Overclocking gaming problem

[HoodedSoldier]

I have a e4300 that is normally overclocked @2.7ghz. I actually got it to boot up at 3.0ghz tonight. So overclocking and booting up isn't a problem. Playing games while overclocked is. I first noticed this problem trying out the call of duty 4 demo. I couldn't understand why it was running at like 10fps on my system. I have 2 gigs of ram and a 8800 gts 640mb. So i went into the bios and set my cpu back to stock and what do you know cod 4 runs just fine, but soon as i overclock it runs like crap. When i use intels t.a.t. on full load it never goes over 70c so i don't know how overheating is a problem. Can anyone help or give me any advice? Thanks for trying to help a noob out.

[Lucio]

Have you tried other games to see if this occurs? If it happens every time you start a game, then it could be that there's a problem with the power supply (i.e. when the card kicks in 3D mode and starts drawing extra juice, there's an issue getting it to the card or the CPU)

[iranu]

I suspect it's the same with Intel boards, but on the AMD 939s you used to have to set the PCI-Express frequency to 100 rather than the default "auto" as overclocking would increase the PCI-E and cause issues with the graphics card.

You may also want to have a look at Clunk's excellent C2D overclocking guide.

Welcome to Hexus

[HoodedSoldier]

Thanks fellas. I'll try the vid card solution first as it would be easier to try than getting a new psu. Yeah i kinda skimped out on a expensive more powerful psu as it was putting me over my budget. But i do remember seeing some kind of option in the bios for the pci express. I'll give it a try. I'm installing the bioshock demo as we speak as this is the first game to give me a problem with the framerate. I wonder how it will run without my cpu being overclocked. This seems like a very good board wish i found long time ago.

[b0redom]

You have prime95/orthos tested right? It could just be that the CPU is not stable under heavy load.

[HoodedSoldier]

You have prime95/orthos tested right? It could just be that the CPU is not stable under heavy load.

Nah i haven't tried either. I did just try the bioshock demo with stock speeds on the cpu and what do you know never dropped under 50 except when it gets chaotic at the end with all the enemies and water but still didn't drop under 30. I'm gonna download those programs after i give the pci express settings option that was suggested. Once again thanks for the suggestions and help fellas.

[HoodedSoldier]

Well it passed all the test in prime95 and i ran orthos for a few hours. I think Lucio might be right and the psu just isn't powerful enough to handle both the card and cpu when it's overclocked.

[s_kinton]

Get CPU-Z, load it up and check the PCI-E speed. Sometimes it can drop to 1x when overclocking. It should be 16x

[scsaus]

yes indeed mate dcpu-z is gr8 software chk the overcloking

[HoodedSoldier]

Ok the width was going down to 1x. i upped the pci express voltage to 115 and the width changed back to 16x but now everytime i try to start up a game they just minimize for some reason. I can still hear the audio and it's sitting in the taskbar but when i try to maximize it just minimizes itself.

Update. Only call of duty 4 and crysis demo minimize themselves. Jericho, UT4 demo and bioshock demo run fine. Anyone might know why? Should i try lowering it some?

Update #2: I fixed it. I lowered the pci express voltage to 110 instead of 115. Oh and since i was feeling adventurous i upped the fsb to 335 and now i'm overclocked at 3.01ghz. So i finally have all my games running great even with a overclocked cpu. No need to buy a new psu. Thanks for the help guys. Funny thing is i always had cpu z but never new about vid card width. That answered my problems.