rmation on OCing a Xeon x5460 in a MSI G41-P25 with RAM compatibility
rmation on OCing a Xeon x5460 in a MSI G41-P25 with RAM compatibility
Hey everyone, just got a new cooler (Hyper 212x) to help my x5460 avoid bottlenecks with my GTX 770. I was only hitting 3.25ghz, anything higher would cause the PC to shut down and make a beep until a message showed up (the previous overclock didn’t work). I bought 8GB of DRR3 at 1333mhz from GSKill and couldn’t boot with that RAM – it would show three long beeps then crash. I’m looking for advice quickly to see if I should refund the RAM or get a proper one.
Here’s what my PC setup looks like:
X5460 3.25GHZ
Hyper 212x
4GB DDR3 1066MHz (Samsung, old)
8GB DDR3 1333MHz (G SKILL AEGIS, new but not working)
Gigabyte GTX 770 WindForce 3x
2x160GB HDD
I’ve attached some bios pictures for reference:
http://imgur.com/sOrmQ8G
http://imgur.com/tpKPZlX
http://imgur.com/QNRVPGA
http://imgur.com/qWWaaD3
http://imgur.com/hzxD0MZ
You've probably encountered the FSB bottleneck on that motherboard. Boosting the PCIe speed to about 106 MHz can help some G41 boards surpass this cap, pushing the FSB frequency up to around 365 MHz. This would allow you to reach approximately 3.46 GHz when using the default 9.5x scaling factor. Your RAM should be fine since it supports modules rated for 1066 MHz. To minimize failure points, consider synchronizing during testing until you identify your stable clock. You might also want to raise your Vcore to between 1.35 and 1.4 volts; some even recommend up to 1.45V, but adjust according to your needs. I personally use a X5460 that runs smoothly at 4.1 GHz (9x multiplier, 456 FSB, BIOS setting of 1.45625v gives idle 1.424v and full load 1.392v in Windows, with a +0.2v on the Northbridge, roughly matching 1.45v). To hit FSB 400 or higher, you'd need a board with nForce 650i, 680i, 780i, or Intel 965P, 975X, P35, P43, P45, X38, or X48 chipset.
Lordmogul:
You probably hit the FSB wall on that motherboard.
Boosting the PCIe speed to about 106 MHz can help some G41 boards surpass this cap, pushing the FSB frequency up to around 365 MHz. This would allow you to reach roughly 3.46 GHz if you're using the default 9.5x multiplier. I've noticed you're already at 103 MHz, which is already a good boost.
Your RAM should be fine since it supports modules rated for 1066 MHz. To minimize failures, consider running synchronously during testing until you identify your stable clock.
You might also want to raise your Vcore to between 1.35 and 1.4V. Some recommend even higher, up to 1.45V, but adjust based on your needs.
I'm using a X5460 that's stable at 4.1 GHz (9x multiplier, 456 FSB, BIOS setting 1.45625v gives idle 1.424v and full load 1.392v in Windows, plus about 0.2v on the Northbridge—roughly 1.45v).
To hit FSB 400 or higher, you'd need a board with an nForce 650i, 680i, 780i, or Intel 965P, 975X, P35, P43, P45, X38, or X48 chipset.
Hey, I don't know how to change the voltage or even how to select it.