imported_Mullet
New member
Nice one Mav...am gonna sound like a total NooB here...is it possible to get screen dumps from within the bios or will I have to snap my screen with my camera?
Overclocking help please
- Thread starter imported_Mullet
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maverik-sg1
New member
Camera pics i am afraid mate 
T
Thickbrit
Guest
A good approach to maxxing a cpu,is to remove all other limiting factors from the overclock setup.That means you want to keep ram inside it's rated specs and the chipset well below the known fsb limits of the 680i.Avoiding fsb walls is simply a matter of choosing the correct cpu multiplier to stay within your fsb range,i'd stay on 9x in your case.Avoiding ram issues is just as easy (in theory anyway).Set a bit more than the rated ram voltage (as you have),set ram to unlinked,then you can set ram frequency and timings to something that you know will work and they will not change,spd may be best if you have not tested the ram yet.Then assuming you have the rest of the bios settings correct,all you have to worry about is the cpu.
Increase fsb in 5mhz steps and test for stability,i use spi 8m for quick test and maybe an hour of dual prime for a more thorough test when i think i am at the limit.Keep increasing fsb in 5mhz steps until you lose stability.Then increase vcore,retest and continue to push the fsb until you again lose stability.Keep repeating this process until your temperatures reach your personal limit,or until further vcore bumps give no return.Then test thoroughly for stability and temperatures and back off the fsb enough to get your required level of stable.You should then have reached your cpu's limit within your personal "safe" zone,and from that can determine your best multi,devider,timings,etc.
Increase fsb in 5mhz steps and test for stability,i use spi 8m for quick test and maybe an hour of dual prime for a more thorough test when i think i am at the limit.Keep increasing fsb in 5mhz steps until you lose stability.Then increase vcore,retest and continue to push the fsb until you again lose stability.Keep repeating this process until your temperatures reach your personal limit,or until further vcore bumps give no return.Then test thoroughly for stability and temperatures and back off the fsb enough to get your required level of stable.You should then have reached your cpu's limit within your personal "safe" zone,and from that can determine your best multi,devider,timings,etc.
imported_Mullet
New member
Awesome Thickbrit. That should help loads 
.
When i increase Vcore what sort of increments are we talking here?
.When i increase Vcore what sort of increments are we talking here?
T
Thickbrit
Guest
I would usually go up in 0.5v steps.Up to about 1.55v should be fine,but beyond that is a matter of personal taste.I have run 1.65v through several chips on the stock cooler for suicide shots and all were fine,but that is my personal limit and you should set your own.
imported_Mullet
New member
I have some BIOS shots for you to examine guys.
Thanks for the help so far...hope these help...
What are ya thoughts?
Ta
Thanks for the help so far...hope these help...
What are ya thoughts?
Ta
maverik-sg1
New member
What are the options of the FSB-Memory Clock modes?
In the voltage options - I would personally set them all in the lower middle voltage options - 'auto' suxxorz big time.
Where in the UK do u live?
In the voltage options - I would personally set them all in the lower middle voltage options - 'auto' suxxorz big time.
Where in the UK do u live?
imported_Mullet
New member
These are the options Mav:
I live in South East Wales mate.
I live in South East Wales mate.
maverik-sg1
New member
no I mean the one above that - FSB-memory clock, where u have currently selected linked option.
Shame u aint closer I would pop in and have a looksie for ya.
Cheers
Mav
Shame u aint closer I would pop in and have a looksie for ya.
Cheers
Mav
imported_Mullet
New member
Oh...ok...
I am able to select:
LINKED
UNLINKED
AUTO
If I select LINKED I am able to adjust the FSB-Memory Ratio settings as shown in one of the pics (1:1, Auto, 5:4, 3:2, Sync Mode) and I am also able to manually input the FSB figure.
If I select UNLINKED I can set:
FSB
MEM
I guess I can tweak these independantly now in unlinked.
:?
I am able to select:
LINKED
UNLINKED
AUTO
If I select LINKED I am able to adjust the FSB-Memory Ratio settings as shown in one of the pics (1:1, Auto, 5:4, 3:2, Sync Mode) and I am also able to manually input the FSB figure.
