My first build and OC

[imported_Asteriks]

First of all, many thanks 2 all of you for your posts, which have been of the greatest help, from choosing hardware to ocing.

My specs:
3200+ Winchester Zalman 7700-cu
MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI
1GB Crosair Twinx1024-3200xlpro
BFG 6800gt (oc 400x1100 couldn't get more but didn't try hard. went back till oc cpu)
120GB Seagate Baracuda SATA
Audigy2 zs
DVD-ROM
DVD+-R/+-RW DL
Enermax Whisper II 2.0 SLI 535W
Lian-Li PC7 Plus w/Vantec Stelth 80mm on top
Kinyo KY-100 5.1 headphones
Hyundai L90D+

OC@ 235x10 HT4x 1.45V+3.3%
1:1 2.5-3-3-7 1T 2.75V
Prime95 OK for 20h 47*C under load

agresive timings off
can't remember of altering anything else


This is how I got there:

220x10 @ 1.45+9.9% everything else the same
Prime95 OK

240x10
Prime95 long OK
Short NO GO
Runs 3dMark05 good
Doom3 timedemo good

245x10
same

250x10
reboot

235x10
Prime95 OK

235x10 1.45V+3.3%
Prime95 OK for 20h

235x10 1.45V
reboot

240x10 1.45V+9.9% memory @2.85V
Prime95 no good
mem timings up and no good again

240x10 1.45V+9.9% memory @166 @2.85V
Prime95 no good (memory shouldn't be the problem here)

245x10 1.45V+9.9% memory @166 @2.85V (just in the case that 240 is a bad luck)
Prime95 no good

238x10
Prime95 no good

235x10 1.45V+3.3% memory @166 @2.75V
Prime95 good. Anyway, with 2-2-2-5 performance in other tests not as good as @200 so I
gave up

235x10 1.45V+3.3% memory @180 @2.85V
Prime95 no good 2-2-2-5 performance in other tests not as good as @200
gave up

Back to
235x10 1.45V+3.3% memory @200 @2.75 2.5-3-3-7 1T

I am out of ideas what else to try.

Please, help me with any suggestions. What else should I try to get above 2350Mhz.

Also, if I am stuck here, what should I do to fine tune it from this point on. If I try to get memory timings down, in what order should I try (I tried geting CAS from 2.5 to 2 but it rebooted).

 

[TooRude]

Set your memory ratio to lowest your mobo has. everything on auto and stock voltage for your ram to take it completely out of the equation. max vcore you should need for up to 2.6 ghz ive seen is 1.55 so set 1.55 and then do increments of 5 and prime every step once you fail step back 5 thats ur max cpu potential. I have a strong feeling your chip is topping out , not a ram issue but do this to make sure. if you can run prime stable up to say 260x10 then you know for sure you need to mess with ram... so then do the opposite lower ldt to 3 and multi to like 4x to take cpu out of the equation (vcore to like 1.3) and then step up your ram (for your ram set it to 2.8v or 2.9v) to find out its max then simple math to find out what dividers you need to get as close to the max you found for each thing. oh ya one more thing put your SATA on channel 3 or 4 some boards dont lock 1 and 2 and you will see stability problems with overclocks Hope this helps some, its the quick easy way ive always used for finding my peak ocs for ram and cpu obviously you might need to play with voltages as you step up for instance if u get real unstable all of a sudden at lets say 1.45 first see if ur overvolting and lower it a little to 1.4 if thats a no go try it at 1.5 etc make sure ur LDT multi is getting you as close to 1000 as possible alot of people see stability issues over 1000 and one last thing you could try messing with LDT voltage and chipset voltage some people see more stability out of 1.6 chipset and 1.3 ldt its worth a try

 

[imported_Asteriks]

Thanks man. I tried to oc without going through all isolation thing but I'll have to go and try it by the quick and dirty amd oc guide.

What is LTD? and Ltd voltage?

By chipset voltage you ment North Bridge?

 

[TooRude]

LDT multiplier is what gives you your HT bus speed. some people will isolate how high they can oc hyper transport but i find that its most stable at or near 1000..

HT bus frequency = HTT * LDT multi ( from my own system testing I use 4x for anything under 280x9 = 2.52ghz since i have a 3000+ and 3x for anything over)

there is a voltage setting for this but It may not be available on your board as I have a DFI ultra D

 

[imported_Asteriks]

I got it now. I'll plug my HD to SATA #3 and try again tonight. Also, it never crossed my mind to rise chipset voltage.

