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Did I damage my northbridge?

Forum Overclocking : CPUs - Did I damage my northbridge?

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dermotti   12-13-2006 at 05:55:59 AM

I used the overclocking guide to overclock my CPU. Everything went dandy and i have my e6300 @ 3.09 ghz (441fsb).

Ran orthos and all that for like 4 hours and it was stable. So i shut it off to reboot and when it comes back up, post is really slow and it locks up. So i reboot again and get into the bios and it reacts really slow and locks up again.

Looking for a culprit, i feel my heatsink on my northbridge and its almost hot enough to burn my finger.

So i drop my northbridge voltages down from what the guide reccomended

"2. Set MCH Voltage (vMCH) to 1.55V
3. Set FSB Voltage (vFSB) to 1.40V
"

I down volted the MCH to 1.35, and the FSB to 1.3.

I reboot and the bios is snappy again. The heatsink is now just HOT to the touch, but not hot enough to burn.

I run orthos for another 12 hours and everythings stable, heatsink on northbridge is still pretty hot, but again not hot enough to burn.

Not bring comfortable with the heatsink being HOT, i replace it with a Thermaltake Extreme spirit 2.

Now the heatsink is very cool.

Now i bump the voltage back up to MCH 1.55v and FSB 1.4 and it instantly starts slowing down, and about 2 minutes of browsing the bios it locks up. I feel the base of the new heatsink and it is just warm to the touch.

So in a nutshell, did i damage the northbridge running it so hot for 4 hours?

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redwing   12-13-2006 at 06:36:34 AM
- 0 +

I dont know man ... that's somewhat of a strange issue.
It would seem strange to me if you damaged the MB in such a way so that your BIOS browsing progressively gets slower ...

If you're lucky, maybe it's related to your board/particular bios version.
Might want to post those here, in case someone had similar issues.

As a possible (but unlikely) quick fix, try flashing your rom with the latest BIOS version for your MB. Try resetting it as well. It could just be some sort of weird BIOS bug that you managed to "activate" through your OC'ing experiments.

GL

p.s. Come to think of it, I'm certain your northbridge is likely OK. The crashes/slowdowns while running Windows are simply due to the fact that you're probably pushing your board beyond it's limits. The BIOS slowdown effect is definitely a separate bios software bug that somehow manifests itself only when you have your FSB set to high values. Browse the manufacturer's website/tech forums to see if other people have this issue, download the latest bios. Either way, it looks like you're reaching your max OC potential anyway - chips are not just limited by the heat, each chip has specifications regarding the operating frequency, which are not limitless. A good OC'ing board is one where the northbridge (and other related components) happen to comply with much faster operation than they were intended for. MAtter of luck.

Reply to redwing
Bache   12-13-2006 at 07:30:59 AM
- 0 +

Quote :

I used the overclocking guide to overclock my CPU. Everything went dandy and i have my e6300 @ 3.09 ghz (441fsb).

Ran orthos and all that for like 4 hours and it was stable. So i shut it off to reboot and when it comes back up, post is really slow and it locks up. So i reboot again and get into the bios and it reacts really slow and locks up again.

Looking for a culprit, i feel my heatsink on my northbridge and its almost hot enough to burn my finger.

So i drop my northbridge voltages down from what the guide reccomended

"2. Set MCH Voltage (vMCH) to 1.55V
3. Set FSB Voltage (vFSB) to 1.40V
"

I down volted the MCH to 1.35, and the FSB to 1.3.

I reboot and the bios is snappy again. The heatsink is now just HOT to the touch, but not hot enough to burn.

I run orthos for another 12 hours and everythings stable, heatsink on northbridge is still pretty hot, but again not hot enough to burn.

Not bring comfortable with the heatsink being HOT, i replace it with a Thermaltake Extreme spirit 2.

Now the heatsink is very cool.

Now i bump the voltage back up to MCH 1.55v and FSB 1.4 and it instantly starts slowing down, and about 2 minutes of browsing the bios it locks up. I feel the base of the new heatsink and it is just warm to the touch.

So in a nutshell, did i damage the northbridge running it so hot for 4 hours?


:?: Do you have to muckaround :roll: with the NB volts.

:?: Isn't the CPU Vcore adjustment sufficient.

:?: Why push the FSB so high :roll:

Just result in a couple of extra frames :lol:

Reply to Bache
dermotti   12-13-2006 at 07:38:30 AM
- 0 +

No, I found out i didnt need them that high. I was able to get way with just upping both by .1v (443mhz).

At stock voltage, the chipset wont hit 443 reliably.

Reply to dermotti
Siba   12-13-2006 at 08:08:34 AM
- 0 +

Quote :

Now the heatsink is very cool.

Now i bump the voltage back up to MCH 1.55v and FSB 1.4 and it instantly starts slowing down, and about 2 minutes of browsing the bios it locks up. I feel the base of the new heatsink and it is just warm to the touch.



That could be a big clue. Check your seating on the heatsink. Make sure it's got good contact with the northbridge, and that you used a thermal paste.

Reply to Siba
n0odle   12-13-2006 at 12:35:27 PM
- 0 +

Since the spirit 2 is cool...maybe its not making enough contact for it to spread the heat...and when you jacked up the volts its overheating.

maybe. =o

Reply to n0odle
dermotti   12-14-2006 at 09:53:35 AM
- 0 +

Well i figured out why it didnt like the voltage bump. The guys at Rebels Haven found:

http://www.rebelshavenforum.com/si [...] p=0#000000

"Actual Voltage Measurements


Actual Vcore Measurements
1.400V = 1.39V
1.450V = 1.44V (BIOS displays 1.42V)
1.500V = 1.49V
1.550V = 1.54V
1.600V = 1.59V


Actual Vdimm Measurements
1.8 = 1.88V
2.0 = 1.98V
2.1 = 2.07V
2.2 = 2.17V (BIOS displays 2.10V)
2.2 Jumper = 2.22V


Actual Vmch Measurements
1.25V = 1.26V
1.35V = 1.47V (BIOS displays 1.45V)
1.45V = 1.66V
1.55V = 1.87V

Note that the datasheet for the North Bridge (G)mch chip(965P) states 1.375V is the absolute maximum voltage."

Apparently i overvolted the crap out of it, because of "typos" in the bios.

Damn you biostar!

Oh well at least i caught it before i fried the chip.

Reply to dermotti
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