I agree. I would just get rid of the OC for the time being.
Running Prime as is will likely fail, pointing to a hardware problem as we already suspect.
Pinpointing the problem will require resetting defaults and testing to isoltae the culprit. So in a sense, its a bit pointless.
just my 2cents :)
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Yes, I could take it back to default settings, but I don't really want to just yet. This chip should easily overclock to 3.8MHz, although I am happy to settle for less (maybe around 3.4MHz). The part I am really unsure about is the memory timings: I just don't think they are right, but don't know enough to alter them.
I have looked at the turbov utility, and will use it if need be. At present, my best bet (maybe) is to post this info on the overclock forum where I got the settings I used, and ask for advice, particularly re memory timings for my brand of RAM. Or, I could leave the blck as it is, but set everything else back to auto, which is how it was when the pc arrived. As I said though, the overclock the pc arrived with also caused a couple of bsod's. Also forgot to say that the pc was tested for 48 hours before they sent it out.
Something I forgot to mention: I ran the windows memory diagnostic at extensive setting, including cache, for 7 passes and no faults were found. I realise memtest86 is probably better given that everyone recommends it, but I thought I might as well try the windows tool first.
Thanks again for all help and advice offered,
Regards,
Jay
The only problem with plugging some one elses settings in, is what your experiencing now.
On top of which, you really have no idea what exactly is causing the instability.
It could be the Chip, RAM, voltages, heat .. just too many variables.
At this point you'd just be guessing, which makes it extremely difficult to diagnose.
Keep in mind, all HW is different.
So even if someone has the exact same setup as you do, results will vary. Some better, some worse.
Your best bet is start at stock speeds, test to make sure all is OK.
If it is start slowly.
Lower RAM speeds, see what the CPU is capable of, and where its limits are.
Then start working with RAM, timings, etc.
This way, when problems arise you know where to look.
The overclock you are asking for (3.8Ghz) plus, is not a mild OC.
A mild OC is 20% or less. Your asking 35% +
Is it capable? Probablly so.
But remember, even if 90% of those CPUs reach that speed or more, does not mean yours will.
This is not the type of thing you can just copy someone elses settings, plug them in and hope for the best.
Perhaps someone else will have something more positive to share.
I know you are right, Wishmaster, I'm just trying to avoid the long slog. Probably there'll be no way round it in the end. I'll keep ya'll posted.
Thanks again for all the helpful advice, and I'm not just ignoring it, honestly, I'm just postponing the inevitable ^^
Sorry for the delay in replying here. It took me a long, long time to realise that the bsod was caused by my Razer Coppherhead driver. I had enabled Win7 to automatically update all drivers and the driver for the mouse was actually incompatible. The only reason I finally realised was because I noticed that any time I unplugged and reinstalled the mouse usb, the system would crash. Obviously, that isn't something I do very often, so I hadn't connected the two.
I googled Razer mouse incompatibility Win 7 and it seemed lots of people had bsod's occurring from this. Reinstalled the driver from Razer's website (also unticked enable Win to auto update drivers), and the problem didn't reoccur.
My overclock was changed after much reading around and thinking through the relationship between the different factors, and now I have been stable at around 3.45 MHz (hyper threading disabled, and, after a period of testing without, power saving options enabled). DRAM timing is 9,9,9,24 as recommended by manufacturer (Mushkin). My pc has been running stable with this oc for a couple of months now.
Ai Overclock Tuner.....................[Manual]
CPU Ratio Setting......................[21.0]
Intel(r) SpeedStep(tm) Tech............[Enabled]
Xtreme Phase Full Power Mode...........[Enabled]
BCLK Frequency.........................[165]
PCIE Frequency.........................[100]
DRAM Frequency.........................[DDR3-1322MHz]
UCLK Frequency.........................[2646MHz]
QPI Link Data Rate.....................[Auto]
CPU Voltage Control....................[Manual]
CPU Voltage............................[1.19375]
CPU PLL Voltage........................[1.80]
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage..................[1.22500]
IOH Voltage............................[1.14]
IOH PCIE Voltage.......................[1.50]
ICH Voltage............................[1.20]
ICH PCIE Voltage.......................[1.50]
DRAM Bus Voltage.......................[1.50]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA...........[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB...........[Auto]
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC...........[Auto]
DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC...........[Auto]
Load-Line Calibration..................[Enabled]
CPU Differential Amplitude.............[800mV]
CPU Clock Skew.........................[Delay 300ps]
CPU Spread Spectrum....................[Disabled]
IOH Clock Skew.........................[Auto]
PCIE Spread Spectrum...................[Disabled]
C1E Support............................[Enabled]
Hardware Prefetcher....................[Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetch...........[Enabled]
Intel(r) Virtualization Tech...........[Disabled]
CPU TM Function........................[Enabled]
Execute Disable Bit....................[Enabled]
Intel(r) HT Technology.................[Disabled]
Active Processor Cores.................[All]
A20M...................................[Disabled]
Intel(r) SpeedStep(tm) Tech............[Enabled]
Intel(r) C-STATE Tech..................[Enabled]
Thanks to everyone who offered advice, and sorry once again for the long delay in coming back to post.
That is good news, Jay. Thank you for reporting back with your solutions. I am glad you are BSOD free.
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