OC'ing QX6700 on Striker with SLI

Hey guy's, (and girls)

I'm trying to OC my Quad Core Extreme on the Asus Striker Extreme mobo. But so far had no luck. I'm running bios 0901 and waiting untill the 1002 becomes official. But there are some strange things. When I increase the multiplier to 11 (from 10 default) the system crashes in Windows. And raising the FSB, I only can go untill 1130MHz. I want to OC but not to raise the voltages to much. So first I need to know how the voltages should be exactly and correctly and there is the problem I think. Maybe bios 1002 will fix it but I already destroyed the bios chip with the 0803. I want to wait for an official release.

I'm also running 2x nVidia 8800GTX in SLI. And this is where I think things become strange. When I put my voltages in auto, I get 3 alarms in PC Probe II. The NB, SB and 1.2VHT are to high.

NB = 1.50V (I think this sould be 1.4V)
SB = 1.71V (This I think should be 1.5V)
1.2VHT = 1.5V (And this, like the name said should be 1.2V)

Now maybe because I'm running SLI the mobo raises these for a reason. So maybe this is normal and should be like this. But I don't like the "maybe" and I don't like to reduce the life-span of this expensive mobo... So I've putted the voltages like I think they should be exept the 1.2V is now at 1.35V (bios, in probe its 1.4V). When I put the 1.2V like it should, I get the feeling the system is less stable.

When I look at the people who do managed to overclock their system, they mostly don't have a system with an SLI setup like mine. Also I found out (not sure about this) that without SLI the NB and SB voltages are normal. The perfect scenario for me will be that I can overclock my system to a 1200FSB. This without really increasing the voltages to much. Seeing in the forums I think this should be possible.

So my questions. Is there someone with the same configuration like mine that actually has managed to OC? Anyone has a thought one the PC Probe warnings? Why are they on my rig higher then on another? Is this normal? When I leave them on auto, can this damage the mobo or something else in time?

Another thing what might help to know is, when I try OC the FSB and the system hangs, the LCD message is DET-INI. Maybe someone knows what this means. I haven't got a clue.

One thing I'm happy about is the fact that when the OC fails, I just turn off the system and back on again and the bios resets himself. This works fine. I want to learn about the OC'ing thing. Yes, I've read the nVidia guide for the 680i. But before I start overclocking I want to understand what I'm exactly doing. Why I'm raising voltages and so on. For expample. If I'm right the Vcore voltage is the power to the cpu, and the CPU VTT voltage is the termination voltage. So when you increase the Vcore, shouldn't you increase the VTT also? I know OC'ing is a lot off trying and errors but knowing what happens is helpfull.

Thx in advance

PS: Yes, I'm a n00b

There is no way anyone can tell you what your VOLTAGES need to be set at BUT "YOU". You have to try out the voltage options in your BIOS and see what your chip wants / likes.... If your using the stock HSF unit, dont go crazy with the Vcore, if your using an aftermarket HSF like the SCYTHE INFINITY you can scale well with it. I would raise the Vcore to 1.375 and see how far you can go with that on the stock HSF, and probably no more until you get an aftermarket HSF.

I did some more testing. As I was following the voltage thread about this mobo I increased (well, put it back to auto really) the NB voltage. This is now 1.5V and an alarm in PC Probe.

Now I was able to get the cpu multiplier to 11 from 10 which gives the cpu a clock speed of 2.9GHz. A multiplier off 12 was not possible but I guess I have to raise the Vcore a little to get that stable. The FSB was another thing. Still not possible to go beyond the 1140MHz. I guess I have to wait for Asus to bring out a final bios for this mobo. I first want everything to be normal at stock speeds before I try really OC'ing. But then, what are my stock settings? Normally I would think auto settings, but those alarms in PC Probe worries me.

I wouldn't go crazy about software running a muck with its alarms. These programs are used across a wide variety of systems so their value to each system isn't the same. As for the BIOS setting, AUTO is pretty much the default setting and you should be good with this @ stock. If you start going above stock, well then you should find out what the norms are for each specific value. Most times, a value just above stock or AUTO is 10% above what the specific area should be.