And my mobo bios doesn't have LTD voltage but I hope that it will work regardless.

Now that I tried ocing, I see why ocers love DFI. I am cool with my mobo but I wish that I had spent extra $ and got DFI SLI instead. But then maybe it has issues of its own so I wont complain.

I'll let you know how it went in a few days when I try all options.

Thank you very much.

 

[Elfear]

Ya, let us know how it goes. I was using that same board for awhile and kept having stabilty problems. It would Prime for 14+ hours with no errors and then give a bsod when I tried to open a 3D app. Maybe just probs with my particular board but I've seen a lot of posts about the Neo4 where people were getting much worse results than reported by some of the review sites. Given, the reviewers have obviously been doing this longer than most of us, so that could explain part of it, but that still doesn't account for all the problems I've read about. Although, once MSI figures out the bios I think it will be one of the best 939 boards out there.

After switching mobos I went from unstable at anything over a 240MHz fsb to rock solid at 288x9. 300x8 also ran without a hitch.

 

[imported_Asteriks]

UPDATE
I somehow pushed it to 253x9.5=2403.5Mhz

I tested HTT up to 330 and I didn't try more.

I new that my memory could run at 235Mhz so I wanted to know if it could get to 250Mhz or close(in case that I run HTT 300) but no way, I had to clear cmos at close to 250 regardless of V and timings.

with multi 10, 9, 8.5, and 7.5 I couldn't get anywhere above 2350Mhz, I had to clear cmos a few times at multi 8.5 and 7.5.

I got it prime good at 300x8 x3 memory divide 1/2, for 12 hours, cpuv 1.45V+9.9%~1.6V max on my mobo, and 1.6V on chipset. I tried other V but no good. Anyway, I had problems rebooting, it would just stop, not everytime but still. I couldn't solve that problem.

I went to 255x9.5 x3 that was prime95 good for 15 min, but after longer run it would make error. I I tried adjusting V but no good.
I went to 254: same.

At 253x9.5 x3 prime error after a few hours.

Here, I was pissed off at my cpu and myself for not buying 3000+ as I've originally planed but then maybe that one wouldn't oc any better.

I gave it one more try. I rised HT multi to 4. and it was ok for 4.5 hours of Prime before error.

I thought that maybe my memory does't like low speeds so I put memory at 0.9 divide 1.85V 2-3-2-7 1T @227.7Mhz and it was Prime OK for 13hours 30min.

Also, somewhere along the way I noticed that my comp and monitor were on the same extension cord so I rearanged that and pluged my comp directly to the wall. Maybe that gave it that little extra.

So, that's about it. Maybe I'll try to get memory timings down but not any time soon. Now I want to play games and do some CAD. Next year when prices get down and if I save some money, I'll get a better CPU and the second graphic card for SLI or a new generation graphic card.

Thanks for your help guys and here are some benchmarks.

All benchmarks are with graphics card on stock 370x1000Mhz and this final one is after my comp was running for days and right after 14hours of prime95 so maybe it will get a bit better after I give my comp some rest. Doom3 timedemo demo1 @1280x1024, high settings, Vsync on.


253x9.5=2403.5Mhz HTx4 145V+9.9%
memory 0.9 1.85V 2-3-2-7 1T @227.7Mhz
chipset 1.6V

Superpi 2M 1min 23s 1M 36s

3DMark05 5105 CPU 5155

3DMark03 11969 CPU 1087

Aquamark3 67.554 gfx 9615 cpu 11349

Doom3 52.6fps

Sandra memory 6443 6367
mem & cache 6637
cpu arithmetic test 11084 3756 4901



235x10=2350Mhz

3DMark05 5080 CPU 5063

Doom3 52.6fps

superpi 2M 1min 24s

aquamark3 66.743 gfx 9.609 cpu10928

Sandra memory 6471 6398
mem & cache 6649
cpu 10690 3652 4725



Stock System

3DMark05 5022 cpu 4404 and the second run 5043 cpu 4311

Doom3 52.2fps


Stock System with graphics card @400x1100

3DMark05 5410 CPU 4430

Doom3 55.2fps

 

[imported_Asteriks]

One more question. Do you think that getting all fans off mobo and connecting them to fan controler can help with oc?