Trouble OC'ing my shiny new Core 2

[Avalon]

So I finally tossed my Opteron setup and picked up an E2140, Ultra-120, Gigabyte P35-DS3L, and 2GB of Micron D9NLH. Continuing to use my 460W Enermax, case, burner, hard drives, etc. Even installed Vista 64 too...runs better than I expected. Anywho.

I had no problems getting the little guy from 1.6 to 2.9Ghz, but from there I hit a brick wall. I'm achieving this with settings of 363x8, PCI-e frequency forced at 100mhz, CIA2 diasabled, standard system performance, auto memory timings (5-5-5-15) at a 2.00 ratio for 726mhz, ram settings option 1, and MCH overvoltage at +.1v

Any attempts to boot higher (say 365FSB) result in my system restarting as usual, but then hanging without a POST for a second, then defaulting back to normal settings. I've checked that my memory can handle higher speeds, as I was running it at 800mhz 5-5-5-15 with +.2v no problem. The CPU also primes for hours on end at stock voltage @ 2.9Ghz, but for shits I raised the voltage to 1.35 and 1.375, with no luck.

I've been reading how there are FSB holes due to memory strap change issues, so I decided that since I could prime at 2.9 stock and the memory could handle it, I jumped to 401FSB, added a bit of voltage, but still no go. I then lowered the cpu multi to 7 and tried 401FSB again, but no luck. I kinda figured as much since I've also read that lowering your multiplier puts more stress on the system regarding the memory strap.

So...have I missed anything? I'm a bit stumped as to why I can't take the chip farther.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Set 1:1 memory timing, 2.0Vdimm, and 5-5-5-15 timing. DO NOT USE AUTO. Bottleneck may be RAM.

 

[nefariouscaine]

What are the stock setting of that ram and are you afraid to give it 2.1v (or more) as SerpentRoyal said it could be your ram -- just watch out for temps at higher voltages - I always suggest active cooling on ram. I have a little experience with D9's and yours *should* be fine at higher clocks with slightly higher voltages - and always manual set timings...especially T2 command rate

you seem to know what you're doing for the most part - I reach walls at 3.4ghz on my processor unless I give it crazy voltages and even then its not stable but its cool at 3.375ghz -- gotta remember there are no 100% sure things with OC'ing

 

[Ika]

You may need to add more CPU voltage. You could probably go up to 1.45v on the CPU without too many worries, especially with that cooler of yours. My processor can't even do 3.0ghz on stock voltage, so you've got a really nice chip if you can do 2.9 on stock volts. If that doesn't work, then it seems you have a peculiar chip that overclocks well but hits and early FSB wall.

 

[The-Noid]

Blame the PSU, then blame the board.

I would say it is because you are running on the 200 fsb strap. BSEL mod the chip to 266 mhz and you will have no problems.

Most 200 fsb chips crap out around that point.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: nefariouscaine
What are the stock setting of that ram and are you afraid to give it 2.1v (or more) as SerpentRoyal said it could be your ram -- just watch out for temps at higher voltages - I always suggest active cooling on ram. I have a little experience with D9's and yours *should* be fine at higher clocks with slightly higher voltages - and always manual set timings...especially T2 command rate

you seem to know what you're doing for the most part - I reach walls at 3.4ghz on my processor unless I give it crazy voltages and even then its not stable but its cool at 3.375ghz -- gotta remember there are no 100% sure things with OC'ing

Those chips will only handle 2.0V. 2.1V will negatively impact maximum stable overclock speed. Highest stable speed for me was ~400MHz. To probe for maximum stable core speed, crank up Vcore to 1.48. With a good chip, your bottleneck will be the RAM (8x multi CPU).

 

[Avalon]

As Serpent Royal said, Micron D9NLH are a bit different than your usual D9 and don't like anything above 2.1V. Their stock rating is 5-5-5-15 1.8v 667Mhz, but like I said I've run them at 800mhz 5-5-5-15 2.0v memtest stable. But, I'm not using all auto memory settings, I just left it auto for the timings. I will manually force it to 5-5-5-15 and see if manual makes any difference.

Aflac, I guess the only next logical step is to do as you said and just crank the voltage to see what happens.

Yoxxy, why would you blame the PSU? My 460W Enermax was an outstandingly solid PSU for its day. I'm not experiencing much vdroop. I will see what I can do about the board. I noticed there was a new BIOS that claimed it had better overclocking support. Worth a shot.

If all else fails, there's nothing left to do but be happy regardless

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Didn't have any issue with E4300 @ 3.46GHz and Antec SP350. Enermax PSU is not the problem.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

As Serpent Royal said, Micron D9NLH are a bit different than your usual D9 and don't like anything above 2.1V.

Never heard of this version of Micron's D9. The DDR2 RAM list here doesn't show it either. What's the scoop and which vendors use these D9's ? Thankfully all my Ballistix specify 2.2v.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Those are Crucial's DDR2 value rams. Rated at 333 but should be able to hit 400MHz with 2.0Vdimm. These are 1.8V modules...should be very compatible with various DDR2 boards.

 

[darkfalz]

You almost double the clock speed and you claim you are having trouble overclocking? Boy are you stupid.