A8R32-MVP Overclocking Issues

P

Psychlone

n00b
Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Messages
46
I just got the new ASUS A8R32-MVP the other day, and after putting it together, installing XP, and getting that how I want it, I tired overclocking...it didn't turn out well AT ALL!
The FIRST thing I did was flash the new 0311 BIOS. (can't say it helped, cause I didn't even give the first one a try!)

Now for what else I've done:
I tried at first to go and change everything to reflect my old ASUS A8V Deluxe overclock (230FSB X 12.0 Multiplier, 2:1 DDR lock, set ram timings at 2.5,3,3,5, up the volts for DDR and vcore, etc. - ALL of which were stable for almost a year on that A8V)
After rebooting, it wouldn't even POST, so I unplugged, reset the jumper for a couple seconds, and tried again. Still wouldn't POST, so I reset the jumper for 10 seconds...still wouldn't POST, so I reset the jumper AND removed the battery for a few seconds. That worked.
Then realizing that I can't do everything at once, I went the simple way, and in Advanced>AI Overclocking>Overclock Profile, I set it to 15% (which is right where the A8V ran everything) - same problem...having to pull the battery as well as reset the jumper SUCKS!!!
So, I go back in, set Overclock Profile to 10% (this is 5% less than the A8V ran for a year) and same problem persists.
Then I went back in, set it to 5%, just to see, and the same damn problem.
So, all in all, I cant adjust ANYTHING but the current time in this sob right now, and even then, more than HALF the time, I have to remove the jumper AND battery and start over.
I'm thinking that my Aspire 500W PSU isn't enough to run everything I have, and so I just bought a new Antec TP2 500W PSU that will be here in 3-4 days.
Is it possible that my PSU is the problem here, or did I just waste $90? (I've watched the rails, and the 3.3 NEVER hits 3.3, it's always at 3.0 - 3.2, but never where it should be, but the 12v rail is 12.0 - 12.4, and the 5v is always at 5, so I'm not sure is it's that or not.
I did unplug EVERTHING but 1 HDD (C:) and the X1900XT, and STILL had the problem...so could it STILL be the PSU?
Long story short, I'd REALLY like to overclock this beast, and be happy with it, but right now, it's not only been a pain in my arse, it doesn't overclock AT ALL!!!!!
Then there's the HIS IceQII X1900XT...it's default clocks in CCC are 500c/594m, but it should be 625c/725m (right off the box) AND, when using Overdrive, it 'requests' 690c/800m, but never actually clocks it to that...I tried and tried, and after running 3D05 & 06 over and over, and using 'Overclocker' to set the clocks, I actually LOST points (~200 +-) I can't use ATITool either, as soon as I hit 'Find Max (Core OR Mem)' it reboots the computer, then I'm right back into the pulling the jumper AND battery routine.
Any suggestions? (I'm at wits END!)

Thank you in advance for any information you pass along.
Psychlone

ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe BIOS 0311
Athlon64 4000+ ClawHammer (overclock in progress)
2 X 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200 (overclock in progress)
HIS IceQ II Excalibur X1900XT (overclock in progress)
4 X Maxtor 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache ATA 133 - NEVER AGAIN TO BE AT RAID 0 (lost everything once!)
52X 24X 52X Lite-On CDR / 4X 2.4X 8X HP DVD300vi
Realtec HD Audio w/ 7.1 Creative Surround Speakers
Aspire X-Navigator Case w/ 500 Watt PSU & 5 Fans (Antec TP2 550W PSU on the way)
 
You have many problems - fortunately I just upgraded to this board from it's predecessor the A8R-MVP, and have worked out my issues with it to wind up with an Opteron 170 (dual 2.0 stock) running happily at 2.7Ghz using 1.5VCore with load temps of ~38°C on stock cooler.

First off, the 0311 BIOS does add some handy features related to optimsiing HTT and PCIe, but otherwise didn't do much for me

Secondly, what are your other RAM timings set to? They default to Auto, but in my experience when overclocking the board will set them to values too low to POST, and as you've found it's easy to get into a situation where CPR fails and you need to use the RTC jumper. This is a right pain for me as I have a slave X1900 in the PCIe slot right over the RTC jumper, and an SB Audigy 2 ZS below that, both long cards and completely preventing access to the jumper. The X1900 is not currently screwed to the case as I have to remove it fairly frequently while searching for max clocks.

Try setting VCore to the max value available (1.4V for an X2), VDDR to 2.9V, VCore overvoltage to +200mv, turning on Northbridge and Southbridge overvoltages, enabling auto DDR clock skew, locking HTT to 1Ghz (that is, 5x multiplier - mine has no issues running at 1350HTT), setting all DDR latency values except the base 4 (CAS-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) to their max values, setting CMD rate to 1T and trying 2.5-3-3-8 with those settings. 2.5-3-3-5 is no good for you as although changing tRAS will not affect stability, if it's below CAS+tRCD+2 it starts cutting off memory reads mid-access, causing retries and limiting performance.

If this works, you can then decrease the latency settings (all of them), one setting and one step at a time until you fail to POST. If you do get a POST fail, turn off and back on, and CPR should kick in and boot with default settings.Then reset the setting you just changed - you now know it's min value - and move on to the next. For reference, I'm using 2x1GB Corsair XMS3200, rated at DDR400 2-2-2-5-1T, and have selected the 133Mhz RAM setting - you know this is actually a 2/3 divider, so it would only actually give 133Mhz with a 200Mhz FSB? So mine is actaully running at 180Mhz due to the 270Mhz FSB (the next divider, 166Mhz (5/6 or 225Mhz with 270Mhz FSB) causes MemTest86 failures even on the most relaxed timings). At this speed, I can bring all latency settings down to minimum (except CAS1.5, also a new feature in the 0311 BIOS but unusable at sane speeds) - running at 2-2-2-6-1T with all other latencies at their lowest settings and 8-beat mode on.

Incidentally, whn clearing RTC data, you should leave the jumper shorted for at least 15 seconds or so, and the system should be unplugged before you do it - never had any problems that way. And don't bother with the built in overclocking profiles - I find it better to set everything manually, then I know exactly what's been changed.

