Posts by Megan Ruiz13

It’s the motherboard's fault.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Thanks for the support.

Our testing shows the AW9D-MAX can't push the Quad processor's external clock past 300MHz; it's just a hardware limit.

Moving forward, the new BIOS 16 will only support the Intel Core 2 Duo E8000 series, not the Q9000 series.

Have a great one.

Guess I'm swapping out the board. 🙄

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=135288

It wasn't built to overclock Quads. They run fine at stock, but you can't push the clock. Then it tries to overclock Dual Cores like they're nothing.🙄

Alright, I need a new board. Is this Abit one any good?

http://www.newegg.com/p/details/item/030180

wiredmarlin5 said:You don't necessarily have to disable EIST and C-states; there's a long story behind why people do that. 😁

Try setting it to 1.32-1.33V. Once you boot into Windows, check Everest or something similar to see what voltage it's actually pulling, then let us know.

Use Orthos to test stability and Core Temp for the heat... and report back with those temps.🙂

Bump the memory up by at least +0.2V just in case. Don't touch the chipset...

Alright, I'll give it a few more shots tomorrow, but I'm definitely doing something wrong. If it doesn't work, honestly, it's fine staying on defaults. 😉

I can grab my phone and snap some photos of the BIOS settings if you want to see where I'm messing up.
I don't want to mess around too much and break anything—I won't be swapping components anytime soon. 🤣

But thanks for the advice. 🙂

Harold Lopez31 said:EDIT: What motherboard are you running?

This one.

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5034/plocakr8.jpg

I wouldn't say the board is the issue. 🤔

It didn't work. After a few minutes, my Windows freezes up.

It boots fine, but as soon as I open a couple of programs—CPU-Z, Everest, whatever—Windows just locks up.

Forget it. Even if it works on defaults, that's not what I'm looking for. 😁

Anyway, I bumped the FSB to 333 x9, which puts me at 2997.

I set the memory so that after that FSB bump, it runs at 418 MHz—just a tiny increase. I'm running 1.3V for the CPU; I tried 1.27V first, but when it froze the first time, I added a little more, following what wiredmarlin5 suggested.

The voltages for the memory and chipset stayed the same. Could that be the issue?

I left the timings at 5-5-5-5-15, just like the defaults. Disabled EIST, C1...

And that's it. It runs for a few minutes and then everything freezes.🤣

Edward Peterson70 said:Just go read that overclocking guide on Tom's Hardware and stop lying about having read it.🙂

http://forum.tomshardware.com/showthread.php?t=88200
Thanks for the tip, found my answer here.
😁
Alright, heading into the overclocking now. I'll post results if the PC actually survives.

sry everyone if I was being annoying.😛

Harold Lopez31 said:It says on the validation page☕

Basically, fsb:dram = 1:1. A high multiplier shouldn't cause issues.

Got it. You bumped the multiplier to drop the FSB. I see you.

Just saw the screenshots. 😁

I can't touch my multiplier; 9x is as high as it goes.

So I'll have to slow down the memory and pick different ratios.

Wait, if it's 800MHz RAM, it runs at 400 in the system, but that means it could theoretically push past 400 closer to that 800 mark, right?
I'm guessing it depends on how good the sticks are.

Logically, should I just throttle it now, or try to see if it can actually handle the full 800?

Hey George Ross41, looks like you bumped your multiplier too, didn't it?

221.22 * 15

And the memory

RAM Speed : 414.8 MHz (CPU/8) @ 5-5-5-18

You've got that same 800MHz PC6400 RAM, too.

Right here http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=353003
Here it's 330..

Does that mean it's smarter to just avoid overclocking the memory?

I'm going to try pushing the CPU to 2.8 GHz right now. Everything else is set—PCI at 100, disabled C1 SpeedStep. I'll mess with Eupal later; I just want to see if this works first.

The only thing is, if I use "by SPD" for frequency, will increasing the FSB also crank up the memory? Or should I manually set the ratios to keep it at 400 MHz...

I'll probably just lower it to avoid breaking something... then we'll see what happens.

Never overclocked anything in my life, but I'm curious....

That Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 can hit a clean 3 GHz without much effort... from what I've read. 😁

Harold Lopez31 said:Gotta hop in the shower, be right back.

Can you walk me through what you did with the memory speed? Did you just let it scale with the FSB, and if so, how high could you push it before it lost stability?

Or did you manually dial it back? DRAM Frequency?

Could you walk me through this with a specific example? Here’s what I'm seeing on my end...

Everest shows my CPU is overclocked by 2%. It says the default CPU FSB should be 266, but mine is sitting at 272, even though I haven't touched a single setting.

I'll post two screenshots so you can see. When I check the motherboard info, the FSB is listed at 272 MHz, which matches what I'm seeing. I do have Intel SpeedStep enabled in the BIOS...

Now I've got another question. Since that's the case, both Everest and SiSSandra are reporting my memory frequency at 408 MHz. By default, it should be 400 MHz—meaning an effective speed of 800, but I'm getting 816.

