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I reset the NB heatsink and temps are still the same even at stock...48C.  Maybe just a bad sensor because the heatsink is cool.

You're sure that it's the NB and not the SB?  

 
The one that I reset?  lol of course.  

Hm... interesting... I have been looking at other forums (Xtream systems,etc) and most people say that they're NB temps for the P35 chipset is about 55C under full load.  It looks like I'm running cold and you guys are OK.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

I really hope to put a small fan on the MCH eventually. I'm scared of the noise though; Shadow, is your fan very loud?

Great Guide!!
 
Started Ocin myself
 
Ups to shadow!

Do you think this is why I can't get my E2180 to 3.2Ghz stably without applying a ton of voltage, best I saw it do was 6 hours FFT @ 1.525V in BIOS. I remember I PM'd you about your exact settings and did mine as equally as possible, not only that I even gave my Vcore a couple notches up for the benifit of the doubt if my chip was worse and it still failed after a half hour I think at 320x10 1.47Vcore I think it was. I had the FSB +0.1V as well, timings were on auto which usually are the most relaxed. I think my 2180 is just a lemon. But anyone have an average temp of the NB after running prime for 10 minutes?

edit sorry, just read the posts before this page, let me see what my NB temps go to, I think I'll use HWmonitor.

Nope. The fan was from an old K6 based rig. I can hear my 120mm over any of the other fans.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

Yeah, looks like you have one of those less overclockable CPUs . Also tell me about the NB temps. That could also be a problem.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

One note on the "Performance Enhance" setting.  This will set all of your memory timings, not just tRead.  I'm running "Extreme" right now, because I couldn't find a working set of timings.  Using memset I can see the timings set.  Once I find the time, I'll see if I can take this baseline and tweak it a little more.
 
Also, the BIOS version being used will make a difference.  For some reason, the F7 BIOS I was using on my P35-DS3L Rev 2 wouldn't give me a stable overclock at 400x8 with my 2160, but the F8b BIOS does.
 
Also, what is the Static tRead Phase Adjust timing?  I'm not sure what it corresponds to in memset, and I don't know what impact it has.

^The timing has minimal impact on actual performance except in benchmarks the timing will not matter 98% of the time. Yes, Performance Enhanced will adjust all RAM timing. Hit Ctrl+F1 at main screen to gain acces to timing settings. Thanks for the info on the BIOS version stability.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

I mentioned the Performance Enhance because the main guide only mentions the Static tRead timing, and might be misleading.
 
Also, I'm playing with the timings to see what kind of benchmark I can get.  I realize I'll never really see a difference, but it's fun.

 
I second this.  I just got my board back from Gigabyte after frying the NB.  They sent me a refurbish with the new F8b Bios.  I had F6 and could not boot at 400x8.  Now I can.  

How did you fry the NB and what program/where in that program do you view the NB temperature?

Has anyone successfully enabled SpeedStep with an overclock?  Mine randomly crashes and resets to default sometimes with SpeedStep on.  It seems like a nice feature, but doesn't work well with overclocking.

When overclocked the only thing that works is the feature that lowers your multi. The feature that auto lowers your Vcore doesn't work.

I realize that "Performance Enhanced" options automatically changes all the RAM timing. How ever depending on the RAM and the overclock the system will become unstable at the settings applied by "Performance Enhanced" option. The information about the tRD value was provided as courtesy of homerdog and I did not change any of the texts he posted. Remember this guide was originally intended to 1st time overclockers and new overclockers who want to go beyond the Automatic AI overclocking. Because of this I left out most of the "expert" features like RAM timings out of the guide except tRD value, which has a higher impact on the performance than any other RAM timing option.  

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

Updated 4/22/2008
Included new note under "CPU Host Frequency" about BIOS versions.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

 
It's either both or none on the DS3L right?  Unless I'm missing something...