MSI P45 Platinum + E8500, unable to OC.

[Myssi]

Righto then, having a slight problemo with this rig.
Can't push the FSB stable
Usually set it to 400 with 9.5 multiplier giving 3.8GHz. Tried it with 360 and underclocking the memory also, nothing.

Tried 3 different BIOS-versions, best results propably with 1.5. With that I could get the system running and ran Orthos for over 9 hours without any errors or problems, with 1.6 system won't even boot when OC'd. Now using 1.7B8 betabios, with it I can boot to Windows but gaming is limited to few minutes then BSOD.
With 1.5 I didn't get BSOD, games just shut down with error message, leaving system otherwise usable.

One thing that came to mind is FSB messing up the PCI-E frequency, there's no option to lock it as far as I know. Normal PCI freq I can set to 33.7 or 44.
This popped into my mind because there are some graphic distortions \ unusual objects visible before game shuts down \ BSOD.

Tried CPU volts up to 1.3675 with 9 multiplier @ 3600MHz while setting ram timings on the ones SPD gives me.
VTT FSB up to 1.3v
MCH 1.34
ICH 1.58
Tried rams with everything on the range of 1.8 to 2.1 and with 400 FSB set 1:100 divider so they are still at rated 800MHz
These are the highest volts I've tried, there's ofcourse pretty much everything between them and the standard ones without luck.

With default setting everything works fine, no GFX distortions, no crashes.
Memtest ran wee over 9 hours too without any errors reported.

Intel E8500 + Noctua NH-C12P cooler
MSi P45 Platinum rev. 1.1 with 1.7B8 bios
Corsair XMS2+ 6400 CL5 2x2Gb
Palit Radeon 4870 1Gb 'Sonic'
OCZ GameXStream 600W PSU
Windows 7 x64

Previous OS was Vista x64, with that I got somewhat better results but it was never 100% stable either.

Additional Comment:

Never mind the ranting about PCI-E freq, apparently it's locked to 100 and won't go up with FSB on this board.

[Mind_Reader7]

Run Memtest before booting into Windows

[maxgull]

ICH seems high, NB looks low (MCH), i am not familiar with the vcore settings of the E8500

[Myssi]

Righto, will run memtest with FSB up. With standard ran it some 9 hours but guess it won't hurt to try with OCd too.
From what I've heard and read other users experiences 400 FSB with this board should be doable under 1.35 vcore.
But then again, each chip is different etc etc.

How high can I semi-safely push the NB voltage without fear of frying actually something?
Board has heatpipe cooling for NB and SB.

[maxgull]

semi-safely? lol, you should be able to do 1.4-1.45 semi-safely.

[Myssi]

Y, semi-safely
Haven't got a clue to be honest on what the NB or ICH can take so when I adjust it I try searching for what others have and go with that fingers crossed.
With my last setup only voltage I had to tweak was vcore before I ran into a wall built by AMDs stock cooler.

[maxgull]

ICH you really shouldnt have to mess with (not at these clocks), I'd leave it in Auto for now

[Myssi]

Righto. Will try to tweak the volts some more then.
If it sorts my stuff out thanks a million and forget that I ever was here asking stupid questions.
If not, I'll be back with some more stupid questions.

Additional Comment:

Apparently I were just too gentle with the MCH.
1.35 vcore
1.4 MCH
400 FSB, 9 multi.
and so far no problems with MW2. Earlier it crashed in 10 to 15 minutes. Will know for sure when I test it more.

[maxgull]

IIRC, the MSI platinum has a huge NB chipset cooler, you could go higher on the NB if need be (ima thinkin).

[Myssi]

Aye, it has large-ish heatpipe cooling for chipsets.
So far it's still alive and kicking, vcore somewhere around 1.28 and no probs.

[maxgull]

good, you are on the right track, i think. tweaking is so much fun.

[Myssi]

Guess so. When you get past the first problems when nothing just won't work :P

Was afraid to push the MCH initially, thanks to other thread I read somewhere on the internets.
Some peep had 1.38 MCH or something like that and someone else was horrified that it's so hi and all.

What did we learn from this? Don't trust the internets!

Thanks for the help anyways.
Propably will try to push the FSB more when I get my new fans someday that I ordered.

[maxgull]

MCH depends much on the motherboard, on my x48 board i had it up to 1.55v and had it watercooled to hit 4.65GHz. i built a Q6600 Rig with that MSI P45 platinum board, decent overclocking bios, and a good performing board.