[a$h x]

I've got my rig to 2.5Ghz, but it either BSOD's or will not post if I push it furhter than that. I've only raised the FSB, all the other settings are stock. I think it's the memory timings which are confusing me, I've read I should be using a 4:5 divider, but I can only use decimal values in my BIOS os it works out to 0.83. There is no 0.83 value.
What voltages should I use to achieve a 3.0ghz OC? Is it even possible on a stock cooler?

 

[br3nd064]

I doubt it's the ram timings. Just leave the ram at all stock speeds and voltage. A 3.0ghz overclock is possible on the stock heatsink, but I wouldn't recommend it. Even something cheap, like the arctic cooling freezer 7 pro would be good.

 

[SANNIN3Xjima]

Well, if you keep your other settings at stock of course it would not work. Have you raised the voltage? Try raising the voltage a few notches. Keep the memory at stock. Try a 1:1 divider first. Then also increase the memory's voltages. There is no should or should not. You have to test out each divider yourself, but starting at 1:1 should be a good start. You are also on stock cooling, and you will have to check your temperatures too.

Make sure you disable spread spectrum and C1E.

 

[a$h x]

I just want to get it to 3.0Ghz to see if I can do it. Run a stability test and see the temps under load. If they are too high, then I'll take it back down to 2.5Ghz.
Thing is, I've tried upping the core voltage and the FSB, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Still is not stable at anything past 2.5Ghz. Not sure what the problem is TBH.

 

[Vlasov_581]

are you running 2.5GHz with default voltage?

 

[br3nd064]

Have you tried raising the NB voltage?

 

[guyladouche]

I don't know what your VID is, but you'll likely need something close to 1.45v vcore for the CPU to hit 3GHz stable--so you'll definitely need to change the vcore in the BIOS. Keep the RAM near stock frequency and timings. Don't worry about the HSF yet. I was using the stock HSF with 3GHz, and it kept my orthos load temps below 62C, which is well-below tolerances (these can go up to 72C). But that did require the stock fan to be running full. I only replaced mine for the sake of noise-reduction.

You might want to read through the Intel Overclocking sticky in the intel forum--it's a must-read IMHO, and it'll provide a much more methodical way for overclocking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by br3nd064 Have you tried raising the NB voltage?

NB voltage likely won't need any increase in voltage until a bit past 350MHz probably.

 

[a$h x]

Yeah 2.5Ghz is at 1.3250V (or as CPU-Z sees it 1.296V). I've read the intel OC guide and it says if your OC fails after raising the voltages a notch or two, it must be limited by another setting. So then I stared to tinker with the ram timings etc.

 

[D.J.S.]

Im gonna say you need 1.448 for 3200 ish and up since you have a high vid 2180 (like me) you could use 1.45 and see how high you can get safely. those high vid chips take volts better with less heat , I personally have a 1.325 vid 2180 that does 3400 @ 1700fsb 1.448 so id keep playing around.

 

[guyladouche]

If all you're doing is raising the FSB and keeping the RAM low enough, I'm almost certain that you still need to raise the Vcore some more to get 2.5 stable. What is the vcore set to when you try to boot beyond 2.5? I know you said a notch or two, but what does that work out to be--I'm guessing around 1.37v? That's probably not enough. Keep in mind, you have a high VID--1.325v (I do too)--so on average, your 2180 will require more voltage than one with a lower VID to overclock to the same extent. I'm telling you--you'll likely need around 1.45v in the BIOS to get near/to 3.0GHz. I have the same VID and virtually the same motherboard. Also, keep in mind, voltage requirements increases almost exponentially with clock speed--so you might need to start increasing the voltage quite a bit more just to go up, say, 100MHz.

What actually worked the best for me was leaving the voltages on "Auto" (raised my vcore properly, and put my RAM at 2.0v, just FYI--all other voltages were not changed) and making sure the RAM was close to 800MHz. If you go beyond 800MHz with your RAM, just put the timings to 5-5-5-15 to be on the safe side while getting your CPU to 3GHz, and then go back and work on them later.

 

[SANNIN3Xjima]

Try a different dividers, they do help. I got my VCore lower for my Q6600 just for changing the Divider form 1:1 to 4:5.

Start at a higher Vcore voltage.

 

[ericeod]

run CPU-Z and check the memory tab to see what your memory is running at. If you are raising the FSB and not lowering the memory divider (SPD), the ram will run outside it's rated perameters. Set the divider to the lowest setting of 2 and see if that helps. After you dial in the CPU OC, you can bring the divider up so the ram is running as close to rated speed as possible.

Also add at least +0.1v to G(MCH) Overvoltage control to bring the NB voltage from the stock 1.25v to 1.35v to run a higher FSB.

 

[a$h x]

CPU-Z says my RAM is running @ 500mhz, at a 1:2 divider, and the timings are 5-7-7-23. That sound about right?

