Overclocked 3800+X2 but encountered problems

[Aze]

Here's my problem, i have decided to over clock mine and my brothers machine both have identical specifications, which are:

3800+ X2 64BIT AMD Processor
ASUS A8N SLi-Deluxe
3GB DDR 400Mhz

Ive over clocked both to 2.4Ghz and my machine works fine, no problems at all. My brothers on the other hand has encountered some problems which we have been able to improve on a little scale.

I have the following setup to over clock the processor;

The problem is with his computer he can play games for roughly 1 1/2 - 2 hours and his machine would just suddenly freeze and he needs to reboot, but this just happens on Battlefield2. On other games like Dawn of War - Dark Crusade, only the game will crash back to desktop and he can just simply restart the application but it does get to be a bit of a pain.

So guys any ideas on what could fix the issue?

Oh, and for some reason my Ai Booster doesnt seem to show the FSB etc!

 

[JC316]

His is having symptoms of weak ram. That happens to me when I push my RAM too far.

 

[Greek]

nope think again lol

dude i dnt think its the ram, its running at stable and defaults on his motherboard, i think the voltage cud be the issue,


please only reply to this thread if u no what ur tlking about lol

 

[randomperson21]

Greek, think again.

I've run my x2 on 1.35v for a long time, and it works fine. the cpu volts isn't a prob until you get a little higher (2.7,2.8 i presume).

Aze, i'd reccomend backing off the o/c for a little while, see if that solves the problem. I'm assuming your fsb is running a 240mhz with no ram divider. I'd back it off to 235-230, perhaps add a ram divider if your ram isn't top notch for overclocking. Run it for awhile like that, and see if that solves the problem. If so, nudge it up a few mhz until you get to a "happy place" for your system.

 

[Greek]

i dnt have to think

i dnt have to think because i no them both, they both have identic al systems, i mean the only thing thats diff is their hdd's so one pc is is fine and one aint, now when the voltage was high it run smooth, but he put it down because of the heat it produced, i mean on my x2 4200 i put my voltage on 1.4 for 2.65GHZ so i think if he's trying to run it at 2.4GHZ should go a bit higher on his current voltage level.

but its just the heat problem and any1 who knows how to overclock properly shud reply, no offence to any1 but sure they down wnat no time wasters, and randomperson21 they should try what u sed as u apparently have done this.

 

[randomperson21]

although the systems that come off the line are identical, the chips inside them are not (if that makes any sense). for example, one ram dimm might have a few chips in it that aren't quite the same quality as another dimm, and for that reason, it cannot hold the higher clockspeed. Additionally, one x2 might actually be a toledo (stepping E6) core instead of a manchester (stepping E4) core, which could potentially make a difference. hope that made sense...

Another thing to point out: if the systems are the same and both running at the same volts, then why is only this one acting up? shouldn't the other one do that too?

 

[Aze]

Another thing to point out: if the systems are the same and both running at the same volts, then why is only this one acting up? shouldn't the other one do that too?

Errm, Thats the whole idea of this thread

 

[JC316]

First, learn to type in something other than shorthand, it's really a PITA to try and read your posts. Secondly, you should have a little bit of respect to other people. Thirdly, who made you the overclocking god of the techpowerup forums?

If he has a bad memory module, then it could explain why it's crashing during battlefield 2, a ram intensive game. I am speaking from experience here, it is my personal opinion that he is having ram trouble. Run memtest and see.

 

[randomperson21]

Errm, Thats the whole idea of this thread

heh good point. post back any results you have, eh?
and check if you have a toledo or manchester core, i'm pretty sure its a manchester tho.

 

[randomperson21]

JC's spot on too when it comes to memtest. Never a bad idea, and its free. And it clears up one more variable of the problem.

 

[Greek]

First, learn to type in something other than shorthand, it's really a PITA to try and read your posts. Secondly, you should have a little bit of respect to other people. Thirdly, who made you the overclocking god of the techpowerup forums?