If I select UNLINKED I can set:
FSB
MEM
I guess I can tweak these independantly now in unlinked.
:?
maverik-sg1
New member
Unlinked seem like a nice idea - certainly break he mould of ratios and dividers that we see everywhere else.
For what you are doing right now linked and 1:1 seem like the right way to go, til you find ure feet.
Keep us informed on how you progress
Cheers
Mav
For what you are doing right now linked and 1:1 seem like the right way to go, til you find ure feet.
Keep us informed on how you progress
Cheers
Mav
imported_Mullet
New member
Update guys:
On the overclock I had some success yesterday.
Ran the pc using an option within the bios which clocks the system by 20%, this took my cpu up to 2.9Ghz. I had a browse around on the web to find out what others had been doing and tweaked a few voltages and managed to boot @ 3.6Ghz (unlinked the memory and FSB) then manually inputted 1066Mhz for my RAM and 1600Mhz for the FSB. The FSB is quad pumped so you have to divide that figire by 4 to get the true FSB....400Mhz. As I say, the PC booted and got me all the way to the black windows screen (you know the one with the windows 'flag' on it. The image of this screen was a little faded...then the system restarted before I was able to get into the desktop...weird. Tried upping the cpu to 1.5v still no joy....the Northbridge was running at 1.45v (stock is 1.3v) and is not very well cooled so didn't want to pump more juice through that...well not until I get some better cooling on that!! What d'ya think would cause that?? Maybe I should try running a 5:4 memory divider?
After trying to get into desktop @ 3.6Ghz I gave up (need to read around a bit more) I dropped the FSB from 1600Mhz (400) down to 1550Mhz (387.5Mhz) which gave me a CPU speed of 3.48Ghz. I got back into windows and run a benchmark 3DMark06....was obviously expecting good things....
But...was shocked to find my score @3.48 was lower than the score I achieved with the cpu @2.9Ghz....why d'ya think that happened?
All help gratefully received as always
On the overclock I had some success yesterday.
Ran the pc using an option within the bios which clocks the system by 20%, this took my cpu up to 2.9Ghz. I had a browse around on the web to find out what others had been doing and tweaked a few voltages and managed to boot @ 3.6Ghz (unlinked the memory and FSB) then manually inputted 1066Mhz for my RAM and 1600Mhz for the FSB. The FSB is quad pumped so you have to divide that figire by 4 to get the true FSB....400Mhz. As I say, the PC booted and got me all the way to the black windows screen (you know the one with the windows 'flag' on it. The image of this screen was a little faded...then the system restarted before I was able to get into the desktop...weird. Tried upping the cpu to 1.5v still no joy....the Northbridge was running at 1.45v (stock is 1.3v) and is not very well cooled so didn't want to pump more juice through that...well not until I get some better cooling on that!! What d'ya think would cause that?? Maybe I should try running a 5:4 memory divider?
After trying to get into desktop @ 3.6Ghz I gave up (need to read around a bit more) I dropped the FSB from 1600Mhz (400) down to 1550Mhz (387.5Mhz) which gave me a CPU speed of 3.48Ghz. I got back into windows and run a benchmark 3DMark06....was obviously expecting good things....
But...was shocked to find my score @3.48 was lower than the score I achieved with the cpu @2.9Ghz....why d'ya think that happened?
All help gratefully received as always
imported_Mullet
New member
Ok
Ran the system with a 3:2 divider and it's Orthos stable at 3.37Ghz. I ran 3dMark06 and:
Scored - 14397 3Dmarks
SM2 Score - 6760
HDR/SM3 - 7177
CPU - 2903
Setting used are:
Vcore - 1.45V
1.2V - 1.4V
NB - 1.45V
SB - 1.55V
CPU VTT - 1.4V
VDIMM - 2.25V
Is asus probe temps stayed below 44 under load in Orthos....do those settings look OK?? Am a tad worried about the mofsets on the striker and the chipsets given the crappy web of copper asus calls heatpipes...
Let me know ya thoughts.
