Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

[nocdavis]

I have posted this in the overclocking forum as well, but since you all are the experts in Gigabyte figured I'd throw this your way too :)

System Specs:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P
RAM: OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR2 1066
Cooling: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
Grease: MASSCOOL G751 Shin-Etsu
Case: Thermaltake DH101 HTPC
Power Supply: OCZ EliteXStream OCZ800EXS 800W
Graphics: SAPPHIRE 100225L Radeon HD 3870
O/S: Win 7 x64

Goal:
1. To run the CPU at around 3.3 (or faster if possible) stable with the above hardware
2. To run the RAM at 1333 if possible

Settings:
<nobr style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);" id="itxt_nobr_1_0">BIOS</nobr> has been flashed, optimized defaults loaded - then following settings applied:

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Fast<o:p></o:p>
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 7x
CPU Frequency ...........................: 2.33ghz (333x7)
<o:p> </o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
<nobr style="" id="itxt_nobr_2_0">CPU</nobr> Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 333 Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:Set to 100
<o:p> </o:p>C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]
<o:p> </o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
<st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">CPU Clock Drive</st1:address></st1:street>.........................: <<< 800mV
<st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">PCI Express Clock Drive</st1:address></st1:street>.................: <<< 900mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps).....................: <<< 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps).....................: <<< 0ps
<o:p> </o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [333MHz]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 3.20B
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 1066
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]
<o:p> </o:p>
Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time..............................6 *Per OCZ specs
tRCD ...............................................7 *Per OCZ specs
tRP'.............................................. ...7 *Per OCZ specs
tRAS.............................................. .20 *Per OCZ specs
<o:p> </o:p>
Advanced Timing Control
tRRD.............................................. .3 [Auto]
tWTR..............................................3 [Auto]
tWR............................................... .6 [Auto]
tRFC..............................................54 [Auto]
tRTP.............................................. .3 [Auto]
Command Rate (CMD) .......................0 [Auto]
<o:p> </o:p>
Channel A Timing Settings
Static tRead Value.........................:6 Auto
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ..................:0 Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment...................:0 Auto

Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:8 Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:9 Auto

Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
DDR Write Training.........................:Auto
<o:p> </o:p>
Channel A Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ...................1066 per RAM *would like to OC if possible
<o:p> </o:p>

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:6 Auto
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ..................:0 Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment...................:0 Auto

Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:8 Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:9 Auto

Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
DDR Write Training.........................:Auto
<o:p> </o:p>
Channel B Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ...................1066 per RAM Specs ****would like to OC if possible
<o:p> </o:p>
Motherboard Voltage Control
CPU1.23750v [Auto]
<nobr style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);" id="itxt_nobr_16_0">CPU</nobr>MCH/ICHDRAM2.000v Per OCZ SpecAdvanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled]<o:p></o:p>

Super big thanks to all who help!

[Chike]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Goal:
1. To run the CPU at around 3.3 (or faster if possible) stable with the above
2. To run the RAM at 1333 if possible

I'd lower expectation for both. 3.3GHz may be possible if the CPU can handle the 470MJz FSB required for it, not going to be easy though.
As for the ram I doubt it can get near DDR-1333, though so far is doing good at 1066 with 2x4GB configuration without a hassle.

Read this post, run some stability tests at stock settings, a few passes of memtest86+ and 6+ hours of Prime95/Orthos blend torture or OCCT COU medui, data set will do.

Start increasing FSB making the nesessary changes to CPU Vcore/Termination/PLL and MCH Core. At FSB higher than ~430MHz CPU/MCH Reference and CPU/MCH clock Skew may need tweaking too.

[nocdavis]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Thanks for the reply!!!

I read through the article of the recommended settings and will implement those asap, and just start slowly tweaking it.

I have read in a couple of places where people have gotten up to 3.5 stable for 10+ hours in Prime.

I have seen the following with air cooling but wonder if it is legit:
500*7 (3.50GHz)
Vcore: 1.39375V
Prim95 stable for about 13 hours.
core 0: 70.7
1: 63
2: 66
3: 64
Ave vcore: 1.31
ave fan speed 1356
ave ram fan speed 6238

Note- all settings were auto except vcore and RAM settings.

I will tweak with my settings and report back.

[Psycho101]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

I agree with Chkie's post.

I have used a Q8200 on my UD3P and it's hard work getting past 3.2GHz. I eventually topped out at 3.4GHz with 1.3625V and LLC on, after a fair bit of tweaking including MCH Ref and CPU Ref, as well as using a modest 0.26V MCH Core. No clock skew was needed. It made things worse.

I can 100% guarantee you will not get your RAM to 1333, especially with the current timings it comes with from the factory. If you had a set of 1066 4-4-4-12's then I'd say at 6-5-5-18 or 6-6-6-18 you may scrape 1333. Those IC;'s won't have a chance unfortunately.

CPU speed, especially because ytou're going to be using ~450+ FSB will be more impportant. Just raising the FSB will give more performance all round. With my Q8200 I ran the 1066 RAM at DDR-972 (486x7) and it performed nicely indeed. Adding RAM speed after a certain point or with a very slow FSB has little effect compared to CPU speed.

