P5BE, E6600 and PC2-6400 C4 Ram

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 5:57 pm

I finally got around to building my C2D system for which I've had parts for 3 months. (meaning I've probably forgotten some things that I don't do often but learned when I was researching parts).

Everything booted up fine (although I haven't loaded the OS yet). The system runs about 36-37*C at idle using the Noctua NH-U12F HSF and the Antec Solo Tri-Cool case fan running at the middle setting.

I bumped the memory voltage to 2.1v, changed the divider to DDR2-533 and bumped the CPU freq to 400MHz. The system appears stable running at 3.6GHz but the idle temps immediately jumped up 6-7*C (~43*C).

Does this sound like a normal and expected temp rise? The idle temps sound about standard from what I've read, assuming the BIOS temps are accurate. I'm using the BIOS temps since I don't have an OS loaded yet.

Separately, the Tri-Cool fan seems to resonate on the high setting. So I keep it on either low or medium. I have it mounted on a rubber gasket. The resonation seems to disappear when I crack the case door a bit. So I may have some airflow issues.

Antec Solo case
Corsair HX520W PSU
dual 92mm Nexus intake fans
Noctua 120mm fan on the NH-U12F HS
Antec Tri-Cool for exhaust
Corsair PC2-6400C4 2 Gigs

WD 74Gig Raptor (SATA)
Samsung 320Gig Data (SATA)
Seagate 300 Gig backup (IDE)

Dual Samsung SATA DVD-R

Gigabyte 7600GT SPII GPU

Vista will soon be loaded. Hope I can find drivers for everything.

*Edited for accuracy.

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:10 pm

43C idle seems okay for a e6600 at 3.6GHz. Nice system. Have you considered OC'ing your RAM as well?

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:19 pm

I've thought about OCing. But really it would be for the heck of it as my apps aren't that demanding.

OTOH, I don't have much room with this system to OC, unless I'm mistaken. The max memory voltage is 2.1v on this 1.01g P5B-E.

I just changed the DRAM timings to 4-4-4-12 to go along with the other adjustments. All appears stable (at idle).

Temps are holding at ~43-44*C at idle. That's 11*C warmer than my current P4 Northwood running at 2.4GHz (as reported by MBM).

I may move the settings back to keep the temps down.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:04 pm

Everything booted up fine (although I haven't loaded the OS yet). The system runs about 36-37*C at idle using the Noctua NH-U12F HSF and the Antec Solo Tri-Cool case fan running at the middle setting.

Are these temps in BIOS? If so, they're not idle.

Did you install the latest BIOS version? I just downloaded the 1202, though I still have 1101 installed.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:50 am

Not sure what you mean about BIOS/idle temps.

The 1.01g P5Be board came with BIOS 0402. I flashed it to 1202.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:23 am

You wrote that you didn't have an OS yet. Therefore the temps you saw were from inside the BIOS. If so, temps in BIOS are at least 50% load, maybe more.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:30 am

BIOS=50%+ load? Really. I didn't know that.

I loaded Vista Ultimate on it last night. Haven't had a chance to do anything more, and won't have time for a few days.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:11 am

Your idle temps will be much lower!

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:22 am

I'll be happy to see that. I'll report here what I find when I load temp monitoring.

I might bump up the FSB and timings again.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:20 pm

I'm slowly getting around to working on uploading to the new C2D box.

Temp updates: loaded TAT but it won't run under Vista/64. I'm now running Speedfan 4.32 and Orthos Beta v0.41.110.18 (StressPrime 2004)

After 35+ minutes of continuous Orthos, Speedfan reports:
System:35*C
CPU: 47*C
Core 0: 35*C
Core 1: 37*C
There's an AUX being reported as 122*C. ???

Without Orthos running, Core 0 was ~21*C and Core 1 was ~ 23*C.
Ambient is ~22*C.

How do these numbers look?

Edit:
45+ minutes on Orthos:
System: 36*C
CPU: 47*C
Core 0:36*C
Core 1:37*C

Can't hear the new PC over the roar of the old P4 Northwood's case fan and GPU fan (6600GT).

Edit 2:
70+ miinutes
System: 35C
CPU: 43C
Core 0: 33C
Core 1: 36C

derekchinese · Post by **derekchinese** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 9:03 pm

Those are some really low temps. Did you keep the CPU at 3.6ghz when you ran orthos?

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 3:02 am

Nope. This was back to stock numbers... except for the divider being DDR2-533.

When I get time, I'll bump it back to 3.6 GHz and see what it says.

Edit: I changed the settings:
FSB:400
DDR2-533
Disabled SPD and used 4-4-4-12 timings

What ran in BIOS generates a BSOD in Vista.

I loosened the timings by re-enabling SPD. Another BSOD.

I returned to stock settings (except for leaving the divider at 533) and now Vista boots ok.

Any thoughts as to why this gave the BSOD in Vista but ran fine with just BIOS?