I've also had to replace my Antec TC2 550W PSU with an Enermax Liberty 620W to cope with 2 X1900s - the Antec was unsatisfactory for a few reasons, namely insufficient wattage, no dedicated PCIe leads, only 30A on the 12V rail, and no 24-pin connector. My 3.3V value is still slightly low, but this doesn't seem to affect anything - my CPu overclock is Priem stable for 10 hours, going to do a longer test once I finish checking my mem overclock (it's at home doing that right now)

As for the X1900, that's easy. they have 2 sets of clocks - 500/600 for 2D mode, switching to 620/721 for 3D mode (should be 625/725 but close enough). The "requested" clcoks shown in Overdrive are what it will step up to when you go into 3D mode - by the nature of this you can only see the increased clocks if you attach a second monitor and load CCC on that, otherwise when you tab back the clocks drop again. Overclocker is OK, but it will lower the memory latencies on the card to achieve higher clocks, which is bad. AtiTool will work, but it isn't aware of the 2 sets of clock speeds, or of the increase in VGPU (1.125 to 1.425 I believe) the card uses when it switches to 3D mode. To get AtiTool and the X1900 to play nicely, you need to first disable the "load Overdrive clocks on startup" box in CCC, then disable the "ATI Hotkey Poller" Windows service, then set up 2 profiles in AtiTool: "2D" - 500/600/default voltages and "3D" - 625/725/1.425 VGPU. Tell it to load the 3D profile when it detects a 3D application, and it should then run the "Find max clocks" function fine. But really, just use CCC, it's far less hassle.

Oh, and is that a TAC (thermally-advantaged chassis) case? With a vent and tunnel moulded into the case and directed an the CPU, and another vent in the PCI card area? Getting a case with TAC certification certainly helped a lot of my heat problems - my last PC needed fans in every available space to stay cool, this one is happy with one rear 120mm (again part of the TAC spec and came with the case), stock Opteron DC CPU cooler, stock X1900 coolers and the PSU fan.
 
Wow... I'm glad I came here to ask these questions, as I've posted them in 3 other forums, and only been met with "I dunno what the prob could be...you're doin' sumthin' wrong" - generally followed a loud 'DUH' sound...

Ok, several things to cover.
I tore apart my whole case last night in utter desparation of trying to figure out wtF. For one reason or another, I opted to replace my Antec round IDE cables on all 4 of my ATA HDDs with the ribbon style IDE cables that came in the box (+ an extra from my A8V Del. that I never used) and I changed out the ATAPI cable with the ribbon one from the box also.
This allowed me to get directly into the BIOS (that HAD to be it, as I didn't really change anything else inside the case, aside from pull the CMOS battery and bend the retention pins up a little for more resistance)
When I could change the date/time and restart without having to pull the jumper/battery on the first try, I KNEW that I was onto something. (My guess is that either I had a round IDE cable crap out on me since my A8V a week ago, or that the new A8R32MVP doesn't like them.)
So, I started small...Overclocking 5% in Overclock Options (without changing anything else save for the time/date) - it booted to XP (FIRST TIME since getting this board!!!)
Then, I knew that I had fixed whatever issue was holding me back.
Back into the BIOS I go, determined to at least get the 2.76Ghz overclock that my A8V gave me, but this time, with manual adjustments.

Right now, my 4000+ is running at 2805MHz with the following settings:
Advanced>Jumperfree Config>Manual
CPU Freq>255
>FID/VID Change>Manual
Processor Freq Multiplier 11X
Processor Voltage>1.55v
DDR Voltage>2.80v
VCore Overvolt>+100mV
Northbridge Overvolt>Enabled
>(1.40, 1.40, 1.40)
Southbridge Overvolt>Enabled
PEG Link Mode> Auto
Advanced>CPU Configuration
HT Link Speed>800MHz
>Memory Config>Memory Timing Config>Memclock Mode>183
- then I set my timings manually to 2.5,3,3,8 and 1T and the other latencies on default
(I have SuperPi and A64 Tweaker to check and adjust the mem latencies on the fly...just to get a better idea of where to start, so that I'm not wasting time going in and out of BIOS reboots - I'll get to that in a bit.)

First thing I'm going to do here in a minute, is follow your steps (some already are done) to see whats different...
* Question: in your opinion, is it more efficient to have the lowest latencies your ram is stable at, or having it run the higher MHz? (This is why I'd like to get the MHz up to 460, as it ran SuperPi at just about 30seconds flat in my A8V, where on this board, with mem set at 183, HT 255 (RAM = 215 DDR 230) it runs SuperPI at 34-35 seconds - much slower than the A8V overclocked in much the same fashion, except for the divider (the A8V ran stable at 2:1 - 2.5,3,3,8 FSB230 X12) - not so with this new A8R32.

I'm doing well now that I actually have somehting to play with!

On the X1900XT issue I was having, I already figured out what you posted about it's 2D vs. 3D clocks, and last night I disabled the Hotkey Poller (atievxx) and was able to run 3D05 at 690c/800m using ATITool to lock those freq. with fan speed set to 100% (just for testing - there's obviously no need to OC the most powerful card on the planet!)

I DO still have a couple questions, though.
I need someone to show me, or tell me of a site that will show me how to figure out the dividers, and enable me to squeeze more out of this. @183, my memory is running 215MHz (DDR 430) and I know it will go higher, (460MHz in my A8V) but I can't just run it at 200MHz (2:1), it wont boot to XP.
So, I need some information on how to adjust the Hyper Transport Configuration section (I'm not familiar with ANYTHING in there) as well as the memclock dividers in Memclock Mode>Limit. And, how about the PCI-E frequencies...do I dare crank that up to 150? What should I do there?
Is there somewhere that I can find out more about what these settings do, so that I can understand what I need to do - or maybe you can explain what you did on yours?
That would help me out ALOT, knowing what a fellow overclockers BIOS settings are with their system spex...I could take it from there.

Thanks for all your help and understanding, I REALLY appreciate it!