Due to the way the CPU has a 7x mulit and the available RAM multipliers I can be almost cetain that you'll be underclocking that RAM,not over clocking. This is because at that kind of FSB, moving away from the 1:1 multi (2.00x) will mean a jump in speed the RAM will not handle at any voltage and timings etc.

The 3.5GHz you quote is possible but it's the high end of what the regular CPU stepping can do. If you have a low power version it's different. You'll know if you had a low power version as it would state so on the packaging and be about 40% more expensive (not worth it).

[nocdavis]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Psycho

I really appreciate the info - I knew I had a snowballs chance in Hades of getting the RAM to 1333 being that it is Fatality, but I thought someone might know some crazy hat trick. With the stock timings I was actually surprised I could get it to run at 1066 stable dual channel......but it was dirt cheap.

I knew that RAM speed wouldn't make a dramatic impact, but with the multipliers I was hoping to err higher and get lucky, but alas it looks like it is not to be .

My goal was to up the FSB and keep my voltage around 1.275 and shoot for 3.36 steady daily use, but I guess we will see if I can make it happen :)

On another note I just picked up the Intel X-18 80GB SSD today as well so I figure if I can get the overclock stable around 3.2 - 3.4 the system will scoot pretty well. It is primarily a graphics, media, and some gaming as I have 4.5 TB of Audio and Movies.

Again thanks for all of your helpful advice. Cheers - I'll report back in a couple of days and see what I can get :)

[kick]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

The board is approx the same as mine,you can get 3.5 G 24/7 if u want to but 490 fsb(3.43 ghz seems to be a good compromise to maintain pl 9 on memory and lower voltages.
That is running memory 1:1 ie 980 mhhz or 1000 mhz.

My own settings should be in posts way back there somewhere .. but sig ones are what I use now.

its all about fsb or base speed the nb is going to be communicating at,.. its core temp (on air ) is going to go over 40C at 500+ref/2000+ fsb and it doesnt seem to like it much.
Anything up to 470 cpu ref and u will probably get away with much lower voltages/maybe able to run mem on a multiplier.
9gb/s is ok for me tho with cas 5 timings on the memory.10 is about all you can get on 45 chipset i think.unlike the 20+ on ddr3/i5/i7 58/55.

[Psycho101]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

you can get 3.5 G 24/7 if u want to but 490 fsb(3.43 ghz seems to be a good compromise to maintain pl 9 on memory and lower voltages.

Could Kick, not can. I had no way of getting over 3.4GHz, regardless of settings and voltages etc etc.

Anything up to 470 cpu ref

I'm also confused with the way you're grouping FSB And CPU Ref together both in this post and in your signature. CPU Ref has nothing to do with FSB. FSB is a clock speed, CPU Ref is a [B]voltage[B]. Apples and Oranges. FSB speed is kind of "referenced" by the CPU multiplier when thy are multiplied to come to the over all clock speed, but that doesn't make FSB "CPU Ref"...

[kick]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Let me rephrase to avoid confusion.

1.People can achieve 3.5ghz on the q8200 stable 24/7 on the 45/ud3 boards.
Some may not,I personally tired of the higher voltages required for a minimal performance gain over 3.43 Ghz.

2.The figures for a reference frequency are refered to in the bios as cpu host frequency eg 333mhz standard for our cpu, or some other frequency the user can set ,up to a practical limit for quads on air of 500 approx.
This frequency is a reference frequency for 3 items:

a.the first item, front side bus frequency,generally shortened to fsb is fixed at 4x reference frequency.
eg.333mhz set in bios as the cpu host frequency = 1332mhz fsb.

b.the second item is cpu speed,this can vary according to the cpu multiplier.eg 333mhz set as cpu host frequency for our cpu can result in 2 possible cpu speeds 6x333mhz or 7x333mhz.

c.the third item is memory speed.
There are various memory speeds available depending on which memory multiplier u specify ,but they all use the cpu host frequency as a reference frequency or constant.

If you are wondering how I determine the northbridge or mch (memory control hub) temprature: I have a sperate temperature sensor connected to it.
For me ,I find if the temperature of the (mch) goes over 41-42C I begin to lose stability.The cpu temp doesnt seem too bad.
There may be other factors involved such as individual board component temps or memory temp due to increased voltages,but i have no way of measuring those temps.
I hope this clears up any confusion.

Noc<
Those figures u quote,they may be mine altho in practice i ended up having to use 1.42v for cpu in bios to compensate .Memory needed 2.22v etc
also leaving fsb voltage and cpu termination voltage on auto at those speeds can leave you with 1.8v+ for fsb and 1.65v+ for cpu term.
With 8Gb of ram you may not achieve the speeds you are looking for.
I tried 8gb using the ram in my sig and 2 sticks of samsung 667(5300) value ram. I achieved 350 cpu host frequency(to avoid confusion) easily enough .I think 700mhz was the cheaper rams limit tho.
I think I achieved 360 cpu host frequency 720mhz ddr2 ram speed stable using the 2 value ram sticks on their own,but didnt bother testing beyond that.Lifes too short.

