Simple overclock for e8400 and GA-P35-DS3L?

Waldo

I was looking through the bios but I'm not totally confident in what I'm doing. I've overclocked before and know to take it slow and watch temps. I want to get my e8400 up to around 3.6. I have a Thermalright Ultima heatsink and plenty of fans so I'll be ok for temps.

What's a simple way to overclock using my board, without having to play around with voltages? Here's what the bios says currently:

CPU clock ration (8x)
CPU frequency 2.66 GHz (333x8) (why 2.66 here and 3.0 in windows?)
CPU host clock control (disabled)
CPU host frequency (200)

System Memory Multiplier (Auto)
Memory frequency (800)

And I have a new set of Muskin HP PC2-6400 sticks.

alanm · 03-31-2008, 03:53 | posts: 2,621 | User is Offline

First press CTRL +F1 when you go into the bios, this will open additional OC features.

Put CPU clock ratio to 9 (higher multi is easier on the mobo/RAM)
CPU host clock control set to enabled
CPU host frequency should be set to 400

System Mem Multi set to 2
(Mem Frequency will be 800 when mem multi set to 2)
Performance enhance set to Standard

Your mem timings can be left on auto for the time being, unless you have really good RAM and want to tighten up the timings but for now I advise to stick to your mems default timings.

Voltages put on Manual
Leave all voltages to their defaults except the vcore (CPU voltage), which I recommend starting off at 1.275. It can be lowered slightly if proven stable.

Now you should be all set to boot up to 3.6ghz. You may see in Windows or the bios 2.4ghz, thats OK, its Intels speed-step which goes to a lower multi (6) when CPU is idling. You can turn it off in the bios (EIST), I recommend leaving it on, it wont affect performance which will otherwise run at 3.6ghz .

Now you need to stress test your OC. I recommend OCCT:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/OCCT-(Ov...load-1880.html

It keeps a log of the stabilty test including vcore fluctuations which is useful to know when vdroop occurs and how or if it may affect the success or failure of your OC.

Waldo

Thanks Alanm!

What do you have for cooling to keep your system stable at 3.8?

alanm · 03-31-2008, 09:35 | posts: 2,621 | User is Offline

Gigabyte G-Power Pro:

http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...articleID=1904

Waldo

Are you a Gigabyte sales rep?

Waldo · *Last edited by Waldo; 03-31-2008 at 21:40.*

I tried the overclock today, but after saving settings in the bios it rebooted and went back to default vcore voltages. Everything else stayed but vcore went back to auto? can't remember now what default is. Should I boost it up a bit more? 1.3? What happens if you go too far?

Edit: Just tried again and I was wrong, it seems everything reset itself except the cpu clock ratio. It was still at 9.

alanm · 04-01-2008, 01:59 | posts: 2,621 | User is Offline

Hmm, a 3.6ghz OC should boot up at 1.275, others use less vcore. To rule out vcore as the cause, try it at 1.30v. No worries up to 1.3625v which is Intels safe operating ceiling for 45nm, although many take it much higher.

alanm · 04-01-2008, 02:31 | posts: 2,621 | User is Offline

Another thing, is your bios up to date? Should be at least f8a, the version which supports Wolfdale (this with rev.2 of the DS3L):

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2629

Rev.1 of the board:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2599

Waldo

Yes it was my bios. It was F7. Just updated to the latest one and everything worked. Thanks.

3dmark score went up to 14,000 with the new bios (driver 8.2), then with the overclock to 3.6 it went up to 16,329!! Whohooo!

Still don't understand why CCC won't start, even with the bios update. Oh well the latest beta of TrayTools is working fine.

Waldo

And for anyone else interested, Legion Hardware has a good guide. Can't post a link, but just do a search.

Interesting thing is they recommend the PCI Express frequency be set to 100, which I did and I'm not sure if it helped or not but my system seems to be stable and running well. ?? Can anyone comment on what this is exactly and what difference it would make with a 3870x2?

alanm · 04-03-2008, 17:27 | posts: 2,621 | User is Offline

The default pcie freq for the DS3L is 100 (other boards slightly less), so little point setting it on 100. If your OC is unstable and ram or other settings or vcore is not suspect, sometimes setting the pci freq a little higher than its default may help. So with the DS3L it would have to be over a 100, but dont recommend over a 105 (dont know the safe point) or you risk damaging your GPU.

Passion Fruit

Changing the PCI-E Bus speed does diddly squat. 95% of motherboards default freq is 100 mhz. The bandwidth is plentifull so you should never have to change that setting at all, so id leave it on 100 or auto, it serves no benefit ever changing it, and cirtainly wouldnt have any effect with the processor or ram or any other overclock you've got going. When you can insert a processor and RAM into a PCI-E Bus then maybe...

alanm · 04-03-2008, 22:18 | posts: 2,621 | User is Offline

You could be right, I've never found any benefit to it either, but some say its made the difference between their stable OC or not, who knows.

