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Ok, I got my new system built last weekend (see Rig# 1 below), Vista Ultimate 64 bit installed, etc.

I ran 3DMark06 and got a score of 14,570 (no OCing). I figured that wasn’t too bad, considering Rig# 2 (see below) was getting around 5,800.

Overall this new system cooks along. By the way the 14,570 score was with 4Gb RAM (the other 4 will go in shortly). The G.Skills are the DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) 5-5-5-15 type.

Yesterday I decided to do some OCing. I did a simple increase to 3.2 just to see how things would run and that went OK. But when I cranked the CPU up to 3.6 and the RAM to 1066 things went a little nuts. I ran 3DMark 06 and it locked up then eventually got the BSOD. It actually reflected my multiplier @ 9.5 in the BIOS. The only way to clear all of the errors was to due the CMOS thing.

I'm thinking my rig should be able to handle these setting. I’ve read other forums/reviews where they say 3.6 / 1066 for this setup should be doable. Some actually grt this CPU up to 4 or more.

I’m still a little new to OCing Intel rigs. I will mess around some more over the next few days. I’m thinking at this point that the 3.6 is probably OK, I may need to back off on the RAM some. Also, I used the “unlinked” mode so maybe the voltages could have been off. I’ll probably try the “linked” mode next, hopefully this will workout better. OCing with this Intel mobo seems to be a pain; I’m use to dealing with my ASUS “Crash Free” system. I just need to get use to this setup I guess.

Any thought???

I'm not sure what you mean by the 9.5 multiplier comment, did you try to set it to that or what?

either way, the E8400 only goes to 9x 

smartalco:

I'm not sure what you mean by the 9.5 multiplier comment, did you try to set it to that or what?

either way, the E8400 only goes to 9x 

smartalco:

I'm not sure what you mean by the 9.5 multiplier comment, did you try to set it to that or what?

either way, the E8400 only goes to 9x 

the e8400 will go to 9.5x when n/2 ratio is enabled. I did it on mine, but it didn't stick.. wonder why it came up on yours w/o changing it. 

Easy solution: just OC the CPU and back off on the Memory overclocking. Test.

If unstable ease the FSB of the CPU down slightly and ease the memory clock up slightly.

Retest. Repeat until system is stable.

StylezRips:

just wondering .. howcome you need 8 gb's of ram anyways? lol

Because 8 is bigger than 4! Size matters.. ok, maybe not. LOL

StylezRips:

just wondering .. howcome you need 8 gb's of ram anyways? lol

Good question... After I built my rig I got to looking at those two empty slots and thought... I have the money, there are two empty slots and I do have a 64bit OS so why not. Next thing you know I was breaking out the credit card. This is almost like my 1000W PSU, becasuse I can.

If you have the cash, why not?

We like to fill up empty slots.. (lol)

lata - red

 OK after backing off a bit and working back up here's where I'm at...

- CPU@ 3.6;  V core@ 1.3 (CPUZ reflects 1.28); CPU FSB @ 1.20V

- RAM@ 960; timings@ 5-7-7-18 (linked); 1.90V (auto) ... (standard timings are 5-5-5-15)

* Ran Prime95 for about 6 hours, stable. * Ran 3Dmark06, scored 16,389.   

I worked with the CPU settings using a standard memory setting of 800 at first, everything was stable. I then cranked up the memory (using the linked settings) to where I'm at now, 960.

When I tried anything under the 1.3 V core I would fail prime95/BSOD.

This is where I'll stay for now and hopefully things will remain stable. IAW this legionhardware review it appears that when they got this CPU up to  4.0 and higher it starts generating more heat. That said, the ratio of performance -vs- heat doesn't really seem to be worth it, IMO. I guess if you have H2O it may not be so bad. My Zalman 9700 is keeping me around 46/47 @ idle and around 56/57C under heavy load (ambient 78F), not great temps but not bad either, I guess.

vivalv1000,  i have the exact same setup as you and I have a few questions.  are you still around on this board??

 What version of BIOS are you using?

in CPU-Z under SPD my max bandwidth says: PC2-6400 400MHz where as I have the F2-8500 2x2GB set.  is this what your system shows?

 also, my core speed in CPU-Z shows 2000 MHz with x6 multiplier with bus speed 333.3 MHz.  this seems incorrect?

 any help is greatly appreciated.

 
jeff

 

sewnflesh:

vivalv1000,  i have the exact same setup as you and I have a few questions.  are you still around on this board??

 What version of BIOS are you using?

in CPU-Z under SPD my max bandwidth says: PC2-6400 400MHz where as I have the F2-8500 2x2GB set.  is this what your system shows?

 also, my core speed in CPU-Z shows 2000 MHz with x6 multiplier with bus speed 333.3 MHz.  this seems incorrect?

 any help is greatly appreciated.

Did you disable Speedstep in BIOS?