I say this though, you can't go wrong if you have adequate cooling and you want to run thing high. As long as you can keep temps within normal parameters, you should be fine no matter what you do. As far as you feeling good about it, ask yourself what OC are you looking for. Make that the goal and try to make it with the least amount of juice. There is however the unwritten guides on how to get the most of one’s system. And most enthusiasts will tell you to find out the max your memory can take while everything remains at stock. With this formula, you could essentially do the same thing to every other overclockable area until you're ready to fine tune everything to get to your goal.

Yes, it’s allot of trial and error and of course allot goes to the quality of the CPU and other components. You may have a CPU that won’t OC no matter the BIOS or any intervention. That said, there is a minimum you should be grateful for and that should be about the 3 GHz barrier IMHO. Don't get discouraged because you read others are so much higher than you. YOU DO have a nice, very nice system at stock you know?

You should also know by already screwing up one BIOS chip, this stuff aint cheap (with regard to the ultimate price of the mobo) so be careful. You stating you're a noob says to me that you got some more research to do though you do seem to have a grasp on the foundation which is great. Keep asking questions.

Good Luck!!!


EDIT: Make sure things like PCI BUS and Video are at their respective values of 33/100. If these are hidden OCs, you might have an unstable machine across the board. Also, relaxing your ram timings is essential. Again, refer to the "OC one component at a time" formula to start your OC endeavor.

Another thing to note is that the 680i chipsets dont like a raised FSB on quad core chips, just stick to using the unlocked multi. Your best bet as stated above is to get an after market hsf of water cooling set up cause those puppies run HOT. Check out the xtremesystem forums as there is some helpful info there too.

Thx guy's.

You keep saying after market HSF. Do you mean for the cpu or actual the heatsinks of the mobo? I do have the Zalman for the cpu.
The thing said about the PCI bus and video being on there respective values 33/100. This is the first time I hear from that. Can you explain this a little more and how can I check it?

My goal is to run the cpu around the 3GHz. My system is fast but at this moment the benifit of its speed is not yet supported by many software, or should I say games
I guess I will try next week raising the multiplier of the cpu to 12 again, but then raise the voltage a little. Then it would be at 3.2GHz which is fine for me.
But I'm just thinking. Getting my cpu at 3.2GHz with increasing the FSB, would this be faster then with the multiplier?

Well, to be honest. First I didn't planned on a DIY pc. I wanted to buy myself the Falcon Northwest. Because I live in Belgium, this was a no-go. My goal is actually to get the same performance as the Falcon. 16000points 3DMark06. Why? Just for a bigger smile on my face

PS: I got lucky about the fried bios chip, got a replacement same day without costs. Lucky me But yes, I don't want that to happen again.

You see, I don't know what your mobo has for options. 33/100Mhz are bus speeds for PCI and PCIE--meaning they operate or send/rec data at this rated Mhz. It used to be, when you FSB OC, your OCing the entire computer including the PCI and PCIe channels. The thing is, hardware--like hard drives, graphic cards and other perphs don't like speeds in excess of 33/100mhz.

Most mobos have locks or they have options to lock these buses so you don't run your hardware out of specs--which sometimes leads to an unstable system.

Aha, thx Pkirk. Didn't know that. I checked it in the bios and I can set all PCI speeds and the HT speed. There are no auto settings for the PCI, only for the HT. All PCI are set at 100.

At this time I just increased the cpu multiplier to 12 and upped the Vcore by 0.03V (1.35V). The cpu is running now on a 3.2GHz with the FSB still at 1067MHz. 3DMark06 went fine with the score of the Falcon so I'm pleased about that. (16061)

But then Prime95... First 4 tests (1024 FFT lengths) the cpu stays below the 60°C (idle the cpu is at 35°C). But the second (8K) tests... hmmm, hot hot hot. It went to the 70°C at the time I stopped it. When I'm writing this, I'm trying again after raising the revs of the Zalman, but for now, I don't see much difference. The motherboard stays on the 35°C. (maybe an extra vent in the front of the case can help because our house is only 20°C)

I guess it's better to save some money for a CoolIt Freezone if I want to keep these settings.

