Trouble with overclocking

[Varroa]

Hi Guys, I just recently upgraded from a P5K-E motherboard (P35) to a P5Q-Pro Turbo (P45) and I can no longer overclock my chip (Q9550). On my P5K-E I could overclock to 3.6 Ghz by simply setting the FSB to 424 (8.5 x) and increasing the CPU voltage to 1.25 (bios) which equaled about 1.21xx after v-droop. I also disabled all the intel speed steping, etc. Now with my new motherboard I can't even get it stable at 400Mhz FSB at 1.30 volts! My ram is rated at 400 Mhz so I am not overclocking my ram (and I have pulled back on the timings as well) and I have the ram set at 2.2 volts which is required for this ram. Am I missing something with this new motherboard? Any help would be great appreciated.

[kendallcschm]

did you try higher voltages? 1.35 or something like that?

[Varroa]

I was stable at 1.25 (1.21xx after vdroop) before so I am reluctant to go above 1.30 when I know the chip doesn't need it. I am fooling around with other settings I found on some guides right now, including the FSB terminal voltage and locking a few other setting in instead of using auto.

[stoanee]

The best thing to do is to overclock the board, ram and cpu separately to find the limits of each. Having said that, give your ram and northbridge a little more juice. It is generally safe to go 10% above their maximum voltage ratings. Example: ram @ 2.2v x 10% = .22V. 2.2 + .22 = 2.42v

[Varroa]

Right now I would be happy with just getting my ram to stock speeds (400mhz) and my CPU to 3.4Ghz, that way I eliminate the ram from the equation.

[Varroa]

Ok guys. I have tried everything with no luck. Can somebody please help me. I can't even achieve 3.4 Ghz (400 x 8.5) at 1.3475 volts (1.32xx after vdroop)! Before this board I could do 3.6Ghz (424 x 8.5) at 1.25 volts (1.21xx after v-droop) on my P5K-E. What am I doing wrong?

[Varroa]

Here is what I have tried so far to hit a modest 3.4Ghz:

Ok, no luck, here is what I have tried so far to hit a modest 3.4Ghz:

Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
CPU Ratio Setting : 8.5
FSB Frequency : 400
PCIE Frequency: 101, 105
FSB Strap to North Bridge : Auto, 333
DRAM Frequency: 800Mhz (stock)
DRAM Timing Control: Manual at 5, 5, 5, 5, 15 (stock is 4, 4, 4, 15)
DRAM Static Read Control: Auto
Dram Read Training : Auto
MEM OC Charger : Auto
Ai Clock Twister : Auto
Ai Transaction Booster : Auto

CPU Voltage : 1.25 - 1.35
CPU GTL Reference: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50, 1.60
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.30, 1.40
DRAM Voltage : 2.2, 2.22 (stock is 2.20 for 4,4,4 timings, 1.8 for 5,5,5)
NB Voltage : 1.4, 1.5v
PCIE Sata Voltage: Auto

Load Line Calabration : Enabled
CPU Sread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
MB Clock Skew: Auto

Intel speed stepping : disabled
Intel C1E : disabled

[Varroa]

Tried Downclocking the CPU to 2.4Ghz (6x400) and prime95 locked up hard (as per usual with every other setting). Everything else was set to auto. I am running it at stock right now (333x8.5) and prime95 is running fine. So either the ram doesn't like this board OR the board doesn't like running at 400Mhz. I checked on the Asus website and the ram I am using has been confirmed as working well with this board.

[enaberif]

Different boards are gonna respond differently.

Have you checked to see if there maybe a bios update? Or perhaps a bios that may work better with that chip?

I also notice you have LLC on ... turn that off as well.

I also notice in your sig you say your running 4x2gb? Are you running 8gb of memory or am I reading that wrong? Cause if your running 8gb of memory I suggest dropped down to 4 and see if that makes a difference.

[Varroa]

You are the second person to tell me about LLC. I will look at that tomorrow. If that doesn't work then I will try taking about 2x2Gigs of ram.