Hello everyone, this is my first post and the second PC I've built (first was several years ago.)
To start off, here is my build:
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P rev 1.0 BIOS F6
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 E0 (yay!)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Corsair XMS2 Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5D 2X2GB CL5-5-5-15
ASUS Radeon HD 4850 Top
3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 32MB Hard Drives (Using Matrix Raid0 for 150gb (where the os/programs are) and Raid5 for the rest)
Corsair TX750W Power Supply
Antec Twelve Hundred Case
Windows XP Pro 32bit SP3
I'm very new to OCing but have done quite a bit of research and am relatively comfortable in the BIOS at this point. The following describes what I've done thus far, and any advice as to where I should go from here would be appreciated.
I started by bringing my FSB up to 445 and running the CPU at a 9x multi, giving me a clock of 4005 (I'm only looking to go for a (relatively) mild OC as I doubt I will be upgrading any time soon and I want my components to last (I tend to keep my rigs for several years.) The ram was set to a 2.4b multi to run at 1068. CIA is disabled and PCI-e freq is at 100. Performance Enhance is Standard and XMP is disabled as well. Timings are set at 5-5-5-15. LLC is enabled and I set my vcore to 1.275v to start, vtt at default (1.2v), pll at default (1.5v), cpu ref is on auto, mch core at default (1.1v), mch ref and dram ref on auto, ich i/o at default (1.5v), ich core at default (1.1v), dram voltage to 2.08v, and everything else on auto. Oh yes, before I forget, C1E is enabled, as are TM2 and EIST (I'd like to prolong the life of my CPU despite OCing it, if I can.)
I booted up my SP3 build of UBCD4Win 3.2.2 and proceeded to run benchmarks (memtest for a few hours, then Prime95 blend for 4 hrs, and the other two tests for 2 hours each.)
Everything seemed stable so I set up my matrix raid array and proceeded to install windows. However, after initial XP installation, just after it reboots the computer and runs a windows (instead of dos) interface for the rest of the installation process, I kept getting BSODs during the "installing devices" phase. All the stop codes I looked up (0x8e mostly) pointed to RAM errors, so I tried one stick at a time, still got the errors, tried another channel, still got the errors, then ran memtest86+ for 5 passes (both sticks installed on the 1st channel) with no errors. Finally, I decided to try upping my vcore to 1.2875v and lo and behold, windows finally installed without any problems.
I began installing drivers etc... and then started installing windows updates, at which point I started getting BSODs again, some 0x9c (machine check error), and some 0x8e as before. I've since tried upping my mch to 1.16v and vtt to 1.22v, with no improvement, and that is where I am currently.
Oh yes, forgot to mention, ambient temp in my house currently is pretty low, thermostat is at 15 (celcius), though my room is probably a little warmer than that. The rig is in an Antec 1200 case (with the two optional 120mm fans installed as well,) with all fans at max, so it has plenty of airflow, and all components are running relatively cool thus far. I don't think I've seen my CPU run above 47 (according to Core Temp) yet, and I've tried running a game for a while (Warhammer) to put a bit of stress on my GPU as well, with temps not exceeding 55 degrees, and memory temp not exceeding 60 (there are no ramsinks on this board unfortunately, so the side mounted fan that blows direclty on it is likely helping quite a bit.) I've had 1 BSOD while playing, and 1 CTD, over the course of approximately 1-2 hours of play. Anyway, all this is to say that temps should not be an issue.
I'm thinking I should up my vcore a little further to see if that stabilizes my system, but wanted to get input here first, and would appreciate any advice that may be offered. Thanks in advance! :)
To start off, here is my build:
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P rev 1.0 BIOS F6
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 E0 (yay!)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Corsair XMS2 Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5D 2X2GB CL5-5-5-15
ASUS Radeon HD 4850 Top
3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 32MB Hard Drives (Using Matrix Raid0 for 150gb (where the os/programs are) and Raid5 for the rest)
Corsair TX750W Power Supply
Antec Twelve Hundred Case
Windows XP Pro 32bit SP3
I'm very new to OCing but have done quite a bit of research and am relatively comfortable in the BIOS at this point. The following describes what I've done thus far, and any advice as to where I should go from here would be appreciated.
I started by bringing my FSB up to 445 and running the CPU at a 9x multi, giving me a clock of 4005 (I'm only looking to go for a (relatively) mild OC as I doubt I will be upgrading any time soon and I want my components to last (I tend to keep my rigs for several years.) The ram was set to a 2.4b multi to run at 1068. CIA is disabled and PCI-e freq is at 100. Performance Enhance is Standard and XMP is disabled as well. Timings are set at 5-5-5-15. LLC is enabled and I set my vcore to 1.275v to start, vtt at default (1.2v), pll at default (1.5v), cpu ref is on auto, mch core at default (1.1v), mch ref and dram ref on auto, ich i/o at default (1.5v), ich core at default (1.1v), dram voltage to 2.08v, and everything else on auto. Oh yes, before I forget, C1E is enabled, as are TM2 and EIST (I'd like to prolong the life of my CPU despite OCing it, if I can.)
I booted up my SP3 build of UBCD4Win 3.2.2 and proceeded to run benchmarks (memtest for a few hours, then Prime95 blend for 4 hrs, and the other two tests for 2 hours each.)
Everything seemed stable so I set up my matrix raid array and proceeded to install windows. However, after initial XP installation, just after it reboots the computer and runs a windows (instead of dos) interface for the rest of the installation process, I kept getting BSODs during the "installing devices" phase. All the stop codes I looked up (0x8e mostly) pointed to RAM errors, so I tried one stick at a time, still got the errors, tried another channel, still got the errors, then ran memtest86+ for 5 passes (both sticks installed on the 1st channel) with no errors. Finally, I decided to try upping my vcore to 1.2875v and lo and behold, windows finally installed without any problems.
I began installing drivers etc... and then started installing windows updates, at which point I started getting BSODs again, some 0x9c (machine check error), and some 0x8e as before. I've since tried upping my mch to 1.16v and vtt to 1.22v, with no improvement, and that is where I am currently.
Oh yes, forgot to mention, ambient temp in my house currently is pretty low, thermostat is at 15 (celcius), though my room is probably a little warmer than that. The rig is in an Antec 1200 case (with the two optional 120mm fans installed as well,) with all fans at max, so it has plenty of airflow, and all components are running relatively cool thus far. I don't think I've seen my CPU run above 47 (according to Core Temp) yet, and I've tried running a game for a while (Warhammer) to put a bit of stress on my GPU as well, with temps not exceeding 55 degrees, and memory temp not exceeding 60 (there are no ramsinks on this board unfortunately, so the side mounted fan that blows direclty on it is likely helping quite a bit.) I've had 1 BSOD while playing, and 1 CTD, over the course of approximately 1-2 hours of play. Anyway, all this is to say that temps should not be an issue.
I'm thinking I should up my vcore a little further to see if that stabilizes my system, but wanted to get input here first, and would appreciate any advice that may be offered. Thanks in advance! :)
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