Help! newbie overclocking woes!

[Fragged_24_7]

Hey, I just recently tried my first overclocking job. I have an E6750 with an Xigmatek 1283 on a 680I LT in an antec 900 all powered by an Ultra X3 1000w power supply. Power and temperatures aren't the problem. The problem is that I can not get my E6750 over 3.2 GHZ no matter what voltage I use, even 1.45 to get to 3.3! I have disabled all the things I know to disable my RAM can be overclocked to 900 MHZ. I am absolutely sure that I am doing something wrong. After 3.2 I can not get into windows without going into safe mode and I always get a "reset CMO" message. I have not flashed my bios and I have no idea how to that even if I had to. I bought the E6750 to learn to overclock on so this is definitely a newbie run through. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and any tips would greatly help. I'm sorry but I just could not learn how to overclock without trying it so I bought this CPU to try it out, and now I am hitting a wall.

 

[shadowthor]

could you list your system specs?

 

[Fragged_24_7]

CPU: E6750 (just checked with CPUZ and it is GO stepping)
Motherboard: EVGA 680i LT
RAM: Mushkin 2 x 1GB 800mhz EPP
Cooler: Xigmatek 1283
Case: Antec 900
GPU: EVGA 7600 GS
HDD: Maxter 320GB sata
Power supply: Ultra X3 1000w
OS: Vista 64bit

I just remembered that the stock cooler was defective when I installed it, because the bottom left pin would not stick. I fired it up and the cooler came loose and the system shut down at 110c CPU temps, could that be the problem?

 

[Mogwilson]

Hello, The e6750 will overclock to 3.2Ghz on stock voltage and there is no need to set the vcore at 1.45v unless you want to get 3.6Ghz, You should get to 3.2ghz on the stock cooler but you dont say whether you have replaced it? you need an aftermarket cooler to go above 3.2ghz in my view.
The reason your pc shut down at those temps is due to thermal throttling, Just ensure that CPU TM is enabled in your bios.
Before you overclock your rig you need to set the ram to run at 1:1 / lowest divider in your bios, you need to set this manually to 667Mhz so as you raise your FSB the ram speed will rise to, At 3.2Ghz your FSB will be 400 and your ram will be at its rated speed, anything over this you will need to loosen your ram timings and set the ram voltage manually, Use cpu z and look at the SPD tab, this will tell you what timings/voltages you will need at different frequencies.
As long as you had CPU TM enabled in your bios your cpu should be ok, If it was disabled i would guess that you have fried your chip.
Sort your cooler out before attempting any overclock.

 

[Fragged_24_7]

I have, my Xigmatek came the next day then I started overclocking. I'm running at 3.2 right now with absolutely no problems, but any time I try to go higher it will not work. I've tried to hit 3.3 GHz with 1.45v and it still wont work. As you said the chip should be able to push 3.6 at that voltage, I have also overclocked my RAM to 900 so it would have plenty of breathing room. I will try to use the 1:1 sync to see if doing it manually was the problem, though I doubt it.

 

[Fragged_24_7]

From the guides I have read I tried disabling and enabling:
PCIe Spread Spectrum
Limit CPUID Maxval
CPU Thermal control
C1E Enhanced Halt State
Nvidia GPU Ex

Also I am unable to hit 3.2 without increasing the voltage from 1.35 to 1.375.

 

[Mogwilson]

You said"I have also overclocked my RAM to 900 so it would have plenty of breathing room. I will try to use the 1:1 sync to see if doing it manually was the problem, though I doubt it."

Are you saying your ram was at 900Mhz at 3.2Ghz? Its no surprise that it wont work, I said in my earlier post to use 1:1 with the cpu at 3,2Ghz and the ram at 800Mhz, anyone who overclocks their rig should always start with the ram at the lowest divider 1:1, Anything else is plainly wrong in my view.
I also said not to set your vcore to high, Mine at 3,6Ghz is at 1.42500v in the bios and mine is the same chip, Set your ram to the lowest divider manually in dram frequency in the bios.

 

[Fragged_24_7]

Ok... I set the CPU and RAM frequency link to 1:1 and it wanted to overclock my RAM to around 1300 MHZ with my CPU at 3.2.... am I just not understanding you? I am running it in sync mode now so that I am at 3.2 GHZ and my RAM is at it's stock 800 MHZ, if I were to hit 3.3 GHZ the my RAM would be 825 MHZ.

 

[Mogwilson]

Your on the right track, Your ram should be at 800Mhz at 3.2Ghz, If you take it further you will need to look at the SPD tab in cpu z to find what timings and voltage you will need for 500Mhz(set these manually in bios), If your ram timing is 4 4 4 12 at 800Mhz you will need to loosen it to 5 5 5 15 above 800Mhz, Your ram should be able to hit 900Mhz which will give you 3.6Ghz, Make sure you have CPU TM enabled in the bios otherwise your chip will fry.

cheers

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

I honestly do not know why you are having these problems, maybe try to RMA the CPU. I never had any problems and my system is scarily similar to yours, though XFX kicks EVGA A$$!