AB9 QuadGT + 45nm proc- breathing some life into an "old" board

[Chaos_Being]

I recently came across some information regarding a beta bios that allows the use of 45nm processors on this motherboard. I've been running this board for a little over a year now along with a mediocre-clocking e6600 @ 3.3ghz. This beta bios perked my interest immediately because of the good results most have been getting with the Wolfdales. Well, the bios flash went without a hitch and I've been testing a Xeon e3110 and a new set of G.Skill pc8500 for the last week...

Results as of now:

4.1ghz is Orthos small ftt stable so far with 1.325 vcore set in the bios, along with 1.4v cpu VTT, 1.45v MCH, and 1.15v ICH. I can get it to be ~4hr Orthos blend stable at 4.2ghz with 1.345 vcore and 1.55v MCH, however the temps on my PWM's climb into the mid-80's. I did not bother pushing voltages further to get 4.2ghz stable because of this heat...I have two 60mm Vantec Stealth fans on the way (one will go on the NB heatsink, the other on the PWM heatsink) to try to lower these temps. Then I will see if I can get 4.2ghz 24 hours stable. I'll post back with my results after the fan installations.

In the meantime, I am going to finish off my testing with a 24 hour blend test, and then some extended test loops of 3Dmark06.

I'm planning on slapping a 4870x2 in there after they come out, and then trying to curb my "upgrade-itis" until Nehalem and its supporting hardware come down in price

 

[vick1000]

1.672 vcore? Are you nuts?

 

[SolidBladez]

1.672 vcore? Are you nuts?

Nope, you just can't read.

4.1ghz is Orthos small ftt stable so far with 1.325 vcore set in the bios, along with 1.4v cpu VTT, 1.45v MCH, and 1.15v ICH. I can get it to be ~4hr Orthos blend stable at 4.2ghz with 1.345 vcore and 1.55v MCH, however the temps on my PWM's climb into the mid-80's. I did not bother pushing voltages further to get 4.2ghz stable because of this heat..

Nice temps by the way. I'm hoping on getting a Xeon Quad as well.

 

[BUFF]

however the temps on my PWM's climb into the mid-80's. I did not bother pushing voltages further to get 4.2ghz stable because of this heat...

the warning level for the digital PWM is 125C & no doubt there is a tolerance for even that so 80C isn't a problem as far as the PWM components are concerned.

 

[Chaos_Being]

1.672 vcore? Are you nuts?

CPU-Z has never displayed correct vcore with this board, so just ignore that!

the warning level for the digital PWM is 125C & no doubt there is a tolerance for even that so 80C isn't a problem as far as the PWM components are concerned.

You're right, but I'd still like to see what sort of temps I can get with a little active cooling before I go any further. It doesn't help that my computer room is on the 2nd floor, which gets really hot in the summer because of the design of my house.

 

[Chaos_Being]

4.2 GHZ:

I'm not 100% sure if I will stay here or back down to 4.1ghz for 24/7 usage though. 4.1ghz is stable with 1.325v (bios) and 1.45v MCH. 4.2ghz requires 1.355v (bios), and 1.55v MCH. The idle volts for 4.2ghz fluctuate around 1.32-1.34v, with the occasional spike up to 1.36v according to uGuru, load is right around 1.3-1.32v. So technically, the voltage should be ok. My VID is pretty high, so I'm only at a 15% increase in voltage over stock, which isn't bad. The max core temp of 70c in one of my screenshots looks a little too high, but that was in the middle of the day when my 2nd floor was probably around 95F (the central air doesn't reach up to the 2nd floor too well, but I have a secondary air conditioner that I run at all times when I'm actually up there. I usually keep it in the mid-high 70's.) It isn't that bad if you take that into consideration...

Honestly the 1.55v MCH is a little more concerning than the vcore, but considering that I've seen a lot of people run this board up over 1.6v, then perhaps I shouldn't be too concerned.

Enough of the worrytalk though, I got almost 1000 additional 3dmarks over my old 3.3ghz e6600 overclock, and all of my Sandra scores skyrocketed :clap: So all in all, I'm a happy camper!

 

[jzodda]

Nice numbers. That's still a good board. Slap a good video card in that puppy and that system is high end for a good deal longer.