BenHoliday · 04-07-2008, 12:34 | posts: 12 | User is Offline

I'm trying to oc the E8400 on a GA-P35-DS3L rev 2.0 the same setup you have, alanm. I followed the steps you listed above and when it still showed up as 3.0ghz in Windows and OCCT I upped the voltage to 1.30 with the same results. Any ideas?

Here is OCCT this was pretty much steady at this readout the whole hour.

Here it is again at the end. As you can see it did change but why was the CPU Clock lower shouldn't it have gone up when oc'ed?

Quote:

Put CPU clock ratio to 9 (higher multi is easier on the mobo/RAM)
CPU host clock control set to enabled
CPU host frequency should be set to 400

System Mem Multi set to 2
(Mem Frequency will be 800 when mem multi set to 2)
Performance enhance set to Standard

Your mem timings can be left on auto for the time being, unless you have really good RAM and want to tighten up the timings but for now I advise to stick to your mems default timings.

Voltages put on Manual
Leave all voltages to their defaults except the vcore (CPU voltage), which I recommend starting off at 1.275. It can be lowered slightly if proven stable.

Waldo

Hey Ben, what's your motherboard bios? I bought my motherboard only 2 weeks ago and thought it had to be up to date, but it wasn't. Couldn't overclock until I upgraded. Get the latest bios from gigabyte and use their @bios program (can be run right from within windows, just follow the instructions).

And I'm amazed at how cool the cpu still is even at 3.6. I checked temps the other day and it never went above 38C. But that's with a new thermalright 90 heatsink and 3 fans around it.

BenHoliday · 04-07-2008, 13:26 | posts: 12 | User is Offline

The current bios is F8a. After the first attempt at an overclock I did a search and came across this thread and upgraded them. Always nice to find other people oc'ing the same proc and mobo.

The second attempt after updating the bios looks like it went smooth it just doesn't seem to be showing up inside of windows or any programs that read the cpu speed. Inside of bios it says it's 3.6ghz but from the OCCT test it sure doesn't look that way.

It is nice and cool though I have a Tuniq Tower 120 sitting on the processor and it is staying steady at 30C. I'm definitely liking that aspect of it.

Waldo

I'll have to check the same test tonight, but I think I remember it showing the same readings. I know that when I check my hardware specs in computer properties (right clicking on Computer icon) that it says 3.0 Ghz CPU and then @3.6.

BenHoliday · 04-07-2008, 14:29 | posts: 12 | User is Offline

I'll take a look at the properties as well tonight but I'm fairly certain at last check it read 3.0@3.0 but we shall see.

alanm · *Last edited by alanm; 04-07-2008 at 18:47.*

Ben, some softwares get it wrong and show the default freq of the CPU rather than what its actually running at. Use CPU-z, latest version, however even this may not show its actual OC freq due to speed-step (3.6ghz shows up as 2.4 due to speedstep going to the 6 multi), BUT it will show your FSB freq. So if its showing a 400 FSB then for sure your CPU is OC'd to 3.6ghz (provided the multi in the bios is set to 9).

edit: OCCT reports the correct OC and bus freq with me but apparently not with you. I would check your bios settings once more, likely missed setting may be the "CPU host clock control", it should be enabled.

Waldo

Running OCCT I get my cpu clock cycling back and forth between 2400 and 3600. ? Strange? When it starts testing it goes up to 3600. I don't know why it goes down to 2400. Obviously in 2d power saving mode or something. Yours (Ben) says 3000 cpu clock and 3000 default speed. ?

And yes, my computer properties say:

E8400 @ 3.00GHz
3.60 GHz, 2.00 GB of Ram

BenHoliday · 04-07-2008, 21:44 | posts: 12 | User is Offline

I checked CPU Host Clock Control it is enabled. It still says 3.6ghz in the bios but 3.0ghz in XP so I'm just not sure what it is that can be holding it back.

Here is CPU-Z's take on it.

alanm · 04-08-2008, 01:34 | posts: 2,621 | User is Offline

Hmm, weird.. if its OC'd right and reading 3.6 in the bios but not in Windows the only thing I can think off is are the chipset drivers installed? If not you can get them here:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2629

BenHoliday · 04-08-2008, 09:07 | posts: 12 | User is Offline

You know that is the one thing I did not install drivers for. I will do that tonight and let you guys know. Thanks for all the advice so far I'm getting closer.

Passion Fruit

If you're using Vista then the chipset drivers will already be installed.

If its XP and you havent, then id install them ASAP.

The reason your frequency is going down on idle is because of speedstep. You can turn it off in the bios.

proFits · 04-08-2008, 10:15 | posts: 4,442 | Location: Quebec | User is Offline

His profile on the left says "WinXP Pro SP2/32bit" so we'll assume that he needs it indeed

BTW theres a lot of options you'll have to twink to get your overclock stable
Those options are in your bios and should not be taken lightly !