If he has a bad memory module, then it could explain why it's crashing during battlefield 2, a ram intensive game. I am speaking from experience here, it is my personal opinion that he is having ram trouble. Run memtest and see.

sorry for tryinng to save sometime its like 2 o'clock over here, his ram is fine, hes tested it before for another reason. im not the god, just saying what i no, it dont mean its rite., no1 here can say this is how it is unless its official.

 

[JC316]

Oh, ok, I understand. I apologize for snaping at you. Did he test HIS ram, or his BROTHERS ram? I didn't notice that you have helped him before, but was it his machine?

 

[Aze]

Just checked. It is a Manchester and so is mine so that means no difference at all there. Do you think the memory could be the issue then? I could try his memory in my machine and see what happens?

The only think i find hard to believe is that both our ram is only running at 333Mhz (Just checked BIOS) and the memory can run at 400Mhz.

Heres a screen shot of CPU-Z

 

[Greek]

ebay ram

Oh, ok, I understand. I apologize for snaping at you. Did he test HIS ram, or his BROTHERS ram? I didn't notice that you have helped him before, but was it his machine?

his brothers and his own, because they bot them of ebay they wanted to make sure because they though cudnt see a diff from 2 gig moving of to 3gig, but it was fine, so i gather wudnt of changed since then cz it was recent.

yes talking about same machine(s)

 

[Aze]

Ran MemTest, Within 2 seconds this error appeared;

So if this is indeed the problem, would i need to buy a new stick of RAM or is there a possible way around it. If this is the problem it has only just started to happen today because its been fine up until now

Thanks for the on going help

 

[Greek]

opps

Ran MemTest, Within 2 seconds this error appeared;

So if this is indeed the problem, would i need to buy a new stick of RAM or is there a possible way around it. If this is the problem it has only justed started to happen today because its been fine up until now

Thanks for the on going help

oops thats new, doesnt seem good ha?

 

[JC316]

Yeah, thats a problem. I am no expert on what you can do about this error, but at least we have a starting point to fixing this. I would say that you are going to need a new stick of ram.

 

[Aze]

Well i guess the logical thing to do now is to take each RAM stick out at a time and see what happens when we run the test so we can determine which stick it is. Thanks for all the help so far JC, just wondering if anyone else could shed some light on this matter?

 

[JC316]

Yeah, that would be the best thing to do. Ketxxx should have something to say about this, he will probably be on later, he ususally lurks about 3-4 hours from now.

 

[steve258]

Just checked. It is a Manchester and so is mine so that means no difference at all there. Do you think the memory could be the issue then? I could try his memory in my machine and see what happens?

The only think i find hard to believe is that both our ram is only running at 333Mhz (Just checked BIOS) and the memory can run at 400Mhz.

Heres a screen shot of CPU-Z

Even if both chips are Manchester that still doesn't mean they will OC the same, it all depends on the steppings as well, which can be determined by the codes etched on the CPU IHS. There are Manchesters that will do 2.7~2.8 and there are ones that won't go over 2.4.

Setting your RAM speed to DDR333 in BIOS doesn't mean it will stay at that speed at all time, it will still increase with your FSB speed. In this case because you OCed your CPU to 240*10 means that your RAM is now being pushed to 200Mhz (DDR400). If you have a DDR333 RAM then you will need a lower divider, Try setting it to 133Mhz (DDR266) in BIOS.

 

[Aze]

I now have the computer working, however it is only working with 2 of the 3 DDR400 ram. I tested each ram stick singley and no errors occured, however when i have all the ram in, errors occur. I am able to run two of cheaper ram i brought, none of the ram will run with the Kingston ram, any suggestions?

 

[Ketxxx]

1. CPU mem controller could be under too much stress with all DIMMs in
2. One of the DIMM slots may be bad
3. Latency differences between the mismatching modules will also be a factor.

 

[Aze]

3. Latency differences between the mismatching modules will also be a factor.

I thought this could be the problem also, is there anyway of preventing or fixing this problem?