CPU cooling adventures...

[Gixer]

E6750 @ 8x multi @ 1600 FSB.  Can't get stable below 1.3625 V.  Stock Intel HS/Fan.  EVGA 780i Mobo.Board wants to default RAM to 5-5-5-16 @ 1.85 V on auto.  Mfg (Kingston HyperX) recommends 4-4-4-12 @ 2 V (where I have it set).

8X Multi (200??) to give 1600 FSB? Should be a reading of 8x400 (Bus Speed) to give 3200Mhz or 8x350 = 2800Mhz. 1600FSB sounds like the rated FSB for the board. Not the actual CPU Bus Speed Multiplier.

Ram settings if still set on Auto you need to change the timings manually in BIOS so that it sets Ram to 1:1 for most efficiency, timings comes second. So if your running Bus Speed at 400Mhz Ram will be 800Mhz 1:1 hence DDR800, Good Ram can be overclocked higher to maintain 1:1 with Bus Speed. Ram Voltage should be at lowest 1.8 on a manual setting. Like CPU VCore if Ram is on Auto it will often choose higher then actually required making your system run hotter.


<S>...-Gixer

[Fulmar]

Fulmer, D/L either Prime95 or Orthos.  Fire it up and run it on short FFT's for 10-20 mins then report temps.

Right now mine are CPU 60C, GPU <50C, NB <40C at 100% CPU load.  That's with a .5 Ghz OC and stock Intel HS/Fan.  Normal operating temps are lower.

I've used Prime95 before but only when OCing the CPU.  Right now I've been just using high end games and graphing the temps in speedfan on my 2nd LCD monitor while I play.  This way I'm getting a work out of my GFX card as well and see how it responds.

[BaldEagl]

8X Multi (200??) to give 1600 FSB? Should be a reading of 8x400 (Bus Speed) to give 3200Mhz or 8x350 = 2800Mhz. 1600FSB sounds like the rated FSB for the board. Not the actual CPU Bus Speed Multiplier.

Ram settings if still set on Auto you need to change the timings manually in BIOS so that it sets Ram to 1:1 for most efficiency, timings comes second. So if your running Bus Speed at 400Mhz Ram will be 800Mhz 1:1 hence DDR800, Good Ram can be overclocked higher to maintain 1:1 with Bus Speed. Ram Voltage should be at lowest 1.8 on a manual setting. Like CPU VCore if Ram is on Auto it will often choose higher then actually required making your system run hotter.


<S>...-Gixer

Double pumped Dual Core @ 400 Core clock = 1600 FSB (board stock = 1333 FSB.  chip stock = 1333 FSB = 333.3 core clock.  8x333.3 = 2.66 Ghz).  8x400 = 3.2 Ghz.  RAM linked/synced = 1:1 = 400 Core clock @ DDR2 = DDR2800.

As stared earlier, I only wanted to go far enough to bring my CPU/RAM clocks to 1:1 which I did.

[Fulmar]

Overclocking CPU's is a lot easier than overclocking your RAM which can be tricky and unstable (especially developing errors messages in windows).

[Masherbrum]

Not to be a wiseguy or anything.  But you DID remove the MX-2 paste from the Heatsink (which is just as good as Arctic Silver 5) before putting the Arctic Silver on?   

[Gixer]

Overclocking CPU's is a lot easier than overclocking your RAM which can be tricky and unstable (especially developing errors messages in windows).

Very true. If your going to overclock RAM to max, keys are to buy best quality Ram you can afford that has tight timings stock,don't mix and match brands or even batches. And that voltage is key at 1:1. Most quality RAM can handle 2.1v, if it's stable from that point then you can work on timings.

Anyway RAm these days have high FSB stock maybe higher then what your CPU can overclock to at 1:1, Plus going past 1:1 and trying to get another inch out of the timings doesn't really gain much of a performance boost anyway.

Think about the CPU your buying what overclock you'd like out of it then purchase 4GB RAM to match for a nice stable 1:1 clock.


<S>...-Gixer

[Getback]

Anyone use UGuru? It's for abit boards. I was wondering where that timing is for the 1:1.

[Gixer]

Anyone use UGuru? It's for abit boards. I was wondering where that timing is for the 1:1.

Abit boards same for most boards is in BIOS you need to set DRAM Frequency to twice that of CPU Frequency for 1:1



Another tip, PCI Express Freq should be set to 100 not Auto as per this example photo.


<S>...-Gixer

[BaldEagl]

Anyone use UGuru? It's for abit boards. I was wondering where that timing is for the 1:1.

You have a double pumped dual core processor vs dual data rate RAM.  Whatever your RAM speed is, say DDR2800 means it's running at a 400 core clock (dual data rate).  To run 1:1 means your processor has to run at the same core clock speed (400 mhz), so you want to set either the CPU core clock to 400 or the FSB to 1600 (400x4 - double pumped dual core) to match clock speeds at 1:1.

