C2D Overclocking Guide For Beginners P5K Add-On

[mad_scot_99]

Pager faults in non-paged area would usually be RAM issues, sometimes possibly HDD if its in the page file. ran it through memtest and prime 95?

[mad_scot_99]

hope to use this guide when trying to overclock my quad core cpu - see my other thread for any opinions :-)

New Quad Core Spec

[Silverbullit]

Originally Posted by mad_scot_99

Pager faults in non-paged area would usually be RAM issues, sometimes possibly HDD if its in the page file. ran it through memtest and prime 95?

Hi mad_scot_99,

My rig takes Memtest86 1.7 (and 3.3 also) the ENTIRE frikkin night on BOTH the default test that starts with the floppydisk, AND test 5 that Clunk kindly helpfully oriented me to.
I can run Prime95 the entire night with NO problem whatsoever.

About drives, I have installed
1/ Raid 0 on two Seagate sata 16mb 300gb drives,
2/ Raid 0 on two Western Digital 16mb Sata 320gb drives,
3/ WinXP on single Seagate Drive
4/ WinXP on single Western Digital Drive
5/... check out the link above for more details
The frikkin crashes forced me to install windows some 20-25 times

When 1/ crashed it took a completely DIFFERENT drive down, a SATA 250gb Seagate drive (embarrisingly enough a Sata "1" drive)

Everything looks kinda good until I do something crazy like open a second explorer or open the calculator...
Shutting down a game scares the crap outta the reboot twitch...
Closing the DVD-tray 15% of the times causes reboots
No mind if it is running on stock default bios settings nor if it is oc...

And most important of all,
I have TWO kits of DDR2 mem caps,
my rig reboots with BOTH sets individually mounted...

I cannot beleive that both pairs is feucked, or is it plausible???

Somebody plz hand me a paperknife - I need to commit harakiri or seppuku or whatever...

Oh yeah, thanks for still having patience suggesting things to do...

I think I will have to rma this frikkin board, either the board or the CPU...
it could be the L cache or something

Clunk, I have tried installing Windows with several different graphic cards so I hope I dont had that error you kindly hinted me to,
I dont know exactly how to make those fixes *im a noob you know*
but I will see if I can get some help and make an attempt at it...

I should get a work at a sweatshop and put in all the hrs I put into fault searching this darn P5K "Decrapxe" mobo instead - and buy another brand mobo and see if it differences...

/Silverbullit


/Silverbullit

[Supershanks]

My rig takes Prime95 the ENTIRE frikkin night on BOTH the default test that starts with the disk, AND test 5 that Clunk kindly helpfully oriented me to

Prime doesn't have a test #5 Thats Memtest 86+ which isn't run from XP.
Have you managed to get a pair of modules to run for 3 hours or so yet ??

[Silverbullit]

Sry Supershanks,

I edited my post, in my late night dizzyness I wrote Prime95 on both rows.
I will give it a new try in my morning dizzyness... =)

I did Memtest 86 tests x 10 times with both 1.7 AND 3.3,
I also set the test to run all night on 1.7 in both default mode and test five by pressing "C -> 2 -> 5 -> Selecting test no#5"
Memtest86 reported Zero ("0") Errors
With an entire night I talk about 8-10hrs

I tried to run Orthos but It fails completely to initiate a second instance, it bugs out so that I cannot get it started.

And Prime 95 I have used the latest version I found, (is it named 25.4?) wich I have run in cahoot with Cpu-Z, CoreTemp 0.95, (Also with TAT despite the flaw with correct temps as I was curious to see if it would fluctuate differently than Coretemp) and Windows Task Manager to keep an eye that four cores was at 100 percent stress.
I have run Prime 95 through at least 3 nights without an error halt on any core.

One time it rebooted when I did a 3 hour daily run of Prime95 that reported flawless, I pressed stop O.K. but when I "X":d down the Prime95 window my rig spontaneously rebooted. *that felt swell*

On the other hand my rig HAS rebooted with Prime95 running shorter daily tests, a couple of times when I inserted the optical dvd rom tray, and again a couple of times when I had opened internet explorer and got so far that i either pressed CTRL+T in order to open a new tab OR shut down an open tab. (Always with several tabs open)

I DID have errors reported in Prime95 when I tried out different OC settings, but that should be considered normal until you find your limit of stable OC.
There should be some of my earlier posts with screenshots from these occations in this thread.
I never had an error reported in Memtest 1.7 or 3.3 (No matter what test run, I tried more than no#5 specificallly specified.)

I hope I did not make any writing errors, it kinda takes 95% of my brainpowerattention just to make myself understood in english mate =)

Plz check the previous post, I edited the mistake of writing Prime twice.
As you see now Supershanks I have run Memtest more than 3 hrs.