Plissken · Post by **Plissken** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:33 am

speedlever wrote:Any thoughts as to why this gave the BSOD in Vista but ran fine with just BIOS?

P5B* motherboards can be unstable between 360-400 MHz. Something about changing a "strap". Try 404 MHz or something. Although my first suspicion is your RAM. Try running Memtest without going into Windows.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:02 am

Plissken wrote: P5B* motherboards can be unstable between 360-400 MHz. Something about changing a "strap". Try 404 MHz or something.

Really. Might explain why I had to back off to 350MHz w/ my 4-4-4-12 800 Corsair memory. Googling found this @ the Tech Repository

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:26 am

Very interesting info. Thanks.

I think I'll try to change the FSB to the low 400s and try again.

Separately, I think I'm going to revert to V/32 instead of my current V/64. Really basic question: how do I format my C: drive? I have no floppy on the new box. I thought if I put in the V/32 DVD and told it to clean load, it would give me the option to format and start again.. but it didn't and the V/32 installation failed for some reason.

Do I need to find a way to create a boot CD? I don't often have to do this so am a bit in the dark here.

derekchinese · Post by **derekchinese** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:13 pm

For starters, what are your Vdimm and Vcore voltages like?

As for reinstalling, don't you just set your DVD drive to Boot Priority, put the installation DVD into your Drive and go from there? I am sorry but I do not understand how you are trying to install, are you trying to do a clean install from windows?

Derek

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 4:35 pm

what are your Vdimm and Vcore voltages like?

I changed the memory from auto to 2.1 (max on the 1.01g board). Otherwise, the voltages are on auto.

I also changed the FSB to 404 and 401 and still got a BSOD. It booted with the FSB at 350, but Orthos stops at Test 2 with a hardware failure.

I have memTest86 on CD, maybe I should run that.

Suggestions?

Regarding installing V/32, I want to reformat and then clean install. I thought that would be one of the options when I started my v/32 DVD. I chose custom install, but it failed and I did not get the reformat option.

Thus, I would like to just format the C:\ drive, then put in the v/32 DVD and do a clean install.

How can I format (blow away my v/64 installation)? Is there a CD boot image somewhere that gives me the format option?

derekchinese · Post by **derekchinese** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 5:20 pm

I think you need to change some bios settings. 2.1 Vdimm is fine but AUTO on everything else is probably not a good idea--especially when overclocking. Try a VCore of 1.4-1.43V. Auto settings have a tendancy to pump too much voltage into the CPU and thats not good!

Bios is like this on my p5b vanilla
1.AI Tuning--------------------------------- [Manual]
2.DRAM Frequency---------------------------- [DDR2-800]
3.CPU Frequency----------------------------- [400]
4.PCI Exp----------------------------------- [100]
5.PCI Clock--------------------------------- [33]
6.Spread Spectrum--------------------------- [Disable]
7.Memory Volt------------------------------- [2.10]
8.CPU Vcore Volt---------------------------- [1.4]
9.FSB Termination volt---------------------- [Auto]

For your northbridge settings:
Do these 5 things.

1.DRAM config by SPD---------------------------- [Disable] <1.)disable this
2.CAS# Latency-----------------------------------[5] <2.)Set this to 5
3.RAS# to Cas------------------------------------[5] <3.)Set this to 5
4.RAS# to Pre------------------------------------[5] <4) Set this to 5
5.RAS# to Active---------------------------------[15] <5)set this to 15
6.Write Read time--------------------------------[6]
7.TRFC-------------------------------------------[35]*
8.Next four entries keep to stock values---------[10]
9.Static Read Control----------------------------[Disable]
10.IGA-------------------------------------------[PEG/PCI]
11.PEG Force X1----------------------------------[Disable]

Do this first. Lets see if we can get it stable first, then we can reinstall windows.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:00 pm

Derek,

Thanks for the suggestions. Before I do all that (and am running out of time tonight), bear in mind that my ram is the following:
http://tinyurl.com/q7cpv

I am just trying to run stock specs: DDR2-800/4-4-4-12 at 2.1v.

This is not even in OC territory, right?

My P5B-E 1.01g will only go to 2.1v, so I don't have much headroom to OC, I don't believe.

Also, I've been running Memtest86+ and after nearly 4 passes, no errors found. (This is with FSB/350, DDR2-533, and 2.1v, the rest on auto).

It may be a day or so before I can resume testing. I'll check back soon.

Thanks for your assistance.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:08 pm

Derek,

A quick check of my BIOS shows that my VCore settings range from:
1.525 - 1.7v and auto. Not sure what to set here.

My NB settings are:
spd disabled
timings now changed to 5-5-5-15
Write recovery -6
DRAM trfc - 35 (was 42)

Edit:
these settings produce a BSOD.

Changing the FSB to 360 and still a BSOD.

