I won't get into a P***ing contest per the 680i. It has its up sides and down sides.
But, despite the gossip, I've been able to get all sorts of stable configurations with both stock and lower mulipliers.
Initially, I'll say that you've over-clocked the memory inadvertently with your settings without any voltage or latency adjustment to compensate. You're saying the memory speed exceeds 900 Mhz.
I'll promote my own approach here, which seems to have some acceptance among a few luminaries in the forums here.
Especially at first, please unload yourself of the "Megahertz Viagra Myth" -- that you abso-freakin'-tively, posi-freakin'-lutely -- have to exploit the full rated speed of the RAM kit you're using.
Also, a second point, but first when beginning to over-clock, start with a 1:1 ratio between CPU and RAM. Your CPU is rated at a quad-pumped 1,066 Mhz FSB speed. Its multiplier is 9 (stock setting), and the "CPU_FSB" or external frequency is 266 Mhz at stock or default. (And, of course, 266 is one-fourth of 1,066).
Configuring the FSB and Memory speed in the BIOS, start with the two items "Unlinked." Set the memory speed to 533 Mhz (not 800) and the FSB to 1066. You will maintain the stock latencies (tCL/CAS, tRCD, tRP, and tRAS, command-rate=2) for the time being.
My own approach is to over-clock the processor to just above its retail-box "maximum voltage = 1.35V", and tighten the memory latencies as much as humanly possible -- with hopes of running command-rate = 1T so that the memory voltage is at or below the manufacturer "warrantied maximum." If you want to push the VCORE higher for a higher over-clock setting, you will probably need to loosen the latencies from their tightest settings, but if you're just beginning with the stock latencies, their should be lots of wiggle-room.
You can move up the scale incrementally, and adjust the CPU VCORE when you encounter instability through PRIME95 testing. So, for example, you'd increase the memory by about 10 Mhz, and the FSB by 20 Mhz in these unlinked settings. Test for stability with PRIME95 for 10 or 20 minutes, then reboot, and make another incremental adjustment. If failure occurs, you would increase the VCORE, or the memory a notch.
However, since I have a 680i chipset, here's some ballpark guidelines that have a decent chance of getting you stable at a 3.0 Ghz over-clock:
VCORE = 1.32V
FSB = 1,334
RAM/Memory speed = 667
Others may differ, but my approach to the memory voltage is as follows. If the Corsair web-site shows a "maximum recommended [warrantied] voltage" for your model of DDR2-800's of 2.2V, then start with an initial fixed setting of 2.0V.
With my Crucial Ballistix, I need a voltage of 2.125V @ 3.0 GHz/1,333FSB/667DDR2. But I've also tightened my latencies below their default spec and changed the command-rate to 1T.
Does that help you?
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