Psychlone
 
Ok, glad you got it working :) Need to tweak mine a bit actually since I've just realised I should be able to up the FSB to 300 and drop the multi to 9x, or even use 318 and 8.5x, and still keep the RAM running well at low latency, just at DDR 400 or 424 instead of 360.

I have round IDE cables myself for my DVD drive and secondary (pagefile) HDD - no problems as yet, and my primary is SATA so it has a nice compact cable anyway.

2.4G > 2.8G is around 16%, which is good, but I reckon you can go higher on that voltage - I'm on 2.0G > 2.7G and that's on a dual-core, which are less heat/volt-tolerent.

DDR Voltage>2.80v
2.9 should be fine if you need it, and is what I'm using, if not just leave it there

VCore Overvolt>+100mV
Mine's at +200, but it only gives 1.52V in total, so it's more like +120mV

Northbridge Overvolt>Enabled >(1.40, 1.40, 1.40)
Mine are all at 1.2V, it doesn't seem to help much

PEG Link Mode> Auto
Doesn't seem to affect the X1900 since all this settign does is adjust the card's clocks and the X1900 is immune

HT Link Speed>800MHz
Unlike most A64 boards, the A8R32 will easily do up to around 1500 HTT - you're safe leaving this at 1Ghz on this board

>Memory Config>Memory Timing Config>Memclock Mode>183
So with 255 FSB that's 234Mhz or DDR468 then? Seems about right, maybe a bit more left in it - I had 2 Corsair XMS3200C2 512MB sticks in my original A8R before I got my curent RAM ,and they ran happily at 2-2-2-5 240Mhz/DDR480.

Question: in your opinion, is it more efficient to have the lowest latencies your ram is stable at, or having it run the higher MHz?
I have a MemTest86 boot CD, which takes only a few seconds to load after POST, and displays the current memory bandwidth. After much experimentation, I found that using a 260 FSB, the 133Mhz(2/3) divider, i.e. 173Mhz with the tightest working timings gave better results than the 166Mhz(5/6) divider, i.e. 217Mhz with the tightest working timings. This was borne out by (slightly) better results in Sandra bandwidth and 3DMark 05/06 tests.

Now with the FSB at 270 I can't run the 5/6 divider anyway, but as mentioned I'm looking into stepping the CPU multi down and shunting the FSB up to give proper DDR400 speeds - that's just because I shouldn't have to adjust latencies much bumping 180Mhz > 200/212Mhz vs going all the way to 225Mhz, so it should be a "free" gain. I'd recommend experiementing with MemTest86 and seeing what works best for you (and then letting the program run a few loops to check for stability - although 225Mhz will post for me, it won't pass MemTest Test #5 - a known problem test for A64s with overstretched memory)

Any artefacts in 3Dmark05 test #3 (Canyon Flight) at those X1900 speeds by the way? I can get my X1900 clocked up so that anything else works fine, but I get polygon vertex errors (huge spikes coming out of the sea monster and flashing on the ropes of the airship) on that test only with the VRAM speed anything above stock 625.

If you want your CPU at ~2.8G and your RAM at ~DDR460, assuming any multiplier under 12x is allowed (it should be) try FSB at 250, CPU multi at 11x and DDR at 183 (gives 2.75G/DDR458) or 276 FSB, CPU multi 10x and DDR at 166 (2.76G/DDR460), or even 230 FSB, 12x and 200 (2.76G/DDR460) Start with high latencies and then lower one at a time until you hit problems.

"Third link" in HT settings should be disabled, other settings should be Optimal/16-bit/Hi-speed. PCI-e speed can be left at 100, it doesn't make any real difference, just stops you booting :-P
 
THAT'S the inspiration and information that I needed...THANK YOU!
Here's what I came up with: (be patient...I actually copied every relevant BIOS setting down in 'flowchart form' and translated it to html)

ADVANCED
_Jumper Free Configuration
_AI Overclocking__________________Manual
_CPU Frequency__________________252
_PCIE Frequency_________________100

_FID/VID Change__________________Manual
_Processor Frequency Multiple______X11
_Processor Voltage_______________1.550V
_DDR Voltage____________________2.90V
_VCORE Voltage_________________+100mV
_Northbridge Overvolt______________Enabled
___Core Voltage__________________1.4V
___HT Bus Voltage________________1.4V
___PCIE Voltage__________________1.4V

_PEG Link Mode__________________Auto
_PEG Buffer Length________________Auto

_AI Clock SkewA__________________Auto
_AI Clock SkewB__________________Auto

_CPU Configuration
_GART Error Reporting_____________Disabled
_MTR Mapping____________________Continuous
_Cool N Quiet_____________________Disabled
_HT Link Speed___________________1 GHz

_Memory Configuration
_Memory Timing Mode_____________Limit
___Memclock Value_______________183
_MCT Timing Mode________________Manual
___CAS (CL)_____________________2.5
___TRAS________________________8
___TRP_________________________3
___TRCD________________________3
___TRRD________________________2T
___TRC_________________________7T
___TRFC________________________16T
___TRWT________________________2
_MCT Extra Timing Mode___________Manual
___TREF________________________7.8us
___DDR Input Strobe Skew_________Disabled
___Burst2Opt____________________Disabled
_User Configuration Mode__________Manual
___Read Preamble________________5.0ns
___Asyc Latency_________________7.0ns
___CMD-ADDR Timing_____________1T

_Bank Interleaving_________________Auto
_Burst Length____________________8 Beats
_Software Memory Hole____________Disabled

_ECC Configuration
___DRAM ECC Enable_____________Disabled
___L2 Cache BG Scrub_____________Disabled
___Data Cache BG Scrub___________Disabled

_Chipset
___VGA Priority___________________1st PCIE ->2nd PCIE
_HT Config
___HT Link Speed_________________1 GHz
___CPU:RD580-NB HT Link Width____16 Bit

___RD580 HT Link Three State_______Disabled
___RD580 HT Drive Strength_________Optimal
___HT Receiver Comp. Ctrl__________Optimal

___RD580 HT PLL Control___________High Speed

_PCI-E Configuration
___PCIE GFX1 Link Width___________X16
___PCIE GFX2 Link Width___________X16

___P2P Writes Between GFX Ports___Disabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX__Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GPP__Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between SB___Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX1_Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX2_Disabled

All other settings are arbitrary.
This yields 2.76GHz on AMD 4000+ w/ 1GB Corsair TwinX PC3200
I arrived at the memory timings doing just what you said...change it in BIOS, reboot, run Memtest, repeat.
Do you see anything that YOU would have done differently?

