Weird OC problems

[SrGuapo]

OK, I have had my system since january. Using the stock cooler I have run it occasionally up to 2.45 GHz (245x10). I installed an xp-90 today and my temps are a little better at stock (5C, probably more if I do a better AS job).

Now however, I began OCing again and ecery time I bring it above 230 HTT, the system either freezes or takes a LONG time to load windows (I restart before it finishes after 3-4 minutes). Is there something I'm missing? My HDD is SATA but I have it in SATA 3 (the non-nvidia one) because I have heard some boards don't lock 1 and 2. Nothing in my system has changed hower (except for the new HSF and vf700 for my video card).

Any ideas or similar experieces. I wanted to try and get a bit higher OC, since I started getting thermally limited with any increase in voltage (>60C @ 1.5 V). Thanks for the help.

 

[nick1985]

change your HTT from 5 to 3

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: nick1985
change your HTT from 5 to 3

Been there, done that (it was actually at 4, but I've tried at 3 as well). All the settings should work (as far as I know). I may try resetting the CMOS and starting over... It is really weird, it is like the HDD craps out after passing 230. The only thing I can think of is that the SATA 3 port is not locked... You have the same board nick, which port are you using (assuming you are using SATA)? SATA 3 is the one in between the chipset and IDE ports correct?

 

[SrGuapo]

Any ideas? I reset the CMOS, but now it is even worse... It will hang if I try any reasonable OC (more than a few MHz). Is this something a bios update could fix? I just used the stock one date nov, 2004. Should I try to find an update?

 

[MidasKnight]

What's your ram timings ?

 

[winterlude]

Have you considered that maybe your chip is simply not a good overclocker?
The numbers that people might post on the internet are just a guideline, what worked for them. But every chip has different tolerances.
If you are doing an FSB overclock, there could be a number of other components in your system that can't handle the increase, so it's not always the CPU.
When I bought my Athlon 1800 a few years back and build a system, it wouldn't even run! After I put two more case fans it, it worked. Needless to say, attempting to overclock my chip was no longer an option. They symptoms you describe (won't boot, goes blank, long load, locks up) are all classic signs of a system that's clocking above it's limit. Make sure that each time the OC fails, don't reset the computer by pressing the on/off, or the reset button, but pull the plug, wait ten seconds, and plug it back in, otherwise you might get "locked out" of your system that keeps booting at too high a clock and locks up. By unplugging, the chip resets to its last stable setting.
Well, that's been my experience anyway.

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: winterlude
Have you considered that maybe your chip is simply not a good overclocker?
The numbers that people might post on the internet are just a guideline, what worked for them. But every chip has different tolerances.
If you are doing an FSB overclock, there could be a number of other components in your system that can't handle the increase, so it's not always the CPU.
When I bought my Athlon 1800 a few years back and build a system, it wouldn't even run! After I put two more case fans it, it worked. Needless to say, attempting to overclock my chip was no longer an option. They symptoms you describe (won't boot, goes blank, long load, locks up) are all classic signs of a system that's clocking above it's limit. Make sure that each time the OC fails, don't reset the computer by pressing the on/off, or the reset button, but pull the plug, wait ten seconds, and plug it back in, otherwise you might get "locked out" of your system that keeps booting at too high a clock and locks up. By unplugging, the chip resets to its last stable setting.
Well, that's been my experience anyway.

Good advice, but I doubt this is just the chip all of a sudden. If I had it OCed to over 2400 MHz with the stock cooler and voltage, why can I not with a better HSF? I bought the better HSF because I believed I was being thermally limited. I could get up to 2400 stable with the stock voltage, but when I added even .05V, my load temps would go over 60C.

The RAM is muskin value running at 2.5-3-3. I have a divider set (6:5 = 200 MHz at 240 HTT). I have memtested the RAM at these timings up to 220 MHz, so I doubt that is a problem.

i have tried giving extra volts to all the RAM, chipset, CPU, but nothing is helping. I am going to try again for a few minutes and see if anything obvious happens...

 

[SrGuapo]

Ok, the problem seems to have dissapeared suddenly!

I went inside my case to rearrange the wiring (which was pretty bad - much more functional, though still looks awful). I also reseated the HSF (xp-90) with some new AS5. Lo-and-behold, I can now OC again! I just did a little test run at 2.4 and n ow I am priming at 2.5! my temps are much better (35-36 idle, 52-54 Load). I have o idea what the problem was, but it seems to be gone now...

Edit: I think I see the problem now... I had moved the SATA cable to SATA1 (from 3) while I was rearranging wiring. I guess my SATA 3 and 4 are not locked... I always thought it was the other way around. that makes sense, since I was on SATA1 until I installed my new goodies.

Thank god that's over (though my other PC still won't run Linux - see thread)...