Returned all settings to:
FSB-350
4-4-4-12 timings
DRAM trfc - 42
all voltages to auto except memory (2.1v)

system now boots ok.

hmmm...

derekchinese · Post by **derekchinese** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:32 pm

Alright, well I am getting abit busy too, I have a final exam tomorow and the day after.

I will probably be more helpful two days from now. We should be able to get it working. Your ram is 800mhz at 2.1V. If you run FSB:Memory at a 1:1 Ratio, you will have an FSB of 400mhz and a multiplier of 9 = 3.6ghz. Your system should have no trouble at this speed. At 3.6ghz, you should be able to set your Vcore to the minumum possible Vcore.

Also, make sure you update your BIOS if you haven't done that yet.

talk to you soon,
Derek

Plissken · Post by **Plissken** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:36 pm

speedlever wrote:A quick check of my BIOS shows that my VCore settings range from:
1.525 - 1.7v and auto. Not sure what to set here.

1.525V minimum?

I don't have a P5B-E, but that can't be right!
Anyway, do NOT leave CPU voltage on "auto" if overclocking. It will get cranked up way too high. With your parts you should be stable at 400+ FSB with vcore at no more than 1.45V, or something is terribly wrong.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:52 pm

Plissken wrote:
speedlever wrote:A quick check of my BIOS shows that my VCore settings range from:
1.525 - 1.7v and auto. Not sure what to set here.
1.525V minimum?

I don't have a P5B-E, but that can't be right!

No, it's not right. There are much lower settings.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 4:30 am

Ah... you are correct. There was no scroll bar visible, so I thought what was displayed was all that was available.

VCore range is:
1.225 - 1.7v

Well... changing the Vcore to 1.4 and the other suggested settings (except FSB at 404) results in a no-post situation.

No time to play right now. Will have to reset the BIOS.

I admit to being somewhat puzzled that this system is currently not stable in the above configuration.

I seem to be able to run BIOS at 3.6GHz settings as long as I leave the voltages in auto. But Vista won't run.

3 runs of Memtest86+ detected no errors.
Windows memory diagnostic tool detected no problems with 2 passes.
(system back to original config except for divider at 533)

I really have to run for now. Back later.

Edit: Dumped the dumb OC question and another comment.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:09 pm

Update:
Using the following settings:
FSB: 400 or 401 or 404
DDR2-800
PCI Express Freq: 100
PCI Clock Sync: 33.33MHz
Spread Spectrum: Disabled
Vdimm: 2.1v
VCore: 1.4v
FSB Termination: Auto

NB config:
Memory remap: Disabled
SPD: Disabled
5-5-5-15 or
4-4-4-12
Write recovery: 6
TRFC: 35
10 on the next four items
Static read control: disabled

OC fails and it won't post.

Change the FSB to 350, and it boots into BIOS and Vista with the 4-4-4-12 timings.

However, Orthos barely gets started before failing with a HW failure of some sort, but no BSOD.

I changed only the timings to 5-5-5-15 and reran Orthos and got a BSOD right away.

Where to from here? Should I up the VCore?

derekchinese · Post by **derekchinese** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:26 pm

Can we try clearing the CMOS? Turn off computer. Turn the PSU off. Take the power cord out. Take battery out. Put jumper to CLRTC. Push powerbutton for 30seconds. Put jumper back. Put battery Back. But power cord back. Turn PSU on. Turn computer on.

Now try. Try a TRFC of 42 instead of 35. Try the settings I gave you. Maybe try a Vcore of 1.42V. Should boot.

If this works, then we can reinstall windows. It should be a pretty quick install.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:25 pm

Hi Derek,

Wasn't expecting you back so soon. I just finished reformatting and installing V/32 in place of V/64.

Now TAT runs as well as SpeedFan and Orthos. Initially, Speedfan gave me temps on my HDs under V/32.. but now it doesn't. Will work on that later.

I'm reaching the unconscious state... and will resume this tomorrow.

I'll clear the CMOS tomorrow and resume testing.

Good luck with your exams.

derekchinese · Post by **derekchinese** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:08 pm

Thanks Speedlever. One exam left. I still have to lurk the forums while taking breaks from studying! I think clearing the CMOS might be what will get everything working well. Talk to you soon.

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:23 am

OK. Cleared CMOS. Re-entered usual stuff.
BIOS - 1202 (latest)

Changes:
-IDE config
Configure SATA as AHCI

AI tuning - manual
FSB - 400
DRAM - DDR2-800 (divider - 533)
PCI express freq - 100
PCI clock sync - 33.33
Spread spectrum - disabled
Vdimm - 2.1v
VCore 1.425v

North Bridge config
SPD - disabled
5-5-5-15
6-42-10-10-10-10
Static read control - disabled

Results: no POST. I have to recover with CPR.

Change FSB to 350:
Results: normal POST and boot into V/32.

Bump up VCore and try FSB 400+ again?

aristide1 · Post by **aristide1** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 6:49 am

Change FSB to 350:

When you set FSB to 350 and you look at the memory tab in CPU-Z what DDR-speed does it show?