VCore Issues with MSI Neo4-F

[feelthaflo]

I am having voltage problems with my Venice that I think are contributing to poor overclocking results. VCore jumps from 1.36-1.42 or so when set to startup in BIOS (1.4V). If I attempt to set it to anything other than startup, I get good voltage readings in BIOS, but then in Windows, it is at around 1.1V and multiplier has been reduced to 5 instead of 9. This is a major bummer for me, because I need that extra juice to get the most out of this processor. I can use ClockGen to manually change the voltage when in Windows, but only up to 1.45, and it then fluctuates between 1.41 and 1.49. If I use Core Center to increase it from there, it increases the error because it too is being subject to that percentage. Right now, if I go to 2.4GHz at 1.45 and run Prime95 torture test for a few minutes, the thing flakes out on me and I get a blue screen, "dumping physical memory" at the end of a whole bunch of error codes. The problem can't be with the memory, because I'm running that below spec for these tests, and I've gotten it up to 220 without crashing. The bus speed I have gotten to 318, but with a multiplier of 6.

Basically, my question is, given this information, should I blame the power supply (same problem with generic 500W and Antec 350SP), the motherboard, or the processor? Could my video card (old-school PCI) be the problem? (PCI bus is locked, just so you know.) Has anyone else had similar problems who can share their solution with me?

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any feedback. Sorry so long, but I wanted to eliminate any questions later.

 

[feelthaflo]

Bump

 

[brikis98]

i also get voltage jumps in the MSI Neo4-f with my Antec True 430W, but they haven't caused any problems.

however, you mentioned your mutliplier was reset to x5 when looking in windows through core center. get the 1.71 bios. until I did, my multiplier always appeared as x5 in Core Center, although it was clearly set to x9 in BIOS, and Cool N' Quiet was disabled. I also couldn't overclock worth a damn.

so, grab the 1.71 bios (it's a beta) and see if that helps. once I did, the multiplier was right, and I could OC my 3000+ venice to 2610Mhz (RAM divider @ 100, FSB at 290, multiplier at x9), although I don't actually use those settings, they were just for testing.

also, how many amps are on the +12V line of your PSU?

 

[feelthaflo]

My PSU is actually the BestBuy brand (very sweet deal on employee price) with dual 12V rails. I didn't notice that until just now. +12V1 and +12V2 are listed as 16A apiece. Does VCore run off of the 12 volt rails? I have been wondering.

I actually just got the 1.71 BIOS last night and had trouble stabilizing a 2.4GHz clock. The voltage settings in BIOS work right now, but the CPU voltage still wanders around. My RAM may have been the problem, because I was trying to run it at 218 (166 divider). When I say "stable", I mean able to run Prime95 blend torture test for at least an hour with no errors.

Right now I am running at 260x9 with memory at 212 and it is running really good. A little hot, around 40C right now just running anti-virus and anti-spyware and firefox. Ambient temp is about 31c though so probably not too bad. I did get a big fingerprint on the cpu heatspreader when I installed it. I'm going to probably get a Tt Venus 12 with AS5, so I'll clean and re-seat when I get my new cooling solution.

The error message I get when it locks out is: "Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal". I am using a less than legitimate copy of Windows XP now, so that may have something to do with the problem... I have reinstalled the motherboard drivers with the latest off the MSI site, but there are probably newer ones out, like the BIOS. I also have the 1.6 FULL BIOS, which may help stabilize a bit compared to the 1.71. Any ideas about this error message? It concludes with a physical memory dump and tells me that it shut down to protect my system or something, but the CPU was definitely not overheating (around 44 running Prime). Any help would be appreciated, I really wanna get to a stable 2.6 eventually. How much "wander" do you get with the True430?

 

[imported_Vanden]

Here's what my friend google came up with:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

This is a NIC (Network Interface Card aka Network Card) related problem. most problems associated with NIC's - especially when running on 2000 / XP - are interrupt based.

Win 2000/XP has special problems because Microsoft's shortsighted default configuration assigns as many devices as it can to a single interrupt. Your computer then 'load balances' the lot. Don't ask why, its Microsoft.

Load balance depends on the Operating System to find out which device is asking for service and answers that device. This is all fine and dandy as long as you only play minesweeper and solitaire, but if you use things that actually use a lot of resources, this can cause real headaches.

The solution, for a number of people's problems, it to make sure Windows is not IRQ (Interrupt Request) sharing anything else important with the NIC. Some cards are a bit choosy about what IRQ level they use, but I have had no problems EVER, when using IRQ 9, 10 or 11 as long as drivers are current, and there is no sharing conflict.

First verify that your NIC is IRQ (Interrupt Request) sharing. You can do so by going into the device manager (control Panel, system, Hardware tab, and there should be a button called device manager about halfway down).

Once you have Device Manager open, select VIEW from the toolbar menu and then click Resources by Type.

I also encountered the 5 multi prob on my neo4 plat. It started with bios 1.4 i think. Good to hear it will be fixed. It never realy bothered me since i've been using the rightmark cpu clock utility to dynamically overclock. The problem only occurs once you select a different multi than the startup in bios. I use my standard 11 multi on my 3500+ winny for 11 x 233 = 2563 MHz 24/7 stable. And yeah the core voltage jumps around quite a bit more than i would like on msi's latest boards, i cant really say if its holding back my overclock but i'm happy with what i've got.

 

[feelthaflo]

Any idea how to change the IRQ setting? Now running stable 24-7 at 267x9 for 2400 with memory at 200. Very stable and I don't think I'll worry about getting more out of it anytime soon. Since my PSU is dual +12V, I'll probably use it for awhile. Maybe when I get my PCI-e X800XL I'll stop getting error messages. But then I'll have something else to overclock... Maybe I'll get some more or faster RAM for more performance. Any ideas how another 2x512 of the stuff I have would affect this system? I know it's supposed to run only at 333 with 4 double-sided sticks in dual-channel, but I should still be able to run it at 400 right? I basically wanna get this thing as beastly as I can with as little investment as possible, and another 80 bucks for memory isn't too bad if it will put this thing over the top. Thanks for responses.