What is stopping me from Overclocking higher?

[JPH1121]

Specs:

A64 3700+ E4 stepping
ASRock 939DualSata2
A-Data PC3200 512mbx4 2.5-3-3-8 (stock)
Antec NeoPower HE 550 watt PSU
Zalman 9500CNPS w/AS5

Right now, I'm running 245x11=2.7ghz @ 1.45V idling with CNQ on at 38C with a case temp of 36C
My RAM is on a CPU/14 divider (edit--with timings of 2.5-3-3-10 /edit) (166mhz in BIOS...I think it's CPU/14)
I'm prime stable for about an hour and a half before it fails.

I've heard of a lot of these chips hitting 3 ghz on air and was wondering where my mistake was.

Could be a misapplication of AS5...could have it on a little heavy but would that account for that much of a difference? I hear that often times this motherboard would hit over 300mhz HTT so I doubt that's the problem...

Any help would be great.

 

[DrZDO]

Isolate the cpu by unstressing the memory, see what's up. But there's always a limit, and every chip's different.

 

[Mogadon]

Turn CnQ off, up the juice to 1.55V and keep the RAM at 200MHz with a divider for now.

Your temps seem fine so the application of AS5 is probably fine.

 

[JPH1121]

I thought CnQ was only a problem if you ran a lower CPU divider because it would up it to the max when it ramped up the clock speed?

I'm a little worried about upping my voltage because, in order to up the voltage past 1.45V, I have to do a volt mod which gives +.4 volts. Granted, I can lower my BIOS voltage to 1.15 volts in order to bring the modded voltage to 1.55, but then, if I screw up an OC or something and my comp fails to load, it'll reset the voltage to 1.4V in the BIOS and boost my real voltage to 1.8V...which really scares me even if it's only booting windows. I really don't want to fry my comp because of that...

So, then my next question is, will 1.8V hurt my comp even if it's only at 1.8V for 10 seconds or so? (Until I can reset the BIOS to 1.15V?

I don't want to replace my CPU over that

*edit* I also forgot to mention that I ran prime for a little while with the CPU stress test and it never hit more than 49C after about 10 minutes. Still think my AS5 is applied right?

 

[Absolute0]

If you're limited to 1.45v on a 3700+ you can pretty much kiss 3 Ghz goodbye.

1.8v temporarily won't hurt, but i am just confused as to why you didn't buy a different board if you wanted to overclock to the max.

49c is toasty with 1.45v, more volts would raise temps quickly and you'd hit a temperature-limited wall. If you want 3 Ghz you will need 1) better cooling and 2) more volts

 

[JPH1121]

Actually, I bought the CPU and board before I got into overclocking.

Not planning on picking up a new mb just yet...I think it's a waste with AM2 w/K8L coming out fairly soon.

I know that the previous poster mentioned that my idle temps were fine, but is my load temp too high?

 

[Mogadon]

My bad, didn't notice those were your idle temps (must be my vision problem). 49C is getting towards the 'safe' upper limit for these chips, though you have a little room in hand.

If you think, as you said, you put on too much AS5 it won't hurt to reseat the CPU, just make sure you only use a rice size piece of AS5, as per the instructions on their site.

I'd be a little dubious about putting 1.8V through this chip but if it's very temporary it should be OK, no guarantees though ... personally i'd give it a go.

As Absolute said, without more jucie you aint gonna get much higher.

 

[imported_Seer]

If you did the OCW work bench mod, the highest volts you can get is 1.55. No 1.8 at all. Which VID did you short to ground?

 

[d3lt4]

You could try with only 2x512mb ram, b/c 4 isn't nearly as stable, then turn off CnQ, and see what you get.
Those temps are pretty high for the heatsink you have, but I don't think you will be able to get any higher OC unless you give it more volts like others have already said.

 

[JPH1121]

hey! and so you're right! I thought the mod gave a +.4V period regardless of where it was set. didn't notice that the mod only took effect if the voltages were 1.075-1.15. I guess I'll try reseating my heatsink and hopefully that will kick down my temps quite a bit. I thought they were high.

When I originally put on this heatsink, I put about half a dime's worth of AS5 on which I thought was being conservative :/. Apparantly I was very wrong!

Thanks for the advice...

 

[Absolute0]

Half a dime? Imagine a copper BB, i apply about 1/2 of that. And then i jam the heatsink on real tight, press down with about 20 pounds of pressure and wiggle it back and forth.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: JPH1121
Actually, I bought the CPU and board before I got into overclocking.

Not planning on picking up a new mb just yet...I think it's a waste with AM2 w/K8L coming out fairly soon.

I know that the previous poster mentioned that my idle temps were fine, but is my load temp too high?

Just to clarify, K8L != AM2. AM2 is coming out in the next month or so. We won't see K8L on desktops until late 2007 or maybe even 2008.

 

[robertk2012]

You can pick up the same board absolute0 and both use for around $80. That would be your best bet. I still cant believe the threads I have read where people reccomend that assrock for overclocking.

 

[robertk2012]

Also did you take out 2 sticks of ram a loosen the timings, disable CnQ and lower your ht multiplier to 3?

 

[JPH1121]

Ok, I reseated my HS and tossed on the volt mod. I decided that with my current temps, overclocking any higher isn't going to be a possibility.

AFTER reseating my HS with about a rice sized amount of AS5, I'm getting temps of 40C with 35C case temps.

Did I mess something up again?


One thing that is interesting...Take into consideration that I run with CnQ on as I want my compy to not heat up the room so much when it isn't in use...

I opened up CPU-Z just now and noticed that it's reading my multiplier at 5X which is correct...but it's also reading my voltage at 1.48-1.52 volts.

Now, if I'm not mistaken...that should read 1.1 volts or so.

Is my volt mod kicking in when CnQ drops my voltage and multiplier?

Er...is CnQ setting my BIOS to pretty much read 1.1 volts which, with the volt mod, is making it an actual 1.5 volts?

I don't want to undo the mod, as it was a pain in the ass to do with my conductive pen...but I'd rather have less voltage available than have my compy running 1.5volts with a 5X multi and 1.40-1.45 volts at 11x Multi lol.

Thanks for advice...

 

[madsauce tech]

i have the same processor and mobo and at max mobo voltage(1.45) i'm able to get (with CnQ OFF) 2.82 with ram at its rated 200mhz(using divider) x 255.
with CnQ and no volt mod and NO AS5 (just stock cooler) I idle at case 28C CPU 31C chipset 30C at load I get case 28C CPU 38C chipset 36C at 1.42-1.44 volt using MBM5
I had problems getting above ~2.6 with CnQ on, after I disabled it and noticed that my idle temp was fine I was able to get 2.82 after a while.

I'm not sure how the volt mod would NOT effect both your CnQ mode and regular voltage. but if someone else has info on that it may save you some trouble (but it looks like it definitely isn't lowering your voltage enough in CnQ mode).