 

[ericeod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a$h x CPU-Z says my RAM is running @ 500mhz, at a 1:2 divider, and the timings are 5-7-7-23. That sound about right?

Thats your problem right there. 500MHz is DDR2 1000 speeds. You need to go into the M.I.T. secion of the bios and lower the System memory multiplier (SPD) to 2, which is the lowest setting. The image below shows it set to 2.4. Notice that the rated ram speed will be shown in gray just below SPD:

When you have OCed your E2180 stable, then work on bringing the SPD up so that is is close to 800 with 5-5-5-15 timings. You might be able to OC the ram, but this will be a good starting point for you.

 

[a$h x]

Thanks ericeod, I thought the 800 1000 displayed under SPD and the divider number was showing the FSB:RAM ratio.

So you think I should set the RAM SPD to the lowest value and then work upwards from there? I'll give it a shot bro.

 

[ericeod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a$h x Thanks ericeod, I thought the 800 1000 displayed under SPD and the divider number was showing the FSB:RAM ratio. So you think I should set the RAM SPD to the lowest value and then work upwards from there? I'll give it a shot bro.

yeah, se the ratio to the lowest ratio to keep the ram out of the equation while you focus on OCing the CPU by increasing the FSB. Post back once you have found a stable max CPU clock speed.

 

[a$h x]

Right, I took your advice and set the SPD to 2.00, so my RAM was running at 750mhz (closest I could get to 800 without exceeding it). I've got orthos to run for 2hours 15 mins @ 3.00Ghz with the following settings:

FSB: 300
RAM SPD: 750 (4:5 divider)
CPU voltage: 1.5V
RAM voltage: +0.1V
FSB voltage: +0.1V
(G)MCH voltage: +0.1V

I realized I'm underclocking the RAM so I took the 0.1V away and dropped the CPU voltage from 1.5V to 1.41V as my load temps were hitting 71-72C! Everything else remained the same, and I've run orthos for over an hour with no errors and load temps of 67C. I'll run a stress test for four hours while I'm at work, and if it holds at this lower voltage, then I'll try and push for 3.2ghz

BTW shouldn't a four hour stress test be long enough? Realistically you'll never be placing your system under such strain for everyday tasks, so extended stress tests are a bit pointless?

 

[guyladouche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a$h x Right, I took your advice and set the SPD to 2.00, so my RAM was running at 750mhz (closest I could get to 800 without exceeding it). I've got orthos to run for 2hours 15 mins @ 3.00Ghz with the following settings: FSB: 300 RAM SPD: 750 (4:5 divider) CPU voltage: 1.5V RAM voltage: +0.1V FSB voltage: +0.1V (G)MCH voltage: +0.1V I realized I'm underclocking the RAM so I took the 0.1V away and dropped the CPU voltage from 1.5V to 1.41V as my load temps were hitting 71-72C! Everything else remained the same, and I've run orthos for over an hour with no errors and load temps of 67C. I'll run a stress test for four hours while I'm at work, and if it holds at this lower voltage, then I'll try and push for 3.2ghz BTW shouldn't a four hour stress test be long enough? Realistically you'll never be placing your system under such strain for everyday tasks, so extended stress tests are a bit pointless?

Cool. One thing you might want to do since you're using the stock heatsink is disable the automatic CPU fan control (fan will spin faster as the CPU heats up) to force the fan to spin at max, at least while you stress-test--because I noticed that even if my CPU pushed 65C, the fan didn't really spin much faster than it's lowest setting. But with the fan set to spin it's fastest, it stayed below 65C, normally around 61C during stress testing.

To be honest, I think 4 hours of orthos is fine, though some will disagree. Good to see you're making some headway with your OC!

 

[ericeod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a$h x Right, I took your advice and set the SPD to 2.00, so my RAM was running at 750mhz (closest I could get to 800 without exceeding it).

Now try setting the next highest ram setting. It might OC to the next level and be completely stable. I can get DDR2 800 ram with 5-5-5-15 timings to run at 925 without any andjustments to the ram.

 

[a$h x]

I seem to have hit a brick wall @ 3.00ghz. I can always post at higher speeds, but windows ALWAYS falls down during the loading screens with a variety of BSOD messages. Interestingly the last one was "page fault in non-paged area" suggesting the ram maybe upto no good (I've already run memtest +086 and both stick checkout fine). I seem to stall after the little load bar in vista disappears before the microsoft logo shines. It either BSOD's there and then, or it just sits on a black screen with no sign of progress. Even on 3.10ghz, everything seems okay, and then a BSOD while I'm using vista out of nowhere.

My only options remaining are:
1) Increase FSB and voltage
2) Increase memory SPD
3) Loosen memory timings
4) Increase voltage to FSB/(G)MCH/RAM

I've tried most of the above and nothing sticks.