Help Overclocking E8400

[Evolved]

I've overclocked my E8400 to 4.4Ghz.
It's completely stable on booting and in Windows.

But then it crashes when I test through Prime95 at 100% load.

Is this a PSU or Overheating issue?

 

[erocker]

If it isn't stable in Prime95 but is stable doing everything else, you're close, you just need more voltage somewhere.

Also, please be sure to use a proper thread title.

 

[Kursah]

Could be a few things. By crashing during testing, it could be not enough CPU voltage. What kind of "crash" does it do? BSOD? Hard restart? Prime fail? Need a better description of the situation. If a BSOD is present, what's the code? If it's 124, odds are you need CPU voltage at least in my experience that's what has caused it in overclocking tests. What voltage are you running for 4.4GHz? Are you running the Blend test that stresses the NB/Ram/CPU? What are your temps like under heavy loads like Prime? That chip should be rated for around 90-100C thermal throttle limits. May need to feed your NB some more voltage.

I don't see the PSU being a problem honestly...that should be plenty sufficient for the task at hand. But before we can come to any kind of conclusion, more info is needed from you. Hopefully we can getcha sorted! You may try OCCT, it can track voltages and temps on many MB's, and it's 1 hour test is pretty solid...if you want to go hardcore, the built in intel burn test is pretty crazy...if you pass that, your PC is pretty damn stable in my experience.

 

[Evolved]

Okay sorry guys.

Here's some more INFO.

After starting Prime95, and after just a few seconds, computer freezes and crashes to a BLUE SCREEN and does the "Physical Memory Dump".

I am running the BLEND TEST in Prime95.

For Voltages, I only change the VCORE (1.45v). While Prime95 is running, RealTemp reads 38c (on idle) and slowly moves up to 60c while under 100% Load.

Also, is there any way to find out how much WATTAGE is being used for my entire system? Some kind of software that can tell me?

 

[Evolved]

Can anyone help me out?

 

[D4S4]

i've been trying to squeeze out some more juice out of mine lately, but i have hit a 4ghz wall (at rated max safe volts - 1.4250 at bios, 1.36 measured), it won't go any further... damned first stepping :shadedshu

anyhow, 1.45v is quite high for a wolfdale, it is the max 24/7 safe (mostly) voltage, bump up your vtt voltage and see where that gets you

 

[theonetruewill]

Can anyone help me out?

I found that I needed a voltage of 1.35v and also had some success using lower multipliers and higher fsb. But to be honest I run it at 4GHz 24/7. I see little point in increasing the temperature so much by going higher.

 

[Kursah]

Okay sorry guys.

Here's some more INFO.

After starting Prime95, and after just a few seconds, computer freezes and crashes to a BLUE SCREEN and does the "Physical Memory Dump".

I am running the BLEND TEST in Prime95.

For Voltages, I only change the VCORE (1.45v). While Prime95 is running, RealTemp reads 38c (on idle) and slowly moves up to 60c while under 100% Load.

Also, is there any way to find out how much WATTAGE is being used for my entire system? Some kind of software that can tell me?

You may mess with other voltages for the north bridge, pll, etc. Are you pushing your memory beyond what it's rated? Seems you're around 489FSB to attain 4.4GHz at a 9X multi, at that point odds are increased voltage in other areas will help. Can you set the BSOD so that your PC doesn't auto restart so you can write down the main 0x0000000 code? It may help. Blend test stresses your CPU, memory and northbridge as that's where the memory controller is. There's also the chance that your chip might not be able to attain that clock with load stability. Honestly, if it's not stable at 1.45v, I'd back off...but for me that's a preference. You have good temps though...far from overheating.

Honestly, I feel you should research what settings other people are using to attain a stable operation at the 450-500FSB range and see what you can gain from that. If you see a lot of consistent settings, then give them a go, start easy and test frequently. If you want to attain this OC, you may need to put in some hours of stress testing and tweaking/tuning of Bios to attain it.

 

[Peter1986C]

According to this page on the Intel site the max voltage for the CPU is 1.3625 volt. So getting over 1.40 seems rather risky if you ask me. And what is the voltage of your RAM and North Bridge? Did you disable EIST?