GA-P31-S3L Overclock Advice?

[Bigs11]

Computer details:
Core2Duo E6750 3.2GHZ(8x400), GigaByte GA-P31-S3L,
Corsair 2x1G DDR2 PC6400 C4 @ 1:1RAM (5 5 5 18 @ 800),
Themaltake Armor Jr (Aluminium Modded), Nvidia GeForce 7300 (512MB),
160G SATA W/Digital HDD, CPU Scythe Ninja (120mm Fan),
FANS: 1x120mm Front, 1x120mm Rear, 2x120mm Top Exhaust


I'm been overclocking this Mainboard (GA-P31-S3L) now for about 6 months, and altho I can get it Orthos stable for countless hours,
I'm getting irregular cold boot issues. Meaning the board reverts to stock settings, and I have to go back in and restore my overclock.
I've tried every combination of voltage increase, FSB speed, and always tried to keep a 1:1 setting. Even with Ram set to Auto,
I get this problem. At the moment, I can only seem to hold a 3.2Ghz o/clock (400x8) with Vcore 1.328v in Cpu-Z.
I've added +.1v to PCI-E, +.2v to FSB, and +.2v to MCH.
The ram timings are manually set 5 5 5 18 @ 2.1v, with 1:1, so running at 800Mhz.
Any FSB above 400 tends to bring out the cold boot issue real quick. I believe the Ram is verified to run at 4 4 4 12 @ 400Mhz,
but as soon as I tighten the timings, altho it runs stable, it won't cold boot regularly.
I've researched my motherboard, and am confident the P31 is a reasonably good overclocking board,
and as I'm not overclocking the Ram, I'm curious as to why I have the cold boot issue.
I would be more than happy to get a stable 3.6Ghz o/clock.
If anyone has any ideas on memory timings etc, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Sorry for the long read.

Below is a Everest Overclock report:

--------[ Overclock ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Properties:
CPU Type DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
CPU Alias Conroe
CPU Stepping G0
Engineering Sample No
CPUID CPU Name Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6750 @ 2.66GHz
CPUID Revision 000006FBh
Core Voltage 1.325 V

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 3200.0 MHz (original: 2667 MHz, overclock: 20%)
CPU Multiplier 8.0x
CPU FSB 400.0 MHz (original: 333 MHz, overclock: 20%)
Memory Bus 400.0 MHz
DRAM:FSB Ratio 1:1

CPU Cache:
L1 Code Cache 32 KB per core
L1 Data Cache 32 KB per core
L2 Cache 4 MB (On-Die, ASC, Full-Speed)

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID 04/02/2008-P31-ICH7-6A79OG0YC-00
Motherboard Name Gigabyte GA-P31-S3L (3 PCI, 3 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN)

Chipset Properties:
Motherboard Chipset Intel Bearlake P31
Memory Timings 5-5-5-18 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Command Rate (CR) 2T
DIMM2: Corsair XMS2 CM2X1024-6400C4 1 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-18 @ 400 MHz) (4-4-4-13 @ 270 MHz)
DIMM4: Corsair XMS2 CM2X1024-6400C4 1 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-18 @ 400 MHz) (4-4-4-13 @ 270 MHz)

BIOS Properties:
System BIOS Date 04/02/08
Video BIOS Date 01/29/07
Award BIOS Type Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Award BIOS Message Intel P31 BIOS for P31-S3L F7d
DMI BIOS Version F7d

Graphics Processor Properties:
Video Adapter Gigabyte GeForce 7300 GS
GPU Code Name G72GS (PCI Express 1.0 x16 10DE / 01DF, Rev A1)
GPU Clock 680 MHz (original: 550 MHz, overclock: 24%)
Memory Clock 472 MHz (original: 400 MHz, overclock: 18%)

[Lsdmeasap]

Well it looks as if you may need a bit more Vcore, that often helps in cold boot issues. When you say your BIOS reverts to stock settings, that is not a cold boot issue, that means for sure you settings are not fully stable.

For starters you want to avoid the exact 400 setting, using 397 or 403 or similar, there is a hole at 400/1600 FSB

I would try this for starters, this is where I ran my Xeon 3075 (Same as E6750) 3.4Ghz >>>>

Be sure, EIST and C1E are OFF

Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio ____________ [8]
CPU Host Clock Control_ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)__________ [425]
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [100]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ [2.00] = 850 MHz Ram
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

If 444-12 does not work, you ram may not do it, use 555-15/18. And may not do 444-12 at the settings I posted here for 3.4 GHz either, you will just have to try. Below this I will post a 3.2 table for you as well

Start with the higher settings, moving Later ONE AT A TIME testing after each move
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 3-4
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 9-11
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 3-5
Refresh to ACT Delay______________38-42
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 3-6
Static tRead Value_______________ 7-10
Static tRead Phase Adjust________ 1-31

System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.300V] = 2.1V
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.1V]
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V]
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.1V] <<< all that is needed for sure
Loadline Calibration _______ [Enabled]
CPU Voltage Control_______ [1.425 +/-] << may need up to 1.45, all chips are different, and as is all motherboard hardware


____________________________________________



For 3.2 closer to what you had been trying >>>

Robust Graphics Booster___________ [Auto]
CPU Clock Ratio ____________ [8]
CPU Host Clock Control_ [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (MHz)__________ [405]
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [100]
C.I.A. 2__________________________ [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)____ [2.00] = 810 MHz ram
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

Again If 444-12 does not work, you ram may not do it, use 555-15/18.

Start with the higher settings, moving Later ONE AT A TIME testing after each move
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 3-4
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 9-11
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 3-5
Refresh to ACT Delay______________38-42
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 3-6
Static tRead Value_______________ 7-10
Static tRead Phase Adjust________ 1-31

System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.300V] = 2.1V
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.1V]
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V]
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.1V] <<< all that is needed for sure
Loadline Calibration _______ [Enabled]
CPU Voltage Control_______ [1.425 +/-] <<< should need less for 3.2 like 1.4 or so.

If you do not have Loadline Calibration in your BIOS, you may want to see if you have any BIOS updates if so flash to it and see if it has been added. DO NOT USE @BIOS to flash, use a floppy or USB with Qflash

Without loadline calibration what you set for Vcore in the BIOS is not what you get in widows, and is even lower when the system is at full load

Here is the BIOS page for your board, I would suggest you to use F6 as it is the latest NON BETA BIOS, F5 may even be the better choice>>>
GIGABYTE - Support - Motherboard - BIOS - GA-P31-S3L (rev. 1.0)

And my last comment is in reply to your comment >>>

I've researched my motherboard, and am confident the P31 is a reasonably good overclocking board

In general the P31 is NOT a overclocker, it is the Budget Board for the P35 chipset series. And furthermore the S and L series of GA-P31 is even more Budget meaning less options and abilities then the other P31's, meaning the Absolute Cheapest board... and you get what you pay for.

The P31 may and likely does overclock, but it (P31) in general was not a wise choice with overclocking in mind especially with the P35's budget board in the same price range