EDIT: Nope, it still go's to the 70°C with the second pare of tests in Prime95. What a shame, I'll better tune it back down again. Everything looked nice and stable, but damned, I know now what you guy's ment by the quad running hot. I tried only the second test of Prime and kaboom. From 35°C to 70°C like it was nothing... It also says something about Prime. It surely stresses the cpu. With OCCT the temps didn't go above the 57°C and during 3DMark06 not above the 55°C. So because I want to use the pc also in the summer time, settings are back to normal.

PS: Just tested that prime test again at stock settings and the cpu go's still to the 65°C. She's a hot thing.

I have the same set-up minus the sli and have mine oc'ed to 3.2 setting the multiplier to 12 using the stock intel cooler. I thought my temps were too high (upper 40's at idle and mid sixties under load) so I bought the Zalman 9500 and the temps went even higher. After some research I found that applying artic silver horizontally not vertically actually lowered my temps to the low 40's at idle and high 50's under load. I guess that is pretty good and I can live with it. You might want to check you r memory settings as well. I have corsair dominator 8500 and have it set to 1066 at timings 5-5-5-15-2T (per corsairs website). I haven't touched any voltage settings at all.

Here it saz it overclocks like bi..h.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2049683,00.asp

Maybe just crank up the vcs voltages? but bont listen 2 me Im a noob

Although I have 2 say mines been ocied 4 about 1-1.5 years @ 2860 - still stable(touch wood). v-core volt. in bios is set at 1.513..v, but pc-probe saz 1.51-1.54 and aibooster saz its 1.55-1.57v. temps are 36-40 idle, 52-57 load. (if ac is on its even lower). I could get it up to ~ 2890 but it freezes in windows and games after some time.

NoCrow said:

I have the same set-up minus the sli and have mine oc'ed to 3.2 setting the multiplier to 12 using the stock intel cooler. I thought my temps were too high (upper 40's at idle and mid sixties under load) so I bought the Zalman 9500 and the temps went even higher. After some research I found that applying artic silver horizontally not vertically actually lowered my temps to the low 40's at idle and high 50's under load. I guess that is pretty good and I can live with it. You might want to check you r memory settings as well. I have corsair dominator 8500 and have it set to 1066 at timings 5-5-5-15-2T (per corsairs website). I haven't touched any voltage settings at all.

Click to expand...

When you tested your quad. What were you running? I don't know for sure but I got Prime95 with a mod. The link said that this mod will alow prime to run all 4 cores. But anyway. Try running Prime95 on all cores with the first test: Small FFT's. While running it will say in 4 windows (4 cores) 800000 Lucas-Lehmer iritations of M172031 using 8K FFT length.
When you do it, be aware it can get hot, very hot fast.

I'm asking this because I find it strange you have 40°C idle and only around 50°C under load. Only a difference of 10°C with an overclocked quad? Mine is running idle 35°C and under (4 cores load) just under 65°C with the Zalman 9700 on max speed. That's a difference off 30°C. I'm just wondering how this can be so different? Is the Zalman on your cpu controled by the mobo? Or is it like mine just a speed regulator without thermal control. Just set the speed and that's it?

Mine feeling is you tested it with one core under load. Just a feeling. You might also monitor it with Windows Task Manager. You can see if the 4 cores actually are working. Because when I'm right and programs (games) come out for the quad, things just might get hot to quickly.

PS: What is vertical and horizontal for you. What point should I take as guide?

I'm running Prime 95 and yes it is all four cores. It's actually about 17 degrees difference. It probably helps that I have my rig near (1ft) an opened window and its still pretty cold here (Seattle). BTW PC Probe blows, try using core temp for temp monitoring. If you go to the artic silver site check out the instructions for AS5, they have it listed for dual core (vertically) notice the little triangle in corner of socket. Since we have quad core the instructions are a bit different (not listed). I have read somewhere that AS5 should be applied differently (horizontally) again look at the little triangle. What I actually did was apply a small cross shaped horizontally. It seemed to do the trick. BTW I'm sure my temps will be going up as the weather warms. I just hope they don't go to far.

Maybe I should try it then. Thx for the tip. I won't do it right away because I don't have cooling paste etc.. First need to order it.

