GA-35-DS3L rev 2.0 + Q6600 _ F208500CL5D-4GBPK - Major Issue =/

[drowki]

I am looking to get max performance/Stability out of my machine at home. I know very little on overclocking machines and if anyone can assist me I would greatly appreciate it. -I even read all the forums on how to Overclock and really retarded when it comes to this aspect.

One of the problems is the memory is not reporting the correct speed. This is 8500 not 6400. In CPUID its reporting PC2-6400 (400MHZ)

DRAM Frequency: 533.3 MHZ
FSBRAM: 1:2
CAS# Latency (CL): 5.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 7 Clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 7 Clocks
CYCLE TIME (tRAS) 20 closk
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 68 Clocks
Command Rate (CR) 2T

I get a BSOD 0x0000001a Memory_Management after a short period of time (at random times) of multi tasking. Which I believe is the BIOS Settings.

These are the current specs of my machine:

Case: Antec P-180

CPU: Quad Core Q6600
Kentsfield
65nm
Revision: G0

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L Rev 2.0 Intel P35 + ICH9 Chipset Core 2 Duo Socket 775 DDR2 1066 ATX Motherboard Retail
BIOS F9

Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video

DVD ROM: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK (in the mail)

PSU: Antec 850 WATT True Power Quattro

CPU FAN: ZALMAN CNPS9700 NT Aluminum & Copper Intel/AMD CPU Cooler

HDD0: OCZ 120 GB SUMMIT (SSD STATA) - no raid

HDD1: 7200 RPM 1TB hibatchi Hard drive (SATA) - no raid

HDD02: 7200 RPM 1TB hibatchi Hard drive (SATA) - no raid

MONITOR 1: ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor - 1900x1080 (DVI)

MONITOR 2: ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor - 1900x1080 (DVI)

 

[bilbat]

A lot of this is 'canned' - so if you've seen parts of it before, skip ahead!

GA-EP35-DS3L E8400 to 3 or 3.6 GHz
Intel Q6600 1066FSB x9.0mult 2.4GHz .85-1.5V Core G0 sSpec SLACR CPUID 06FBh
G.Skill F2-8500CL5D 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 memory: 5-5-5-15-2t nominal 2.1v

Gentle (but noticeable), no-risk, low-voltage Overclocking parameters are in italics...

If you haven't yet done it, pull out one stick, start with a BIOS' "Load Optimized Defaults"

Before we start ramping things up, I want to teach you a new skill involving the BIOS: Do the <DEL> at the boot to enter the BIOS; notice, at the bottom, the <F11> "Save CMOS to BIOS" - hit this, and you should get a menu that will show a number (the count varies by BIOS) of empty 'slots', each of which will store an entire set of BIOS parameters, to be re-loaded from the corresponding <F12> "Load CMOS from BIOS"; this is a wonderful overclocker's feature. What I do with it, is to save my 'baseline' working parameters, so if I change something that 'irritates' the board, and forces a reset of all the parameters to defaults, or, even worse, get so screwed up I need to do a 'clear CMOS', I can get back to my starting point with no effort, and without having to remember 85 separate settings! Another thing it prevents is two hours' troubleshooting, having forgotten a change to a crucial parameter - like, "wait a minute - didn't I have the Trd at seven?!" It's pretty self-explanatory, and I alway urge people to start right away by taking the time to give the 'slots' names that mean something: in two hours, "Try2" and "Try3" will not be very helpful, but "450@+10MCH" and "450@+15MCH" will! Another use is for 'green' settings; overclocks, as a rule, do not 'play well' with green features, such as 'down-clocking' and 'down-volting'; with the storage slots, you can set up one profile, say "Green", with all the settings at 'stock' values, and all the 'green' features enabled; another, say "Balls2Wall" with a full overclock, and all the 'green' stuff turned off... Another neat feature of this 'slot' system is, for most BIOS, the mechanism itself will keep track of which ones have booted successfully, and how many times (up to, I believe, a max of five)!


On the "Advanced BIOS Features" page:

"CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)" to "Disabled"
"C2/C2E State Support" to "Disabled" (if present...)
"C4/C4E State Support" to "Disabled" (if present...)
"CPU Thermal Monitor 2 (TM2)" to "Enabled"
"CPU EIST Function" to "Disabled"
"Virtualization Technology" to "Enabled" - this allows use of Win7's fantastic VirtualXp feature...
"Full Screen LOGO Show" to "Disabled"

On the "Integrated Peripherals" page:

Your manual shows "Legacy USB storage detect", but later BIOS say "USB Storage Function" - either way, set to "Disabled"

On the "Power Management Setup" page:

"ACPI Suspend Type" to "S1(POS)" (for now...)
"HPET Support" to "Enabled"
"HPET Mode" to whichever OS type you're running - "32-bit" if an x86 version, "64-bit" if an x64 version...

