why can't i overclock anymore? (965p-ds3, e4300)

[Nocutius]

here are my specs:
gigabyte 965p-ds3 rev 3.3
e4300
ddr2 2x1gb 800mhz kit teamgroup
lc metatron hyperion 700w (lc8700)
arctic cooling freezer 7 pro
sapphire x1950pro 512mb

I had an overclock to 3ghz for 3 months now, at 9*333, memory divider 2, so ram was running at 667.

Occasionally (rarely), when i restarted the pc it would power down and restart itself back up with default settings, but then after overclocking again in bios, the overclock would be stable. I have my pc powered on for up to 2 weeks at a time, and there never were any problems, i was folding and gaming heavily.

The problem started when i clicked update in the gigabyte easytune5 application, and restarted the pc when asked to. It wouldn't even post, i had to clear cmos with the jumper.
I tried overclocking it a couple times more, but with no success.
I have uninstalled easytune application but it didn't help either
I have also updated bios to the latest version f12.

Every time i change anything in the bios M.I.T menu (MB intelligent Tweaker), the pc doesn't even post. It powers down starts back up, after a while powers down again and starts back up, and then nothing, it stay there, no post no nothing.

i have disabled these options in the advanced bios menu:
C1E, EIST, no-execute memory protection, limit CPUID max. to 3
basicaly i followed the instructions here (http://www.hardforum.com/printthread.php?t=1169366)

I set everything as it was before, when it worked, and it just doesn't work anymore.

This rig isn't as fast at 1.8ghz as it is at 3ghz, i noticed that i'm folding considerably slower now, quite a lot slower actually.
Windows reformat probably wouldn't do anything would it?

Any ideas?

[Nocutius]

ok i think i found the problem, sorry for posting before researching more than i did, but i think you can understand that i panicked a bit.

The problem seems to be with voltages. If i set them to auto, it doesn't post, which is very strange, since it did before. So why would auto setting work before, but suddenly decide not to.

I found some thread where a guy said it solved his problem by setting the G(MCH) OverVoltage control to +0.1, it helped. I could get to windows at 2.4 ghz, for more i had to up the Vcore a bit.
Currently it's at 1.385 up from 1.325, i guess it's pretty safe right?
What is still a safe vcore for a 24/7 overclock?

[raidersforever01]

at stock voltage of 1.325 i can get around 3ghz and without upping G(MCH) OverVoltage so that OC seems low to me but again i haven't OC'ed an intel since pentium 3. For vcore I wouldn't go over 1.5v but ive seen some people around here go 1.6 or higher.

[Bio-Hazard]

The safe voltage depends on the temps that you're getting. The E4300 (Alendale core) has a 100c tjunction, so it can run a bit hotter than the standard Conroe cores, but I would keep it under 70c or so full load (Orthos running small FFTs). If your temps are ok, anything in the 1.45 or a bit more will be safe.

[Bio-Hazard]

at stock voltage of 1.325 i can get around 3ghz and without upping G(MCH) OverVoltage so that OC seems low to me but again i haven't OC'ed an intel since pentium 3. For vcore I wouldn't go over 1.5v but ive seen some people around here go 1.6 or higher.
I've run my cores up to 1.6 (and a bit more) but my cooling can take it without any problems................:ahhhhh:. Regardless of cooling I'd try to stay under 1.5 for 24/7 opts, for OC'ing fun, the CPU temp is my deciding factor (or MoBo Bios voltage limits).

[Nocutius]

ok thanks guys, temps seem to be ok, speedfan reports 47c on both cores (running two folding instances), oh and i'm currently at 333*9.

Any ideas why auto settings for voltages would suddenly stop working? It's not that i overclocked too much, it wouldn't even post at 266*9.

[Bio-Hazard]

It could be that the default bios voltages are set to low for the components you have installed (CPU or memory). Not all bios's are programmed alike, that's normally the problem, every CPU have a different micro code and CPUID programmed into the boards bios and if it isn't done correctly, the voltages won't be correct and the board will be unstable or not post at all.

I would also use the newest version of coretemp to check your voltages because most other programs don't see the Alendale cores (L2 steppings) correctly and report their temps 15c low. The newer version of coretemp sees the cores correctly and reports the temps correctly last time I checked.

[Nocutius]

hmm coretemp shows 62c.
I did notice that my cpu heatsink is cooler and the fan runs slower than before, when my voltages were in auto(when it still worked), i gues they were set even higher than now.
Anyway i'm ok now, since i understand the problem at least roughly.