JDAdams said:
To get AtiTool and the X1900 to play nicely, you need to first disable the "load Overdrive clocks on startup" box in CCC, then disable the "ATI Hotkey Poller" Windows service, then set up 2 profiles in AtiTool: "2D" - 500/600/default voltages and "3D" - 625/725/1.425 VGPU. Tell it to load the 3D profile when it detects a 3D application, and it should then run the "Find max clocks" function fine. But really, just use CCC, it's far less hassle.
Click to expand...

Now, here's my dilemma:
CCC by itself 'requests' 689c/797m in 3D mode...and I have it set to load that profile on startup...but is it going to adjust the fan speed accordingly? I have ATITool set to load at startup, but the ONLY option thats been adjusted is the fan speeds; set to Dynamically Controlled - anything above 64*C is at 100%, then drops in percentage by 20 for every 2*C below that. That seems to give me the best all around fan noise level, while keeping the integrity of the cooling.
Is that ok, or should I just dump ATITool altogether?
Thank you for all your help!
Psychlone
 
Longest 5 post thread ever. Sorry, I have nothing to contribute other than an observation.
 
superkdogg said:
Longest 5 post thread ever. Sorry, I have nothing to contribute other than an observation.
Click to expand...

AND most informative!!! ;)

When I read my memory speed with Everest, it says It's running at 252MHz, a 15% overclock, but when I look at it with CPU-Z, it's only running at 206MHz...which one do I believe?
(and did I do all that crap above right?)

Psychlone
 
Psychlone said:
AND most informative!!! ;)

When I read my memory speed with Everest, it says It's running at 252MHz, a 15% overclock, but when I look at it with CPU-Z, it's only running at 206MHz...which one do I believe?
(and did I do all that crap above right?)

Psychlone
Click to expand...


Your HTT is set to 255 and your RAM has been stepped down to 183MHz. If your RAM really was running at 252MHz you would be running a 1:1 ratio between CPU and RAM ie you would have left your RAM at 200MHz in your Memclock value.

I would be inclined to believe CPU-Z
 
Hey guys, thanks for the great thread.

I couldn't get a single clock out of my board using the AI OC or anything else I tried in manual until I read this thread! Thanks again. I am trying to push it a little further and keep it stable.

I am a newb when it comes to OC'ing...only overclocked 4 procs before and they were all Intel Chips. The last thing I overclocked was a P4 478. So if I am asking a dumb question be gentle I am still a newb... :p

System specs.
ASUS A8r32-MVP Deluxe
Opteron 165
G.Skill 2gb PC4000 DDR 500 3,4,4,8
Sappire X1800XT
WD 250g SATA2

Anyhow Here are my questions.

1.How do I change the freaking CPU voltage? The max allowable for me is 1.4v.

2. When I originaly boot up after a BIOS error and default settings reload I have to go to the BIOS and change the following or it will not boot at all and just hangs up during initialization.....

boot settings config> Wait for "F1" if error:-----------disable
Full screen logo:------------------------------------------------disable

3. My system hangs up during initialization at the USB bus initialization for about 20seconds and then finishes no problems after that. Is this a problem? If not is there a way to stop this slowdown on bootup?

4. There is no workaround to get a USB keyboard to work in the BIOS? I have to use a very old PS2. Talked with ASUS they said no... thought I would ask people that actually used the product though.

5. In CPU-Z (v1.33) on the SPD tab it shows my memory as being 3, 5, 5, 10.....now the memory is supposed to run at 3, 4, 4, 8 . Is the SPD screen what the memory is supposed to be running?

Here are the BIOS settings I had to use to get thus far. (BTW thanks for the Format...I blatently stole it)

ADVANCED
_Jumper Free Configuration
_AI Overclocking__________________Manual
_CPU Frequency__________________225
_PCIE Frequency_________________100

_FID/VID Change__________________Manual
_Processor Frequency Multiple______X9
_Processor Voltage_______________1.40V
_DDR Voltage____________________2.80V
_VCORE Voltage_________________+100mV
_Northbridge Overvolt______________Enabled
___Core Voltage__________________1.2V
___HT Bus Voltage________________1.2V
___PCIE Voltage__________________1.2V

_PEG Link Mode__________________Auto
_PEG Buffer Length________________Auto

_AI Clock SkewA__________________Auto
_AI Clock SkewB__________________Auto

_CPU Configuration
_GART Error Reporting_____________Disabled
_MTR Mapping____________________Continuous
_Cool N Quiet_____________________Disabled
_HT Link Speed___________________1 GHz

_Memory Configuration
_Memory Timing Mode_____________Limit
___Memclock Value_______________200
_MCT Timing Mode________________Manual
___CAS (CL)_____________________3
___TRAS________________________8
___TRP_________________________4
___TRCD________________________4
___TRRD________________________2T
___TRC_________________________7T
___TRFC________________________16T
___TRWT________________________2
_MCT Extra Timing Mode___________Manual
___TREF________________________7.8us
___DDR Input Strobe Skew_________Disabled
___Burst2Opt____________________Disabled
_User Configuration Mode__________Manual
___Read Preamble________________5.0ns
___Asyc Latency_________________7.0ns
___CMD-ADDR Timing_____________1T

_Bank Interleaving_________________Auto
_Burst Length____________________4Beats
_Software Memory Hole____________Disabled

_ECC Configuration
___DRAM ECC Enable_____________Disabled
___L2 Cache BG Scrub_____________Disabled
___Data Cache BG Scrub___________Disabled

_Chipset
___VGA Priority___________________1st PCIE ->2nd PCIE
_HT Config
___HT Link Speed_________________1 GHz
___CPU:RD580-NB HT Link Width____16 Bit

___RD580 HT Link Three State_______Disabled
___RD580 HT Drive Strength_________Optimal
___HT Receiver Comp. Ctrl__________Optimal

___RD580 HT PLL Control___________High Speed

_PCI-E Configuration
___PCIE GFX1 Link Width___________X16
___PCIE GFX2 Link Width___________X16

___P2P Writes Between GFX Ports___Disabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX__Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GPP__Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between SB___Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX1_Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX2_Disabled
 
First, welcome to the A8R32-MVP Deluxe!!
Second, you're welcome for the info (and BIOS html format!)
Now, since I'm still playing with all this, and probably will never settle with 1 way, I'll try to give you a hand (but still hoping that someone with more knowledge/experience will chime in!)

