Overclocking my E2140 + GA-945GCM-S2L, Experienced OCs help!
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Hello all! I'm trying to overclock my E2140. I've checked many guides online and many have OC-ed it up to around 3ghz. Mine is currently at 1.60ghz. It is a duo core, not C2D.
I've tried editing the bios and adjusted values for the CPU speed. 200mhz, 280mhz, 300mhz and even 400mhz.
Multiplier I've tried 2, and 3.
Tried to set the multiplier such that the value will be tallied with my DDR2-667 RAM.
Increased the voltage from 1.2v to 1.4v-1.5v. My PSU is a 300w unit.
Everything above has failed and I have to keep clearing my CMOS in order to restart the system.
Any ideas? :(
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Is your CPU connector a 4-pin or 8-pin? That could be the reason, not enough power is going to the CPU and the computer isn't stable. I get the same problem with my Q6600.
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Ah Raraken.. I was counting on your reply.
How can I check? This mobo + chipset was actually purchased from a friend so i'm not too sure.. Also, the fan is directly above the chipset I think, so removing it for a look will be rather difficult.
Thankfully I have my laptop to check for solutions whenever my desktop goes out of commission for awhile.
I tried setting it at 200mhz (The default is 100mhz x 16) , and brought the power from the default 1.20v all the way to 1.5v.. Didn't seem to work.
No matter what config I try with the bios, it always ends with the computer booting up to "Out Of Sync" on my monitor.
P.s I'm borrowing my gf's 260GTX, but I believe this mobo only has a 1.1 PCI-E slot. Will the low clock speed of 1.6ghz + 1.1 port affect the GTX260's performance significantly? I'm only using 2 GB of 667 RAM but so far it seems quite reliable
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reply is below:
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Originally posted by XenStar:
Hello all! I'm trying to overclock my E2140. I've checked many guides online and many have OC-ed it up to around 3ghz. Mine is currently at 1.60ghz. It is a duo core, not C2D.
I've tried editing the bios and adjusted values for the CPU speed. 200mhz, 280mhz, 300mhz and even 400mhz.
Multiplier I've tried 2, and 3.
Tried to set the multiplier such that the value will be tallied with my DDR2-667 RAM.
Increased the voltage from 1.2v to 1.4v-1.5v. My PSU is a 300w unit.
Everything above has failed and I have to keep clearing my CMOS in order to restart the system.
Any ideas? :(
Firstly i think 300 watts for overclocking is abit too little for overclocking, and if you add in the gtx 260 it may start up but will shutdown in an event where the gpu demands more power and the power supply cannot give.
I read somewhere that the +12v in the powersupply supply the cpu and gpu it's power, and you can calculate it yourself, using the formular: Power= Current x Voltage. Look at your power supply's box, my first 12volt rail can support a max load of 18 amperes, that means that rail will generate 12x18=216watts. If your psu is a single rail, you take 300 watts divide by 12v, you get 25 amperes on that rail.
Bear in mind that if it is a peak power, you need to divide it by square root 2 to get the rms value(i might be wrong for this one). so you might only get approx 212 watts constant power.
IF your psu is like mine, a multiple railed psu, it might be not that good compared to a single railed powersupply. If your 300w psu is a single rail psu, it will be able to give 212 watts on that rail, meaning 25 amperes. However mine is a 4 railed psu, each rail can only give a peak of 20 amperes, or 14.14amperes rms constant.
Your goal is to achieve the highest stable speed and fsb possible with the lowest voltage possible, as to decrease the amount of stress and heat brought to the processor
Secondly the gigabyte 945 series motherboard is not actually meant for overclocking, the 945 is actaully from intel, and it is more of a basic mainboard. If you look at your motheerboard now, it is actually a micro atx size, and does not have a lot of heatsink, that means you need to be careful when u start to overclock, you must try not to overheat your northbridge when u eventually start bringing up the voltages
If you leave your multiplier at x16, you need to set your front side bus speed to approx 188 to achieve a speed of 3ghz. Can your motherboard specify the exact fsb speed?(i think most mobo can do that, unless u are talking about dell, acer, or those branded pc)
What you need to try to do is to bring up the fsb slowly, don't do it straight away, you must give your system time to 'adapt'. I suggest bring up the front side bus speed from 100 to maybe 120(it should be fine to bring up a little more than usual for fsb at the first few adjustments) for the first time, leaving the multiplier alone, which will give you around 1.9ghz.
After that, u can try to bring it up to 130, then 135, 140, 145, do it slowly. try to reach to a point where by your system does not start, and tells you prevvious overclocking has failed. At that point, increase your Vcore slowly, maybe 0.something at a time.There is also another way, that is to lower your multiplier speed and increase the fsb highest, it might be more stable.
