Do I have a dud board?

[oli_ramsay]

The past 3 CPU's I've had with this board required ridiculous volatges to achieve a decent overclock.

My E6600 which I sold ages ago required 1.525v to reach 3.4GHz and wouldn't go any higher. My old e8400 (which I have since sold on ebay) required 1.5v for 4GHz and my current e8400 requires 1.465v to reach 3.9GHz....

At first I thought I just had bad luck with CPUs, because the board doesn't have terrible vdroop (it's like 0.03v). Could it just be the board or is it most likely bad luck with CPUs? BTW the e6600 was bought new and the 2 e8400's are 2nd hand.

EDIT: It's the MSI Neo2 FR in my specs...

 

[sneekypeet]

Can you verify the E8400's OC ability with the previous owners?

That would answer a ton of questions for you. Also in now way saying its bad, but a weak PSU would do similar things.

 

[Kursah]

What did the previous owners get with the used chips? You might just have bad luck with the CPU's, hard saying for sure. Are you using the newest bios? If not, might be worth looking into, the voltage values could be off. What kind of temps are you getting at those kinds of voltages on the 45nm chips?

Too bad you don't have a different board to try or a known overclocker CPU to compare to, granted different boards may need different voltages for the same OC, they are generally pretty close in values in my experience.

 

[spearman914]

E6600 wasn't an ocing friendly chip. It's 65nm anyways so...

 

[oli_ramsay]

Can you verify the E8400's OC ability with the previous owners?

That would answer a ton of questions for you. Also in now way saying its bad, but a weak PSU would do similar things.

The first e84 I got off Freaksavior who had it running at 4.5GHz at 1.6 volts The 2nd I got off someone else here (forgot name) and they could run it at 3.6GHz at stock volts (which I can't do) put they didn't push it any further.

What did the previous owners get with the used chips? You might just have bad luck with the CPU's, hard saying for sure. Are you using the newest bios? If not, might be worth looking into, the voltage values could be off. What kind of temps are you getting at those kinds of voltages on the 45nm chips?

I'm using the latest BIOS, I get ~60C load at 3.9GHz, 1.465 volts (about 1.43 after vdroop).

 

[Kursah]

E6600 wasn't an ocing friendly chip. It's 65nm anyways so...

Most 65nm Core2's I had or built with were capable of around 600-1000MHz OC's on VID or less voltage. I never used an E6600, but e6300's, 6750's, 6320's, 6400's, etc all were pretty damn good overall. Maybe I and my friends were lucky tho!

But 1.5v for 3.4Ghz is insane, I know I've seen results like that for the 65nm's, but I've yet to see a chip in my ownership or someone I knew or built for need that. Personally I like the 65nm's myself though, I don't mind the 45nms', but the temp sensors drive me nuts, plus if someone has a CPU capable of 3.0-3.6GHz, there's really no reason to upgrade if gaming is a priority, benching is of course a different story tho!

 

[sneekypeet]

I'd say it lies in the board then. Have any mates with an extra board you could table top boot with? With most of these 45nm CPU's 1.4V is enough to get you in the 4.0+GHz range.

 

[spearman914]

Most 65nm Core2's I had or built with were capable of around 600-1000MHz OC's on VID or less voltage. I never used an E6600, but e6300's, 6750's, 6320's, 6400's, etc all were pretty damn good overall. Maybe I and my friends were lucky tho!

But 1.5v for 3.4Ghz is insane, I know I've seen results like that for the 65nm's, but I've yet to see a chip in my ownership or someone I knew or built for need that. Personally I like the 65nm's myself though, I don't mind the 45nms', but the temp sensors drive me nuts, plus if someone has a CPU capable of 3.0-3.6GHz, there's really no reason to upgrade if gaming is a priority, benching is of course a different story tho!

Why be concerned with temp sensors? Use Realtemp already!!!

 

[oli_ramsay]

I'd say it lies in the board then. Have any mates with an extra board you could table top boot with? With most of these 45nm CPU's 1.4V is enough to get you in the 4.0+GHz range.

Unfortunately, None of my mates are into computers. Should I invest in a P45 board do you think? Or maybe an e0 stepping e8xxx

 

[Kursah]

Why be concerned with temp sensors? Use Realtemp already!!!

I've been using realtemp since it's first announcement, I prefer to use it over Core Temp, but even RealTemp can't guarentee accurate readings. Somewhat close is the best you'll get with those damned sensors they use, though I gotta say my recently sold e8600 and my current e8500 both read pretty cool. And ran pretty damn stable too, there was just something about those 65nm's that felt more solid and dependable to me though.

Unfortunately, None of my mates are into computers. Should I invest in a P45 board do you think? Or maybe an e0 stepping e8xxx

Not a bad way to go, I highly recommend the Asus P5Q series, the -E, Pro and Deluxe are all great performers and OC-ers. As-far-as CPU's, I'd say replace the board first...I've OC'd quite a few e8400's for my gamer buddies recently, at 400FSB for 3.6Ghz, most took only 1.22-1.27v on C0 steppings, all took 1.30v or less from what I recall. E0 is good and great, but not necessarily worth paying a lot for. I guess it depends on your OC goals though. After having an e8600 that could hit 4.5Ghz @ 1.41v on air, I'm actually going to go back to a Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz, maybe even lower. I game a lot, do a fair amount of encoding now-a-days, and don't need the highest clocks I can get anymore at least for now!

 

[spearman914]

I've been using realtemp since it's first announcement, I prefer to use it over Core Temp, but even RealTemp can't guarentee accurate readings. Somewhat close is the best you'll get with those damned sensors they use, though I gotta say my recently sold e8600 and my current e8500 both read pretty cool. And ran pretty damn stable too, there was just something about those 65nm's that felt more solid and dependable to me though.

To be honest, temps is nothing, voltage is what matters. But the choice only depends on u.

 

[Kursah]

To be honest, temps are nothing, voltage is what matters. But the choice only depends on u.

That's an honest opinion, but to me temps are as important as performance itself, everyone's gotta different goal and approach, will accept different variances and settings. But if RealTemp is saying my cores are running at 100C for 4.0Ghz @ 1.28v, I'm still gonna back it off, even if it's way off. Actually that's how my first e8600 got RMA'd to intel. It would hit almost 70C stock speed/voltage under a Xigs1283, even if it was far fetched and nowhere near accurate, it's still important imo. And as touchy as many claim 45nm's are to higher voltage, it depends on more than just letting her run imo. But like you said it depends on u. Very true!

 

[francis511]

It`s an O.K. board from my experience. Have you been varying all the components or just the processors ?

 

[oli_ramsay]

It`s an O.K. board from my experience. Have you been varying all the components or just the processors ?

Just the CPUs. Tried all sorts of NB, VTT, SB voltages in BIOS, all to no avail.