Problem overclocking an i7-930 CPU and a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R M/B

[skyeclipper]

Hi

My new machine is acting flaky.

When I first built the PC a couple of week or so ago, I was able to push the CPU to 4Ghz by simply upping the Bclk frequency with no voltage or other changes...wow! It was stable with a 21x  CPU clock multiplier and 190 Mhz base clock. Now, it won't POST with the Bclk set above 165. The machine will cycle on/off trying to POST until I shut it down with the power supply switch. Then, I reset the BIOS to the factory defaults and started again from scratch.

The only hardware change since the initial build has been adding a 2nd 120mm fan to the CPU cooler.

I would appreciate any help.

Thanks

Machine components:

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R M/B
Intel i7-930 CPU stepping 5 rev. D0
Scyth Mugen 2 Rev. B CPU cooler
A-data  gaming DDR3 2000 SDRAM
Corsair 850 watt PSU
Full tower case with 2 120mm fans and 1 high speed 92mm fan
ASUS ATI 5770 graphics card
Western Digital 1TB SATA HD

[Calum]

That seems odd, that it would work at those settings but now won't.
Try these:
BCLK frequency 182
Multiplier 20
CPU VCore 1.3
DRAM Bus Voltage 1.66
DRAM Multiplier 8
Turbo Mode (depending which version of the UD3R you have, if it's revision 2 it will be an option but revision 1 doesn't have this) disabled
DRAM Timing Mode - quick
Timings - 9-9-9-28, command rate 2N
Performance Enhance - Standard

Those are slightly scattered and rather generic settings for a 3.8GHz clock speed with a low RAM clock and "standard" timings, which probably won't match your specific ones but should work for now.
See if your system works OK with those settings, and we can go from there to tweak the clock and dial it in.

Just a quick note - you may want to edit your profile to add your system's specifications there, I know they're in your post which is great but it's useful to have them in your profile too.

[skyeclipper]

Sorry, Calum, but the 182 Bclk with a multiplier of 20 would not POST. Keeping all of your suggested settings, except for Bclk, I had to dial that back to 166 so that it would POST. 

btw, I did make one other h/w change after the initial success with 21x multiplier and 190 Bclk. I removed and replaced the CPU cooler. Could I have screwed up applying the thermal paste or tension on the mounting brackets? What symptoms might the misapplied thermal paste produce? I applied the paste to both mating surfaces. Is this the best way to go?

Thanks

[Calum]

It may be that you just have a chip that won't clock well.  Try the same settings but drop the DRAM Multiplier as low as it will go - 6, I think.
If you messed up the CPU cooler or paste, the most likely result would be paste in the socket and/or bent pins, which would cause the system not to POST at any settings, so I doubt that's the issue.  The best way I've found of applying paste though is to use a blob about half the size of a pea in the middle of the CPU, and just let the heatsink spread it when it makes contact and pushes down.

[skyeclipper]

Well, the conclusion of my latest testing produced the same results as before. No matter what I change, the PC won't boot with the bclk above 166. The only good news is that the memory is happy at a multiple of 12.

Not sure where to go from here. Calum, if you have any other ideas, that would be great. I do appreciate the help.

[Calum]

If you've hit a wall at 166, there isn't much you can do other than tweak your settings at that speed to fine tune them.  The only ways to get past a wall like that are to either add a lot of voltage - at 1.3V, adding enough voltage to get past a "typical" wall would overwhelm your cooler - or to push past it, pick a clock quite a bit higher that it may like.  You've tried that, so that's a no go.
I think you may just have to be happy with what you have.

[skyeclipper]

Calum, thanks again for the help. Even though we couldn't get past 3.6, I learned a lot.

Next time

[Calum]

You're welcome.

[Tim_Cdy]

What temparature was the CPU @ with your last good know OC?

[skyeclipper]

The best overclock right now yields 3.6 Ghz (22x165). The CPU runs at 42c idle and 75c with Prime95.
 
As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I first got the PC up and running, I was able to reach 4.0 Ghz (21x190). Temperatures were unacceptably high, though, running in the mid 90s. I assume that some other parameter tied to the bclk is now flaky and limits my ability to overclock beyond the 3.6Ghz mark.

[Tim_Cdy]

Right ok, from what I have quickly read I must add, the 930 with D0 stepping should not be hitting a ceiling @ 3.6. Did you run the Rig at stock and then benchmark for overall stability when you finished building?

It sounds very much like to me that the CPU is throttling due to heat, despite what you would expect on that multi. Two things that I believe that need to be checked if confined to the CPU. One, turn off that turbo boost thing in BIOS (I know it was mentioned) and make sure it is not on auto.

Two, take off the HSF and clean it thoroughly, you only need to apply a small amount to the die. Too much will have the opposite effect in terms of the heat being drawn up through the unit. If heat congregates around the die and is trapped, the CPU will throttle. Also the HSF may need lapping, or just good practice anyway.

If it is not that, then I would recommend defaulting to stock and then stress test the system. One thing I further I would like to ask is, how good is the Case. With the three case fans, how did you set them up and where?

[skyeclipper]

Tim

Unfortunately, I was having fun and decided to see how far I could push the new "toy" (21x190) without doing any real stress testing. I will pull the cooler off today or tomorrow and address the thermal grease issue. I'll let you know what I find.

[cypher007]

hi, ive got exactly the same problem. used to run 191 bclk, now limited to 166, and im running water on a D0 920. what bios are you running?

[skyeclipper]

Hi

It's very strange that both of us have the same exact oc limitations. I'm running the X58AUD3R.FA BIOS. You too? I have tried a lot of things to raise the bclk clock above 166 with no success. I've just about given up on seeing the vCore above 2.6 GHz. Please let me know if you have any breakthroughs. I'll do the same.

[cypher007]

im running a rev 1 board on F6. hmm i recon its a fault on the board. someone on another forum suggested pulling the cmos battery, with the psu turned off, this would then really clear the cmos. worth a try i suppose. mine started doing it after a lower voltage overclock attempt, which did prime ok for the 10 mins or so i ran it. so i shut down the system, and on the next power up, some days later, it gives me an overclock error and then wont go above 166mhz.