WHile increasing your cpu fsb speed, check if your mainboard 'automatically' links your ram speed with it. For example, if you increase your cpu fsb to 120, does your ram speed increase? maybe from 667-700? if yes, you might need to give your ram alittle more voltage to maintain a stable. That is just one part of the problem. When u increase your ram speed, the timing of the ram will also increase, that means the time taken for the info to pass from one section to another section of the ram is longer.(if you notice ddr3 rams have high fsb like 1333, but their timings mayb be 9-9-9-something, while a ddr2 800mhz ram will ahve a timing of 4-4-4-12) You can try to bring down the timing in your motheboard's bios, but if you bring it down too much it will not be stable.
FOr more infor about the ram timing, u can read this thread:
http://sgforums.com/forums/2250/topics/341491
Okay, let say you have success fully achieve maybe 2.2 ghz, you need to check your processor's temperature. When you increase your voltage, do not increase too much, 1.4volts to 1.5volts will be toomuch for my 45nm Q9450 to handle, however i think for a 65nm it might be fine(im not sure about your cpu's max voltage, better to check with ppl online). It is more accurate to check the temp in the bios, but while u are test running, u can use programs like realtemp. Stablility is also an important factor, which means you need to benchmark and running test. You can use 3dmark06 to test the overall perfrmance, or intel burn in test to test the cpu's stabilitythat is all i can think of now
sgforums seems to hate me alot, give me errors when repliing
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Originally posted by XenStar:
Ah Raraken.. I was counting on your reply.
How can I check? This mobo + chipset was actually purchased from a friend so i'm not too sure.. Also, the fan is directly above the chipset I think, so removing it for a look will be rather difficult.
Thankfully I have my laptop to check for solutions whenever my desktop goes out of commission for awhile.
I tried setting it at 200mhz (The default is 100mhz x 16) , and brought the power from the default 1.20v all the way to 1.5v.. Didn't seem to work.
No matter what config I try with the bios, it always ends with the computer booting up to "Out Of Sync" on my monitor.
P.s I'm borrowing my gf's 260GTX, but I believe this mobo only has a 1.1 PCI-E slot. Will the low clock speed of 1.6ghz + 1.1 port affect the GTX260's performance significantly? I'm only using 2 GB of 667 RAM but so far it seems quite reliable
Actaully i think the 4 pin or 8 pin meant the 12volt rail, depending on ur psu's power lor. From the model your mobo should be a 4pin micro atx .
You can change the fan to a bigger one if u are really intending to overclock a lot, but i dun really think you should overclock a lot on the motherboard u are using now
I think the problem might be u didnt set the bios to use the graphics form pci-e(yes it should be auto, but sometimes electronics screws up
) THat might be the reason why it boots and it shows out of syncYour gf must be rich to own a gtx 260
. However i tiink ur powersupply may not be able to deliver the full power the grpahics card need. The pci-e 1.1 slot actually means the bandwidth, for now it should be fine becos i tink the bandwidth is not fully utilised yet(heard it many years ago till now), but the main problem will be your processor, affect the performance by bottlenecking your whole systemThink of it like a bottle with a small opening. You have a lot of water(data) flowing from the gpu(the body of the bottle) to the processor and out, but the neck of the bottle is the cpu, becos of the speed, it is not able to handle that much information at one go, that is why it will lag. Increasing the speed will help
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Thank you very much for your detailed response.
I would consider buying a new PSU unit, maybe at around 500w, but that would set me back around $90.. The thing is, I just bought a new 21.5" LCD because my older one died and really strapped for cash now..
My current 8600GT is good for playing games at around high textures with AA, but only at lower resolutions such as 1024 x 768. When I bring up the res to any of the 16:9 such as 1920 x 1080, the framerate will drop by around 8-10, depending on which game. Stalker on high runs fine at around 25fps outdoors with HDR. But the newer games such as Cryostatis goes to a crawl at that framerate. I have to set it down to 800x600 and scale it to 16:9, and everything to low-med but with AA in order to have a stable 20-25fps.
I'm concerned that even if the GTX260 is a really good card, my E2140 at 1.6ghz is going to slow it down, or limit it's speed. I heard that most cards are only starting to utilize the 500mb bandwidth, so I don't think the speed difference of a 2.0 and 1.1 will be too significant. (P.S I chose the GTX260 for my gf with a nice 2.93ghz C2D, but she doesn't really play too many GFX intensive games :O )
I might try to change the bios settings again tomorrow after I get back from work, and hopefully it'll at least allow me to change it from AUTOMATIC , to it's default range of 100-120. If it doesn't, I might need to call up the store I got this from, and check for a suitable list of options i'll have to fine-tune.