Kibosh, I'm not using the setup currently but I had a QX6700 on an Asus P5N32-E SLI mobo, which is very similar to the Striker. A few tips for that board:

When bumping your vcore voltage be aware that this board has a huge vdroop (.05v or more), meaning your actual vcore will be less than what is set in the bios.

For overclocking the bus speed (which gives you better overall performance for a given CPU clock speed than bumping the multiplier), the principal voltages to experiment with are the NB and CPU VTT. The last one in particular is key. Successful overclocks on this board often crank CPU VTT up to 1.45 or higher.

The NB on this board runs very hot and extra cooling is recommended for overclocking. An easy step is to screw a 40mm fan directly into the fins of the stock NB heatsink and that will give you some room for boosting voltages.

Unlike vcore, on this board the chipset voltages are typically HIGHER (around .05v) than what you set in the bios.

Your high (1.7+) SB voltage sounds like you have LinkBoost enabled. This feature boosts the PCIe 25% but is bad for stability and doesn't improve graphics performance in any noticeable way. Turn Linkboost off. Also disable GPU ex, SLI broadcast, spread spectrum, and any other features you don't use.

Overclocking on air with the quad core is limited by the heat but you should be able to get to 3.0 or 3.2Ghz. As for bios versions, the oldest bios (0302) for the P5N32-E SLI has been the best overclocking bios so far (best voltage regulation, most stable), although that bios has sound card issues. So, instead of waiting for the next bios you might explore the forums and see what older bios the overclockers prefer.

Lastly don't worry about the alarms in PC Probe, just monitor your temps.

Aha. finally I know why the SB is that high. I'm gonna experiment with that linkboost option. Probably this weekend. Thx.

The bios for the striker is 0901 official and 1002 beta. It's running very good with the 0901, only that Vdroop is still there. This should be fixed with the beta 1002. I've ordered an extra fan to put at the side of my case to blow some fresh air in straight on the mobo. So that should help with keeping the temps a little more down. It's a Papst fan which should be very quite. If this is actually the case, I will replace all case-fans with this brand. Like that everything runs more quite. Also I will hope that the extra fresh air helps the PSU more, because it's noisy.

So after the fan is here, I might try to overclock a bit more. Does anyone knows what the LDT frequency is? I got a tip from asus to put it to 4x instead of 5x to oc. Why they told me that, I don't know because I asked what the message on the poster DET-INI means. Still no answer on that. Must be a big secret.

PS: Avias: Are you the same avias as on the Dell Forum? If yes, cool, you helped me twice.

EDIT: Well I did the test. You are absolutely right. Disabling Linkboost lowered the SB and 1.2VHT voltages to normal levels. Only the NB stays on 1.49V which gives still an alarm in Probe. But what's even stranger. Disabling Linkboost actually gave me better 3DMark scores. With linkboost I had 14076 and without I have now 14149. The other option GPU Ex did nothing much. Here the score was a difference off 20. The other options you spoke about I will test later. But I'm already happy the voltages are better. Now I will keep an eye on the stability. Thank you already.

SLI broadcast and Spread spectrum? What are these things anyway? That SLI Broadcast sounds needed because I'm running SLI, but???

Hi Kibosh, yes I'm a recovering Dell owner, we exchanged some messages on that forum a while back.

Here's a good set of bios screenshots for 680i overclocking:

http://www.techenclave.com/forums/nvidia-680i-chipset-overclocking-p5n32-e-84995.html

It is particularly important to disable spread spectrum when overclocking the memory bus. The feature relates to frequency modulation and works fine at stock settings but in an overclocking environment will quickly cause instability.

I don't think SLI broadcast does anything at present. I believe this is a place holder for future features. In any case as you have seen the board performs better with all the Nvidia GPU enhancements disabled.

You also want to manually set your PCI frequencies at 100 (or maybe a small overclock if the system remains stable).

The link above has other recommendations which I would support from my own experience, inlcuding voltages you can safely use with adequate cooling.

LDT relates to the frequency of communication between the NB and the SB. If your system is stable with LDT 5x I'd leave that alone.

Good luck!

Nice link. I'm learning bit by bit. Hope that extra fan will help the cooling part.

Thx again...

I'll post my results when I try out the rest. But for now things get to warm inside the case.