On the "MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)" page:

"Robust Graphics Booster" to "Auto"
"CPU Clock Ratio" to "9"
"Fine CPU Clock Ratio" to ".0"
"CPU Frequency" - this one can't be set, it's calculated, and will change when we set the next few items...
"CPU Host Clock Control" to "Enabled"
"CPU Host Frequency (Mhz)" to "267"
"CPU Host Frequency (Mhz)" to "334"
"PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)" to "100" (not auto...)
"C.I.A.2" to "Disabled"
"Performance Enhance" to "Standard"
"System Memory Multiplier (SPD)" to "4.00 B"
"System Memory Multiplier (SPD)" to "3.20 B"
"Memory Frequency (Mhz)" - again, can't be set, it's calculated...
"DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD)" to "Auto"

******** Standard Timing Control ********
the memory timings should be good in "Auto"...

The strap is the reason we used a 267 or 334 clock, instead of a nice even 333: the 'straps' are sets of northbridge timings - much like memory latencies, the faster you go, the 'looser' the timings have to be... There are four straps, corresponding to the Intel FSB ratings: 200 (800FSB), 266 (1066FSB), 333 (1333FSB), and 400 (1600FSB - Intel actually does make a 1600 FSB CPU - the QX9775 - but, I think, it's over $1500 a pop!); each strap has it's own set of available memory multipliers (ratios). For instance, the 3.20 we used (which is actually an 8:5 bus to bus ratio) is available only on the 333 strap. Anyway, the strap latencies, for some northbridges, don't 'kick in' until one over the selected strap; so, in other words, setting the clock to 334 guarantees that we're getting the 333 latencies/timings...

******** System Voltage Optimized ********
"System Voltage Control to "Manual"
"DDR2 OverVoltage Control" to "+0.30V" (should already be set by the "Load Optimized"...)

"(G)MCH OverVoltage Control" to "+0.10V" if you intend to add more than two sticks of ram...
"CPU Voltage Control to "Normal"
"CPU Voltage Control to "1.3250V"

And that should do it!

I should point out that getting two reboots in a row here is perfectly normal behavior; it seems that, when you change certain settings (and we don't exactly know which ones - the only sure one I know is Trd - if you change it, I think you get the 'twin' reboot) it boots once to 'see where it's at', recalculates its remaining 'auto' settings, saves them, and then boots again. Three reboots in a row, however, usually indicates that the board was 'given indigestion' by your settings, and is going back to defaults. This sometimes goes astray, and it doesn't get back into proper operation - for example, at this point, mine will sometimes 'lock' itself into 111MHz x a six multiplier - and take a week to do a whole boot - that's time to do a CMOS reset, and use your 'stored' <F12> profile to get back to where you were...

Good luck!

Bill

 

[drowki]

Thank You Bill..

I will get started on this shortly, and get back to you and the community with success or no success.

 

[drowki]

Ok I made the changes.

The one question i have is this,

"System Memory Multiplier (SPD)" to "4.00 B"
"System Memory Multiplier (SPD)" to "3.20 B"

I selected 4.00 ~ and the other option I had was 4.00+ (which one is B?)


Also is my CPU suppose to run a lot hotter? It used to run around 30 C.

Now averages around 47-50c with Outlook, Skype, 4 tabs in Fire Fox and Speed Fan.

I didn't put in the Radeon into the system yet, the power supply that I had the (850watt) died (only owned it for 4 days) and need to exchange it tomorrow so running this on a 500w machine.

Overall the system seems a little bit more Stable, just want to be cautious before I run Prime95.

I did a blend test and the Core proccessors went up to 70C.


Do you think I should reapply the CPU coolant? I had a thin layer on to begin with (a little lighter than I usually use because I ran out)

Chris


btw.. thank you Bill

 

[bilbat]

Always welcome!

'D' (1600FSB strap) generally doesn't exist on boards using old designations; 'A' is '~' (1066FSB strap); 'B' is '#' (1333FSB strap), and 'C' is '+' (800FSB strap)... Sounds a bit hot - might try to reapply TIM, use a 'dot' & let the 'squeeze' spread it - any attempt to spread it prior to mounting will result in voids; I usually set my alarms at 70°C, and seldom would see 60 on air, with a quad @ 4GHz... Am under water (for reasons other than cooling...), and 'toggles' between 38 & 39, no matter what I do! If you need more TIM, I can recommend these guys - good stuff, cheap, tests well, low shipping charge:

http://www.tim-consultants.com/products.html

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=1

 

[drowki]

I am using Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Thermal Compound on my CPU now.

Is that TIM Compound better?

I'd go out and pick it up tomorrow.

I am a little old school, I used Rubbing Alcohol to clean the chips is that Arcti Cleaner better to use now?

 

[bilbat]

Alcohol (try for some 91% - Walgreens carries it) is fine - I usually use acetone, but you've got to be extrememly careful with it... Really, unless you're trying to crank the last couple megahertz at high voltages, the TIM type (nor, for that matter, the HSF type - so long as you're not using the stock Intel 'rotary postage stamp') shouldn't matter. Once you're happy with the mount, you can try backing the CPU voltage down incrementally - it'll get cooler, and then, at some point, lose stability - bump it back up one 'notch' and you're good. Every individual chip responds a bit differently - sometimes you'll get one that will OC 30% at stock voltage, sometimes on that won't do 20% without a tenth and a half...

 

[drowki]

interesting.

So far I am running multiple applications right now.. and trying to stress the hell out of my system with my ram.. and very stable. just runs a little hot, which will be corrected tomorrow night or Tuesday night.

 

[drowki]

Amazing I changed the System Memory Multiplier from 4.00~ to 3.20
and my machine is running around 55-59 C.

**EDITED or well ADDED : well now its 41-51 C with Firefox open; it fluctuates)

I thought it would be colder.

 

[bilbat]

How is your overall case airflow? It doesn't do a lot of good to have a decent CPU sink, and keep circulating the same case air through it over & over... Admittedly, I have a fairly complex system, but, even with the CPU and vidcards 'under water', I have a half-dozen case fans 'scramming' that hot air out... Every system I build for anybody has at least one 120mm intake fan and exhaust; and if the case we use only takes 80mm's, I go to a pair of each!

That said, if you're below 60°C running prime, you're fine... Have you yet tried 'walking down' the CPU voltage? That should bring your temps down a bit, too...

 

[drowki]

Best answer selected by drowki.