Biostar TP35D2-A7 + Intel E2160 overclocking

[axxo]

Overclocking is a good experience…which I feel now it should have been learnt long before.
After using two successive generations of AMD(Athlon XP & Athlon 64) I have been on to intel again since last few days.
And with a cost minded, restricted budget I bought the following peripherals for my new system.
Biostar TP35D2-A7
Intel Dual Core E2160 (1.8ghz)
2GB DDR2 800 Mhz Transcend (Single stick)
Coolermaster Elite 330 + 390W extreme power SMPS)
Antec Silver Thermal Compound 5
Few other old components retained

Just after been thru several overclocking guides and reviews, decided to start with bios mod.
Several trial & error approach made & this is what finally obtained.
Cpu Multiplier – 9x (default)
CPU FSB -333mhz( 200-700)
Memory Frequency – 400 mhz (400/667/800/1066)
DRAM Timings – 5-5-5-16
Everything else set to default/auto.






Under vista I ran orthos stress test for 45 mins..with no errors..but temps were quite high.(55 idle 85 max)

Reduced the cpu core 1.41(was set auto initially) to manual (+0.08v) which helps to keep the temp down by 7-8C
Currently the cpu runs @ 3Ghz, 4X333=(1.33ghz) FSB
Some benchmark results…..










Several websites that I come across mentioned with stock cooling the speed can be reached 3.4-3.6ghz…but anything further in my case cause the bios not to boot & giving annoying beeps regardless of the setting I choose..
Did I reach the saturation point? Using dual channel in place of single channel will make any difference? Or still have enough room to tweak? Plz give me some hints…Thx

[MetalheadGautham]

Well, since you bought an intel pentium dual core system, you are lucky because as far as reviews from tomshardware.com are concerned, its a good processor for overclocking at budget, especially if you have a good rig. You have excellent RAM, and a decent mobo.(I guess you bought that processor as a temporary solution. correct me if I am wrong.)

I don't think dual channel means more OCing. Correct me if I am wrong.

I think the best person to help you is darklord. Ask him.

[axxo]

^ actually temporary solution is the processor...i will be upgrading to quad processor may be by end of this year or next year..
since the support is there for 45nm proc..i think i made proper choice..

yeh..hope to get tips from chotos, darkload & other hw geeks

[hellgate]

^^^ i think in ur case the mobo is the main bottleneck for oc.though Intel P35 chipset is a good oc'er but ur mobo i think is not that good.
transcend rams r generally good oc'ers to.i hav managed to run my 667MHz ram @ 867MHz.

try the following:
set fsb to 357mhz,ram to 714,pcie to 100,pci bus to 33.33,vcore to 1.36v,
northbridge vcore to 1.45,.
remember if u go higher then increase the northbridge vcore to 1.55v.this val influences ur oc to a gr8 extent.also keep the temps in check.

[utsav]

Biostar mobos r great 4 ocing.i think its due to the ram which is a bottleneck 4 further oc

[Harvik780]

Well you could have bought a stove if you wanted to boil eggs.If what you wrote is true then your maximum temperature 85C is way,I mean way....way too high.

[darklord]

Try these settings -

CPU Vcore - 1.4v (set in BIOS)
VDIMM - 2.1V
VMCH - 1.3~1.4V
Memory divider - 533MHz
Memory timings - 5-5-5-15 2T
Also if you can set TRfc = 40 should help in improving stability.
I havent seen the Biostar P35 BIOS so cant tell you exactly what to do.
Remember, the E2160 is based on the newer revision cores ( like G0 for quad and dual cores and M0 for 2Mb dual cores) and they dont need too much voltage with it.
anyways, try the above mentioned settings are revert back.

Originally Posted by hellgate

^^^ i think in ur case the mobo is the main bottleneck for oc.though Intel P35 chipset is a good oc'er but ur mobo i think is not that good.
transcend rams r generally good oc'ers to.i hav managed to run my 667MHz ram @ 867MHz.

try the following:
set fsb to 357mhz,ram to 714,pcie to 100,pci bus to 33.33,vcore to 1.36v,
northbridge vcore to 1.45,.
remember if u go higher then increase the northbridge vcore to 1.55v.this val influences ur oc to a gr8 extent.also keep the temps in check.

1.4V on VMch is more than enough for 400~450 FSB you need more than that only when doing ~ 500+ FSB

[hellgate]

^^^ i've seen that when oc'ing a quad u need bout 1.55v for the vMCH to hit anytrhing above 380 for P965 else the pcie bus speed gets reduced to x1.

[darklord]

Agreed but then P35 and P965 are entirely different chipsets.

[hellgate]

^^^ dont hav much experience in oc'ing P35 chipset based mobos.hav oc'd mainly P965,630i,650i and 680i based mobos.

[darklord]

thats what i am saying, P35 scales nicely, its not much voltage hungry.

[axxo]

Thx hellgate & darklord...

I set fsb to be 357 & ram frequency 714....

thats a very good hint..i never thought i would cross even 340 as 334 gives continuous beep.

now the temp @ idle is around 58c
speed 3.21 ghz
cpu core voltage 1.408

i will post my bios snaps soon..so that you guyz can get more clear picture..

[hellgate]

drop the vcore to 1.325 and see if u get a stable oc.also ur idling temps r high.do keep the temps in check.ii get max temps of 58-60c on full load @ 3.4GHz.

