Project Overclock #2: Trouble in Paradise?

I also found out about an interesting mod you can do on the P5Ks. It involves a 2B pencil and is supposed to reduce and almost eliminate vdroop which is a big problem on the P5Ks, just a few strokes will do:

I'm going to try it out on mine as I've been having real trouble with vdroop.
I'm almost certain it's the same for the P5K-E as well.
 
Alrighty, so at 3204MHz and a 1.365VCore, and after 8 hours of P95, I've gotten no errors and system is extremely stable...

...in the hottest room ever. My max temps were:

65*
63*
60*
60*

measured with RealTemp. Too hot for my taste, but I don't know what to do.

Worshipme, do you think these are okay temperatures? Should I keep it here or what? Technically how often is my computer gonna see a full 100% load for this to be a problem?

And also, does that P5K mod have anything to do with reducing heat? I can't figure out what's actually happening in the picture either.
 
Worshipme, do you think these are okay temperatures? Should I keep it here or what? Technically how often is my computer gonna see a full 100% load for this to be a problem?
They do seem quite high for a Tuniq Tower and a 1.365V vcore. I'm getting those load temps at 1.45V. But then that's because your ambient temps are higher than mine.
What I think you should do is check how flat the base of your heatsink and CPU IHS are, just use a razor blade and hold it up to a light. If you see uneven light coming through, then it's not flat. In that case you will see a decent drop from lapping.
And also, does that P5K mod have anything to do with reducing heat? I can't figure out what's actually happening in the picture either.
Since a lower vcore will be required because of the reduced vdroop, it could result in slightly lower temps. I'm going to do the mod right now.
 
They do seem quite high for a Tuniq Tower and a 1.365V vcore. I'm getting those load temps at 1.45V. But then that's because your ambient temps are higher than mine.
What I think you should do is check how flat the base of your heatsink and CPU IHS are, just use a razor blade and hold it up to a light. If you see uneven light coming through, then it's not flat. In that case you will see a decent drop from lapping.

Since a lower vcore will be required because of the reduced vdroop, it could result in slightly lower temps. I'm going to do the mod right now.


Alright keep me posted as to what you actually had to do (physically) for the P5K mod. I still don't understand what the mod itself is.


As far as temperatures go, I sure hope its my ambient temps that are screwing it up. I'd rather not have any problems at all obviously, but I'd hate to think that my Tuniq doesn't have a perfectly even surface. I honestly don't want to take out all my components again, although its not THAT big of a PITA.

I'm gonna try 1.35VCore now.
 
Alrighty, so at 3204MHz and a 1.365VCore, and after 8 hours of P95, I've gotten no errors and system is extremely stable...

...in the hottest room ever. My max temps were:

65*
63*
60*
60*

measured with RealTemp. Too hot for my taste, but I don't know what to do.

Worshipme, do you think these are okay temperatures? Should I keep it here or what? Technically how often is my computer gonna see a full 100% load for this to be a problem?

And also, does that P5K mod have anything to do with reducing heat? I can't figure out what's actually happening in the picture either.
see the little yellow piece, you rub a pencil over it to leave an electrially conductive layer of graphite on it so the path of least resistance is via the graphite which increases the flow thus reducing vdroop. Some people then cover this with clear nail polish to stop the graphite wearing off. Also ensure you get the mod specific to your board if you do this as the voltage regulator location varies from model to model.

Couple of other things from your bios screenie.

Memory remap does nothing with 32bit os, set to disable

Manually set your:

cpu ratio to 8 (set it to 9 if you want to try for 3.6GHz)
strap to 400 (use 200 if the DDR2-800 option is not available in DRAM Frequency)
FSB to 400
PCIE Frequency to 100
DRAM Frequenciy to DDR2-800
DRAM Command rate to 1T or 1N (this depends a lot on your memory, if it is rated to run at 4-4-4-12 then it should do so at 1T or 1N) if it doesn't then a combo of more voltage and/or looser timings needs to be found)
DRAM Timing Control - your memory should be able to run at 4-4-4-12 as above, leave the sub timings etc on auto
DRAM, NB, SB voltages, adjust as necessary to achieve stabitilty
Load Line Calibration, this is to combat vdroop, set to enabled (this actually works really well on my current board, on my P5K vanilla it didn't work at all.)
CPU and PCI spread spectrum, set to disable.

I would reenable C1E support and speedstep if it was me.

Your temps are highish but we know the cause, your room temp is the main factor here, unless you're running a 100% cpu usage applications then these should reduce when speedstep and C1E kick in at idle.

Nice voltage
 
OK, I have successfully modded my P5K, and I'm very happy with the results. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to overclock and has a P5K. Vcore set to 1.45V in BIOS, and before I was getting around 1.3V at full load, which is awful. Here are the results after the mod.
Voltage at idle:



As we can see from PC Wizard 2008. The vdroop is quite low at 0.02V.

And here is the vcore at load:



Not even the smallest drop! In fact, it increased slightly. I should be able to get it stable and a lower voltage now.


@ GhostGT, I found I couldn't get my Corsair memory to function at 1T timings. But you may have more luck. I'm currently running at 4-4-4-10.
 
Stepspeed. I have it enabled and I don't have any problems with it. As soon as my CPU has a bit of work to do, it switches the multiplier to 9 and it saves energy so, why not? I know some people have some problems with it whilst overclocking though.

EDIT: Seems to be perfectly stable at 1.4V. Going to try 1.375.
 
How long before I will have to rub it again with the graphite? If it doesn't last long then I'll just apply the nail polish.
 
Back
Top Bottom