GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

[Kona]

Hi,

Please go easy as it's the first time I have attempted an overclock :)

I have just built my new PC with the following components:

Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3
4GB (2x2GB) PC-6400 5-5-5-18 OCZ "Gold Series"
Pentium Dual-Core E5200

I have tried having a go at Overclocking the CPU but I am failing miserably. I don't think its the CPU that is the problem - more so the memory, the reason I think this is when I set the Memory Multipler to anything other than Auto or 2.00D the system fails to boot. Obviously running my memory at 2.00D @ 240FSB is running the memory WAY below its rated speed of 800Mhz, even 2.66D it fails to boot which is a good 100MHz under its rated speed.

Here are the settings I am using:

BIOS F9

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 12X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................: +0.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.00Ghz


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 240Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........: Set to 100


Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: 800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 900mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: 0ps


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: Dont have this option
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: 400MHz or Auto
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.00D - Dont have any other option when MCH Freq Latch is set to 400 or 333.
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 480MHz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................ 5
tRCD ......................................... 5
tRP'........................................... 5
tRAS.......................................... 18

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD........................................... 3 - Auto
tWTR.......................................... 3 - Auto
tWR............................................ 6 - Auto
tRFC........................................... 46 - Auto
tRTP........................................... 3 - Auto
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:0 - Auto

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:3 - Auto
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:0 - Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:0 - Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:0 - Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:0 - Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:6 - Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:6 - Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:5 - Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:8 - Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............: Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............: Auto
DDR Write Training.........................: Auto

Channel B
Same as Channel A

CPUMCH/ICHDRAMAdvanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Enabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Enabled]

Any help is appriciated :)

Thanks,

Kona

[Kona]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

Hi,

I now have the system booting with the following settings (thanks to Duke from OcUK who told me about the memory voltage issue)

BIOS F9

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 12X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................: +0.5
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.00Ghz


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 240Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........: Set to 100


Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: 800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: 900mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: 0ps


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: Dont have this option
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: Auto
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 3.33C
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 800MHz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................ 5
tRCD ......................................... 5
tRP'........................................... 5
tRAS.......................................... 18

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD........................................... 3 - Auto
tWTR.......................................... 3 - Auto
tWR............................................ 6 - Auto
tRFC........................................... 46 - Auto
tRTP........................................... 3 - Auto
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:0 - Auto

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:3 - Auto
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:0 - Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:0 - Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:0 - Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:0 - Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:6 - Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:6 - Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:5 - Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:8 - Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............: Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............: Auto
DDR Write Training.........................: Auto

Channel B
Same as Channel A

CPUMCH/ICHDRAMAdvanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Enabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Enabled]

I know these settings are far from optimized and I haven't Prime tested it yet but if someone could give me some advice on what settings should/need to be changed that would be great.

Thanks,

Kona

[godto]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: Auto--> 1200 hard code in
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: Auto-->1.500 hard code in

CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Enabled] -- disable
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Enabled] -- disable

start OC ... if fail in prime .. raise the Vcore little...
and if fail ... up the MCH and CPU Termination .. very very little..
get stable then will help you with Ram and lower voltage

look a gain .. and i think your 333C is a very low trap ....
as i remember .. D= 400 , B=333 , C=266 .... so you can choose 2.0B or 2.4B .. that might work better ( what ever is your 333 trap is)

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

I would suggest you manually set Static Tread Value also for now to 9 or 10 to get that out of the way, 3 is way to low!

Then I would suggest you use a lower CPU multi so you can keep 2.00 ram multi. So maybe 9x402 For 3.618 and use 2.00B or 2.00D

You will need more termination voltage as well as vcore as you overclock. Also you may need 1.2-1.3 MCH voltage, 1.20 may not be good enough. And trfc set manually to 56 for now too!

[Kona]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

I have tried every combination I can think of and the system wont boot at 3GHz without selecing the 200MHz FSB Strap and 3.33C Multiplier :( I tried upping the MCH Voltage to 1.3. I have also made the other changes you both suggested :) Thanks

Any other suggestions?

