GA-P35-DS3L (F8 bios) & G Skill 4GB (4 x 1GB)

[wmumascot]

I put a PC together over a year ago and have been trying my hand at overclocking my rig, but have had some trouble overclocking above 3.2 Ghz. I have a E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz (Vcore is 1.400v) on a GA-P35-DS3L with a F8 Bios and G.Skill (4x1GB) DDR2 800 PC 6400 RAM. G.Skill says that the ram should be run from 2.0 ~ 2.1v.

I am hoping to run the ram in a 1:1 ratio (i read that async heats up the NB and uses more voltage for little performance gain) but it seems that I'm hitting a wall with any Bus over 400 Mhz when trying to run 1:1 on a 8.0 multiplier.

I decided to bring down the multiplier from 9.0 to 8.0 and seem to get 8.0 x 400 Mhz = 3.20 Ghz at 4-4-4-12 2T timings and it is still unstable. But I wonder if there is a better way or if my settings are off somewhat.

My System:

• E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
• G Skill 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
• GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 Intel Motherboard
• Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2SB 500W ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply
• Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail

Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Fast]
Clock Ratio ____________ [8]
CPU Host Clock Control_ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)__________ [400]
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [100]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ [2.0]
DRAM Timing Selectable_______ SPD __ [Manual]

Performance Enhance = [Standard]

CAS Latency Time________________ 4
Dram RAS# to CAS# Delay_________ 4
Dram RAS# Precharge Delay________4
Precharge Delay (tRAS)__________ 12

I'm guessing that for these next settings lower is better.
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 4 (3-5 Optional)
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 6 (3-6 Optional)
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 4 (4-6 Optional)
Refresh to ACT Delay______________ 52 << 52-62
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 6 (3-6 Optional)
Static tRead Value_______________9 (7-10)

Static tRead Phase Adjust________ [Auto]

System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.200V]
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [Normal]
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V]
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.1v] << +0.2-0.3 << Needed for 4GB ram
CPU Voltage Control_______ [1.45]

prime95 v.258 runs for about 5 hours and 15 minutes before returning any errors, and SP2004 only seems to run about 8 minutes before it starts reporting errors

Are my advance timings off, or should I increase the voltage to the (G)MCH??

I've read through several of the tutorials about overclocking RAM & Memory already, but I must be missing something

[Nickel020]

Re: GA-P35-DS3L (F8 bios) &amp; G Skill 4GB (4 x 1GB)

First off, E2xx0 CPUs are budget 65nm CPUs and don't overclock nearly as well as all the 45nm 8x00 and 9x00 series CPUs you see people overclocking here. If I remember correctly then an overclock of 3.2GHz is already above average for that CPU.

For one of the older 65nm parts it's not uncommon unfortunately to hit the so-called "FSB Wall" and fail to overclock further.
You can try increasing FSB overvoltage a little, but I think your FSB is maxed out. Remmeber that you're already at 200% of stock speed!
I had an E6300 on a P35 Ds3 (almost the same as DS3L) and it hit a max FSB of around 430 and it's default FSB is 266MHz...

You can try decreasing the FSB and increasing the multi to see if your CPU can go higher than 3.2GHz.

[wmumascot]

Re: GA-P35-DS3L (F8 bios) &amp; G Skill 4GB (4 x 1GB)

First off, E2xx0 CPUs are budget 65nm CPUs and don't overclock nearly as well as all the 45nm 8x00 and 9x00 series CPUs you see people overclocking here. If I remember correctly then an overclock of 3.2GHz is already above average for that CPU.

For one of the older 65nm parts it's not uncommon unfortunately to hit the so-called "FSB Wall" and fail to overclock further.
You can try increasing FSB overvoltage a little, but I think your FSB is maxed out. Remmeber that you're already at 200% of stock speed!
I had an E6300 on a P35 Ds3 (almost the same as DS3L) and it hit a max FSB of around 430 and it's default FSB is 266MHz...

You can try decreasing the FSB and increasing the multi to see if your CPU can go higher than 3.2GHz.

I understand that I'm at the max when it comes to pushing this CPU to the limit, what I can't seem to wrap around my head is the memory settings.

So if I change the multiplier to 9x and throttle down the FSB, would these RAM timings be okay or would I need to adjust them once again??

I've read stories of people pushing the E2160 to 3.6 and having it hold stable, but I know that the RAM timings, PS, and cooling system play a big part in keeping their systems stable as well

[Nickel020]

Re: GA-P35-DS3L (F8 bios) &amp; G Skill 4GB (4 x 1GB)

Well with a lower FSB your RAM will run slower as well if you leave the RAM multi the same. Lower RAM speed means that you may be able to tighten the timings, but i would not bother with that since you're unlikely to notice a performance difference.

The fact theat people got their E2160 to 3.6GHz does not mean that every CPU can go that high or that they could have done it with your CPU. Some CPUs overclock really well, some are average and some just suck.