Are there any more tests I can/should do that would help me?

Thanks for any input you can contribute mate,

/Silverbullit *I am seriously considering trying to rma this mobo to my internet dealer trying to get another brand mobo like Abit or something else*

[Supershanks]

I am seriously considering trying to rma this mobo to my internet dealer trying to get another brand mobo like Abit or something else*

I don't know if any one's mentioned it , but if your memory is ok , the symptoms you have may be caused by your cpu. I had similar problems when i 1st got my e6600 with my commando board. Tested the hell outt of memory, swapped mobo(rma) still getting issues. Ended up rmaing the cpu , put the new one in perfect. It's pretty rare , think the guy in scan said i was only the 2nd he knew of, but it can happen.

[mad_scot_99]

Originally Posted by Supershanks

I don't know if any one's mentioned it , but if your memory is ok , the symptoms you have may be caused by your cpu. I had similar problems when i 1st got my e6600 with my commando board. Tested the hell outt of memory, swapped mobo(rma) still getting issues. Ended up rmaing the cpu , put the new one in perfect. It's pretty rare , think the guy in scan said i was only the 2nd he knew of, but it can happen.

have did a lot of techy work whilst i was deciding on a second career and have seen dodgy cpu's cause this before but pass EVERY test known to man. although its always a toss up between CPU and mobo.

[Supershanks]

have did a lot of techy work whilst i was deciding on a second career and have seen dodgy cpu's cause this before but pass EVERY test known to man. although its always a toss up between CPU and mobo

Yep it's pretty hard to diagnose, took a good while with mine, eliminating other parts. I was able to show successfull memory tests & the fact that it was a new (replacement mobo) which put suspicion onto the cpu.

[prismshian]

Hey Clunk,

All ok now, you're right i think the 1600Mhz is a power saving feature. (hehe)

If this is the case, wouldn't it be good to leave it on even after overclocking that way, it stays at 1600MHz and when it loads it then goes to 3000 Mhz or the overclocked setting. This helps save power.

I'm guessing this would be a good idea. Is it a must to disable it when overclocking?

Also, a more important note about ram.

I'm using OCZ reaper 8500 5-5-5-15. I bought 4 sticks, but something tells me that using only 2GB is the better bet. Why is this the case? Stability? I'm planning to overclock my ram as well.

I'm not sure if you've heard of a program called Ram Idle LE. I use it to monitor my ram and how it drains etc, good little program. I realised that when I put 4GB of ram and overclock it, the program doesn't recognize all 4GB, worst still, the program doesn't even work with 4GB.

So, would you say that a system is more stable with 2GB of overclocked ram? (Using Win XP 32)

I heard that only windows X64 can recognize 4Gb of ram.

Do you happen to know why its better to use 2GB, and is using 2GB overclocked more stable and effective, compared to 4GB of overclocked ram which could be useless as far as performance goes. I'm kinda confused with this because I bought 4GB of this very expensive ram for overclocking and I think using them all together is doing my pc no good. I do CAD work so it does drain ram but never to the point of zero, usuall 2GB does just the trick. I'm looking at a powerful computer and if using just 2GB overclocked is better let me know.

Your advice on this.

Oh, one last thing, I heard that quad cores run much hotter than dual cores, so with this in mind, anything under 70 degrees is considered a good stable temperature for quads. Is this right? If that's the case would that be a good bench mark for overclockers in the sense that you overclock it until it hits the max temp.

Sorry, last last one, the P5K-E says its 1333 or something, what does this mean because it seems that BIOS is saying its running only at 1066, how i do i get it to run at 1333?

thanks!!

[Clunk]

Originally Posted by prismshian

Hey Clunk,

All ok now, you're right i think the 1600Mhz is a power saving feature. (hehe)

If this is the case, wouldn't it be good to leave it on even after overclocking that way, it stays at 1600MHz and when it loads it then goes to 3000 Mhz or the overclocked setting. This helps save power.
I'm guessing this would be a good idea. Is it a must to disable it when overclocking? Try it and see, only you can decide if its ok.


Also, a more important note about ram.

I'm using OCZ reaper 8500 5-5-5-15. I bought 4 sticks, but something tells me that using only 2GB is the better bet. Why is this the case? Stability? I'm planning to overclock my ram as well. When you have 4 sticks in place, it puts extra strain on the Northbridge when you overclock, and that can affect how high you can go.

I'm not sure if you've heard of a program called Ram Idle LE. I use it to monitor my ram and how it drains etc, good little program. I realised that when I put 4GB of ram and overclock it, the program doesn't recognize all 4GB, worst still, the program doesn't even work with 4GB. No idea about that sorry.