[axxo]

Ok this is what i got in bios




have no idea whats FSB Termination Voltage and (G)MCH Voltage..it gives no result regardless of change i make(possible values are 1.35,1.45,1.55 for both)
Memory Voltage can be change from 2.0 to 2.80

& here the possible Memory frequency that i can set




finally dram settings

Originally Posted by hellgate

drop the vcore to 1.325 and see if u get a stable oc.also ur idling temps r high.do keep the temps in check.ii get max temps of 58-60c on full load @ 3.4GHz.

when i reduce volt any further system starting to give blue screen error and restarts..when set to auto it goes till 1.7..so i better off with 1.408

[MetalheadGautham]

^^can you please tell me again, what type of cooling you have ?

[Choto Cheeta]

@axxo

Nice purchase and good OC for sure apart from the Temps

anyway, few question I wuld like to ask if u dont mind...

Whats the MAX FSB u can archive without touching the vcore
Whats the MAX FSB u can archive without touching the RAM settings and vcore ??

For value RAMs try not to cross 2.1v as for RAM voltage... but without proper cooling try not to touch the vcore and tell us whats the stable point and temps u can achive with ur OC !!!

[hellgate]

@axxo try the following ram timings.sud work for transcend.
4-4-4-12.
also try reducing the vcore from 1.408.its kinda too high for fsb of 357.i did 357 @ 1.335v.try setting vcore to 1.375v and see.

[Harvik780]

It seems this motherboard has a serious vDrop issue,this might be the reason he had to set such high vCore for only 3Ghz.

[darklord]

FSB ???
you mean vcore right ?
Infact thats an interesting thing, hey axxo, whats the vdroop like ?

[hellgate]

Originally Posted by Harvik780

It seems this motherboard has a serious vDrop issue,this might be the reason he had to set such high FSB for only 3Ghz.

i think u wanted to mean vcore rt???

[Harvik780]

Sorry corrected.

[axxo]

@MetalheadGautham
stock cooling with antec silver 5 compound

@no overclock am getting idle temp to be 35-40

i find some difference in temps reported by motherboard and under os..mobo tells relatively lower temp by 7-8c always..

i have no other way to set vcore to be slightly high in order to keep the os & tests crash enough...the lowest i can set for 334fsb is 1.36v..
when i switch to 357 the temps going as high as above 90c for orthos test...and to match this vcore is going as high as 1.7v(auto)

current fsb of 334 seems to reach 70s under stress...is this ok enough for long run?

Originally Posted by Choto Cheeta

@axxo

Nice purchase and good OC for sure apart from the Temps

anyway, few question I wuld like to ask if u dont mind...

Whats the MAX FSB u can archive without touching the vcore
Whats the MAX FSB u can archive without touching the RAM settings and vcore ??

For value RAMs try not to cross 2.1v as for RAM voltage... but without proper cooling try not to touch the vcore and tell us whats the stable point and temps u can achive with ur OC !!!

temps bcoz of high vcore i think...am not sure..reinstalled the thermal compound & heat sink but no change in temp.

& in my case vcore was always set to auto when i change fsb(during test)...finally i tweaked the vcore for stability.

[hellgate]

^^^ its not ok buddy.temps r high.u've got urself a oven and not a procy.

[axxo]

Originally Posted by hellgate

^^^ its not ok buddy.temps r high.u've got urself a oven and not a procy.

what else i can do..how abt changing the fan& heat sink with another one?

[hellgate]

if u wanna oc then think seriously bout getting ur self a good after market cooler.

[axxo]

Originally Posted by hellgate

if u wanna oc then think seriously bout getting ur self a good after market cooler.

ok..@ stock cooling the above is ideal or not?

[Harvik780]

As darklord suggested you can check for vDrops,this means check the vCore with CPUZ when the CPU is on full load with orthos.If the vCore drops to much lower extent then you have a vDrop issue.

[topgear]

@ axxo
Do post your benchmark results on this thread :
Post Your Benchmark Results Here

[ormano]

hai.. i'm newbie here and new o overclocking.. i got problem to achieve 3.0mhz on oc.. i had almost same spec as axxo but low grade.. this my spec:

MOBO :Biostar TP35D2-A7
CPU :Intel Dual Core E2160 1.8
RAM :Team Group Team-Value-667,1 GB DDR2-667 2 stick
PSU :Silverstone SST-ST400
COLER: Stock cooler.. =p.

could anyone here help me to achieve 3.0mhz..
right now i can achive in this level..

Cpu Multiplier – 9x (default)
CPU FSB -275mhz( 200-700)
Memory Frequency – 400 mhz (400/667/800/1066)
DRAM Timings – 4-4-4-12
Everything else set to default/auto.

[darklord]

Originally Posted by ormano

hai.. i'm newbie here and new o overclocking.. i got problem to achieve 3.0mhz on oc.. i had almost same spec as axxo but low grade.. this my spec:

MOBO :Biostar TP35D2-A7
CPU :Intel Dual Core E2160 1.8
RAM :Team Group Team-Value-667,1 GB DDR2-667 2 stick
PSU :Silverstone SST-ST400
COLER: Stock cooler.. =p.

could anyone here help me to achieve 3.0mhz..
right now i can achive in this level..

Cpu Multiplier – 9x (default)
CPU FSB -275mhz( 200-700)
Memory Frequency – 400 mhz (400/667/800/1066)
DRAM Timings – 4-4-4-12
Everything else set to default/auto.

Whats your vcore ? whats droop like ? kindly mention that, so that its easier to help you.