Judas

Well figuring that the system had been running stable for a few hours.. figured i'll jump in on this a little.

Basically i disabled the Smart Fan (this should make it run full tilt correct?) and then disabled Spread Spectrum (little bit more stable ocing abilities no? )

Then i started inching up the FSB, first i tried for 300, worked, 333 .... no go..

figureing it was a cpu voltage thing, i cranked up the cpu voltage... no go....

odd....


the memory sitting @ 1.9v, and 533mhz mode (one to one fsb:memory)... so that shouldn't be it..

But hey what the heck, i'll turn the memory up to 2v...

tried 333fsb and booted up fine...

tried 350mhz, no go.... wtf? maybe it's the cpu again, cranked up the cpu, no boot, (cpu set back to default voltage)... cranked the ram up to 2.1v .... booted....

Tried 366 booted, tried 380, no go, wtf? cpu this time maybe.... cranked it up, no go.... reset to default, cranked the memory to 2.2v (erg).... booted!? even though the memory is set to the loosest timings and lowest frequency... wtf?

Tried 385, boot, 390 boot, 395 booted but locked up, tried cranking the cpu voltage up again, nothing, and i didn't want to touch the memory at all again this time either.

So i'm kinda not sure here.. is it normal for the memory to dictate fsb setting reguardless of the memory timings and frequency running? Is this normal? From what i can tell around the net, i should be able to hit easily, 3.2ghz or 400mhz FSB with a 1:1 memory with ease...

Looking at my cpu tempt, i'm sitting 40*C idle atm (well according to what the motherboard says anyways).


Well i set 350mhz fsb, ram is sitting @ 2.1 v and i touched it up so that the timings are to spec (aside from running 880ish mhz on it)....

But i'm really not sure why the timings i set in the bios do not match what CPU-Z spits out, and WHY in the cpu abilities, is there SSSE3 ? isn't it saposed to be listed AS SSE4?

SS here:




Suggestions? questions? anything..

I'm still trying to figure out all the bios options, but from what i can tell, i can only adjust the CPU voltage and Memory voltage, that is it... nothing else....

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Sandok

Well you reached a higher FSB than when I tried my OC... But me too, it was the memory that needed more juice...

However I did reach higher OC speeds than you so maybe it's the mobo? I even started with a lowerclocked CPU and the CRAPPIEST DDR 2 667 memory in the world.

And why is the multiplier 8? Shouldn't it be 9 like on my CPU?

Judas

er?

you have a a e4300 and i've a e6400.... not sure about the multiplier.. but checking on the E6400 CPU-Z results show that it's saposed to be 8x....

I think if i pop 2.3v i could sustain a solid 400mhz FSB... but i'm running into another problem now.

Every time i restart or reboot my computer, the machine shuts down, starts up..runs for 5 seconds then shutdown and reboots with previous FSB settings but all other settings remaine the same.

This happens @ 275fsb/300/333/etc.

I just go into the bios right away, set 350fsb, save and fire up and i'm on my way.... this even happens if i don't do a restart, but just do a shutdown and manually turn it on again..

I don't know, but i find thos "odd"

BTW, lastly, when i save ANY bios settings, the moment i hit Y and then ENTER to save changes, the pc completely shuts down emediately, wait about 5 seconds, then starts up with the new settings in place. I'm thinking this is normal for the machine, but i found it kinda striking considering i've never experienced anything like this, and it's not an MSI thing as i've several msi boards for AMD cpu's that never did this.

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Sandok

Well just to say, with my e4300 and an FSB or 340 (it booted at 350 but my ram was just being annoying) I was at 3050MHz given that I had a multiplier of 9x...

And I heard that all Core 2 Duo's have a 9x multiplier, though I may be wrong of course...

jp306

Yea you're wrong

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...icroprocessors


You should go over to the HardOCP Forums Judas as they have an entire section on OCing the Core 2's over there. It's very helpful....I'd try to help, but I only know about OCing the 965 chipset and not yours.

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"I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met me yet."
Rodney Dangerfield.