Ran the system with a 3:2 divider and it's Orthos stable at 3.37Ghz. I ran 3dMark06 and:
Scored - 14397 3Dmarks
SM2 Score - 6760
HDR/SM3 - 7177
CPU - 2903
Setting used are:
Vcore - 1.45V
1.2V - 1.4V
NB - 1.45V
SB - 1.55V
CPU VTT - 1.4V
VDIMM - 2.25V
Is asus probe temps stayed below 44 under load in Orthos....do those settings look OK?? Am a tad worried about the mofsets on the striker and the chipsets given the crappy web of copper asus calls heatpipes...
Let me know ya thoughts.
imported_Mullet
New member
E6600 @ 1.45V on striker extreme bios BETA 1002 - 3.487Ghz
8800GTXs 1.9ghz (effective) on the RAM
626Mhz on core
3DMark Score 14949 3DMarks
CPU Score 3006
8800GTXs 1.9ghz (effective) on the RAM
626Mhz on core
3DMark Score 14949 3DMarks
CPU Score 3006
T
Thickbrit
Guest
It's coming along isn't it ? Have you tried running the ram 1/1 at the tightest timings it can do for that frequency ?,may improve your score.If you want to more vcore should give more mhz yet.Cards should have more in them yet too,particularly on the ram.
imported_Mullet
New member
If I run 1:1 the system fails to boot as soon as I lift things above 1250mhz, the RAM's stated speed is 1066Mhz so is it not already running (the RAM) quickly..??
T
Thickbrit
Guest
Sorry,maybe i'm a little confused,having not seen your bios,but i would have thought 1250 / 4 = 312.5,@ 1/1 would equal 312.5 for the ram too and that would be well under it's rated 533mhz.Most people dont usually refer to the overall clockspeed (1250),instead we usually talk in fsb (312.5) or cpu-z's bus speed.So if you boot at 1250 1/1,what does cpu-z show for bus speed and memory frequency ?If you are on the 9x multiplier and 1/1,then the ram should not stop you at any speed,because the ram can do 533,therefore on the 1/1 devider,the ram is good enough to take the cpu fsb to 533 (2132).At 533 x 9 your clockspeed would be nearly 4.8ghz,way beyond what your cooling is capable of.If the ram is good for 4.8ghz,then it must be something else stopping you at 3.5ghz.Even if the 1250 was a typo and you meant 1550,that is still only 387.5,same story.On the 9x multi and 1/1 with stock ram volts and timings,the memory "shouldn't" be an issue at any clockspeed within your cpu cooling capabilities.
imported_Mullet
New member
Thanks for the help Thickbrit...a few more Qs for ya:
There is a couple of options in the FSB/RAM area of my bios which allows me to run the RAM/FSB in either 'Sync' mode or '1:1'.
If I select 'Sync' the RAM runs at half of the speed of the FSB. So 533mhz as you mentioned so yes....if I run my FSB at an effective 400mhz to get 3.6Ghz on my x9 multipler the ram is only pushed up to 800mhz (bios FSB is set to 1600mhz).
If I select 1:1 it sets my FSB and RAM @ 1066mhz effective so that means very little additional headroom available on the RAM.
Does my interpretation of my bios sound right? When I boot the machine up at 1:1 the Award bios screen reads the memory speed as 1067mhz (rounds up 1066.7mhz)...
Any thoughts guys?
There is a couple of options in the FSB/RAM area of my bios which allows me to run the RAM/FSB in either 'Sync' mode or '1:1'.
If I select 'Sync' the RAM runs at half of the speed of the FSB. So 533mhz as you mentioned so yes....if I run my FSB at an effective 400mhz to get 3.6Ghz on my x9 multipler the ram is only pushed up to 800mhz (bios FSB is set to 1600mhz).
If I select 1:1 it sets my FSB and RAM @ 1066mhz effective so that means very little additional headroom available on the RAM.
Does my interpretation of my bios sound right? When I boot the machine up at 1:1 the Award bios screen reads the memory speed as 1067mhz (rounds up 1066.7mhz)...
Any thoughts guys?