1) The Max allowable Voltage for your Opty is 1.4
-> You can enable "Core Overvolt" up to +200mV, which is actually like 1.2V, but it helps.
(not sure of the ramifications for your proc here, though...someone else chime in plz!)
2) You need to set the following from how you have it:
-> boot settings config> Wait for "F1" if error:-----------disable to ENABLE
Full screen logo:------------------------------------------------disable (this one doesn't matter)
You don't have to load DEFAULT settings every time you go too far...hit F1 instead of F2 to go back into the BIOS with current settings, and revert JUST the setting that pushed it too far.
3) Mine also hung at the USB init. for a few extra seconds.
-> I think what I did was ENABLE USB Legacy Support, and set to HIGH SPEED
(I also have PS2 support ENABLED just in case I can't get anywhere with my USB keyboard/ mouse once in BIOS or XP - but it hasn't happened yet...call it a failsafe.)
4) Bullsh*t. I have ONLY used an USB keyboard in the BIOS, without any problems whatsoever.
-> Go into BIOS and ENABLE USB Legacy Support (I think that's how I did it??!)
5) SPD is what the manufacturer says it's supposed to run at, but that don't mean crap.
My Corsair TwinX is supposed to be 2.5,3,3,8 @ 2T - but I've ran it as low as 2.5,2,2,5 @1T in my old A8V Deluxe (this A8R32-MVP runs better on 8tRas, so I leave it there, but as you can see, adjusting [ONE] latency at a time is the way to get the best results from your ram (and all of 'em are different!)

As for your other BIOS settings that you've posted, I'm not an expert, I only know what components I use, and I'm still experimenting with them.
Your settings seem to look good. I know that the higher overclocks require more voltage, so you'll have to compensate somewhere.
(mostly I posted here to quell some of your questions, and hope that this thread stays alive so that some major GURUS can join in and give some killer advice, as JDAdams did.

Psychlone
 
Heh, I am an idiot and wasn't even reading some of the BIOS settings I guess.

1. The VCore one completely excaped me. Ok what I am getting on the Asus Probe and CPU-Z are that for +100mv on the Vcore are .1v and for the +200mv I am only showing an increase of .12v this what you were refering to?

2. Setting my USB to legacy and high speed (which is where I have always had them) does not allow me to use any USB devices in the BIOS......It does recognise a USB hub I have connected to it though.

3. However turning that off DID stop the hanging during the USB initialization part.

5. I am talking with G.Skill in email, the support person thinks I have a BIOS setting issue, and that he can fix it without having to RMA it. .....Man I hope it is that simple.
 
Great thread!! As a fellow A8R32-MVP owner, the info in this thread has been invaluable to me to get a good OC started. Except for the really long post screen (longest I've ever seen), this board is blazing fast.

I'm so glad I trashed my POS Abit AV8 for this beauty, its got me all excited about OCing again! The 'ole XP-90 just won't cut it anymore for me, got a Zalman CNPS 9500 on the way now. Lets see how far we can take our systems with this bad boy. :D
 
Was able to POST 300 today HT after resetting my HSF with some AS ceramique. Had to use the RAM dividers though as my RAM still wont post even stock speeds of 250, highest I can get the RAM to go is 230 HT....
 
Well that didn't take long to get it fixed from my last post.

After 3 emails with a G.Skill rep he was able to get my settings where they needed to be to Post and am as I am typing running 2xPrime95 to see how stable it is going to be.

So far what I know about the system the CPU/MoBo will run 300+, the RAM is looking like it is not having problems @ 250 so far. (keeping my fingers crossed, was pretty worried the RAM was gimped but looks like it was operator error.)

Here are my settings @ 250FSB

System specs.
ASUS A8r32-MVP Deluxe
Opteron 165 - CCBWE 0607 UPBW
G.Skill 2gb PC4000 DDR 500 3,4,4,8
Sappire X1800XT
WD 250g SATA2

The two settings in RED are what I had to change to go from 230 to 250HT (from the above settings)...not sure why the memory didn't like those settings...anyone know? Are those two settings adversely affecting the memory speed, should they run lower? Or are the current settings acceptable and within the advertised memory speed?

ADVANCED
_Jumper Free Configuration
_AI Overclocking__________________Manual
_CPU Frequency__________________250
_PCIE Frequency_________________100

_FID/VID Change__________________Manual
_Processor Frequency Multiple______X9
_Processor Voltage_______________1.40V
_DDR Voltage____________________2.60v
_VCORE Voltage_________________Auto
_Northbridge Overvolt______________Enabled
___Core Voltage__________________1.2V
___HT Bus Voltage________________1.2V
___PCIE Voltage__________________1.2V

_PEG Link Mode__________________Auto
_PEG Buffer Length________________Auto

_AI Clock SkewA__________________Auto
_AI Clock SkewB__________________Auto

_CPU Configuration
_GART Error Reporting_____________Disabled
_MTR Mapping____________________Continuous
_Cool N Quiet_____________________Disabled
_HT Link Speed___________________1 GHz