Is it actually possible for that tiny 2% OC to affect the memory speed like that? Looking at the timings, 400 MHz should be 5-5-5-18, but mine is currently 5-5-5-15. Does that mean the motherboard automatically adjusted the timings? And if so, why would it bother for such a negligible 2% increase, assuming it's even an overclock at all?🤷

Maybe this is just how it's supposed to work.😁

Also, what would happen to the RAM if I bumped the FSB up to hit 3 GHz? My multiplier is 9, and the minimum is 6...

Oh, and SiSSandra is throwing a warning at me to lower the FSB because "overclocking is harmful to hardware." I'm looking at it like, WTF? What overclock?🤣

Anyway, here are the screenshots. Can someone explain this? I haven't changed anything.

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3078/prochd5.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5034/plocakr8.jpg

This screenshot shows the speed under load. Since SpeedStep is on, it shows 1.6 GHz up top, when it should normally be 2.4. But because of that 272 FSB, I'm actually hitting 2448. Lol, what kind of "increase" is that?😁

I just ran some random benchmark to speed up the CPU, you can see it here...

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/255/brki4.jpg

2448.4 mhz 🤷

I'm trying to push the clock a bit—nothing crazy, maybe 2.8 or 3 GHz—but I have no idea how the memory will react. I'm hoping the board just handles it automatically...

I was just prepping for this, and then this whole thing caught me off guard.

I’ve been lurking on this forum quite a bit lately.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/t261409.html

I was curious to hear about your overclocking experiences—get some actual details and see what's what.🙂

I might try my hand at OC myself soon. For now, I'm just reading, asking questions, and learning the ropes. 😁

Knowing me, though, I'll probably end up breaking something or frying a component. 🤣

Fair enough.

One more thing regarding voltage. Is it actually okay to push past the manufacturer's rated limits for a CPU?

Or am I just asking for a dead processor every single time?

When you guys overclock, have you ever actually found chips that could handle going beyond those factory-recommended specs?

Edward Peterson70 said:It depends. If the CPU is unstable at that frequency, you just bump up the voltage.

Same goes for memory—if it’s acting up at those speeds, increase the voltage.

How do you actually spot instability in a CPU or RAM caused by voltage issues?
Basically, what are the telltale signs when a PC starts acting out because it needs more juice?

And how do you find that sweet spot for voltage? Is it just trial and error until things stop crashing?

Sorry, I'm a bit lost here. 😁

So I’m reading this, and if I'm following correctly, RAM doesn't actually run at its rated frequency, but at half that speed?

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/26

So 800 MHz memory actually runs at 400 MHz?

But can it actually hit 800?

Also, if we bump up the FSB on the processor, everything else speeds up too, right? Memory, PCI, drives?

I've been reading up on overclocking, and people suggest locking the PCI bus at 100, tightening the memory timings in the BIOS, or switching from "Auto" back to defaults... ugh, I'm lost.😁
But if that's how it works, should I just leave everything alone for a mild CPU overclock? Don't touch the voltages, or should I be lowering the memory voltage?

I was messing around with this Abit utility I have, Guru Utility. It basically offers a two-click CPU overclock option. While bumping my speed from 2.4 to 2.6—which is pretty pointless, by the way, the option is just called "Turbo"😬 it automatically jacked my Vcore from 1.25V to 1.35V and dropped the DDR2V from 2.00 to 1.95 (assuming that's for the memory)....

Honestly, that feels like amateur-hour overclocking. Seems much better to handle it through the BIOS if you're actually going to do it.☕

The pros I read about say you don't even need to touch voltages for a light overclock, but maybe that's because they're dealing with 4 cores?

Just wanted to talk about something specific for once.😁

Since I'm a total newbie when it comes to OC, everything interests me... and I always end up confusing myself in the process.😬

Nothing special here, though I have to admit the action scenes are fun. It’s a total popcorn movie if you just want to watch people brawling, see some tough women fighting, and turn your brain off for a bit. The fights are your typical bloodless Hollywood fare—a woman takes a kick to the head from some 250-pound meathead and doesn't even bleed or anything ridiculous like that, but it's executed well enough. Usually, this kind of stuff drives me crazy, watching an action heroine who weighs maybe 110 pounds take hits from a guy twice her size, with zero blood and she just keeps going like nothing happened.

I know what it feels like to get kicked in the head; every time I see it, it makes me nauseous.
Take kickboxing or the UFC, for example. One solid high kick to the head drops trained professionals—massive guys who eat punches for breakfast. But in these movies, some tiny girl takes the same hit and just keeps swinging... honestly, I'm getting worked up again.😬

feralgardener502 said:What the hell is a "hetfield"? Sounds like someone choking...

He's 43, if I recall correctly. Add a long history of alcoholism he's finally beaten, plus over 20 years of basically destroying his voice... it all takes a toll.

True, he isn't even a shadow of his former self, but as a person—and as a father—it’s a positive change.