Once this is done, you want to run Prime95 or Orthos and check temps.  You want to manually set VCore as low as possible to minimize temps and retain stability.  This takes tweaking and testing until it crashes, then bump it back up and test again.

If your RAM is very high speed, you may not be able to get 1:1 without excessive heat, at which point you may want to actually underclock the RAM.  When OCing, there are usually settings to "LinK" RAM clock to CPU clock and to "Sync" them to 1:1 (linked and synced).  This will automatically under-clock faster RAM. If you OC your RAM, you'll probably have to loosen timings to retain stability.

You'll also want to disable Speedstep and all of the other CPU throttlers that automatically reduce voltages and FSB speed to save your CPU in the event of an overheat and disable all spread spectrum settings.  These will likely cause you headaches if left enabled.

Also, you can't use NVidea or your motherboard BIOS software tweaking tools, as they will overide your BIOS settings.  Any such programs are best left uninstalled.  If you want to mess with your GPU seperately, install RivaTuner.  It affects only your GPU.

[Fulmar]

UPDATE 2:
My overall system temps have dropped by an average of 5C.  I added a 80mm fan behind the HD cage to help push more fresh air into the system and it has seemed to help a bid.  So its front 80mm - HD cage - 80mm intake - rest of system.

The biggest thing I did was removed the dust filter on my side fan.  I saw the biggest decrease in temps after doing that.

My core/cpu temps have really not seen a decrease and will require me to remount the CPU I believe.  on load my CPU's are are in the mid to upper 40's and the cores are reaching lower to mid 60's.

[BaldEagl]

UPDATE 2:
My overall system temps have dropped by an average of 5C.  I added a 80mm fan behind the HD cage to help push more fresh air into the system and it has seemed to help a bid.  So its front 80mm - HD cage - 80mm intake - rest of system.

The biggest thing I did was removed the dust filter on my side fan.  I saw the biggest decrease in temps after doing that.

My core/cpu temps have really not seen a decrease and will require me to remount the CPU I believe.  on load my CPU's are are in the mid to upper 40's and the cores are reaching lower to mid 60's.

Have you tried adjusting your CPU fan speed in the BIOS?  Leave it on Smartfan but lower the temp where it hits 100%.  I've got mine set for 1% @ 27C and 100% @ 55C.  Default was something like 1% @ 30C and 100% @ 60C.

[Fulmar]

My BIOS supports the Asus 'Quiet Fan.'  I believe it's a mere on/off option with no variables.  I do remember enabling it a while back but it instantly lowered the CPU fan speed to 600 RPMs, which was way too low.  Last time I checked, my CPU fan is doing 2500-3000 RPMs.

[Fulmar]

Ordered some higher RPM 120MM fans.  I don't mind if they are louder.

Also ordered a Kill-A-Watt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882715001&Tpk=Kill%2bA%2bWatt

[Getback]

Okay, I'm a little lost. My FSB is 380 x a multiple of 9 which gives me 3.42 ghz. My ram is 800. So I could set my fsb to 400 and leave my ram alone, right? btw my vcore is at 1.15.

Addendum: You know it's starting to sink in. I have DDR800 so at a single rate it's running at 400. If I'm running at 380 MHz at front side then I have 760 MHz. So I'm not bottlenecking at the ram. Hmmm maybe I should take that puppy to 400 MHz fsb.

May I ask why set the Pci-e slot to 100? Any risk in that?

Addendum: Just checked my PCI-E is at 100.

[BaldEagl]

Okay, I'm a little lost. My FSB is 380 x a multiple of 9 which gives me 3.42 ghz. My ram is 800. So I could set my fsb to 400 and leave my ram alone, right? btw my vcore is at 1.15.

Addendum: You know it's starting to sink in. I have DDR800 so at a single rate it's running at 400. If I'm running at 380 MHz at front side then I have 760 MHz. So I'm not bottlenecking at the ram. Hmmm maybe I should take that puppy to 400 MHz fsb.

May I ask why set the Pci-e slot to 100? Any risk in that?

Addendum: Just checked my PCI-E is at 100.

Your CPU core clock speed is 380.  You have a double pumped dual core processor so your front side bus speed is 4x380 or 1520.  Your RAM is DDR2 800 with a core clock speed of 400 (800/2).  To get to 1:1 you need to increase the CPU core clock to 400 or the FSB to 1600 (4x400), whichever your motherboard lets you set.  You're CPU will then be 400x9 for 3.6 Ghz.  All you want to do is set the core clocks the same to get to 1:1.

The reason you do this is so that the CPU and RAM are processing on the same clock cycles, otherwise, the faster of the two will be waiting, or rather missing opportunities, to send or recieve data from the other.