P5N32-E Sli overclocking

[ADV4NCED]

Hey all,

I have this problem with my setup (as far as Im concerned, its my mobo).

I can reach up to 3.8Ghz (422.25 fsb * 9) but I'm having to use crazy amounts of Vcore to do this. In bios I've set 1.62v however in Windows I only get 1.54v due to Vcore and Vdroop.

Now my problem is such, I cannot actually do a single 3D Mark06 run @ this speed as its simply not enough voltage (1.54v) and the bench crashes everytime. I've tried the pencil mod for Vdroop & Vcore but hardly got satisfying results.

Now I cant actually go any higher than 3.8Ghz as the benches crash from not having enough Vcore, but I cant up my Vcore any higher cause its already sitting a 1.62v!! Also remember im only on air cooling...

I think this is madness, what Vcore are you guys using to get around 3.8Ghz stable for benches ?

Replies from people with the same Asus board or the striker would be appreciated.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Hey all,

I have this problem with my setup (as far as Im concerned, its my mobo).

I can reach up to 3.8Ghz (422.25 fsb * 9) but I'm having to use crazy amounts of Vcore to do this. In bios I've set 1.62v however in Windows I only get 1.54v due to Vcore and Vdroop.

Now my problem is such, I cannot actually do a single 3D Mark06 run @ this speed as its simply not enough voltage (1.54v) and the bench crashes everytime. I've tried the pencil mod for Vdroop & Vcore but hardly got satisfying results.

Now I cant actually go any higher than 3.8Ghz as the benches crash from not having enough Vcore, but I cant up my Vcore any higher cause its already sitting a 1.62v!! Also remember im only on air cooling...

I think this is madness, what Vcore are you guys using to get around 3.8Ghz stable for benches ?

Replies from people with the same Asus board or the striker would be appreciated.

I have done the Vdroop pencil mod on my board (different board....same mod), I applied too much pencil deliberatly as this not only takes away any Vdroop but also increases real time stock Vcore....soooo..... for example, set VCore in BIOS at 1.45V, Asus Probe and speedfan show 1.46V....multimeter shows 1.47V plus no Vdroop! As long as you account for the extra .02V then no worries.

3.9Gig is the max I can get out of mu chip on 1.575V, if I increase to 1.6V I get no extra speed just total instability and thats if I even manage to get into windows. I run 24/7 at 3.6Gig and I do that on 1.45V, I did run it at 3.8Gig 24/7 at 1.5V but to be honest for the extra heat generated I saw no real world performance difference.

 

[ADV4NCED]

I tried the pencil mod but it never worked for me.

I still have the problem that when I boot into Windows, I lose 0.08v and 0.02v off the Vcore voltage that I set in BIOS.

Please can you post all your voltage settings?

What FSB & multi are you using for 3.6Ghz ?

I need at least 1.52v (in BIOS) to get into Windows and be able to bench @ 3.6Ghz

 

[Mussels]

It may not help too much, but you COULD just have a weak chip - not all conroes pass 3.5GHz.

 

[hat]

May just be a weak chip. I would just be running 3.4GHz 24/7. Besides, it's a E6600, and 3.4GHz is pretty damn fast, especially on a conroe.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I tried the pencil mod but it never worked for me.

I still have the problem that when I boot into Windows, I lose 0.08v and 0.02v off the Vcore voltage that I set in BIOS.

Please can you post all your voltage settings?

What FSB & multi are you using for 3.6Ghz ?

I need at least 1.52v (in BIOS) to get into Windows and be able to bench @ 3.6Ghz

I am at work now so I will have to do this from memory, I will update/amend later when home. I think for 3.6Gig I am on 9 x 400FSB @ 1.45V, before the mod I had to put 1.475V to be safe. I have my chipset voltage set to 1.5XXX whatever it is...the 2nd highest, I am linked and my memory is set to 3/2 which at 3.9Gig means I shove 2.35V through it at around 1160Mhz but it stocks at 2.2V anyways.

Do you have any extra cooling on your Northbridge/Southbridge chips and what temps you getting there?

 

[Mussels]

i need 1.50V for 3.6GHz here too, its not that surprising. The more 'enthusiastic' OCing sites, those people will go through 5 or 10 CPU's to find a good one, and they dont care about stability. Here at TPU, we (generally) only care about 24/7 stable clocks - i can post at 3.8GHz and run superpi at 1.6V, but i'd be stupid to leave it at that daily.

Edit: and just to check - have you raised the NB voltages and such? Made sure you arent clocking the ram too hard? Sometimes overlooking the easy things...

 

[Casheti]

Imo E6600's aren't good for overclocking.

 

[ADV4NCED]

yeah thanks for the replies guys.

Firstly, my chip DOES go over 3.5Ghz, I got it to 3.85Ghz last night but its still not stable enough to run 3D mark06 so ya... However it does go to 3.78Ghz stable enough to run all the 3D Mark benches, this is normally with about 1.625 or 1.63v (Vcore in BIOS).

Its got nothing to do with the ram (I've even underclocked the ram to see if it will help).

All my voltages are pretty much taken from the Asus P5N32-E Sli guide which I think is somewhere here on TPU. I have upped the NB & SB volts, I think I have 1.4v and 1.55v accordingly.

Ahh heres a link from another site: http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/167489-asus-p5n32-e-overclocking-guide.html

As for cooling, My enzotech is keeping my temps idling @ about 31'C @ 3.4Ghz and load temp is 51'C MAX on Orthos. (CPU Temp)

Seeing 3.8Ghz pushes the temps up to 36'C (idle) and around 45'C running Super pi. I havent done Orthos @ this speed as theres no point other than to check load temps which I believe are fine.