Overall, I've heard many good things for the E2140, being one of the most economical chip and having one of the better OC rates. But without a good power supply and motherboard..
Should I purchase a new 500w PSU, or should I just get a new p45 mobo (And the PSU as well) and insert the E2140 chip inside?
At least with a good mobo I'll be able to change the chipset to a faster C2D.
Thanks for your replies once again. Now off to make breakfast/lunch :D
EDIT: Also, my RAM is DDR2 667. Should I set the multiplier to 2x so that it ranges around 400-600 while I increase the CPU clockspeed?
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When overclocking, I usually try to set RAM multipliers to 1:1, so they run at the FSB speed. Once I get to a stable FSB speed, then I raise the divider. You should try it.
I would suggest lowering the CPU multiplier (If able) to the lowest multiple, then change RAM divider to 1:1. Then bump up FSB to the next level (667 - 800, 800 - 1066 etc., or 166 - 200, 200 - 266, 266 - 333 in raw speed). Then raise the multiplier back up, 1 multi at a time, then boot into Windows and test stability. Works for me, and can troubleshoot if your board is the one that cannot support high FSB, or just not enough power to the CPU.
Don't even try to put the GTX 260 inside the PC. The 300W PSU will overload, and some components can get damaged.
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My computer doesn't have a 1:1 ratio option though.
Apart from AUTO, there's only 2, 3 and 4 if I'm remember correctly.
Should I purchase a new PSU? Say, 500w? I am thinking of upgrading the computer soon, once I get money. So maybe I can purchase parts at a time slowly. PSU being the cheapest, followed by a better chipset.
Is the 945GCM a good enough mobo? Or should I change the mobo first, then change the chipset.
Of course all this is just talk till I actually get enough money <.<
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Also.. I'm browsing through some Sim Lim brochures, and an ATX 450W PSU is going at $18. Any comments on that? I heard that even if it states 450w, usually PSUs operate at around -30w of the stated value?
I think this is the specs over here : http://kaisen.en.made-in-china.com/offer/QbYmNBnEILVP/Sell-ATX-450W-PC-Power-Supply-REAL-WATTS-.html
Also, someone online is selling his CM PowerPro 650W @ $70 D:
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=5924
I would get it but i'm cash strapped :( -
Originally posted by XenStar:
Also.. I'm browsing through some Sim Lim brochures, and an ATX 450W PSU is going at $18. Any comments on that? I heard that even if it states 450w, usually PSUs operate at around -30w of the stated value?
I think this is the specs over here : http://kaisen.en.made-in-china.com/offer/QbYmNBnEILVP/Sell-ATX-450W-PC-Power-Supply-REAL-WATTS-.html
Also, someone online is selling his CM PowerPro 650W @ $70 D:
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=5924
I would get it but i'm cash strapped :(The $18 PSU won't even be enough for a 9600GT. Never go generic, since they are usually over-rated, and will break down easily. The link you posted, isn't the PSU. These cheap PSU's usually come with a single 80mm fan at the rear, which is barely sufficient for cooling.
Cooler Master PSU's are of good quality, so if you had the cash, I would advise you to go for it.
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Originally posted by XenStar:
My computer doesn't have a 1:1 ratio option though.
Apart from AUTO, there's only 2, 3 and 4 if I'm remember correctly.
Should I purchase a new PSU? Say, 500w? I am thinking of upgrading the computer soon, once I get money. So maybe I can purchase parts at a time slowly. PSU being the cheapest, followed by a better chipset.
Is the 945GCM a good enough mobo? Or should I change the mobo first, then change the chipset.
Of course all this is just talk till I actually get enough money <.<
Then put 1:2 ratio. At most, if you run the CPU at 1333MHz FSB (3GHz I think) , the RAM would operate at 667MHz IIRC. Yes, purchase a new PSU. An OC'ed CPU will put a lot of stress on your current PSU, 500W is decent enough, depending on what GPU you would be going for.
945GCM is an entry-level mobo, decent enough. I myself am using an entry level mobo (nVidia 630i), and pretty happy with it, though it still uses PCI-E 1.1.
Oh, and if your CPU fan is the stock Intel one, change it.
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Hmm.. Thanks for the tip. I think once I save enough money I'll start off with a 500w or 550w PSU and then get a better fan for ventilation. Maybe I should leave the casing open? My room is usually cold so it'll help with the cooling.
If only I could get that CM 650W :/ The pins are the same for a 945GCm ?