Those last few enthusiast P965 boards that came out were all very good. This board is amazingly OC friendly. I am getting an 8400 myself soon and will also aim for 4100mhz

 

[jzodda]

New E0 stepping. First shot at 4ghz, stock everything. Remember to ignore CPU-Z as it gets the voltage wrong. LOL I don't think my cpu would even survive the voltage they are listing. It's a problem with this motherboard since its release, never fixed. Look at Abit Uguru for bios Vcore.

 

[Mr. K6]

New E0 stepping. First shot at 4ghz, stock everything
[/QUOTE]
Holy christ that's a lot of voltage, what's it set at in the BIOS?

 

[jzodda]

Holy christ that's a lot of voltage, what's it set at in the BIOS?

Ignore the Cpu-Z reading as its never correct. Check out the Uguru screen for the more accurate reading.

Stock means I can't set it any lower (1.25vcore) and you are of course seeing some vdroop at load.

 

[Mr. K6]

You sure you reading it right? Examine the screenie a little closer

Stock means I can't set it any lower (1.25vcore) and you are of course seeing some vdroop at load.

That's your VID, which is the processors stock voltage. Your current voltage is shown as 1.528V in CPU-Z, that's very high for a 45nm chip.

 

[jzodda]

That's your VID, which is the processors stock voltage. Your current voltage is shown as 1.528V in CPU-Z, that's very high for a 45nm chip.

LOL you beat me to my edit. I would never ever ever set my vcore that high.

Forget the CPU-Z as its wrong. It always gets it wrong, but I do have a version from late last year. (just checked new version also is wrong)

The correct vcore reading is in the abit panels. That corresponds to the bios settings.

4ghz on stock voltage

 

[Mr. K6]

LOL you beat me to my edit. I would never ever ever set my vcore that high.

Forget the CPU-Z as its wrong. It always gets it wrong, but I do have a version from late last year. (just checked new version also is wrong)

The correct vcore reading is in the abit panels. That corresponds to the bios settings.

4ghz on stock voltage

Ah, in that case congrats, that's one hell of an overclock on stock

 

[jzodda]

Ah, in that case congrats, that's one hell of an overclock on stock

thanks! Kind of strange feeling as 4ghz was my goal. Didn't expect it so fast with no changes lol.

This cpu probably deserves a newer chipset but I have to say this motherboard has been a joy to overclock with. I was going for 4ghz for my 24/7 but I may as well move that up now.

 

[jzodda]

CPU-Z reports wrong vcore on Abit QuadGT so:

4.1 Ghz
Vcore (at idle) 1.31
VTT: 1.40
Mch 1.55

I didn't do much testing at 4.2 Ghz but did some without issue at Vcore 1.33- I will test more tomorrow.

I was able to do this also but my memory craps out so its not stable.

With a newer chipset (this motherboard is from early 2007) and better mem I think I can easily do better. As it is I am impressed that the AB9 QuadGT does this well with it.

 

[Rattle]

nice clocks and I loved abits 965 and p34, 1,4vtt is a bit excessive though i would think 1.25 should be enuff for it.

 

[jzodda]

nice clocks and I loved abits 965 and p34, 1,4vtt is a bit excessive though i would think 1.25 should be enuff for it.

The board doesn't let me choose on the 5's. I can choose 1.10, 1.20, 1.30 and 1.40.

After reading your post I booted up with 1.30VTT and started Orthos Blend. After 1 minute the whole system froze. At 4.0 Ghz it runs at default speed but needs a big jump to get stable for 4.1 and up. Nothing under 1.40 VTT seems to work.

It doesn't bother me too much though as the Intel specs for the 8400 state 1.45 VTT is the max and I am under that at least. My temps are fairly low in this low temp room as well. Sure I would like to run it lower but as long as its stable with low temps I will risk it

 

[jzodda]

nice clocks and I loved abits 965 and p34, 1,4vtt is a bit excessive though i would think 1.25 should be enuff for it.

I have been reading up on stories of these 45nm CPU's degrading and it was your post that got me to spend some time on this. I don't want this happening to me if I can help it.

I was able to lower to 1.30VTT by raising Mch to 1.60v from its previous 1.55v

My NB is actively cooled with a large heatsink/Fan and is cool to the touch even at 1.70v so I am not worried there, but the VTT stuff is worrying.

I may even try to raise Mch to 1.65 and Vcore from 1.30 to 1.31 to see if I can get that VTT down some more.

 

[Bo_Fox]

What BIOS version exactly? Is it beta version, and where can I get it?