Problems with an OC

[TAKKLE]

Hey everyone, I've been a reader here for a while now, but I just signed up for the forums...

Anyway, this is my first big overclocking venture I was wondering if you guys and gals could help me figure out what my problem is here.

I have a P4 2.8c and I can't get it stable over 3.22 Ghz (230 bus)

Right now I'm thinking it's the CPU or the mainboard, but then again I haven't heard much about Gigabyte boards for overclocking, here's my setup:

Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Mainboard
P4 2.8c
2 Gig OCZ 4000 Gold (4 512 MB Modules)
Thermaltake 420w Purepower PS
Radeon 9800 Pro
Audigy 2
WD SATA Raptor HDD
Plextor DVD Burner
Plextor DVD Reader

I've tried different voltages for my processor, and for my memory, nothing seems to help any.

I have the CPU water cooled, with chilled water (don't ask ), it runs under load at about 40C so heat is not a problem. I know the memory can handle the speed, but whenever I boot up past 230 bus the system will either:

1. Just not boot up, the monitor will go black and I can't see anything, although it seems like the system boots because I get errors like XP was not shut down properly.

2. Get into XP and just crash shortly after.

Anyone have suggestions?

 

[zShowtimez]

Might be that you have all 4 DIMMs populated. Not many boards like that, and itll limit the FSB you can attain. Is 2GB really needed? Maybe try to take out 2 sticks and see where you get.

 

[TAKKLE]

I'll give it a try and post here later with the results, I'm at work for another couple hours =/

I could live with 1 Gb if it works, but the more ram the better is what I always say

 

[Big Lar]

Not only 4 dimms populated, which is a good call, but what ram, and what divider are you running. Also, more info as to voltage etc would be helpfull.

 

[TAKKLE]

Originally posted by: Big Lar
Not only 4 dimms populated, which is a good call, but what ram, and what divider are you running. Also, more info as to voltage etc would be helpfull.

The memory is in my original post, OCZ 4000 Gold, it's running at 2.5-3-3-7.

Processor is running at stock voltage, which is suprisingly low at about 1.25. (don't remember the exact number, I'm at work)

Memory is running at 2.8 volts currently, I did bump that up a little.

I've tried the processor at up to 1.6 volts and everything in between and still get the same results.

 

[zShowtimez]

Try to lower timings to 3 4 4 8 and see what happens also.

 

[TAKKLE]

The memory is rated to run 2.5-3-3-7 up to 250 bus speed, so I don't see why that would be the problem, but that's not to say it's not the problem either

If taking out a couple sticks of RAM doesn't do anything I'll try toning down the timings.

 

[myocardia]

What are your voltages running? Tell us your voltages under load at 3.22ghz, that may very well be the problem. If your running your watercooling setup from that cheap power supply, that's more than likely your problem, because these new processors now use 12v power, along with 3.3v. Since it looks like you spent a fortune on everything else, I would personally be buying a matching power supply worthy of pushing it all.

 

[zShowtimez]

With all 4 dimms populated, running rated timings may be hard.. anyhow, tell us how you fare.

 

[TAKKLE]

Originally posted by: myocardia
What are your voltages running? Tell us your voltages under load at 3.22ghz, that may very well be the problem. If your running your watercooling setup from that cheap power supply, that's more than likely your problem, because these new processors now use 12v power, along with 3.3v. Since it looks like you spent a fortune on everything else, I would personally be buying a matching power supply worthy of pushing it all.

Yes, the watercooling is run by the PS.

Can you give me the name of a good program to monitor the voltage?

I was also under the impression that the Thermaltake power supplies were pretty good, if testing proves otherwise I would have no qualms about going out and getting a good PS and throwing the Thermaltake one in another PC.

 

[TAKKLE]

Ok, I'm leaving work here in a few minutes, I'll keep you all updated as soon as I get home in about an hour, and thanks for all the help so far!

 

[Duvie]

I would run only 2 sticks and jack vdimm up to 2.8v and leave cas settings where you have them now....If that doesn;t boot then drop to cas 3 and see if that does...Also disable any gAT or PAT performance on the board for right now....

The more stick you run the looser the timings and usually the more vdimm it takes to run them even at rated speeds...

 

[TAKKLE]

Well, I took 2 modules of the RAM out and after a night of testing I'm stable at 3.444 Ghz (246 bus) The processor is still cool and I'm looking to get to 3.5 tonight if testing goes well while I'm at work.

I did have to overvolt a little, the stock voltage was 1.525 not 1.25 like I thought.

Processor is running at 1.550 volts.

Memory is running at 2.8 volts.

I did get it to run at 3.5 last night but it crashed after some use in XP, and wouldn't get all the way through Super PI on a regular basis. XP was also blue screening and dumping before I got in, but I couldn't see what the exact error was before it rebooted.

 

[myocardia]

Don't be afraid to give it slightly more voltage, even for the long-term. 1.575V isn't too much, for sure. And, with 4 sticks of ram, I'd definitely try 3-4-4-8, assuming you want to use all of them.

 

[TAKKLE]

I'm down to 1 gig of RAM, took 2 sticks out last night and got better results. The timing is 2.5-3-3-7 still because the Gigabyte board won't let me move it from 2.5. Maybe just a BIOS update, I'm not sure yet as I didn't have much time to hunt for updates last night.

I'll hack at it some more tonight and post some more results, but so far, so good!

 

[TAKKLE]

Ok, now I just crash whenever I up the voltage on the processor above 1.550. With the exact same configuration that it's stable at at 1.550 volts.

Is this a power supply problem?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: TAKKLE
Ok, now I just crash whenever I up the voltage on the processor above 1.550. With the exact same configuration that it's stable at at 1.550 volts.

Is this a power supply problem?

More than likely it is, but that's the thing with OCing, nothing's guaranteed. You should probably download Motherboard Monitor, available here, or one of the other freeware monitoring apps. There is another, but I can't remember the name, which you aren't supposed to have to setup, like you do with MBM. Anyway, checking your voltage under load is quite a bit better than just looking at it in the bios. Are you sure that Gigabyte didn't include a utility to check cpu temp, voltages, etc. on the driver disk for your board, because that would really be the best thing to use.