

 

[Markfw]

First, welcome to the forums.

As for the famed 4.2 stable, I have heard here that 4.0 is the usual limit, and 4.2 is hard to get. Check some of the other E8400 OC threads here, and maybe you can get some hints. I don't have that motherboard, or an E8400, so I can only give you general hints. First, I think you have to have really good memory to get that, as don't you need 445 fsb to hit 4 ghz or more ? That alone could be a problem. Try something like 3.8 and work your way up to 4 and see what happens.

 

[imported_Scoop]

If you think just because someone was able to get their E8400 to run stable at 4.2Ghz, you should be able to do it with your chip, you are majorly mistaking. Just take it from the beginning step by step and see what your CPU and board can do.

 

[Tsurphr]

Well, the 4.2 stable overclock is the whole reason I sought out this board and chip, and shelled out for the thermalright coolers. I also chose the Antec Nine Hundred case for maximum airflow, right now I have 5x 120mm fans pushing air into the case from 3 sides and another 120mm attached to the TR IFX-14 heatsink, pointed straight up toward the monster 200mm exhaust fan on the top of the case.

SpeedFan reports my CPU core temp as 28C idle and load temp never went above 34C through several (blissful) hours of Crysis and CoD4, a 3DMark06 test (approx 8950 score @ 1280x1024) and a 15 minute load test with Everest. I think those readings may be off though, I've heard others talk of actual temps being up to 15C higher on these 45nm chips. Even accounting for that, my temps would be about 43C/50C So cooling-wise, I think I'm in good shape to start overclocking. Also during these tests, Rivatuner reports my GPU core temp as 43C idle / max 58C under load.

I'm also pretty sure my power requirements are met, the Ultra X2 750w has 2x 12v rails @ 25 amps each, which should be more than enough to power my setup seeing as I don't even have my 2nd video card yet for SLI.

Now one area I may have overlooked is the timing on my memory, as I'm still a bit new to that aspect of computing. The mushkin EM2-6400 modules I bought have a latency of 5-5-5-18, which I'm getting the impression is NOT ideal for an OC system.

So, I'm at a loss. Not sure where to start with the bios on this type of system, there are many settings that I don't understand yet as this is the first machine I've built in about 4 years.

 

[Markfw]

Well, when in doubt, PC-8000 or better memory is always a good thing. Also, don't ignore FSB and NB voltages, as that FSB, they are very important, not just vcore.

 

[Tsurphr]

My P5N-E motherboard has nForce 650i chipset, which can run in unlinked mode so I can adjust my FSB independantly of memory clock, so I should be fine with the ram I'm using. The Mushkin EM2-6400 DDR2 modules I'm using are indeed craptacular for overclocking but do run quite stable at the stock 800MHz so memory concerns are moot here.

 

[Tsurphr]

Update: Overclock successful

Seemingly stable @ 4.2GHz (12 hour test pending)
GPU @ 633/1900

3DMark06 (1280x1024): 11462

 

[Tempered81]

I think you are severely bottlenecked by the 4MB of ram, but glad to hear your 4.2 was successful! Whats the temps, coretemp, realtemp, everest?

add your results to the 45nm Result thread by Larciel.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Tsurphr
Update: Overclock successful

Seemingly stable @ 4.2GHz (12 hour test pending)
GPU @ 633/1900

3DMark06 (1280x1024): 11462

And what was the "magic" hint that got you there ?

 

[Tsurphr]

And what was the "magic" hint that got you there ?

"magic" hint? Not sure what you mean.

jared: core temp peaked at 72C and GPU temp at 62C throughout 3 hours of various benchmarks and playtesting. I'll post full results on the 45nm thread when I get home from work today.

 

[gingerstewart55]

Honestly, I wouldn't brag about a 72C core temp reading.......I get mid-50's under complete stress and I'm still looking to drop that temp a bit.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Tsurphr

And what was the "magic" hint that got you there ?

"magic" hint? Not sure what you mean.

jared: core temp peaked at 72C and GPU temp at 62C throughout 3 hours of various benchmarks and playtesting. I'll post full results on the 45nm thread when I get home from work today.

I mean you finally got what you want for an OC after you changed something. So what allowed the OC to work ?

 

[Tsurphr]

Originally posted by: gingerstewart55
Honestly, I wouldn't brag about a 72C core temp reading.......I get mid-50's under complete stress and I'm still looking to drop that temp a bit.

Bragging? I was asked, I answered. Also are you water cooled? I'm doing this whole build completely on air.

Markfw900: aye, it was the memory I am using. The OC profile was set for linked memory/fsb and my budget DDR2 sticks couldn't handle it. fortunately, nForce 650i chipset has an Unlinked mode so I can increase the FSB without overclocking the memory.

 

[annihilat0r]

What is your voltage at 4.2GHz?

 

[Tsurphr]

I have vcore at 1.45 an NB at 1.563