Noob, where did I go wrong..

apollo911 · #1 01-12-2008, 07:28

My Intel E6750 / Gigabyte P35-DS3R with XP Pro SP3 / Vista HP dual boot had been running happily at stock settings since I built it in Jan.

But I had a rush of blood to the head and decided to try overclocking.

I reset the RAM (Crucial Ballistix 2 x 1GB) timings to 5-5-5-15 and increased FSB from 333 to 350.

All went well.. I ran Burnintest Pro Ok.

I upped the FSB to 370 . Still OK, again to 390 and it fell over.

Down to 375 and running burn-in test I got a graphics error and the machine froze.

I put it down to 370 and this time it froze again running the burnin test but without showing an error.

i reset everything to default but the machine refused to boot .. got as far as 'verfifying pool data OK'

then stopped.

Reset cmos, swapped graphics cards ... same problem.

Managed to boot from CD with EPO Commander.. showing CPU/Mobo OK and all partitions showing.

Tried Vista repair.. wouldn't see the XP partition.

Restored MBR and partitions from Acronis backup - no luck.

Re-installed Vista, booted Ok but EASYBCD still couldn't see Windows XP .

Now re-installing XP.

I'm rapidly going off over-clocking ;-) but what was the likely cause?

Kelainefes · #2 01-12-2008, 10:05

Hi and welcome to the forums.

Sorry about your system, probably it was something related to memory timings, particularly it appears that a tRFC set too tight might cause data corruption.
You should've set the memory speed to 667 while you were trying to OC the CPU, the memory always comes last.
You were also driving your RAM over its rated frequency, usually some overvoltage is needed to keep it stable if you do that.
Anyway have a read: C2D Overclocking Guide For Beginners

apollo911 · #3 01-12-2008, 18:17

Thanks, I did read the guide, but I must be dumber than I thought ;-(

Can you explain your answer in VERY simple terms for me - I don't get the memory thing - I set the timings as per the guide and I thought the Crucial RAM was rated at 800Mhz?

Clunk · #4 01-12-2008, 18:56

Welcome to the forums

Please list all your BIOS settings that were used when it went belly up, that's really the only way we have of seeing what went wrong

Kelainefes · #5 01-12-2008, 23:34

What he says, but in case you thought that the FSB eqauals the memory speed you are on the wrong track.
There are different memory straps you can use and the minimum is (are) 1:1.
Why "are"? because 333/667, 266/533 and 400/800 are all 1:1 ratios, but each one has a different set of NB timings.
Also, you can see that all of them look like 1:2 ratios, but they really are 1:1 since the memory frequency is given as DDR wich stays for Double Data Rate (=each clock 2 bits of info pass not one), so the memory's actual working speed is the half of what it says on the sticker, wich is the data bandwidth and not the real frequency.
Thats' why all of the above are 1:1 ratios.
So if you were using a 1:1 ratio while overclocking, you wewe within specifications, but probably you where on the default 333/800 wich means As he says, but in case you thought that the FSB eqauals the memory speed you are on the wrong track.
There are different memory straps you can use and the minimum is (are) 1:1.
Why "are"? because 333/667, 266/533 and 400/800 are all 1:1 ratios, but each one has a different set of NB timings.
Also, you can see that all of them look like 1:2 ratios, but they really are 1:1 since the memory frequency is given as DDR wich stays for Double Data Rate (=each clock 2 bits of info pass not one), so the memory's actual working speed is the half of what it says on the sticker, wich is the data bandwidth and not the real frequency.
Thats' why all of the above are 1:1 ratios.
So when you set the FSB to 390 the memory was working at (DDR) 936 frequency, way past its limits.
You may still be able to reach that frequency without messing up your Windows install, but you will need to work on it a little bit.

apollo911 · #6 02-12-2008, 17:38

thanks, here are my BIOS settings when it finally froze...

Robust Graphics Booster [auto]
CPU Clock Ratio [8x ]
CPU frequency 3.00GHz(375x8]
CPU Host Clock control [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency(Mhz) 375
PCI Express Frequency Auto
CIA2 Disabled
Performance Enhance Standard
System Memory Multiplier [Auto]
Memory Frequency(Mhz) 1066 1200
DRAM Timing Manual
CAS Latency 5
DRAM RAS# to CAS# delay 5
DRAM RAS# recharge 5
Precharge delay 15

ACT to Act Delay (tRRD) 4 {auto]
Rank Write to Read Delay 4 [auto]
Write to Precharge Delay 8 [auto]
refresh to ACT DELAY 56 [AUTO]
read to precharge 4 [auto]
static tread value 6 [auto]
static tread phase adjust 1 [auto]

**system voltage not optimized **

System voltage control [manual]
DDR2 Overvoltage control [normal]
PCI-E Overvoltage control [normal]
FSB Overvoltage Control [normal]
(G)MCH Overvoltage Control [normal]
CPU voltage Control [normal]

Norma CPU Voltage 1.33750V

Kelainefes · #7 02-12-2008, 18:18

I see you are on stock cooling, that is not very good for overclocking.
You should be able to get to 3-3.2 GHz, but i can't really recommend that you overclock using Intel's HSF.
Is buying a better cooler an option?

apollo911 · #8 02-12-2008, 18:30

yes, I was planning on getting a new cooler - I was just playing to see if I could get it overclocked, keeping an eye on temps - it didn't run long enough to get hot ;-)