C2D Overclocking Guide For Beginners P5K Add-On

[Clunk]

This thread is exactly what the spirit of forums like Hexus are all about. Superb job, Clunk.

Thanks mate

[Nabobalis]

The problem I had was that the boxes defaulted to the large diamond shaped ones, and I couldnt see the readings, not sure what the problem was with that version, and on the previous version, a lot of the sensor info was missing.

Ill give it another go though cheers.

Probe is only good to give you an idea of MB temp, CPU voltages etc, its not to be used for CPU temps, as it is a mile off.

Dont use AI suite, its terrible, read the guide and follow it, and youll be fine

Then what should I use for reading cpu temp, core temp doesn't work for me, Intel TAT also doesn't work, so I'm left with?

Edit: I might try everest, also would updating my bios to version 0501 help?

[Supershanks]

You should be ok with everest & your OS see Everest OS Support though personally i prefer coretemp which i thought did have vista64 support but may be wrong

I think 501 did do somethoing with cpu temps, won't harm to try.

luck

[sitalchauhan]

I'll be expecting 4ghz by tomorrow afternoon then
Good luck!

I think I have finished the main parts of overclocking. Just got the voltage tweeking left now to decrease my temps. I am currently running and tested Orthos stable for 12 hours:

FSB 370 MHz (so processor is 370 x 9 = 3330MHz = 3.3GHz)
FSBRAM Ratio Of 5:6
RAM running at 888MHz at 4-4-4-12

My specs are in the "My System" on the left. My ram is supposed to be DDR2 800 CL4 but I managed to get it running at 888MHz CL4. I havnt tried higher ram speeds yet, may try higher later on. But I am guessing that if I get unstable at a higher ram speed, I may have to loosen my timings to get stable?

Tried fsb's of 375MHz and higher, but they all gave bsod's and were not stable.

Does my overclock seem reasonable? I was hoping my processor would be able to run at a fsb higher than 370mhz, or is a max fsb of 370mhz on an e6600 normal?

Thanks again!
Sital

[Clunk]

That overclock is fine, and for most things, you wont notice much of a difference from 3330Mhz onwards to around 3600Mhz.

[sitalchauhan]

Thanks.

My VCore is currently at 1.45V idle, 1.44V load. Load temp of 61 degrees using TAT and coretemp to read the temps on the cores.

My overclock seems to be 100% stable in Orthos for 12hrs.

Does this mean it should be ok to run my computer at this overclock for 24/7 use?

Or should I lower my overclock slightly to be on the safe side as to not damage any components?

[Clunk]

If you are happy with the temps, then youll be ok.

There is always a risk with overclocking, but failiures are that common from a mild overclock like that, so dont worry, just keep an eye on the temps, especially if summer ever arrives

[robucf4]

Ok, well sorry I couldnt be of more help, but if I see anyone else with the same problem, Ill find out the cause and post it here

After scouring message boards it seems the problem with the P5K Vanilla version is major vdroop. As much as .04 - .07 which of course makes for unstable OC's. I did some random tests and sure enough I have major vdroop, I set the vcore to 1.45, but in CPU-Z and Asus PC Probe the voltage was bouncing between 1.38 and 1.40. Under load it dropped even further which of course led to Orthos errors. The voltage damper setting does not work in the vanilla version, owners have complained but Asus has not fixed it. There are a couple of workarounds, none of which I am comfortable with. There is a pencil mod and the other is playing with the voltage settings in the BIOS Oh well, just wanted to share, I guess you get what you pay for

[sitalchauhan]

I have made a spreadsheet containing all of my details and benches of before overclocking and after, if anybody is interested:

http://www.sitalchauhan.pwp.blueyond...37;20Stats.xls

I will continue to update it with new benchmarks and fill in the missing gaps as I go along slowly

[Clunk]

After scouring message boards it seems the problem with the P5K Vanilla version is major vdroop. As much as .04 - .07 which of course makes for unstable OC's. I did some random tests and sure enough I have major vdroop, I set the vcore to 1.45, but in CPU-Z and Asus PC Probe the voltage was bouncing between 1.38 and 1.40. Under load it dropped even further which of course led to Orthos errors. The voltage damper setting does not work in the vanilla version, owners have complained but Asus has not fixed it. There are a couple of workarounds, none of which I am comfortable with. There is a pencil mod and the other is playing with the voltage settings in the BIOS Oh well, just wanted to share, I guess you get what you pay for

Ive had several boards that have had vdroop, in fact every Asus board that I can remember, but that doesnt usually mean that you cant get them stable.

It might be different on yours, but I have seen quite a few people get decent stable clocks.

[robucf4]

Ive had several boards that have had vdroop, in fact every Asus board that I can remember, but that doesnt usually mean that you cant get them stable.

It might be different on yours, but I have seen quite a few people get decent stable clocks.

The only thing left is the voltage settings (other than vcore and ram), if you can point me to what to try I will give it a whirl.

[Clunk]

What I was meaning is, if you know that you set it to say (for arguments sake) 1.5v, and it becomes 1.45 under load, then just set it to 1.53v instead, or 1.55v, and that will give you the 1.5v that you need.

The only problem doing it like this, is that you need to keep an eye on it, and make sure that it doesnt rise too high when not under load.

If the voltage is up and down, I would return it, as that clearly isnt right.

Is there a noticable drop at stock voltages/speeds?

[robucf4]

What I was meaning is, if you know that you set it to say (for arguments sake) 1.5v, and it becomes 1.45 under load, then just set it to 1.53v instead, or 1.55v, and that will give you the 1.5v that you need.

The only problem doing it like this, is that you need to keep an eye on it, and make sure that it doesnt rise too high when not under load.

If the voltage is up and down, I would return it, as that clearly isnt right.

Is there a noticable drop at stock voltages/speeds?

Yes and this is Asus reply is something to the effect that the Intel spec says voltage should drop proportionally to the load increase, the Asus forums are down, later I can post exactly comment from their FAQ. The vdroop is pretty dramatic. A google search on P5K vanilla and vdroop returns a lot of hits.

[Clunk]

So, Asus reckon its normal, and it does it at stock speeds?...and the voltage goes up and down at stock speeds also?

[sitalchauhan]

I was playing a game and got a bsod, pretty sure it was because I had overclocked my ram to 888MHz when it is only rated to 800MHz. So I changed my fsb:dram ratio again to 1:1.

I did another Orthos and this time got a bsod, even though last time it ran 12 hours no problem at the same settings. So I lowered my fsb from 370 to 360. I was getting a problem before where in Windows Vista, whenever I clicked on the Control Panel in the start menu, a window would flash up and instantly disappear. I though it was some kind of software problem with Windows. However, upon lowering my fsb, the control pannel started working again lol. Strange...

I increased my fsb back up, and sure enough the control pannel stopped working. Lowered my fsb again, and the control pannel worked again

So if anybody has a similar problem with the control pannel not opening, try lowering your fsb

Anyway, the max I could get my fsb while the control pannel was working was 365MHz.

I have updated my spreadsheet again with my new max overclock and updated all the benchmarks, temps, etc:

http://www.sitalchauhan.pwp.blueyond...37;20Stats.xls

Will be doing another Orthos tonight for another 12hrs just to be certain my overclock is fully stable.

[Clunk]

Have you set the RAM voltage and timings to what the manufacturer says it should be?

All other settings as per the guide?