Oh and the mobo's temps (@ 3.8Ghz) are normally around (idle) 36'C - 39'C (3D Mark06 full load). I have 2 case fans, 1x80mm side case fan blowing straight on the NB/CPU and another 1x120mm which is an exhaust fan. As for NB & SB cooling, its still got the stock heatpipes on the board.

Im planning on doing a side panel mod, where I will replace the 80mm with a 120mm, so I dont want to be going to aftermarket cooling for the chipset.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Imo E6600's aren't good for overclocking.

really? Trt has one running on air at 4.05Gig from a stock 2.4Gig....U dont consider thats any good? I get 3.9 stable.... a mere 1.5Gig overclock, I will be as bold as to say that on air there are not many chips as overclocking friendly, yes some of the early 6300's and 6400's could bang in some serious overclocking but with a 7x or 8x multi that aint that friendly because your mobo choice is reduced somewhat.

Now the renowned S939 Opterons were always known as overclocking MONSTERS (stepping permitting), how many could acheive a 1.5Gig - 1.65Gig overclock on air??

 

[Mussels]

Imo E6600's aren't good for overclocking.

Lol... just.... lol. 2.4GHz -> 3.2 every time, with the clear majority doing 3.5 on air cooling? Oh and the fastest performance of any desktop CPU at those speeds? E6600's are one of the best chips on the market for OC'ing! I can do 3.8 on this chip, just not SILENTLY which is a requirement for me - 3.2GHz is what i'm currently at, just because i'm testing out how much the higher clocks actually benefit my gaming.

 

[Casheti]

If I'm honest I'd rather buy an E6300...

which I probably will in a few months.

 

[Mussels]

E6300 has a lower multiplier, which means you need a higher FSB (and therefore faster ram) to overclock it.

The E6600 is easy to OC, which is why several people in this thread have one

 

[Casheti]

Meh.. E6300 is cheaper.

Cheapness is cool and imo still clocks like a beast, maybe not on my PC due to crappy ram but the board I'm getting (P5W DH Deluxe) can do 400MHz FSB so that should be enough really for a decent enough overclock.

And I'll need a powerful CPU cos I'm getting CrossFire

 

[hat]

re-attempt pencil mod?

 

[Tatty_Two]

Meh.. E6300 is cheaper.

Cheapness is cool and imo still clocks like a beast, maybe not on my PC due to crappy ram but the board I'm getting (P5W DH Deluxe) can do 400MHz FSB so that should be enough really for a decent enough overclock.

And I'll need a powerful CPU cos I'm getting CrossFire

Unfortunatly tho the E6300 is now predominantly being manufactured with the L1 stepping which is nowhere near as good as the B1/2 stepping and that is the overriding factor in overclocks. The E6600 only comes in B guise If you cannot get a B stepping new (assuming you would want new) 6300, IMO you would be better off getting the E4400 as a budget alternative, it will probably clock as well and you get the 10x multi which gives you greater scope for cheaper motherboards and RAM.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Unfortunatly tho the E6300 is now predominantly being manufactured with the L1 stepping which is nowhere near as good as the B1/2 stepping and that is the overriding factor in overclocks. The E6600 only comes in B guise If you cannot get a B stepping new (assuming you would want new) 6300, IMO you would be better off getting the E4400 as a budget alternative, it will probably clock as well and you get the 10x multi which gives you greater scope for cheaper motherboards and RAM.

ohhh and 7 x 400FSB is by my Maths only 2.8Gig, now for someone stating that the E6600 does not overclock well, thats a crap overclock (by C2D standards), you could get that on even an E4300 and save yourself some more money.

On 22 July the E6600 will be as cheap as the E6300 is today probably in any case and you also get the 4MB L2 cache, which does make a difference also.

 

[Grings]

I dont think i'd bother with a 6300, youve gotta push your motherboard too damn hard for a decent overclock (though mine is supposed to be ok at 500mhz, but i wouldnt like to push it that hard 24/7)
from what i saw when preparing to change to intel, the best ones to go for are 4300, 4400, and 6600, the 6420 looks pretty cool, but thats only an 8x multi, and i've yet to see someone running one much over 3ghz, i ended up getting a 4400 as i just didnt have the extra £50 for a 6600 at the time, its probably good for 3.6+, ive not tried pushing it as far as it can go yet, but it seems happy at 3.4 on 1.43v(340fsbx10)
Also, as a side note, am i the only one who thinks the 1333fsb chips are going to be a letdown(in overclocking terms of course) at least until we see what fsb the x38/nvidia's boards are capable of? (though given that people are running p35's at 600fsb, maybe not, but i cant see there being that much fsb headroom on 965/975/680i's)

 

[newtekie1]

The E6600 starts to max out around 3.6GHz, which is damn fast. Mine struggles once it is pushed past that speed, I don't know if it is the motherboard or what, but 3.6GHz is damn fast anyway, so who cares.

 

[Tatty_Two]

The E6600 starts to max out around 3.6GHz, which is damn fast. Mine struggles once it is pushed past that speed, I don't know if it is the motherboard or what, but 3.6GHz is damn fast anyway, so who cares.

Agreed but dependant to a small degree on production week, Trt does get OVER 4Gig outta his on air (mad) and I can just squeeze 3.9Gig out of mine but the voltages are getting a bit silly then ( I will not go over 1.55V even just for benching)and as you have indicated, to be honest unless you are benching and trying to prove a point, there is no visible real world difference between 3.6 and 3.9Gig IMO.

 

[newtekie1]

Oh yeah, mine will do 3.9GHz on air, but as you said the voltage required is too high to 24/7 use.