NickN - an opinion?

[vgbaron]

Hi Nick -

Since we tweaked my system it has been running just fine. A very rare CTD and no other problems. All is well.

Made two changes - tried 177.92 drivers - didn't like them - went back to 174.74's and enabled autothrottling on my o/c q6600 so it would only kick in under load.

Since doing those two things I am getting frequent system freezes. Screen will just blink occasionally, if I hit a key, like ESC - nothing happens for 3 or 4 minutes and then it will react to the keypress. Hard reset is only option. What puzzles me is that I also am seeing black squares for a second as scenery tiles load just before the system crashes. This is in areas that I usually fly and have not seen this before.

Obviously I am going to disable the autothrottle in the Bios but just wondered what your thoughts are on this being the cause.

Thanx,

Vic

q6600 op/c 3.655 XP Pro 2Gram 8800GTS 640 evga 680i mobo

[NickN]

Freeze is most likely the CE support on the CPU for power management.. disable it and always maintain the vcore and multiplier as a constant in a clock. You should always stress test a system during clock setup to ensure stability.

As for the black squares I know in some situations that is something seen in SP2 with aircraft and airport light textures as the image is panned. How long they remain on the screen dependis on how fast the system is and what settings are in used which is stressing the system

[vgbaron]

Thanx, Nick - that's what I suspected. Clock has been stable for over a year but this is the first time I enabled speedstep, etc since I did the clock.

Disabled it and flew the same route for 90 minutes with no problems.

Vic

[vgbaron]

Hmm---no joy again. Took another flight and freeze after 10 min. Just remembered I installed Sound Environment package Friday - will uninstall and try again.

[NickN]

Vic you did not change the Vcore voltage at some point did you?

Overclocking sometimes requires some tweaking in the area of memory and CPU voltage. Burn-in time may run fine at one voltage setting and after a period of time you may need to raise it a touch to stabilize which is not uncommon. In example, when I first put together a QX6700 system over a year and a half ago and clocked it, my initial stable Vcore was 1.42v. After about 3 months or so that had to be raised to 1.45 and has remained there ever since.

Its not something that is always required however 'burn-in' with electronics is real and it can change things over a period of time.

[vgbaron]

Good point Nick. I'm now convinced it has nothing at all to do with FSx or drivers. System hung running 3dMark. Keyboard suddenly not quite right ( batteries ok), etc. System just not right.

As I said, Clock has been stable well over a year and other than trying the Speedstep setting I've done nothing else. I did have to raise the vCore with the initial clock to 1.45

I'll run OCCT and stress the four cores and see if it crashes - then adjust from there.

FWIW, running FSX and 3dMark - coretemp shows 57C max ( liquid cooled).

Thanx for the heads up,

Vic

[vgbaron]

Yup - crashed after 8 minutes with OCCT! Had run it for 2 hours with no probs originally. Bios shows vCore set at 1.5 but actually 1.44 so I'll start kicking it up a tad and retesting.

Vic

[NickN]

Yup - crashed after 8 minutes with OCCT! Had run it for 2 hours with no probs originally. Bios shows vCore set at 1.5 but actually 1.44 so I'll start kicking it up a tad and retesting.

Vic

Hold it

BIOS shows 1.5?

Find the setting Load Line Clalibration ... or, CPU Voltage Damper and set to:

[vgbaron]

OK - will look for it as soon as I get home today. What do you recommend for reading the vCore in XP? I've read that CPUz shows it but I'll be damned if I can find it. Only voltage shown is mid right and it just says voltage 1.188v.

Last night I upped it in Bios 1.52 setting showing 1.48 actual in Bios - ran OCCT 100% four cores for 2 hours - no issues - max temp 62C.

When I get home I'll look for the setting and change it.

Thanx,

Vic

[NickN]

OK - will look for it as soon as I get home today. What do you recommend for reading the vCore in XP? I've read that CPUz shows it but I'll be damned if I can find it. Only voltage shown is mid right and it just says voltage 1.188v.

Last night I upped it in Bios 1.52 setting showing 1.48 actual in Bios - ran OCCT 100% four cores for 2 hours - no issues - max temp 62C.

When I get home I'll look for the setting and change it.

Thanx,

Vic

OUCH

1.52?

Enable LLC or CVD.. that will allow you to set 1.42-1.45 in the BIOS and maintain it in Windows

That is what it is designed for... reducing the 'high end' voltage potential in a clock like that.. and stabilizing the voltage.

Vdroop is a normal function of Intel systems however in higher clocks it can be unstable and actually force you to set a dangerous high value to maintain stability.. when you high-clock, its best to damper Vdroop with LLC or CVD. It does not shut down Vdroop, just minimizes the effect it has.

I use Speedfan for readouts but you can also use Everest (modern version) and CPUz should also display the right vcore too so what you see in CPUz is correct assuming CPUz is also up to date and you have disabled the power management features in the BIOS along with enable LLC

[vgbaron]

The mobo is an evga 680i with the Phoenix Award BIOS. Just looked online at a setup guide and couldn't find anything similar to LLC or damper.

I'll have to search thru when I get home just to be sure.

Thanx!

[NickN]

The mobo is an evga 680i with the Phoenix Award BIOS. Just looked online at a setup guide and couldn't find anything similar to LLC or damper.

I'll have to search thru when I get home just to be sure.

Thanx!

Whats the model


http://www.evga.com/support/manuals/

[NickN]

I see there are no BIOS settings in those manuals it refers to a BIOS PDF on the CD for the settings

Most clocking boards have that setting.. check when you get home

[vgbaron]

122-CK-NF68 - some descriptions of the individual settings around p28 but I see nothing similar to what you described.

So what else is new?  :)

[NickN]

122-CK-NF68

OK that one does show the BIOS.. looking now