Regarding those new tracks, the first one is alright. That build-up before the solo and the solo itself? Killer. It actually gives off those old Metallica vibes. But everything else just sounds like it could've been filler on the St. Anger album, and I can't stand that record.

The second track isn't anything special either. Honestly, two pretty mediocre songs for a band this big. They’re still better than the garbage on St. Anger, though that's a pretty low bar to clear.

We'll see, though. Personally, I'm not expecting much. I don't want to get burned like I did with the last album, but I have a little hope. Based on their tour this year, they haven't sounded this good live in years.

Here's what I'm talking about...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPVDvrSarns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awgXZeyX_lU

You just reminded me, I should probably revisit Garage Inc. It’s been a while.

I didn't really count any of them as "their" songs since they're technically covers, but these were the standouts for me from that album:

1. am i evil - always been one of my favorites
2. Mercyful Fate
3. So What
4. The Prince
5. Turn the Page
6. The Small Hours

n.p. Metallica - am i Evil

@Amanda Brown3 - Just checked out your profile. Looks like you were born the same year I first started listening to Metallica.😬

😢

Well, you've officially ruined my entire day 😢

And to top it all off, it's my birthday soon.🙄

I think I'll just crawl back into whatever dark hole I came from and wallow in self-pity.🙂

😬

Man... there was this one phase where I was obsessed with looking just like James. I even cut my hair and grew out the mustache and beard to match him, exactly like in this photo. My hair was freaking identical.😬

James rules!!11one🙏 😬

Since we don't have a dedicated Metallica thread yet, let's use this space to talk about our favorites—what you're spinning right now or which albums are on constant repeat.

My current top 10 Metallica tracks (not necessarily in order):
Since they basically have two distinct eras—the metal era and the hard rock era—I figured I'd split them up like that...

Top 10 from the metal era:

1. Master of Puppets
2. Creeping Death
3. Damage Inc.
4. One / Harvester of Sorrow
5. The Call of Ktulu
6. Blackened
7. Harvester of Sorrow
8. The Four Horsemen
9. Ride the Lightning
10. Fight Fire with Fire

Hard Rock / Heavy Rock picks (including stuff from the Black Album):

1. Sad But True
2. The Unforgiven
3. Until It Sleeps
4. King Nothing
5. Hero of the Day
6. Bleeding Me
7. The Outlaw Torn
8. Fixxxer
9. Fuel
10. The God That Failed

That's mostly what I've been listening to lately. Honestly, pretty much everything they've put out is great and I love it all equally—except for the last one, which is total garbage. I bought it, listened once, then played it again just to laugh at it, then a third time just to make sure it actually sucked that much. Never touched it again after that.

But regardless of that piece of junk, they're still the best.😍 🙏

Jason Richardson5 said:Man, what do you think about 😕

Got a sudden urge to type. Just something different to do, besides spamming 😬

S&M is a great record. That whole idea about playing with a symphony orchestra actually started floating around back in '92. A conductor—who helped write the orchestral parts for the studio version of "Nothing Else Matters"—suggested to Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield that they do a joint concert back then. They turned him down because their vision was still pretty limited at the time.

But ten years later, they finally took the plunge, and it worked out beautifully. Honestly, some tracks even sound better with a symphony than without, like "The Call of Ktulu."

As for the St. Anger album, there’s no debate here: it’s garbage. But if you look at the absolute mess the band members were going through during that era—they were basically on the verge of breaking up—it makes sense. Besides, it's just one album.

And that’s what bugs me. Load and Reload are excellent albums. In my opinion, Load is actually better than Kill 'Em All or ...And Justice for All.
Kill 'Em All is mostly just teenage rebellion with maybe two or three decent songs. As for ...And Justice for All, the production is a disaster; you can't hear the bass at all, and the songs feel over-engineered, too long, and unnecessarily complicated.
The band members hate that record most of all. For the last 15 years, they've only played two or three songs from it, and between 1990 and 2003, they barely touched anything besides "One / Harvester of Sorrow."

During the Load tour, they played almost nothing from Kill 'Em All, maybe the occasional "Seek & Destroy," which is pretty much the only song from that era they still play today.
Kirk Hammett has said he can't even stand to think about that album; he finds it repulsive.
James Hetfield can't stand ...And Justice for All either...

Yet, people label those as "hard metal" albums, while they trash great records like Load and Reload just because they aren't "metal" enough.

Can someone explain to me how those are bad albums? Tracks like "Bleeding Me," "The Outlaw Torn," and "Fixxxer" are great. I personally lose it every time a song from Kill 'Em All comes on.

Even though I love Kill 'Em All and ...And Justice for All—and might even prefer them to Load/Reload—from a purely musical standpoint, they are weaker albums, even if they're still very good.

Here are two examples for comparison.

In the first link, you can hear "The Four Horsemen" performed back in the 80s.

And in the second link, "Hero of the Day."

To me, both songs are excellent within the genres they represent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKqYClhkFXM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1DKkLKTdYg