Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA VIA PT880 Ultra....

External Since: Oct 03, 2007 Posts: 53

Somewhere on the interweb "Howard Goldstein" typed:
> On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 12:04:06 +1300, ~misfit~
> <misfit61nz.DeleteThis@yahooligans.co.nz> wrote:
> >
> > Why would you want a quad extreme? A Q6600 will likely clock to
> > well above 3GHz if you know a bit about what you're doing. I think
> > that should last you until the 45nm CPUs are affordable. (Which
> > will be considerably longer than "two month's time" BTW.)
>
> I'd want it to try a CPU with an unlocked multiplier. On the 680i I
> think I'm running into an FSB wall (is that the term when it won't be
> exceeded without upping the voltage to near wall outlet levels?) and
> thought it might be fun to squeeze out a few more cycles in the part
> itself

A lot of people who are serious about their overclocking are finding that
the best way to overcome FSB brickwalls is to BSEL mod the CPU so that it
boots at the next highest FSB setting. However, as a man who's au-fait with
TTR I'm sure that you know that. <g> That's where I finally found a reasoned
explaination as to why higher bootstrap gets you past FSB walls, after you
suggesting I might find some answers there.

Apparently most chipsets set the latency of the northbridge going by the
bootstrap setting. Therefore you're going to get to a point where you're not
going to be able to increase FSB past bootstrap without errors, not for any
CPU related reason, but because you're getting problems with the NB. The
solution is to BSEL mod the CPU so that the chipset straps at a higher FSB,
which then re-sets the NB latency lower, which allows you to reach a far
higher FSB when overclocking.

> > > > > There's a piece over at
> > > > > thetechrepository.com touting the benefits of choosing these
> > > > > low multiplier parts because the FSB overclock ability is
> > > > > apparently better than the high multiplier parts. I'm not
> > > > > sure I understand the rationale completely but it seemed to
> > > > > turn on early boot up issues and the CPU being far too
> > > > > overclocked to reach the point where the lower multiplier is
> > > > > initiated. I wish I had the link so I could put it here and
> > > > > beg someone to 'splain it but I can't even start up firefox
> > > > > to find it now (rebuilding box)
> > > >
> > > > Ohh, I wish you had a URL for that. My interweb is real slow
> > > > right now but I might have a search for it.
> > >
> > > http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=30
> > >
> > > It's in the bits where he talks about "NBCC" or something? I'm
> > > not clear on the whole concept but it did make me feel better
> > > that I didn't spend another sweet sweet $100 on something that
> > > would have made it harder to OC
> >
> > Thanks I'll have a look in a minute. I get a bit annoyed with TTR,
> > their website often doesn'y recognise my monitor settings ( 1280 x
> > 1024, Firefox
> > 2.0.0.9) and I have to scroll sideways to read. That combined with
> > the fact that I struggle to follow a lot of the hi-tech stuff they
> > discuss makes for a hard read.
>
> It's not just you. I'm having the same issues with FF rendering TTR.
> At 1440 pixels across it *still* doesn't fit. Have a feeling if it
> were a 1900 pixel display it would continue to be too wide, probably
> by exactly the same amount. A workaround for me was view it through
> (this is ugly now) the Lexmark toolbar (which is *must have for the
> cleaning*) print preview, and reduce the preview's zoom. I have no
> idea why that works.

Ugh! Mayhap I'll fire up IE7 next time I go there. (I don't believe I said
that!)

> > > (*) not entirely true, my DDR2 1066 corsairs really need near
> > > their specified 2.1V or else one or two of the chips in one of
> > > the sticks starts barfing when run above 800, but that's even
> > > with stock CPU clocks
> >
> > Yeah. I'm on a (very) tight budget. I just, 20 minutes ago, took
> > delivery of my DDR2 RAM. Transcend JetRam, 1GBx2 DDR2 Dual Channel
> > Kit. CL5, 1.8v, lifetime warranty. NZ$110. Less than I paid for a
> > 1GB module of no-name DDR a couple months back.
>
> Are those DDR2 800s?

Ya man.

> > So, I have the CPU, I have the RAM, just need the mobo and my mate
> > to get all his bits so I can have his old 7800GT as I don't have
> > another PCI-e card. (Although I *do* have his brand new 8800GTX
> > sitting on my workbench..... <eg>)

My mobo arrived 20 minutes ago. Have a look at this review, it's the
P5KE/WiFi-AP, third one down:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/asus-p5k_2.html

The reviewer thinks it's probably the pick of the bunch, but then goes on to
review the next-lowest model which has a different board lay-out.
Three-phase power instead of eight-phase that the more expensive boards
have.

Oh well, I have my board and RAM, I'm just waiting for the PCI-e graphics
card from my mate. I don't know if I can wait, I might have to do the build
with a *PCI* GeForce 2 for now. LOL.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

External Since: Sep 28, 2004 Posts: 533

"~misfit~" <misfit61nz RemoveThis @yahooligans.co.nz> wrote in message
news:fgte15$gkv$1@registered.motzarella.org...
> Somewhere on the interweb "Howard Goldstein" typed:
>> On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 12:04:06 +1300, ~misfit~
>> <misfit61nz RemoveThis @yahooligans.co.nz> wrote:
>> >
>> > Why would you want a quad extreme? A Q6600 will likely clock to
>> > well above 3GHz if you know a bit about what you're doing. I think
>> > that should last you until the 45nm CPUs are affordable. (Which
>> > will be considerably longer than "two month's time" BTW.)
>>
>> I'd want it to try a CPU with an unlocked multiplier. On the 680i I
>> think I'm running into an FSB wall (is that the term when it won't be
>> exceeded without upping the voltage to near wall outlet levels?) and
>> thought it might be fun to squeeze out a few more cycles in the part
>> itself
>
> A lot of people who are serious about their overclocking are finding that
> the best way to overcome FSB brickwalls is to BSEL mod the CPU so that it
> boots at the next highest FSB setting. However, as a man who's au-fait
> with TTR I'm sure that you know that. <g> That's where I finally found a
> reasoned explaination as to why higher bootstrap gets you past FSB walls,
> after you suggesting I might find some answers there.
>
> Apparently most chipsets set the latency of the northbridge going by the
> bootstrap setting. Therefore you're going to get to a point where you're
> not going to be able to increase FSB past bootstrap without errors, not
> for any CPU related reason, but because you're getting problems with the
> NB. The solution is to BSEL mod the CPU so that the chipset straps at a
> higher FSB, which then re-sets the NB latency lower, which allows you to
> reach a far higher FSB when overclocking.
>
> snip >

This is something I would like to discuss further with you....maybe after my
surgery and I get back on my feet. I have the Striker Extreme 680i board and
have heard about a mod that may help, especially with the Quads. I hit a
wall with my Q6600 a lot earlier than I did with the E6600. I can only get
the FSB up to the 1490 range and it takes a ton of voltage to even get it
there.

Ed