_Memory Configuration
_Memory Timing Mode_____________Limit
___Memclock Value_______________200
_MCT Timing Mode________________Manual
___CAS (CL)_____________________3
___TRAS________________________8
___TRP_________________________4
___TRCD________________________4
___TRRD________________________2T
___TRC_________________________7T
___TRFC________________________16T
___TRWT________________________3
_MCT Extra Timing Mode___________Manual
___TREF________________________7.8us
___DDR Input Strobe Skew_________Disabled
___Burst2Opt____________________Disabled
_User Configuration Mode__________Manual
___Read Preamble________________5.0ns
___Asyc Latency_________________8.0ns
___CMD-ADDR Timing_____________1T

_Bank Interleaving_________________Auto
_Burst Length____________________4Beats
_Software Memory Hole____________Disabled

_ECC Configuration
___DRAM ECC Enable_____________Disabled
___L2 Cache BG Scrub_____________Disabled
___Data Cache BG Scrub___________Disabled

_Chipset
___VGA Priority___________________1st PCIE ->2nd PCIE
_HT Config
___HT Link Speed_________________1 GHz
___CPU:RD580-NB HT Link Width____16 Bit

___RD580 HT Link Three State_______Disabled
___RD580 HT Drive Strength_________Optimal
___HT Receiver Comp. Ctrl__________Optimal

___RD580 HT PLL Control___________High Speed

_PCI-E Configuration
___PCIE GFX1 Link Width___________X16
___PCIE GFX2 Link Width___________X16

___P2P Writes Between GFX Ports___Disabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX__Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GPP__Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between SB___Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX1_Enabled
___10% Extra Current Between GFX2_Disabled
 
Reagent said:
So far what I know about the system the CPU/MoBo will run 300+
Click to expand...

I can confirm that. I had my board running at 305x4.5 with my opty 165 just to see how high it could go and it posed first time on stock voltages.
This thread has inspired me to start oc'in sometime soon, I just have to drag myself away from Oblivion for a weekend.

I'll put a post up If I get around to OC'in and let you know how it works out.

Excellent thread btw.
 
Have it cranked up to 270 and running prime95 for stress ATM. WIll load it up with 290-300 tomorrow.
 
Heres where I'm at currently...Prime95 stable for 17 hours.

ADVANCED
_Jumper Free Configuration
_AI Overclocking__________________ Manual
_CPU Frequency__________________285
_PCIE Frequency_________________100

_FID/VID Change__________________Manual
_Processor Frequency Multiple______X10
_Processor Voltage_______________1.550V
_DDR Voltage____________________2.90V
_VCORE Voltage_________________+200mV
_Northbridge Overvolt______________Enabled
___Core Voltage__________________1.4V
___HT Bus Voltage________________1.4V
___PCIE Voltage__________________1.4V

_PEG Link Mode__________________Auto
_PEG Buffer Length________________Auto

_AI Clock SkewA__________________Auto
_AI Clock SkewB__________________Auto

_CPU Configuration
_GART Error Reporting_____________Disabled
_MTR Mapping____________________Continuous
_Cool N Quiet_____________________Disabled
_HT Link Speed___________________1 GHz

_Memory Configuration
_Memory Timing Mode_____________Limit
___Memclock Value_______________166
_MCT Timing Mode________________Manual
___CAS (CL)_____________________2.5
___TRAS_______________________ _8
___TRP________________________ _3
___TRCD_______________________ _3
___TRRD_______________________ _2T
___TRC________________________ _7T
___TRFC_______________________ _16T
___TRWT_______________________ _2
_MCT Extra Timing Mode___________Manual
___TREF_______________________ _7.8us
___DDR Input Strobe Skew_________Disabled
___Burst2Opt__________________ __Disabled
_User Configuration Mode__________Manual
___Read Preamble________________5.0ns
___Asyc Latency_________________7.0ns
___CMD-ADDR Timing_____________1T

RED marks the changes that I've done...it didn't really take much to get 2.85GHz outta this 4000+ Claw.
Effectively, my memory is running (with the 166 'divider') at 475MHz (that's pretty good for 400MHz PC3200, but I don't think I'll get much more out of them...)

So, the math looks like this:

(CPU Multiplier * HTT Frequency) / (CPU Multiplier/(Memory Multiplier)) = Memory Frequency

(10 X 285 = 2850) / (10 / .83333) = 237.50MHz (475MHz DDR)

I was never able to get this memory higher than 460+- in my old A8V Deluxe, so I'm sure that there's not much headroom for more of an oc here...but, I ran the RAM benchmarks from PCMark05, as well as the new Everest Ultimate Edition, and got:
7160 Read 7106 Write 6179 Copy @ 43.8ns (That's close to 1000MB/s of bandwidth higher in each category than my highest on that A8V Deluxe (which was an EXCELLENT board!)
Needless to say, this A8R32-MVP is The Stuff Things Are Made Of!!!!!

Psychlone
 
My machine will post and run at 275, It even runs prime 95 for hours with no issue....but when I play a game after about 1hr it (the game) hangs up- and I have to go to the task manager and force it to shut down. The funny thing is Windows doesn't ever have to reboot and never fails it is just games.

Never seen that before.

I can run the machine at 300 FSB with the ram divider for ever and have no issues in games so I am thinking I am at the limit of the RAM at 275?

Any Ideas?
 
i've been having problems getting my 170 to oc at all... one core craps out in prime at 230mhz, but the whole system is flakey before that... runs fine at stock, but before i start rma'ing i'm going to test the board with a different processor, and the processor on a different board...
 
any luck?

My gear tops out at 275 for the RAM and my opty 165 tops ends at 305.
 
I'm thinking that it's your graphics card.
What was it again?
Is it getting hot? Overclocked?
Sounds to me like a VPU recover error (If it's an ATI card)
I doubt that it's something to do with your board...sounds more like your card.

Psychlone
 
Reagent said:
My machine will post and run at 275, It even runs prime 95 for hours with no issue....but when I play a game after about 1hr it (the game) hangs up- and I have to go to the task manager and force it to shut down. The funny thing is Windows doesn't ever have to reboot and never fails it is just games.

Never seen that before.

I can run the machine at 300 FSB with the ram divider for ever and have no issues in games so I am thinking I am at the limit of the RAM at 275?

