Well, Well...

So I updated my BIOS to v2002 for my Crosshair IV a few weeks ago, and it thought it would be a great chance to mess with some overclocking again. The last time I updated the BIOS was when I first got the board (v1005).

Anyways, I decided to do some overclocking with my chip by only upping the multiplier, and I can't get it to run stable.

The problem is, the whole computer would lock-up / freeze after ~3 minutes into Prime95 Blend Test. I don't get any BSOD's and Prime95 doesn't stop itself - the system just freezes and only a reboot works. I can..surf the web, go onto the forums here, watch a 30 minute YouTube video and it would be okay.

I'll follow prodecures as always...

Phenom II X6 1090T attempt at 4GHz (200MHz default bus X 20)

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula 890FX Mobo with BIOS 2002

8GB (4GB X 2) GSkill RipJaws DDR3 1600MHz RAM at default (I've tried both 1333MHz and 1600MHz)

Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler with push-pull fan config

Single XFX 5850 1GB GDDR5 (my 2nd card was getting in the way of the mobo buttons)

Corsair TX 850 PSU

120GB Corsair Force GT SATA3 SSD (I'm using JUST the SSD; fresh install of W7 Ult x64 with nothing on it but P95 and monitoring tools like CPU-Z, HWMonitor)

Using the latestest chipset / LAN / USB drivers

CCC version 12.8

I've tried these settings in BIOS:

20 mult

200MHz Bus

DRAM 1600MHz or 1333MHz

CPU/NB 2800MHz or 3000MHz

HT 2000MHz or 2200MHz

CPU Voltage from 1.38v to 1.48v

CPU/NB from 1.25v to 1.30v

HT from 1.25v to 1.2875v

NB: from 1.20v to 1.2875v

SB from 1.20v to 1.2875v

VDDR from 1.245v to 1.272v

I left CPU VDDA at the stock 2.5v

Left NB 1.8 at...1.8v

Had CPU LLC, NB LLC, VDDR (?) LLC on Auto, 50% and 100%

Left PCIE frequency and voltage and such on auto (100MHz, Auto, etc)

When Prime95 is running the Vcore will jump up to 1.52v (as seen on CPU-Z, HWMonitor and AIDA64).

The highest I've seen the CPU temp go up to is ~54*C while running Prime95.

NB, ~42*C

SB ~36*C

Keep in mind, I didn't jump straight to 4.0GHz; I had it at 3.6GHz and 3.8GHz (of course at lower voltages) and it had no trouble running Prime95 and 3DMark11.

I'm unsure to push the NB, SB, HT, CPU/NB higher...close to 1.3v seems a bit high. Also, ~1.52v on the Vcore for 4GHz??

When I reached 4GHz by only adjusting the Bus (sig), it used a bit lower voltages...(CPU/NB 1.28V, HT 1.28v, NB 1.237v, SB 1.23v, VDDR 1.25v, Vcore ~1.45v)

Any help?

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Phenom II X6 1090T @ 4.1GHz // ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX // Sapphire Radeon HD Dual-X 7970 // Thermaltake Frio w/ push-pull (using Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond paste!!) // 8GB (2 X 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3 1600MHz @ 8-9-8-34-21-1T // Corsair TX850 850W // Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD (OS) // Kingston 200 V+ 120GB SSD // WD Caviar Black 1TB // Windows 7 Ult x64 // Logitech X-540

Edited: 09/20/2012 at 09:49 PM by -rascal-

Increase your CPU VDDA to 2.75v and under CPU --> ECC change the cache ECC options to 2.56µs. If that doesn't work, you might just have to settle for 3.8ghz.

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Crosshair IV Formula, Phenom II x4 965 w/ Corsair H60, 8 GiB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600, XFX HD 7970 Ghz, 512GB Vertex 4, 256GB Vector, 240GB Agility 3, Creative X-Fi Titanium w/ Creative Gigaworks S750, SeaSonic X750, HP ZR2440w, Win 7 Ultimate x64

CPU VDDA to 2.75v? I was told before to try to keep it at 2.6v or close to the stock 2.5v as possible.

"

CPU VDDA is actually PLL, mine was running 2.70v [on my GA-890GPA-UD3H] when I blew caps and basically killed the CPU with p95, so keep that under 2.6v no matter what.

 

"

Do you think it could be lack of voltage? HT or CPU-NB frequency related?

But I guess the saying is true; to get the highest overclock, you need to mess with both the Bus speed AND the multiplier.

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Phenom II X6 1090T @ 4.1GHz // ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX // Sapphire Radeon HD Dual-X 7970 // Thermaltake Frio w/ push-pull (using Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond paste!!) // 8GB (2 X 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3 1600MHz @ 8-9-8-34-21-1T // Corsair TX850 850W // Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD (OS) // Kingston 200 V+ 120GB SSD // WD Caviar Black 1TB // Windows 7 Ult x64 // Logitech X-540

If i have recalled this correctly, when my uncore/C.P.U.-N.B. voltage was too low, my P.C. would freeze, not B.S.o.D., so I would try another bump of its voltage.

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Lad

I play with sand.

Don't feel bad, my old 1090T takes over 1.6 volts vcore for 4GHz and 1.35V for 3GHz CPU-NB. Still running strong in a 24/7 air cooled folding rig for 2 years now.

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If your aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle.

I've been running my CPU VDDA at 2.75v for ages with no issues. Don't forget the Crosshair IV is made for this sort of thing, and unless the voltages turn to red it is quite fine.

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Crosshair IV Formula, Phenom II x4 965 w/ Corsair H60, 8 GiB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600, XFX HD 7970 Ghz, 512GB Vertex 4, 256GB Vector, 240GB Agility 3, Creative X-Fi Titanium w/ Creative Gigaworks S750, SeaSonic X750, HP ZR2440w, Win 7 Ultimate x64

Okay thanks for your guys' input. I'll give things a try when I get some free time and report back.

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Phenom II X6 1090T @ 4.1GHz // ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX // Sapphire Radeon HD Dual-X 7970 // Thermaltake Frio w/ push-pull (using Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond paste!!) // 8GB (2 X 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3 1600MHz @ 8-9-8-34-21-1T // Corsair TX850 850W // Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD (OS) // Kingston 200 V+ 120GB SSD // WD Caviar Black 1TB // Windows 7 Ult x64 // Logitech X-540

I wish I could get my 965 stable at 4ghz at anything lower than 1.42v, instead I run it at 3.8ghz at 1.39v (ish). One of these days I'll be one of the lucky people who get one of the easy, highly overclockable chips...

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Crosshair IV Formula, Phenom II x4 965 w/ Corsair H60, 8 GiB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600, XFX HD 7970 Ghz, 512GB Vertex 4, 256GB Vector, 240GB Agility 3, Creative X-Fi Titanium w/ Creative Gigaworks S750, SeaSonic X750, HP ZR2440w, Win 7 Ultimate x64