New Rig, need advice with maing it speedy!

[tsutton]

Hi all,

New user & First time poster but long time reader of this great forum!
I recently purchased a new system rig as my current machine is out of date and un-upgradeable (Dell 8250!) - below is the listing of the new hardware setup:

• Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Case With CM eXtreme Power 460W PSU
• Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L, iP43 Express, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1600/ 1200/1066/800, SATA II, ATX
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache
• Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler - remove the paste and used Arctic Silver 5
• OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC6400 Titanium Memory CL4 (4-4-4-15) - OCZ2T800C44GK
• ASUS HD 4850 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card
• Samsung SH-S223F 22X DVD-RW/RAM/DL Serial ATA Black Bare Drive
• Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm 32MB Cache

Now, I would like to overclock my rig safely but to a good speed. I was thinking of 3.5Ghz but someone told me that the CPU can do more than that. Can this be done?

I've looked at the motherboard manual and noticed it can adjust the memory timing - I've checked and the memory timing is not the same as what the memory can do - I assume I have to change it myself (why wasn't it picked up by M.I.T?)

I've alread read the "Gigabyte X38/P35/P965 (DS* DQ* S3) Overclocking and General BIOS tweaking Guide" sticky but it doesn't apply for my motherboard make so I'd rather not risk it and make this as a new post instead.

Is there anything else I can do to make the rig as speedy as I can? I've already removed the jumper pin on the Seagate HDD which gives me full 3GB access instead of 1.5GB.
Thanks all,

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: New Rig, need advice with maing it speedy!

Ya, your CPU can do 3.6-4Ghz with ease.

Did you load optimized defaults yet? If not you should do so after any build or BIOS flash. Please load optimized defaults then set your RAM Voltage ONLY and save/apply/reboot BACK to the BIOS. You MUST Come back to the BIOS as you will need to make all your changes again, including and do not forget SATA/Disk settings.

Here is a 4Ghz general Optimal settings, I did change some things for your ram >>>

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto or Fast
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 9
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:.0
CPU Frequency ...........................: 4.05


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 450Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:Set to 100

C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]


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


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: Disabled
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.00D (2.00B may work for you as well, it would be better but is harder to get stable often at high FSB)

Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 900Mhz
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................5
tRCD .........................................5
tRP'...........................................5
tRAS..........................................15/18

You will need to use 555-15/18 likely due to the 100Mhz overclock on your ram. You MAY be able to use 544-15/18 or 554-15/18 though, but best to set to 555-18 for now. If you do want 3.6 settings just use 401 FSB and then 2.00B or 2.00D memory multi would give you 800Mhz ram then you could use your normal 444-15 timings

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD...........................................3-4
tWTR..........................................3-5
tWR............................................4-6
tRFC...........................................52-62
tRTP...........................................3-5
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:2

Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ............................800/1066 (Test both)

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:6/7-10 333/B MCH - 8/9-12 400/D MCH
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:6/7-10 333/B MCH - 8/9-12 400/D MCH
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:<<< Leave for all below as well
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Motherboard Voltage Control
Voltage Type.………... Manual
CPU
CPU Vcore….……….........................:1.25-1.36 (All up to your chip)

CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*.......: <<< 1.2-1.36 (1.2-1.28 likely plenty)
CPU PLL…………………....1.500V*.......: << 1.5-1.58

CPU Referen.…………....0.755V*.......: <<< .64% Of Vtt (Termination above) Auto Will set this correctly

CPU Reference2………,,0.800V*.......:<<< .67% Of Vtt (Termination above) Auto Will set this correctly

MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: << 1.2-1.3 (1.22-1.26 likely good)
MCH Reference….…….0.800V...........; <<< Leave
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: <<< Leave
ICH I/O……………….....1.550V............: <<< 1.5-1.6
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: <<< 1.1x-1.2

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: 2.0-2.1 (Check your ram sticker)
DRAM Termination .…0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: <<< Leave

Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled] Enabled if you use Vmware/Virtual PC

Integrated Peripherals
Legacy USB Storage Detect ..............[Disabled] *Note* Must be enabled to flash from USB

[tsutton]

Re: New Rig, need advice with making it speedy!

Did you load optimized defaults yet? If not you should do so after any build or BIOS flash. Please load optimized defaults then set your RAM Voltage ONLY and save/apply/reboot BACK to the BIOS. You MUST Come back to the BIOS as you will need to make all your changes again, including and do not forget SATA/Disk settings.

Thanks for the advice.

I haven't loaded up optimized defaults yet. The BIOS came with version F5 - should I upgrade it to F8 or is F5 fine for now?

Cheers,

[tsutton]

Re: New Rig, need advice with making it speedy!

The BIOS came with version F5 - should I upgrade it to F8 or is F5 fine for now?

*bump*

Thanks.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: New Rig, need advice with maing it speedy!

That is all up to you, I always grab the latest unless I hear of issues with it

[tsutton]

Re: New Rig, need advice with maing it speedy!

I managed to find the time to do this and here's my result.

It doesn't boot up at all! :(

Using your settings above, the only thing I changed to match your recommendations which are:

Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Fast
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.00D 
tRAS...................................: 18

tRRD...................................: 3
tWTR...................................: 3
tWR....................................: 6
tRFC...................................: 54
tRTP...................................: 3
Command Rate (CMD) ....................: 2

Channel A
Static tRead Value.....................: 8

Channel B
Static tRead Value.....................: 8

CPU Vcore..............................: 1.25
CPU Termination...... 1.200V*..........: 1.2
CPU PLL...............1.500V*..........: 1.5

MCH Core..............1.100V...........: 1.2
ICH I/O...............1.550V...........: 1.5

DRAM Voltage..........1.800V...........: AUTO

Any ideas? I have upgraded the BIOS from F5 to F8 as I found I had issue with S3 standby.

Cheers