Any Ideas?
Click to expand...
There's that stupid Asus PEG thingy (forgive my vaguery) that overclocks the PCI-E bus automagically. If that's on, it could be that your PCI-e is running out of spec and causes the errors at the higher oc's. Just a thought.
 
This thread is going to be my lifesaver, I can already tell. I just built my new machine last night and the stats are in my sig.

Tonight I am going to get windows installed and start acquiring the stress testing and tweaking tools in preparation for the OC. My goal is ~2.5-2.6ghz and I will be more than happy. This will be my first OC so if anyone has any advice it would be more than helpful.

Thanks in advance to everyone, and pardon my OC'ing noobness. :)
 
this is my first PCI-E mobo and curious if there is a PCI lock? or does it lock once you set the PCIE bus to 100? just installed last night had a bad OC at some conservative settings (250HTT 1:1) and had to reinstall WinXP since it wasn't stable when i was doing the fresh install. (i know it's a cardinal sin of installing with an untested OC)
 
Ok trajik...SEVERE REPRIMAND!!!
Now that you know better than to install an OS on an overclock, YES, when you set PCIFreq to 100, it's locked.
But, my question is this: Why do you think it has something to do with PCIEFreq? Did you adjust that in BIOS - BEFORE testing what you were doing?
I've played around with it a bit, and can't find ANY reason whatsoever to set it any higher than 100...and I have other components using the channels. I've benched with it at everything from 100 to 150, and can't find a use for it at all.
Anyway, use the math equation to overclock AFTER you install your OS, and BEFORE you overclock...that way, you're not wasting time overclocking blindly.

(CPU Multiplier * HTT Frequency) / (CPU Multiplier/(Memory Multiplier)) = Memory Frequency

Psychlone
 
If you plan on using clockgen to overclock you will have to set your PCIE frequency to something other than 100 for some reason....I set mine to 101.
 
Psychlone said:
Ok trajik...SEVERE REPRIMAND!!!
Now that you know better than to install an OS on an overclock, YES, when you set PCIFreq to 100, it's locked.
But, my question is this: Why do you think it has something to do with PCIEFreq? Did you adjust that in BIOS - BEFORE testing what you were doing?

Psychlone
Click to expand...
i know i know, just couldnt wait. reason i tought it maybe a PCI lock prob is that i was running 250HTT 1:1 on my MSI Neo2 Plat. so i gave it a go...cant really think off the bat why it wouldnt have worked at 250HTT, had PCIE @ 100, ram @ 200 CPu @ 250. so even with a modest OC its good to do the NB/SB overvolt?

im going to go through the whole OC process tonight.
 
Hey guys,

I'm another noob when it comes to overclocking, and could use your collective wisdom with OC'ing an Opteron 165 and this board.

Here's the situation. The machine is perfect at stock. Dual prime stable for 6+ hours, full load temps at about 45 degrees. When I overclock it to 270x9, it starts doing some weird things. A lot of visual artifacts with any video files, 3dmark06 won't start, Oblivion crashes on load; in short, all sorts of nasty things.

So I dialed it back to 250x9. Everything seems to be much better, I can watch videos, oblivions plays fine. But it won't dual prime stable for me. I can get one core to run hours upon hours fine, but as soon as I start the second one it craps out almost immediately on a rounding error and it tells me I have a hardware failure.

So the magic question is, how do I get it to dual prime stable at 250x9 (2250mhz)? I know it's possible, a friend of mine has the same mobo/chipset/heatsink etc and he's got his running 285x9 dual stable. The one thing we don't share is memory. He's got OCZ pc3200 gold, I've got OCZ pc4000 gold with 3-4-3-8 rated timings.

Currently it's set to 1:1 which is what the ram is rated at (DDR500) and I've tried setting the base 4 to the listed timings, and left the rest on auto and it still craps out on me. I've raised the ddr voltage up to 2.8 as well.

Is the ram my problem? If not, what else would be preventing me from getting dual prime stable?
 
What are you doing with CPU voltage? Prime failures at high speed are more often than not CPU related (if it's a rounding error, it's the CPU), and can generally be solved by throwing more voltage at the CPU (up to a point).

Just because many people can get a lot of OC out of stock voltage on an Opty doesn't mean they ALL do that...give it a bit more juice and see what happens.
 
Croak said:
What are you doing with CPU voltage? Prime failures at high speed are more often than not CPU related (if it's a rounding error, it's the CPU), and can generally be solved by throwing more voltage at the CPU (up to a point).

Just because many people can get a lot of OC out of stock voltage on an Opty doesn't mean they ALL do that...give it a bit more juice and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Thats true, also sometimes you just hit a wall where you cannot go any higher unless you run ridiculasly high voltage or get better cooling, for example I can go up to [email protected] volts and it primes for hours, then I can proceed to bump it up to [email protected] or [email protected] the temps at 1.525 are way high like 62C load, thats why I think I could get a bit more out of the chip if I had better cooling, but I don't want to spend any more money on cooling so I just run at [email protected] volts that way load temps are only 44-46C.
 
Croak said:
What are you doing with CPU voltage? Prime failures at high speed are more often than not CPU related (if it's a rounding error, it's the CPU), and can generally be solved by throwing more voltage at the CPU (up to a point).

Just because many people can get a lot of OC out of stock voltage on an Opty doesn't mean they ALL do that...give it a bit more juice and see what happens.
Click to expand...

It is a rounding error, which is a bit puzzling as I'm running at 1.35v +100mv overvoltage (although according ot CPUZ it's more like 1.42v instead of 1.45) which should be plenty of power for the clock speeds I am going for.

The bios is weird. Apparently the friend that has the similar system can see voltage options up to 1.4 on the same chip, while I can only see up to 1.35. Not sure what that's about.

In either case i'll try bumping up the voltage to +200mv over and see how the sucker performs.Thanks for the tip.
 
i have vCORE up to 1.45v with BIOS 0404. FYI im Priming right now with 4x 260HTT 1:1 @ 1.4v. i know my g.skill 2GBHZ aint the best lot, i think i can get up to 265FSB with it, but not the PC4400 speeds that some have had.
 