So, would you say that a system is more stable with 2GB of overclocked ram? (Using Win XP 32) Umm, if its stable, its stable, if its not, its not...is it stable with 4GiB in there? I dunno

I heard that only windows X64 can recognize 4Gb of ram. Yes, have a search on here, theres loads about that

Do you happen to know why its better to use 2GB, and is using 2GB overclocked more stable and effective, compared to 4GB of overclocked ram which could be useless as far as performance goes. I'm kinda confused with this because I bought 4GB of this very expensive ram for overclocking and I think using them all together is doing my pc no good. I do CAD work so it does drain ram but never to the point of zero, usuall 2GB does just the trick. I'm looking at a powerful computer and if using just 2GB overclocked is better let me know.

Your advice on this.

Oh, one last thing, I heard that quad cores run much hotter than dual cores, so with this in mind, anything under 70 degrees is considered a good stable temperature for quads. Is this right? If that's the case would that be a good bench mark for overclockers in the sense that you overclock it until it hits the max temp. Depends on the cooler, the fans, the case, the room temps, Vcore, etc - if you have a cold room, great cooling, good airflow etc, then your temps will be better than someone in a hot room with poor airflow, poor cooling etc. Its really impossible to give a definitive answer. Sorry I cant be of more help.

Sorry, last last one, the P5K-E says its 1333 or something, what does this mean because it seems that BIOS is saying its running only at 1066, how i do i get it to run at 1333? You really need to read the guide, all of this stuff is in there. The 1333FSB refers to the FSB quad pumped, so 4 x 333=? YES! So, it basically just means that it supports 333/1333FSB CPUs.

thanks!!

.

[jamtheman80]

Newbie here after seeing this.

Have decided to build myself a system at the weekend using the P5KC mobo, but got a nasty feeling I may end up regretting choosing the ASUS.

CPU: E6850 3GHZ 1333FSB
Memory: 4x1GB OCZ PC2 9200 Reaper 1150MHz - 5-5-5-18 - 2.3v
Cooler: Antec Freezer Pro 7 with Artic Silver 5 Paste
Case: NZXT Hush

Am very worried about the RAM settings, even though Clunk suggests using the yellow slots is only a problem with 2x1GB. Loads of people having stability problems at anything above 800 let alone 1150.

In an ideal world I'd like to get a 1206 memory clock with a CPU overclock of 3.6ghz, but I suspect I'd need to unlink them both (can you say Nvidia board?)

[Clunk]

Originally Posted by jamtheman80

Newbie here after seeing this.

Have decided to build myself a system at the weekend using the P5KC mobo, but got a nasty feeling I may end up regretting choosing the ASUS.

CPU: E6850 3GHZ 1333FSB
Memory: 4x1GB OCZ PC2 9200 Reaper 1150MHz - 5-5-5-18 - 2.3v
Cooler: Antec Freezer Pro 7 with Artic Silver 5 Paste
Case: NZXT Hush

Am very worried about the RAM settings, even though Clunk suggests using the yellow slots is only a problem with 2x1GB. Loads of people having stability problems at anything above 800 let alone 1150.

In an ideal world I'd like to get a 1206 memory clock with a CPU overclock of 3.6ghz, but I suspect I'd need to unlink them both (can you say Nvidia board?)

I recommend using the black slots on the P5K deluxe for 2x1GiB. I would think that the P5KC is a bit different because of the DDR3 slots.

One thing I'm fairly sure of, is that 1200Mhz isnt easily achievable, but not impossible with 4x1GiB. I think Ive had 1250Mhz stable, but it wasnt practical due to the extra voltage needed.

In an ideal world, we would all like an overclock like that, but in reality, it isnt going to happen for most people for 24/7 use.

[spade99]

Thanks for the comprehensive guide. I have never really overclocked anything before and I was able to take my new system to 3.75 ghz effortlessly. I plan on going a bit higher after I have had a chance to do some more research!!

[spade99]

Originally Posted by dangel

A little tip: make sure you use the latest RAID drivers (intel) for this board - i got a BSOD the t'other day without 'em whilst playing bioshock.
Still haven't solved the popping/crackling with an X-FI with this board (sadly) tho (in Vista, it's not too bad in XP).

I am using an X-Fi gamer sound card with a P5K Deluxe board and I have no crackling or sound issues in either XP or Vista. I did not do anything special, just downloaded the newest drivers.

[Clunk]

Nice overclock, glad the guide was of use

[TensioN]

Hello from Australia boys

I'm having trouble with overclocking my Q6600 (B3)
running on what this guide suggests running at 3ghz on the first stage of overclocking.. but having issues with motherboard temps suddenly spiking to (256c) to be exact and sometimes vcore dropping.. down to 0.56 volts
I'm using cpu-z, everest home, speedfan and core temp.. to take readings..

any idea's on what the cause might be??

thanks