E@zyVG’s Vichar::World Connected

…. Not The Dream But Still Excellent Results

Unfortunately the 4.0 mark remained unreachable ……

Few days ago I ordered parts to assemble a new computer for myself. After receiving them all, first thing was to check if all was working fine in default mode, i.e. just plug everything and press the power button and after that install the OS. OS, well, at first I installed Linux (trust it more at this than Windows), the openSUSE distribution and after that the all necessary Windows, in my case the Vista x64, for doing all the overclocking. Once through the installing of OSs, came a time to squeeze maximum out of newly built computer. Here is how it looks from inside:

all the wires nicely tucked for better airflow

the blue aura

I was able to reach easily 3.6Ghz out of my Q6600 G0 processor. Next was 3.8Ghz, and that is where I reached the maximum stability, though 4.0Ghz was in reach. What I mean to say is from the tests the Asus P5K-E can handle around 490-500Mhz, meaning that when i tried to go for 4.0Ghz (500×9 or 450×8), the system was very-very unstable, even with the Vcore set @1.65, which of course is damn to high, unless you have some excellent watercooling. I could reach Windows log-in screen, but most of the time it just crashed. Have to say that when it came to runnig Linux, it did much better. All this meant that this particular silicon die was not planning playing nice @4Ghz. After this I decided to go for sweet spot 3.8Ghz, knowing that 3.9Ghz will also require high voltage.

Notice: All voltages mentioned here are that of in BIOS readings, same as what you see in CPU-Z, Asus Probe, etc. And temperatures what I saw in Core Temp 0.97.1.

3.8Ghz - not bad, but I didn’t want to have my system running hot with high Vcore. 3.8Ghz came as Vcore @1.525 initially and FSB @423×9 with NB @ 1.40V and memory runnig @1016Mhz 2.10V with 5-5-5-18 timings (memory was able to reach a max of only 30-40Mhz over its’ rated speed). At these settings computer was stable running several 32M SuperPi, several runs of 3DMark06 and several hours with OCCT at mix mode, but not with Prime95 (but with 3.7Ghz was stable). Being frank, I am not that bothered with Prime95, as am not planning to run some high FPU intensive simulations where minor mathematical error ruins whole deal. Next step was to see what P5K Pencil Vdroop (voltage fluctuation problem) Mod would give me. As this is not the first time I was doing mod, I checked few forums for instructions and went ahead. Wow … this mod came as surprise. Voltage fluctuation vanished 99.5%. Before if I wanted a real Vcore 1.525, I had to set Vcore 1.56 in BIOS, and it fluctuated quite a lot when in IDLE and LOAD. With this mod, I set 1.525 in BIOS and it was same in CPU-Z, and barely fluctuated between IDLE and LOAD, and even Prime95 runs became much more stable. What came to me as a very nice surprise, is that with this mod done, I could run the same settings not @1.52 but rather Vcore @1.4875. At this Vcore, apart from Prime95, all runs very nicely and mainly temperatures have dropped (even 1.4725 is working but not as quite stable as I would like).

Here is link to CPU-Z Validation Database

BTW, apart from lowering the Vcore, I also decided to changed the fan on Scythe Mugen cooler, which had 1200 RPM, to a little more powerful one, i.e. Zalman ZM-F3 set at around 1650-1700 RPM. With this I lowered temps another 2-4C. The following is what I get @IDLE with room temperature around 22C.

surely not the best result, perhaps AS5 in future will help

13.618secs is what I get from 1M on SuperPi/mod1.5 XS:

ah, I was hoping for 12.xxxs :-p

Now it was to overclocking the video card, which is MSI’s 8800GT, the OC version. The official specs for 8800GT are 600Mhz/1800Mhz/1500Mhz (Core Speed/Memory Speed/Shader Clock), while MSI 8800GT-OC came as 660Mhz/1900Mhz/1650Mhz. Surely, it is nice to get a pre-o/ced card, but then we enthusiasts want more. The max stable I could get from this card was 730Mhz/2050Mhz/1700Mhz, but then I decided to slow down and go with 701Mhz/2001Mhz/1701Mhz, so to keep the card cooler, as extra 30Mhz on core and 50Mhz on memeory wont give me much, besides I want my case to run little cooler so that all are in their sweet spot.

With Q6600 @3.8Ghz, Memory @1016Mhz and 8800GT @700/2000/1700 I get 15036 on 3DMark06. Compare this to around 3000 (as I remeber) I got from my previous rig.

Final O/C setup:

• Q6600 GO @3.8Ghz
  • Vista x64 Stable @1.48
  • Linux x86-64 Stable @1.46
    
• ASUS P5K-E @423×9 (BIOS 1012)
  
• OCZ Platinum XTC 2×2048MB @1016Mhz 5-5-5-18-4-60-8-4-4-2T
• MSI 8800GT 512MB @701/2001/1701Mhz

For a complete specs of my computer check out the following link.

Conclusion: Am I happy with the results … surely I am. A quad core @3.8Ghz is no joke and with 8800GT @700/2000, I can play current and near future releases at high resolutions with latest graphics effects and settings set at high. And think of all that blazing performance in Linux … hahaha :-p

On 4.0 Mark: I tried playing with different settings, including with CPU PLL Voltage, FSB Term. Voltage, SB/NB Voltage … but to no avail. If you think you can help me to reach the magic 4.0, please let me know, and if it will work, expect a donation from me.

Linux Test: I will soon have latest benchmarks done on Linux posted on my Linux and Open Source blog.

UPDATE (09.04.08): Super Pi result on Linux:

10.109 on Linux vs 13.618 on Windows

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 10:29 pm and is filed under Hardware, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.