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u can consider this powersupply also, 7 years warranty, single rail ,not very ex, only at $220+/- iirc:
I like this powersupply over my thermaltake is becos this is a single +12 volt rail. It is meant for people who are runnning massive amount of hardware that consumes power like it is free on their computer, like maybe 4 gpus, a lot of harddisk etc
The corsair single rail powersupply supports 70amperes on that single 12v rail. 70amp x 12v will give around 840 watts.
My thermaltake can only handle 18amperes(i remember there is a regulation that they follow) on each +12v rail, but there are 4 +12v rails in my power supply. If lets say my hardware combination on that rail is not power hungry, that should do me fine
however if my hardware combination on that rail is very power hungry(maybe i like to connect 100 fans in parrellel, bring resistance down and current up), maybe my powersupply will detect a current surge and shutdown the psu
so it all depends on how u fix your system, depending on your needs.
thecoolermaster takes 19amps on each 12v rail, it is very good already.
if you are really going to bring up the voltage, u can consider the corsair dominator, and buy a new mobo and cpu + cpu cooler
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Originally posted by XenStar:
Hmm.. Thanks for the tip. I think once I save enough money I'll start off with a 500w or 550w PSU and then get a better fan for ventilation. Maybe I should leave the casing open? My room is usually cold so it'll help with the cooling.
If only I could get that CM 650W :/ The pins are the same for a 945GCm ?
cooling wise u can leave ur case open or u can get those many fan casing, as long as it doesnt over heat u will be fine
the pins are the same, maybe older mobos have 20 pins, and 4pins, the new power supply have 24 pins and 8 pins for the mobo, u can always just plug in the required 20 and 4 pins into ur mobo, no problems
i tink you should change your motheboard, 945 is not really meant for extreme overclocking
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This is what raraken is talking about, the ram ratio thing, it automatically calculate the fsb to ram speed ratio, it is said tht 1:1 is the most stable . the ram speed now is 426x2 =852mhz
From here u can see that the ram speed have been bumped up. Previously the speed was at 852mhz, using the ratio of 1:1.5,the ram speed now 852x1.5= 1278mhz
Now if we change the the ratio to 1:2, it will become 852x 2=1704mhz
It is up to you how u want to change it, but i will prefer the 1:1, becos of the following reason:
I dun wan a timing that is too slow, even though it does not give much performance gain, but it feels good when u know that your ram is runnnig stably at 4-4-4-12 or even lower
ALso if your ram is not stable, u need to bring up the voltage for the ram, and also the northbridge voltage
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I learnt some stuff from this book also
my current cpu speed is 3.5ghz. quite stable actually
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Thank you MPT once again for a very informative post. I would purchase a new PSU, preferably over 600w for some serious gaming. But that would bring me back down to the issue of $.
The PSU you mentioned looks good, but I doubt i'll need that much power from my 8600GT at the moment.
Regarding the ratio, my mobo doesn't seem to have the option like yours above. The lowest ratio would be 1:2 and I don't understand why there isn't a 1:1 option. It's a real hassle to test every single rating and when it is unable to boot (Which is all the time actually), I have to remove the battery from the CMOS and re-insert it so the BIOS settings are cleared.
Maybe i'll start testing the CPU speeds next week. Because even if I get it from 1.6 ghz each core to 2.4ghz, the 8600GT will still be a problem.
My old 17" screen chose a bad time to die on me, and I purchased a brand new 21.5" LCD at only $205. It was a real steal.
If it wasn't for the fact that the 8600GT is not powerful enough to run some games at full 1900x1060 resolution with high settings. But it's fine, I usually choose medium + AA + High res, or High + AA + Mid res.
Watching movies have never looked better as well.
Now the thing is... I'm still short of cash and I don't have the money to upgrade everything at once. So I'm actually planning to do the following chronologically:
1) Attempt to overclock the CPU for a slight boost in framerate and program response timing.
2) Purchase a new stronger PSU to support even more OC-ing on my CPU.
3) Borrow my gf's GTX260.
4) From here it's either I purchase the GTX260 from her and get her a nice 4790 for mid range gaming, or save for a new P45 mobo + Quad core chipset.
And with the amount of money I have on hand, I foresee these happening over a span of months. Damn.
Or maybe I could attempt to win the lottery, and splurg on a new 32" LCD, Quad core, 800W PSU, Liquid cooling systems, 4GB 1333 RAM, 2TB of HDD, Dual GTX280, a Creative 5.1 Home Theatre System and maybe.. just maybe, an alarm clock to wake me up from that wonderful dream
:)
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Okay, if you do get money, get a new mobo. a 4-pin CPU connector is a bare minimum for normal operation, and OCing will not work with a 4-pin
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Maybe thats why I can't seem to OC properly. I guess it'll be awhile before a get a good computer :(
Gotta make do with what I have. The 8600GT has been doing justice for me so far