I've been asked to share my overclocking methods on this board so here goes. First of all though, I suggest reading this excellent
guide by graysky.
There's lots of ways to overclock & I'm not saying mine is the best, it's just the way I did it.
If copying this I recommend the following:
1. System has DRR2-800 RAM or better to achieve 1:1 synchronisation with CPU
2. Stock CPU cooler is replaced with a better 3rd-party cooler
3. MB heatsink is re-set using Arctic Silver 5
1. Tools & setup
The setup & tools I used were as follows:
i. Clean install of Windows Vista 32-bit
ii.
Memtest86 floppy boot disk (CD-ROM boot image is also available)
iii.
cpu-z
iv.
Coretemp 0.95.4 beta (this is the only version corrected for the G0 CPUs)
v.
Speedfan
vi.
Orthos
2. My goal
I personally think its good have a goal in mind when starting these things & mine was to reach at least 3.2GHz (8x400) with the RAM running 1:1 with the CPU. The reason I set this was that it would fully utilise the RAM capability as there's nothing worse that under clocking components in my book. This target overclock also seemed achievable & fairly conservative compared to other experiences so if I managed to get anything higher, it would be a bonus. This seemed better than aiming too high & ending up disappointed.
3. BIOS settings
These are my settings based on recommendations in the myriad forums out there. I've already posted this a couple of times so apologies for the repetition.
Advanced BIOS Features
-----------------------------
First Boot Device = Floppy (use CDROM if using the Memtest86 boot CD-ROM)
Second Boot Device = Harddisk
CPU Hyper Threading = Disabled
Limit CPUID Max to 3 = Disabled
No Execute Memory Protect = Disabled (Note: disabling is a security risk)
CPU Enhanced Halt (CIE) = Disabled
CPU Thermal Monitor 2 (TM2) = Disabled
CPU EIST Function = Disabled (aka SpeedStep. This can be re-enabled later if desired)
Virtualization Technology = Disabled
MB Intelligent Tweaker - press CTRL-F1 before going into this screen to bring up extra options
--------------------------
Robust Graphics Booster = Auto
CPU Host Clock Control = Enabled
CPU Host Frequency (MHz) = 333 (set 266 for 1066 FSB CPUs)
PCI Express Frequency = 100
C.I.A.2 = Disabled
Performance Enhance = Standard
System Memory Multiplier = 2.00
High Speed RAM DLL Settings = Option 1 (I don't think this does anything when manual timings are set)
DRAM Timing Selectable = Manual
System Voltage Control = Manual
I also set the appropriate RAM timings manually e.g. 4-4-4-12 but left all voltages at default.
4. Overclocking
First off, I went straight in and set the CPU clock to the target 400MHz (in the BIOS MB Intelligent Tweaker screen, set CPU Host Frequency = 400). This isn't the conventional way to overclock I know but it saves a heck of a lot of time! At this stage all my voltages were still left at default.
First stability test was with Memtest86 so I rebooted to the Memtest floppy & ran 1 pass of all tests. This failed on test 7.
Given the RAM was still on default voltage (1.8v on this board) and my RAM is rated 2.1v on the 4-4-4-12 timings, I needed to eliminate the possibility that the RAM was holding things back. I upped the voltage by 0.1v (in the BIOS MB Intelligent Tweaker screen, remembering to press CTRL-F1 first, set DDR2/DDR3 Overvoltage Control = +0.1) and, for the expedience of time, I just re-ran test 7 again (press C when Memtest starts to bring up the configuration options, 3 to select a test, 7 for the test, 0 to continue). I repeated this 3 times (to reach +0.3v) before test 7 passed. I then ran half a dozen loops of all tests to be sure the RAM was stable.
Next I increased the CPU clock in 10MHz steps. Each time I booted into Memtest first & ran 1 loop of all tests to check for RAM stability. If this fails you can try another notch on the DDR voltage but be wary abut going above 2.2v (+0.4v).
If RAM was stable, I booted into Windows. If Windows booted I returned to BIOS and added another 10MHz until Windows no longer booted (I can't remember at what frequency this first happened). At this point I started increasing the CPU voltage (CPU Voltage Control in the BIOS MB Intelligent Tweaker screen) by the minimum increment each time (0.00625v) until Windows would boot. I continued doing this until I reached 450MHz. I stopped here for no other reason than it was a nice round number!
Next I stability tested the overclock using Orthos (min 10 hours) while monitoring temperatures with Coretemp and Speedfan (note that the core temp on Speedfan is 15C below what it should be). Each time the test failed I restarted & increased CPU voltage by the minimum amount. I eventually reached stability (14 hours of Orthos) with 1.4625v (1.392v cpu-z load reading).
When raising the CPU voltage it's advisable not too get carried away so set your self an upper limit and don't go beyond it. A lot of people are saying 1.5v is the maximum you should go on air cooling although this is quite high & your temps may be too hot depending on the cooler you have. My personal preference would be to stay on or below 1.45v but I'm already now above that. However, given the large vdroop on this board, I'm not too concerned as long as the temps are reasonable.
Sometimes it can help the CPU overclock by raising the northbridge (MCH) and FSB voltages by 0.1v-0.2v (in the BIOS MB Intelligent Tweaker screen, these are (G)MCH OverVoltage Control and FSB OverVoltage Control). Given the passive cooling on the chipset, I'd use this as a last resort.
Peak load temps are 56C tcase and 67C core, while typical load temps are 2C lower. They're high, but not excessive by any means.
5. Final tweaks
I have re-enabled SpeedStep (CPU EIST Function = Enabled) for the power saving benefits and to protect my CPU from running overclocked & overvolted 24x7. However, while it has been dropping to a x6 multiplier (2.7GHz CPU speed), CPU voltage has not reduced. If anyone has any advice on this I'd be glad to hear it.
If you're worried about temps, you could try enabling the CPU Thermal Monitor but I've no idea how well this works when overclocked. For safety, I have set the CPU Warning Temperature in the BIOS PC Health Status screen to 60C although I'm pleased to say that this has never been activated.
For increased security, you can re-enable the No Execute function (No Execute Memory Protect = Enabled) if you wish. I have actually disabled this in BCDEDIT as well as the BIOS as I don't like the idea of Windows deciding what's safe to execute or not.
I hope this helps some of you.
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