VCORE Question

[Edrick]

Hello,

I am quite new to overclocking. I have read every article I could find and I know the basics. But now my machine is having a few issues and I think it is related to the VCORE.

I just recently swapped out E8200 for a Q9300. I have a Gigabyte EP45-UD3L MB with OCZ gold DDR2 1066 ram.

I overclocked my E8200 to 3.2Ghz (400x8) using the "Auto" VCORE setting. My memory was set to 800 to get a 1:1 ratio. My voltage was anywhere between 1.20 to 1.235 depending on the CPU load. Everything worked great for months, and I worked it hard.

So I plug in the Q9300 and set the VCORE to "Auto" again. Overclock to 3.0Ghz (400x7.5), everything else the same as before. I notice that my voltage was up in the 1.3's using auto so I changed it to "normal" setting. Then my voltage would be at 1.12 idle and 1.186 full load. I thought this was great. But since then (4 days ago), I have bluescreened 3 times while running SETI@home. It never happened before with the E8200.

So I am thinking that 1.186 is just to low. But again, I am new to this and I am not really sure what happenes to a PC with low voltage settings.

I tried to set the VCORE manually to 1.235, which is standard. Now my PC idles at 1.216 but under full load drops back to 1.186. I have no idea why it drops.

Please let me know what I am doing wrong here.

Thanks.

 

[alyarb]

1.186 is reasonable but definitely on the low side for a quad at 3 ghz, but 1.3 is too high for that speed. set it to 1.25 or 1.26 in the bios and see if it's stable. see where the voltage droops under load.

 

[Edrick]

I set it to 1.250 and it still drops as low as 1.186, but generally runs at 1.20 and 1.216. I am going to try stepping it up another notch.

Is a bluescreen crash a symptom of not enough volts?

 

[Kenmitch]

Good old vdroop....Just use something like Intel Burn Test to stress test it when your trying to figure out your vcore voltage requirement as it'll error quickly if vcore is too low.

 

[Kenmitch]

I set it to 1.250 and it still drops as low as 1.186, but generally runs at 1.20 and 1.216. I am going to try stepping it up another notch.

Is a bluescreen crash a symptom of not enough volts?

Double check your memory settings\timings when in bios the make sure you didn't mess them up while playing around.

 

[Edrick]

Good old vdroop....Just use something like Intel Burn Test to stress test it when your trying to figure out your vcore voltage requirement as it'll error quickly if vcore is too low.

The funny thing is, Intel Burn Test passed (ran for 2 hours) at 1.186 volts.

I have now set my voltage at 1.26 and now I run at 1.20 under load. I am going to put this to the test now.

 

[alyarb]

i use occt and linx, and big encodes.

 

[Soulkeeper]

1.18v is pretty low (good for keeping temps/heat down)
that's what I run my quad at, 3.16GHz now for months stable
if you want higher you'll likely have to get into the 1.2's tho
I personally don't have the balls to go over 1.3v, many people seem to consider 1.3+ normal

I picked up a E5400 45nm last week (uses the same motherboard as you got) and run the vcore at 1.28 for 3.6GHz, 1.26 wouldn't keep it stable (would lockup after maybe 6hrs) - bios setting, actual is about .02v lower
memory is running at 800 4-5-4-12 and
vtt 1.2 (termination) / a/gtl+ .805 (reference) I don't recommend messing with these

 

[Edrick]

I have been running at 1.20v under load and 1.23v idle since I posted last. My system seems more stable now. Do you guys feel 1.20v is where I should be?

And thank you all for your input. It was very helpful.

 

[Kenmitch]

I have been running at 1.20v under load and 1.23v idle since I posted last. My system seems more stable now. Do you guys feel 1.20v is where I should be?

And thank you all for your input. It was very helpful.

That is what your chip needs to be stable at that speed. I don't see any problem with your voltages.