LAN is lost when overclocked to 444Mhz - please help!

[Pipps]

Why is it that this Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L motherboard looses all LAN when the CPU Host Frequency is pushed past 412Mhz?

Whenever I overclock the E8200 processor up to 444Mhz with 1066 RAM, the motherboard looses all LAN. Why is this?

Here is the overclocking settings screen within the BIOS of the Gigabyte motherboard.

My preferred overclock of 3.55HGz runs sweetly and passes Prime 95 and stays within operably temperature ranges.

However, upon booting with this overclock profile, Windows shows no Local Area Networks available in 'Control Panel > Network Connections'.

When the CPU Host Frequency is reduced slightly, strange things happen. For instance, at 415Mhz there is a BSOD:

At 413Mhz, the LAN is recognised and available within Windows but no sustained internet connection can be made. Web-pages just fail to load.

After incremental testing, the highest frequency that can be obtained while still having full use of the LAN is 412Mhz.

Why is it that this motherboard looses LAN functionality when the CPU Host Frequency is pushed past 412Mhz?

 

[cadaveca]

Lan controller might be dropping out due to loss of sync with the bus it is on with the higher FSB. Kinda normal behavior for bus clocking, actually. There may be a point at a HIGHER FSB that works just fine though.

 

[newtekie1]

Lan controller might be dropping out due to loss of sync with the bus it is on with the higher FSB. Kinda normal behavior for bus clocking, actually. There may be a point at a HIGHER FSB that works just fine though.

I was just going to say that. Especially with a G31 board that isn't really meant for overclocking anything over 400MHz with everything working is amazing, IMO.

 

[Pipps]

L...There may be a point at a HIGHER FSB that works just fine though.

Do you mean HIGHER than 444Mhz?

I have tried every single increment between 412Mhz and 444Mhz and nothing works within that range.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Try dropping the memory ratio. May be causing an issue with PCI bus. Pretty much a reiteration of what cadaveca was stating.

 

[Pipps]

I have tried reducing the System Memory Multiplier (SPD) while keeping the CPU Host Frequency at 444Mhz.

The Multiplier has four available settings - 2.4, 2.0, 1.6 and AUTO.

With 444Mhz at 2.4, there is no LAN.
With 444Mhz at 2.0, there is still no LAN.
With 444Mhz at 1.6, the system repeatedly hung during boot.
At AUTO, the result was the same as at 2.4.

I therefore couldn't make any progress with adjusting the Multiplier while the CPU Host Frequency was at 444Mhz.

What could this mean?

 

[JrRacinFan]

What could this mean?

That as said before, you're board just isn't meant for that high fsb. I say clock down to 412 or use an add-on PCI card for the NIC if you have one available and test further.

 

[cadaveca]

It means that it's the front-side bus clock causing the issues.

So, like there are many different busses used for differnt parts, and each operates at a different speed. When you increase the bus, a device operating @ 25 MHz is going to have issues keeping up with a device running @ 27Mhz or 33Mhz, as before, each was sync'd to teh default bus speed. You've run into one of those situations where the devices clocks don't mesh well with the bus, either due to the speed the device works at, the speed the bus works at, or because the PLL that provides the clocks is not stable at that speed.


This is why I say try higher..there may be a "FSB Hole", where the clocks do not mesh at all, but increasing hte bus may bring everything Back into line. However, becuse your board is not a high-end clocking board, you may not have any luck.

 

[Pipps]

Great advice - thank you! I am going to try looking for that FSB black hole. I will just push past 444Mhz incrementally until it either fails to boot or finds a connection. But I won't get my hopes up for any luck.

This Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2 was admittedly only a £27 motherboard. What would you recommend as a higher quality alternative for successfully overclocking to 444Mhz and beyond?

 

[cadaveca]

One without an IGP would be best, unfortunately.

P45 would be the best, as 500 MHz is easy with most of those boards. The more you pay for a board, the more overclocking is going to be successful, in most instances. Again, parts on the board itself, which generate the clocks, are typically a bit better on high-end boards.


That said ,the cost of the upgrade may not be worth it. Personally, I do not feel it's worth it, unless you are trying to break OC records or something.

 

[Pipps]

So you're saying the preceivable benefit of buying a new motherboard in order to squeeze an extra 20-30Mhz out of the CPU would probably not be worth the outlay?

When you put it like that, you must surely be right.

I will be happy with my 412Mhz!

 

[cadaveca]

hey, if you can find a cheap board for $40 or less, I say go for it, but more than that, it becomes questionable. I mean a new board will give you a whole new OC experience, maybe, so you'll get some clocking fun out of a new board, at least. That's worth $40 to me.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Really am surprised though. You were able to get it up to above 425fsb. Not many e5k chips can claim that. Especially on a G31 chipset. For that To add to your post cadaveca, P35 even a cheap MSI but stay away from Biostar s775 boards, they werent so great and had issues..

 

[Bo$$]

have you set PCI-E overlclocking to 100

 

[JustaTinkerer]

Aren't P35 just as good for dual core?

I have a The same board as you kicking about someplace....only ever run a e2140 on it...444FSB well played sir, hats off to you.

 

[Pipps]

444FSB well played sir, hats off to you.

Thank you - I owe it all to the 1066 RAM

Oh, and a £15 aftermarket heatsink!

 

[Pipps]

have you set PCI-E overlclocking to 100

Good question - yes. I repeatedly tried setting the PCI Express Frequency to 100 manually.

The strangest thing is, that whenever I did this, upon reboot the BIOS would always revert every single other overclocked setting in the M.I.T. menu (pictured above) back to the default stock values.

It was weird! In other words, it seemed that the BIOS would not allow the FSB to be at 444Mhz with the PCI-E frequency being set to 100Mhz.

 

[Bo$$]

I believe the LAN is wired to a PCI-E lane, check your SB voltages too

 

[Pipps]

Please tell me what I should do with the Southbridge settings?