Not your RAM in my opinion.
My PC3200 is running at a blazing 237.5MHz (475DDR) right now, and completely stable on PRIME95 for 24 hours.
The key to CPU overclocking is Voltage (giving that you didn't crap out on the gamble of cores - not ALL are created even close to equal!)
The reason you can only seel 1.35V as top option in your BIOS is that ASUS sets CPU V limits to lessen the chance of burning up CPUs.
But, thankfully, they also realize the growing overclocking movement...and gave us Overvolt!
With Overvolt, you can get up to ~.12V extra (it took my 1.55V max up to 1.72V) and allowed me to overclock this Clawhammer to 2.85GHz @ 1GHz HT w/ 5/6 divider & 1T timings!
Point being, if you have good cooling (DO NOT ATTEMPT WITHOUT MONITORING!!!) you can up the voltage via the Overvolt (as well as North/Southbride Overvolt) and probably do a little better.
Keep in mind that the components you purchased are guaranteed to run at the speeds they are marked as...nothing more, so if you get ANYTHING higher than their 'stock' speeds, you have effectively cheated the system!

Psychlone
 
trajik78 said:
i have vCORE up to 1.45v with BIOS 0404. FYI im Priming right now with 4x 260HTT 1:1 @ 1.4v. i know my g.skill 2GBHZ aint the best lot, i think i can get up to 265FSB with it, but not the PC4400 speeds that some have had.
Click to expand...
have you tried these timings below? The person I got them from said they should be good up to 270mhz at vdimm 2.6V

CAS 3.0
TRAS 8.0
TRP 4.0
TRCD 4.0
TRRD 2T
TRC 8T
TRFC 16T
TRWT 4 CLK

MCT Extra Timing mode Auto
User Config Manual
Read Preamble 5.5ns
Async Latency 7.0ns
CMD-ADDR Timing 1T
Bank Interleaving Auto
Burst Length 4 Beats
Hardware Memory Hole Disabled

Set DDR voltage to be 2.6V
 
psupef2k said:
have you tried these timings below? The person I got them from said they should be good up to 270mhz at vdimm 2.6V

CAS 3.0
TRAS 8.0
TRP 4.0
TRCD 4.0
TRRD 2T
TRC 8T
TRFC 16T
TRWT 4 CLK

MCT Extra Timing mode Auto
User Config Manual
Read Preamble 5.5ns
Async Latency 7.0ns
CMD-ADDR Timing 1T
Bank Interleaving Auto
Burst Length 4 Beats
Hardware Memory Hole Disabled

Set DDR voltage to be 2.6V
Click to expand...

Tried them, timings don't seem to affect my gskill much as its pretty much capped at 230Mhz, so I have to use a divider to go over.
 
sculelos said:
Tried them, timings don't seem to affect my gskill much as its pretty much capped at 230Mhz, so I have to use a divider to go over.
Click to expand...
which g.skill memory do you have? 2gbHZ? That is supposed to be 250mhz stock.
 
jonolicious said:
It is a rounding error, which is a bit puzzling as I'm running at 1.35v +100mv overvoltage (although according ot CPUZ it's more like 1.42v instead of 1.45) which should be plenty of power for the clock speeds I am going for.

The bios is weird. Apparently the friend that has the similar system can see voltage options up to 1.4 on the same chip, while I can only see up to 1.35. Not sure what that's about.

In either case i'll try bumping up the voltage to +200mv over and see how the sucker performs.Thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...

Could be that even 1.42v just isn't enough to get your particular Opty on that particular board to run your target speed stable.

Increase overvolt to +200mv, and pull the vCore back down a few clicks to split the difference, that should put you right at 1.475v to 1.5v, give or take due to fluctuations, see if that helps. Idle and load temps will go up a few degrees, but with a decent cooler it shouldn't be a big deal.

And you can always turn on Cool 'n Quiet to keep the idle temps lower. So far, Cool 'n Quiet on my A8R32 has caused no issues on my setup...I run 1.5v under load (1.375 +200mv Overvolt), and when Cool 'n Quiet is active, it drops my multiplier down to 5x and vCore to 1.28v (it basically lowers the vCore to 1.1v, but the Overvolt is still added). That idles me in the 30's, same as a "stock" clocked 90nm core. The only downside is that some benchmarks will read a bit lower because Cool n' Quiet is active for the first few seconds of a run.

BTW, I seriously doubt it's your RAM. I'm using 2gb of the same stuff, and I can push it up to 270 at 3-4-3-8 1t with no problems. (I generally run 246x11 on the CPU, so I set my ram to 213mhz/DDR433, which runs it at 270). 250 should be a non-issue with that RAM, as long as some of the more esoteric settings aren't out of line.

Follow this guide for RAM settings (keeping your 3 4 4 8, and using the recommended "safe" settings for everything else, and experiment with Driving Strength Reduce). You can also try raising Async Latency from 7.0ns to 8.0ns, which seems to help some people with UCCC chips, but that's only really needed if you're trying to push past 250.
 
yup my g.skill 2GBHZ has topped out @ 270HTT (1.4v). im currently running 1:1 and am happy with the performance and OC i have so far. i figure when i get bored i'll mess around with a divider and see how far i can push my Opty.
 
JDAdams said:
You have many problems - fortunately I just upgraded to this board from it's predecessor the A8R-MVP, and have worked out my issues with it to wind up with an Opteron 170 (dual 2.0 stock) running happily at 2.7Ghz using 1.5VCore with load temps of ~38°C on stock cooler.
Click to expand...
What stepping opteron do you have? I currently have this board, an opteron 170 at 2.6ghz, with Vcore 1.5v, 2GBHZ G.SKILL memory and prime is failing on core 0 in < 2 minutes.

I had it 2+ hours prime stable at this voltage at 2.5ghz, but when I upped the HTT to 260 (x10 multiplier), it is not stable at all.

Cooling is SI-120 w/ 120mm delta fan, and temps are idle ~32C-33C, load before prime fails is 43-44C, so that seems fine...I just can't figure out why it's failing so quick at 2.6ghz. Any thoughts?
 
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