Ive included the settings I use at the moment.
There would be no reason they shouldnt work for you,EXCEPT different type and quantity of ram.
Heyyy 1.3625v cpu core and your sig says lower!.
I like to get things running a little higher than the cpu host frequency that i actually use then back off the cpu host frequency.
For 495 ,I needed 1.3625V so use that for 490.even tho i didnt have any probs at 1.34375v.
When I was running 500 cpu host frequency I used what I needed for 505 etc.



MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Fast
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 7x
CPU Frequency ...........................: 3.43ghz (490x7)


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 490 Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........: 100
C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]


Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive.........................: <<< 800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: <<< 900mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps).....................: <<< 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps).....................: <<< 0ps


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [TURBO]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2:00D
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 980
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time..............................5
tRCD ...............................................5
tRP'.............................................. ...5
tRAS.............................................. .15

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD.............................................. .3 [Auto]
tWTR.............................................. 3 [Auto]
tWR............................................... .6 [Auto]
tRFC.............................................. 54 [Auto]
tRTP.............................................. .3 [Auto]
Command Rate (CMD) .......................0 [Auto]

Channel A Timing Settings
Static tRead Value.........................: 9
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ..................:0 Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment...................:0 Auto

Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:8 Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:9 Auto

Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
DDR Write Training.........................:Auto

Channel A Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ................... Auto


Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................: 9
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:0 Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ..................:0 Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment...................:0 Auto

Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:8 Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:8 Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:9 Auto

Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto
DDR Write Training.........................:Auto

Channel B Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ................... Auto

Motherboard Voltage Control
CPU
Load-Line Calibration.....................: Enabled
CPU Vcore….……….........................: 1.3625v
CPU Termination….........................: 1.36v
CPU PLL………………….......................: 1.59v
CPU Referen.………….......................: 0.861v

MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….........................: 1.38v
MCH Reference……........................: 0.861v
MCH/DRAM Ref…….........................: 1.03v
ICH I/O……...................................: 1.57v
ICH Core…….................................: 1.100v

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……..........................: 2.08V
DRAM Termination ……....................: 1.03V
Channel A Reference…....................: 0.900v [Auto]
Channel B Reference…....................: 0.900v [Auto]

Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Enabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Enabled]
Virtualization Technology................: n/a

edit: ddr2 ram prices have taken off again,my ram which cost <$60 is now $100.The best value quad q9550 prices seem to be increasing.Mho the best value 775 quad now is the Q8400.
My own machine has lower performance than the i7 /i5 ddr3 setups but not that much less to make me want to upgrade.
I think there is a certain amount of price fixing going on to make the price differential between 775 quad /ddr2 mem and newer processors/ddr3 mem worth the upgrade.

[FonduJack]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Psycho101 helped me oc my q8200 to 3.2ghz its stable. he said i could get over 3.2, but it might not be as stable. This is my everyday computer that i have lots of docs and stuff on so i need a stable PC.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Any luck yet OP?

[Psycho101]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

I have my 3.4GHz config saved to USB somewhere. I'll load it and write down the values then post them up here later. Not saying that the settings will work for you but they may help.

[nocdavis]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

I am able to get 3.36 stable for 14 hours. 3.4 caused one core to fail after 8 hours on a blended test.

[kick]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

3.36 is good thats over 1000mhz faster than stock.
Sure 3.4 or 3.5 would be better ,but with your 8G ram you might not get that and you will hardly notice the performance increase except in benchmarking.
Are the voltages reasonable?
Were you able to put actual values in for say cpu term v and pll and the ref voltages?
If not the pll and cpu term will be running higher than you may need.

[nocdavis]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Okay all I thought I posted my settings here before, but apparently I never hit submit and just came back to check.

I flashed the BIOS to the beta version and low and behold I lost all my settings and had to start over.

So far I have 3.36GHz stable with OCCT, working on 3.4GHz now.

@Kick - you were right my RAM is the limiting factor with the 6-7-7-20 timings.

The only thing I have adjusted so far are:
CPU - 1.3
MCH - 1.38.
Everything else is auto.

Also I had trouble with the 2.00D so I went back to 2.00B and that seems to run smoother.

Will update again shortly.

[nocdavis]

Re: Help Overclock: Q8200 UD3P OCZ DDR2 1066

Okay I was able to get 3.4GHz stable with 8GB of OCZ Fata1ty 1066 Ram.

FSB - 486
CPU - 1.3
MCH - 1.4

I have attached the screen shot of OCCT showing stability.

The highest core temp I reached was 68C on Core 0. The VCore was extremely stable at 1.28 (BIOS is 1.3)

NOTE: The CPU core temps were at idle. Also I have ESIT enabled, so while at idle it dropped to a multi of 6X. Odd thing is my temps ran cooler at 3.4 than they did at 3.36....any ideas?