Judas

i can't see that being true as the FSB (quad pumped) is 1066mhz.... and if all the cpu's were stuck @ 9x, then the FSB would have to be increased for each model that's faster.. (right? )

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Judas

hmmm.. kinda sucks that i ended up with an older core 2 duo..... or maybe it's good... sometimes the earlier versions of the same model has higher OC potential.... the later ones are more attuned for the speed they are set for and lack OC capabilities usually (well considering AMD, an earlier version of the 4400+ seemd to performance a hell of alot better then the later 4400+)

i'm content with these HDTACH 3 scores mind you:



i'd like to know why the burst speeds go form 500MB/s to over 6000MB/s every time i run the benchmark...

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Hosscrop

The exit BIOS and save then instant shutdown and delayed automatic power back on happens to my Asus P5B mobo as well so its not an MSI thing. I do experience a power on quick shut down and auto power back on every day when I turn on the machine but only when its clocked (yes this is every day - LOL).

Hope this helps. My CPU multiplier is 9 but then again its a 6600 in mine.

Sandok

Thanks for the correction. Hmmmm well now I'm uber happy

Judas

hosscrop.... does that reset your clocks every time as well?

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Lowfat

Its a P5B thing didn't know MSI's did it either. Definately doesn't happen with all C2D boards. I've owned 4 different C2D boards, 2 of which were P5Bs, and only of the boards does it, my current one .

Judas, my suggestion is drop the multi on your cpu, raise the memory ratio and find the limt if the ram, then raise the FSB, to find the max FSB, then raise your multi to find the max clock of the cpu.

Lowfat

trust me you'll love that you have an older one. Do you know what stepping your E6400? They recently started producing L2 steppings which are actual Allendale CPUs, not just Conroes with 1/2 disabled cache. So all new E4300, E6300, and E6400s are L2s. They overclock very poorly generally. Most won't do more than 350FSB.

Judas

i did the ram thing..

i set the ratio ram fsb to: 1:2

so that's 266x2x2 =1064 mhz ram.

with the following timings:

5-5-5-15

so i know the ram appears to handle everything fine, and that's @ 2.1v

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H3X4D3C1M4L

Seconded... with a P5B-e and 3x Seagate 7200.10 320GB drives I get like 3000MB/sec burst speeds.

Pretty awesome

ChaosMinionX

975x you dont run 1:2, you run 1:1 maybe 4-4-4-12 2.2v and you will get a noticeable bit of performance out of your videocard.

Although pairing a 975 with anything below a 6600 is a little rough, because the multi is 8 and below. And you need a high FSB to get the most outta that chip, a P965 will hit 400-500fsb np, lucky if you see 400-450 on a 975x without alot of tweaking and luck. Mind you thats stable, not just a suicide shot. But you shouldnt have any problem getting 400fsb with that chip giving you a 3.2ghz oc which is more than manageable even 375 for a 3ghz. Be sure to raise your FSB voltage and Vmch accordingly so you dont have to put all the voltage on the vcore.

I would say definately go 375-400 (400 preferably for a 1:1 DDR2 800) for the best performance on that mobo, also the 975 likes low latencies more than it likes higher speeds on ram, the 965 is the opposite running best 4:5 with high memory speeds and decent clocks.

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Hosscrop

No my clock settings remain clocked and being as its been like that since I had it last year and no problems running anything it can stay like it.

PangingJr

as i told you yesterday that you will not be able to translate the web site i gave link to you.
they did mention a bit about the problem that you have when they tried changing the timing in BIOS, and also hoped that the newer BIOS would fix it.
but apparently it does not seem to be, since you're already have the latest version of the available BIOS installed.
and as you have seen that 5-5-5-15 timing were set on both 2:3 and 1:1 running, where running the system under stock speed and when overclocked to the maximum FSB possible (and stable with air-cooled) which was at 400 MHz.

Judas

unfortuneatly.... the only voltages i can adjust are the DDR2 voltage and Vcore voltage... there are no other settings i can adjust..

but i still find it strange that for me to get a higher FSB, i have to crank the DDR voltage up.

like i mentioned, i'm running 350fsb stock vcore, DDR voltage @ 2.1 atm......

It's pretty freaking messed up how i can boot the machine up, and not get a problem, then restart and get the bios reset thing happening.... starting to piss me off...

atm, i'd say this appears to be (from googling it all now) that the msi board i've got is bad like this...