Craig

[VorLonUK]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

Does everything work perfectly at stock though? ie the Cpu Host frequency at 200Mhz, Cpu at 12.5x multiplier and Ram at 4.00 multiplier?

I can see why Auto has set the advanced memory timings so low - because your memory is running (shown above) at 480Mhz.

[Kona]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

Bit of an update.

System is prime stable at stock. This is what I have managed to get out of it:

CPU Clock Ratio: 11 X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio: +0.5
CPU Host Frequency: 266MHz
(G)MCH Frequency Latch: 266MHz
System Memory Multiplier: 3.00A
Memory Timings: 6-6-6-18

CPU Vcore: 1.3V
CPU Termination: 1.260V

MCH Core: 1.3V
DRAM Voltage: 2.1V
DRAM Termination: Auto (0.900)

This gives me a clock speed of 3.06GHz and the memory running at 800MHz - and its prime stable!

Now then, the system point blank refuses to boot when I set the MCH Frequency Latch to anything other than 200MHz, 266MHz or Auto. Even if the memory is running at 800MHz when I select the appropriate FSB & Multiplier. Do you think this could be an issue with my Motherboard or RAM? Or is this the limit of my ram? Its not the best RAM for overclocking really!

Last but not least, if this is the limit of my RAM - are the above voltages safe to run 24/7? Also, do I need to up the DRAM Termination as I raised the DRAM Voltage above stock (1.8V)?

Cheers,

Craig

Edit: Is it normal for Core1 to be lagging behind Core2 in Prime95? After 8 hours Core1 was 2 tests behind Core2. When I say tests I mean they were running the same block size calculations but the number of tests in them was behind.

[VorLonUK]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

Edit: Is it normal for Core1 to be lagging behind Core2 in Prime95? After 8 hours Core1 was 2 tests behind Core2. When I say tests I mean they were running the same block size calculations but the number of tests in them was behind.

Yes,

It's because Prime95 will "give priority" to other running apps. So even if WinDefender kicked in or you were using Everest, HW monitor etc, they would all need CPU cycles, so Prime95 reflects that by the lagging of one worker thread behind the other.

If i zip a test file using 7-Zip's large dictionary size (uses GB's of ram) and make the file several GB's and run Prime95 too, I can get one worker thread to lag several tests behind - as Prime95 gives up some of the CPU to 7-zip. You can see this happening in resource monitor.

[Kona]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

Yes,

It's because Prime95 will "give priority" to other running apps. So even if WinDefender kicked in or you were using Everest, HW monitor etc, they would all need CPU cycles, so Prime95 reflects that by the lagging of one worker thread behind the other.

If i zip a test file using 7-Zip's large dictionary size (uses GB's of ram) and make the file several GB's and run Prime95 too, I can get one worker thread to lag several tests behind - as Prime95 gives up some of the CPU to 7-zip. You can see this happening in resource monitor.

Thanks for clearing that up for me :)

I didn't realise if you had your CPU FSB set to 266/333/400 you needed to have your RAM at the same FSB Strap, that's why my system wasn't booting! My system still won't boot at 400MHz FSB but could that be the CPU not liking running at 400FSB? It's stock is speed is 200!

Last but not least, if someone could clarify the voltages for me that would be great, I dont want to cook my PC!

Cheers,

Craig

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 Overclock/Memory Problem

use 402 FSB and 333 or 400 Strap, you should be fine as long as you have enough voltages set and timings are not too tight.

That CPU will do 400 FSB for sure, see if these voltage help. CPU Voltage of course may not be enough here and you will need to find your own stable setting, just keep in mind what you set in the BIOS is less in windows so you may need more >>>

CPU Clock Ratio ..........................:9X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................: +0.0
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.618Ghz


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 402Mhz

CPU Vcore….……….........................: 1.325-1.39 (May need more or less, all up to your chip)

CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: 1.28-1.34
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: Set to stock manually 1.5V

MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: 1.200V-1.3