Failure to overclock EP45T-Extreme

[teokal]

Hello all, I have been lurking in here ever since I assembled my new rig last xmas and I highly appreciated the way knowledge and experience is given freely away so I think it is time I ask advice for my little problems.

I have the following:
- Thermaltake VE2000SWA ArmorLCS Case
- Intel E8600
- Gigabyte GA-EP45T-Extreme
- 4GB of Corsair XMS3DHX memory 1600 [email protected] (http://www.corsair.com/products/go.a...W3X4G1600C9DHX)
- Gigabyte ATi 4870x2 Graphics Card
- Very very recently changed F5h motherboard BIOS
- Dual Seagate BARRACUDA 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB SATA2 drives

Well the case has embedded water cooling system which is setup and running smoothly

The story is I wanted to OC the system ever since I got it, but it was not a high priority as long as it run smoothly, initially the system came with another type of memory Corsair TWIN3X4096-1600C7DHX (http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/T...-1600C7DHX.pdf) which died about 3 months after I got it for unknown reasons and the integrator change it to the TW3X4G1600C9DHX pair after I spent 1 month trying to figure out why my system kept giving BSODs.

My initial tries to set the memory speed to 1600MHz have been a total failure, since no matter what values I used the system comes up with a series of continues beeps which lead to an OC error

In any case the error comes while I set either the FSB to 400MHz or the memory multiplier to 4.00D, if I leave FSB to 333MHz and multiplier to 4.00B the system boots fine with the memory running at 1333MHz (current settings):

[B][U]MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)[/U][/B]
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Turbo
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 10
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:.0
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.33
 
 
[B][U]Clock Chip Control [/U][/B]
[B][U]Standard Clock Control[/U][/B]
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled] 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 333Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:[Auto]
C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]
 
[B][U]Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter][/U][/B]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: <<< 800 (optimized default)
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: <<< 900 (optimized default)
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: <<< 
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: <<< 
 
 
[B][U]DRAM Performance Control[/U][/B]
Performance Enhance...................: [EXTREME]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 4.00B
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 1333
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Auto]
 
[B]Standard Timing Control[/B]
CAS Latency Time........................[Auto] (shows 7)
tRCD .........................................[Auto] (shows 7)
tRP'...........................................[Auto] (shows 7)
tRAS..........................................[Auto] (shows 20)
 
[B][U]Advanced Timing Control[/U][/B]
tRRD...........................................[Auto]
tWTR..........................................[Auto]
tWR............................................[Auto]
tRFC...........................................[Auto]
tRTP...........................................[Auto]
Command Rate (CMD) ....................[Auto]
 
[U][B]Driving Strength Profiles[/B][/U]
Driving Strength ............................[Auto] (seems that in F5h CANNOT be set)
 
[B]Channel A[/B]
Static tRead Value.........................:[Auto]
 tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto 
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto 
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
 
[B]Channel B[/B]
Static tRead Value.........................:[Auto]
 tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
 tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
 tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto 
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto 
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto 
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto  ps
 
[B][U]Motherboard Voltage Control[/U][/B]
CPU Vcore�.���.........................: [Auto]
CPU Termination�..... 1.200V*.......: [Auto]
CPU PLL�������....1.500V*.......: [Auto]
CPU Referen.����....0.755V*.......: [Auto]
CPU Reference2���,,0.800V*.......: [Auto] 
 
[B]MCH/ICH[/B]
MCH Core�����.....1.100V...........: [Auto]
MCH Reference�.��.0.800V...........; [Auto]
MCH/DRAM Ref.�......0.900V...........: [Auto]
ICH I/O������.....1.550V............: [Auto]
ICH Core����...��1.100V............: [Auto]
 
[B]DRAM[/B]
DRAM Voltage ��....1.500V............: [Auto]
DRAM Termination .�0.900V............: [Auto]
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: [Auto]
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: [Auto]
 
[B][U]Advanced Settings[/U][/B]
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Enabled]
 
[B][U]Integrated Peripherals[/U][/B]
Legacy USB Storage Detect ..............[Disabled]

Also note I am using a dual boot Windows7 x64 (7100)/Vista Enterprise x64 (but it seems irrelevant in the event system never boots to any adjusted values)

Basically I have tried setting FSB to 400 memory multiplier to 4.00D while adjusting DRAMVolt to 1.8V and MCH Core to 1.25V.

I must note that I am quite inexperienced OCer (but highly experienced with comps) and all my knowledge on the specific subject comes from this forum

Thank you in advance for any help

[Psycho101]

Re: Failure to overclock EP45T-Extreme

You ned to set the primary memory timings to 9-9-9-24, as if auto is to be believed, 7-7-7-20 is way too tight, even for 1333MHZ.

On a side note, it's a shame but it seems that your system builder replaced the original RAM with some of a much lower spec.

Sorry for the quick reply. When I have time I'll fill in that template with some suggested values.

[teokal]

Re: Failure to overclock EP45T-Extreme

Yes Pshycho I know about the memory pitty indeed, but the other memory was no longer available and I hated to wait 1 month with my PC in the service...

The tight timings maybe its because I have set the "Prformance enhance" to maximum?

No other suggestions yet ??

[teokal]

Re: Failure to overclock EP45T-Extreme

no one???

[Psycho101]

Re: Failure to overclock EP45T-Extreme

Have you tried setting the correct timings? It's not because you have PE on extreme, it's because you have "DRAM Timing Selectable" on auto. Put it on manual and enter 9-9-9-24.

having PE on extreme is not helping though. I'm not stable even on turbo with anything more than 475 FSB. Set it to standard for now, as any performance gain on other settings is miniscule, and the setting has a huge effect on stability.

I'll post later with a suggested template. In the mean time try those two suggestions.