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Hosscrop

My CPU-Z lists the same items as yours for the features.

Everest says my Core 2 Duo has these features:-
Instruction Set x86, x86-64, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3

Sisoftwares SANDRA lists lots of items but SSE4 isn`t in its list let alone saying it has it, so quite what has SSE4 I don`t know.

Wikipedia on the other hand says the following about SSE4:-
SSE4, also known as Nehalem New Instructions (NNI), is a new instruction set for the Intel Nehalem microarchitecture, which is slated to be released in 2008 [1], but it may be included in the 45 nm Intel Core microarchitecture based processors (codenamed Penryn) in 2007; however Penryn may not contain all of SSE4's instructions, according to Intel's white paper.

I don`t know why it quoted Panging Jnrs reply I wanted to quote Judas reply - sorry for any confusion.

Judas

i read up and found out that SSE4 is now reffered to as SSSE3

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ChaosMinionX

Return that MSi and get a Intel BX2, you wont regret it. The reason you have to up DDR voltage when you up the FSB is because you have no control over Vmch or fsb voltage, does the MSI board let you control the Northbridge strap? or is it like asus and is determined by what your ram is set to based on fsb?

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Judas

Northbridge strap? don't see anything in there about that..

Actually i've just played with the board for about 4 hours just now..

And my results are horrid.


I cannot get the board to post and load successfully at ANY Voltage beyond 375fsb. At anything above 350FSB, the system will oventually just lockup reguardless of the voltage/timings set up on the ram or cpu...

I did get the system to post @ 3.2ghz 400FSB ONCE!, stock CPU voltage to..... DDR was 2.35v though (wanted to see what would happen).... Failed a memory test within 0 seconds (it didn't load successfully)..

But that just seems like the E6400 will indeed seem stable enough @ stock voltages and running that fast.. so i'd assume the cpu is actually an excellent pick and probably a damn good overclocker with high potential..

The only thing keeping away from the P965 is that fact that i couldn't find any information reguarding Crossfire Support. However there claims stating that while it may not be stated, crossfire DOES work, but at a high disatvantage on the board, reducing the available bandwidth on the 2nd card to 4x pci-ex mode.... IMO, while this probably isn't a huge deal with lower model video cards, i think that the x1900's would probably be significantly impacted.

ATM, my current 3DMark06 score went from the AMD rig getting 9500 give or take, to 10500 on this system. But i noticed something, while there is a point difference, looking at the results side by side, only my CPU score was seriously increased, while the FPS in the other test were sometimes above or below my AMD rig.

My PCMark05 results were sub 9000, a fair bit higher mind you then the amd rig, but yet again, the performance differences between some of the test show that my video card performance is actually slower in this rig. interesting.


I think this is what i'm going to do.

I may just send this board back, because it's still even at stock settings, occasionally resetting all the bios options apon restarting. (getting annoying and that's not good at all for me to sell this to a customer)....

ATM, i highly recommend ANYONE STAY the hell away from this board.

See if i can get some options in the P965 area, and if someone can point out full crossfire and full PCI-EX lane support, i'll get one probably emediately....

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ChaosMinionX

Get a badaxe2 im tellin ya you wont be disappointed, can name off countless settings and things to do with it. And there is no P965 that supports crossfire full lane that I know of, but if you get a 965, Asus Commando or P5B DLX hands down.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...3&Sku=I69-2145

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PangingJr

have you tried using another RAM modules?
it's just hard to believe that there is a stability problem with the system setup, Judas.

Judas

yes.. i've got some Crucial Value pc5400.... stock settings the system is stable, but the damn bios resets all the freaking time..

Anything beyond 350fsb is completely unstable...

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Lowfat

take a look here... with X1950XT crossfire on a p965, difference isn't very large.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...nce/page15.asp

Judas

hmmmm

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PangingJr

what hmmm? you want to try a P965 board?
check out the Gigabyte 965P-DS4 rev.3.3 Judas, check its price, it's a low price board but its quality is not cheap at all.
just recheck the RAM modules compatibility with this board, perhaps finding the info on the internet, and if your existing modules works with this board, try it.

Judas

ok

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Lowfat

still trying with the MSI? Have you decided on another board?