T
Thickbrit
Guest
In the fsb and memory config submenu your 1st option is memory clock mode,which has 3 options,auto,linked and unlinked.
AUTO: the bios chooses an appropriate speed and devider for the ram based upon your cpu fsb and the rams spd programming.Your only option is to choose cpu fsb,ram speed and devider are set automatically.
LINKED: the ram speed is linked to the cpu fsb by deviders/ratio's.You have 5 options,auto,1/1,5/4,3/2,and sync.
auto: the bios chooses an appropriate devider and therefore speed based upon your cpu fsb and rams spd.
1/1: the cpu fsb and rams actual mhz will be the same.If you were stock at 266mhz (1066) then the ram would be at 266mhz (ddr533).
5/4: the ram actual mhz will be the cpu fsb x 1.25.If you were stock at 266,the ram would be at 333mhz (ddr667).
3/2: the ram actual mhz will be the cpu fsb x 1.5.If you were stock at 266,the ram would be at 400mhz (ddr800).
sync: sync is an odd 1,it's like 1/1 without the devider.Think of the deviders as a gearbox between cpu fsb and ram mhz,then sync is like direct drive (no gearbox).The cpu fsb and ram mhz are directly locked together in sync,and can boost performance over 1/1,but can also limit overclocking.
In linked mode you are able to set any of the 5 options above and cpu fsb only,ram speed is determined automatically from this.
UNLINKED: cpu fsb and ram speed operate independantly of each other.You are able to manually input a cpu fsb and memory frequency,without the need to calculate how the devider will affect ram speed.The bios cannot always boot at the exact ram mhz you select but it will usually get very close,using a much greater scale of deviders than are available to the user.If you set a ram mhz in unlinked mode,then the ram will stay at that frequency even if you increase cpu fsb.
When you set cpu frequency in your bios you are setting quad pumped bus speed (1066 stock),cpu fsb is 266 stock.
When you set a ram frequency in your bios,you are setting the ddr frequency,double data rate,hence the actual operating frequency is half of what you set and see in bios.
Try using cpu-z to verify what i'm saying.
AUTO: the bios chooses an appropriate speed and devider for the ram based upon your cpu fsb and the rams spd programming.Your only option is to choose cpu fsb,ram speed and devider are set automatically.
LINKED: the ram speed is linked to the cpu fsb by deviders/ratio's.You have 5 options,auto,1/1,5/4,3/2,and sync.
auto: the bios chooses an appropriate devider and therefore speed based upon your cpu fsb and rams spd.
1/1: the cpu fsb and rams actual mhz will be the same.If you were stock at 266mhz (1066) then the ram would be at 266mhz (ddr533).
5/4: the ram actual mhz will be the cpu fsb x 1.25.If you were stock at 266,the ram would be at 333mhz (ddr667).
3/2: the ram actual mhz will be the cpu fsb x 1.5.If you were stock at 266,the ram would be at 400mhz (ddr800).
sync: sync is an odd 1,it's like 1/1 without the devider.Think of the deviders as a gearbox between cpu fsb and ram mhz,then sync is like direct drive (no gearbox).The cpu fsb and ram mhz are directly locked together in sync,and can boost performance over 1/1,but can also limit overclocking.
In linked mode you are able to set any of the 5 options above and cpu fsb only,ram speed is determined automatically from this.
UNLINKED: cpu fsb and ram speed operate independantly of each other.You are able to manually input a cpu fsb and memory frequency,without the need to calculate how the devider will affect ram speed.The bios cannot always boot at the exact ram mhz you select but it will usually get very close,using a much greater scale of deviders than are available to the user.If you set a ram mhz in unlinked mode,then the ram will stay at that frequency even if you increase cpu fsb.
When you set cpu frequency in your bios you are setting quad pumped bus speed (1066 stock),cpu fsb is 266 stock.
When you set a ram frequency in your bios,you are setting the ddr frequency,double data rate,hence the actual operating frequency is half of what you set and see in bios.
Try using cpu-z to verify what i'm saying.
imported_Mullet
New member
Thanks....so in terms of my RAM speed what should I be aiming for??
