EP45-DS3R & QX6700 help to get past 3.3Ghz

[ltchest]

I have been trying for many months now to get better results OC'ing (I have read a lot of beginner guides). If I could this QX6700 to around 3.6Ghz or higher I would be very happy with that.

I have made a link to a PDF containing all the settings form the BIOS and html data from CPUZ (see link below). The computer is successfully running at 3.3Ghz. My multiplier is 10 and the Bus Speed is 330 Mhz. I have also now set the ratio to 1:1 (Bus speed 330 = 660Mhz ram speed). I have kept the memory timings quite loose. PCI Mhz is set at 100. CPU vcore is currently 1.45625v. If i drop it it starts to crash. MCH core at 1.16v and everything else on auto.

I have tried increasing the FSB by 5Mhz increments & increasing the vCore by the smallest increments possible & making a record of it all - but i cant break through the 3.3Ghz ceiling on this machine (ive had the same experience on many machines, which makes me feel sure this is not a problem with the hardware but rather user inexperience). Termperature readings are as follows:-

Running at 3.3Ghz
Prime 95 (Thread #3 stopped for error)
RealTemp readings
68 68 54 57 (23.3 Celsius ambient room temp)
3dsMax2009 multi-threaded rendering
63 60 56 57 (23.3 Celsius ambient room temp)

I have found & read a lot of information, & perhaps if I was 'better technically' at this I would have it solved by now - but I cant get the results I want & i'm hoping somebody might have a similar or identical rig & could please pin-point me to the right tweaks to get this thing cranked up.

Basic Specs:-
CPU QX6700
Motherboard Gigabyte EP45-DS3R (BIOS version F10)
Ram 4 x 2Gb Mushkin Redline Ascent PC2-6400 (5-5-5-12)
Power Seasonic S12 650W
Case Thermaltake Armour
CPU Fan Ultra ChillTec active thermo electric cooler.

The PDF details all the available settings & also I have included html data from CPUz.
http://www.capsuledesigns.com/files/Tmp/Forums/LC03_BIOS.pdf


Finally, I have no more cash for hardware, so i have to work with what ive got in terms of cooling, power supply etc etc.

Any help in making a breakthrough here would be greatly appreciated !!

 

[Shadow703793]

You get 68C with a TEC???? It looks to me like your TEC is underpowered. Also the link you have gives a 404 error. Also did you install the DES software?

 

[ltchest]

Here is the correct link
http://www.capsuledesigns.com/files/Tmp/Forums/QX6700_on_EP45-DS3R.zip

i was getting pretty much the same readings with my previous Sunbeam Core-Contact cooler - but your right it should be better. I'll have to look into that. I did have the DES installed before but I removed it.

 

[Shadow703793]

Ok I think I know what's going on:

Set SPD to 2
Set Performance Enhanced to Standard or what ever is lowest

You see, keeping the SPD on "Auto" Overclocks the RAM, your RAM would be running at 975Mhz on Auto. Your RAM is rated for 800Mhz.

 

[ltchest]

Hey - thanks for the tips. The RAM is 1000Mhz rating. Performance Enhance is set to Standard - i'll check tomorrow if there is any lower setting, but I dont think so. I tried adjusting the SPD - changing it to a 2 multiplier has two options (either 2b or 2d). tried both options and unfortunately this has made no difference so far (which is surprising) - but maybe i'm doing something else wrong, or maybe something else can be tweaked. Currently I just dont know what to do . I am also trying to drop down the vCore to see if it will lower the cpu temp, but at the moment it looks likely that it will have to stay around 1.45625v to remain stable 3.3Ghz. Maybe it just needs to go really high ??
BTW I contacted the TEC manufacturer and they were no use at all with regard to why the temp might be so high - i think the answer is that this is not a very good product. Since purchasing, ive seen some not so good reviews-
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/ultra-chill-tec_8.html


Back to the OC problem - any other ideas or suggestions ?

 

[Shadow703793]

^Um... no PC2 6400 is DDR2 not DDR2 1066
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2128

Imo, I think it's the cooler that's limiting it.

 

[ltchest]

The ram I bought says PC2-8000 (DDR2-1000Mhz) on the package (got it from NCIX). In CPUz it says PC 6400 hence the confusion (but i dont know if i can trust this as CPUz also thinks its DDR3 in one of the other tabs). I guess ill have to pull out the sticks to check ive been sold the correct ram !!
Thing is, even if I were to ignore temps, I cannot get past 3.3Ghz - I mean it crashes before I send the temps above say 70c. I wonder if maybe the CPU just cant handle it

 

[richardscott]

i just read the review or the tec ultra cooler your useing, firstly the tec is only 50w that means that it cant transfer half of that at zero delta temperature which means your cpu is way way way to powerfull for it. when i was considdering useing a tec for my WC loop i was looking at 400w+ pelts, and even then they would be pushed to the max by a overclocked quad core. i would deffintally sujest selling you TEC cooler and buy a ximatec air cooler as it will out perform it by quite a margin.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Just what I thought. You'll easily need a 250W TEC for that CPU.

 

[ltchest]

yeah, i agree its not the best value and in my case its not doing a great job (about the same as my SunBeamTech Core-Contact - which is actually meant to be a darn good cooler). I read 135 user reviews on the tigerdirect website, mostly Quad core users, and they pretty much all report superb results with the Ultra TEC. I think only 1 reviewer reported anything less than great results. Thing is, I havent yet got to the stage where heat is the main problem IMO. Rendering an animation in 3dsMax (all 4 cores) I'm at 65 62 57 58. Thats hot but I know it can sustain more if only the darn thing would stabilise over 3.3ghz. Thing is, no matter what vcore i throw at the CPU it wont go over 3.3ghz - so im thinking there might be some other changes needed in the BIOS that are holding it back (or its a duff chip, but i would have thought it could do better than 3.3Ghz).

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Have you tried reseating the cooler?

 

[ltchest]

it was only yesterday that I switched over the coolers and i was careful to get a good seating the tec has really excellent mounting hardware - although never having actually seen someone else do it im just doing what i always do - clean off the surfaces with Arctic silver thermal material remover, apply thermal surface purifier, and then apply an even spread of Arctic Silver 5 (probably under 1mm thick layer, no metal exposed). I have managed to get my other machine (same cpu but with an asus P5W DH mobo) up to 3.35Ghz so far - so thats not too impressive either

 

[ltchest]

My final take on this is that it simply wont go past 3.3Ghz - that is the limit I am at with my existing hardware. Maybe if I had a phase change device I could squeeze a bit more out of it but it just would not be worth the cost. 3.3 aint bad, but when you consider that this is the "extreme" version of the chip, its kinda disappointing. If i replaced it with a Q6700 I could probably get way better results for a chip at a fraction of the cost. I might try that one of these days as i have a couple of Q6700's Kentsfile GO stepping in two of my renderslaves. These should reach higher clocks I believe because of the stepping. I cant get a good clock in the renderslaves as these boards are basic mATX and there is no room for a decent cpu cooler in the tiny little case (so i'd just swap a QX6700 for a Q6700 in the hope that the Q6700 would ultimately be faster at rendering in 3dsMax than the QX6700 ! sad but true)