ziggo0's C90S & Clockgen Results (3.3ghz anyone :D) 56K WARNING***

I'd like to personally say right now I've learned a lot about the C90S this morning. Yes, it's 5:18AM. Yeah - I'm kinda tierd. I've learned that the C90S is very limited and is actually already pushing the limits of it's own hardware in our every day use. Here are a few things I've learned...

*The heatsink for the CPU is barely capable of dissipating the amount of heat a e6600 puts out at stock speed and stock voltage.

*The thermal limit for the heatsink is right about at the 2.93ghz barrier. It's very capable at keeping the e6600 @ 266x9 w/ 1.1625v cool during Idle, and Load doesn't take a very big hit in temperatures either. 1.325v scales very well at this speed. HOWEVER, my results of 333x9 w/ 1.325v go to show that the heatsink cannot dissipate the heat that our CPU throws out above 2.93ghz. Idle is just fine but when put under a full load, there is a HUGE jump in temperature. This is in -10 ~ -5C ambient. Take a look at the difference between Idle & Load down below.

*Something else that affects temperatures is Voltage and Frequency. Most people have the sub-conscious mindset that more voltage = more heat. Well, this is correct! Whats my point? My point is this isn't 100% COMPLETELY TRUE. I've noticed with the Core 2 Duo line of CPU's that heat, despite Vcore, increases in greater amounts with Frequency. Frequency being the actual speed of the CPU in mhz/ghz. This is just something to take note of in the future if you were ever wondering

*In order for the C90S to overclock successfully there are 2 other settings that need to be taken into consideration besides FSB, Multipliers, Voltages, etc. These 2 settings are the PCI Express Frequency & PCI Clock Synchronization. I was getting constant lock ups at just 200 ~ 300mhz over stock. This blew my mind considering I had the vcore @ 1.325v and SpeedStep disabled. I look a close look at what Turbo Gear does. It appears that PCIe Freq. and PCI Clock Sync. scale with FSB. In Clockgen this has to be done manually. Turbo Gear does this automatically. In Overclocking Mode, it sets a 15% increase to the FSB (306.6mhz). This also raises the PCI Freq. to 112 and the PCI Clock Sync. to 37.33. I spent some time wondering how Turbo Gear could achieve a higher clock than myself, so I decided to up the PCI Freq. to 123 and PCI Clock Sync. to 41. I didn't so much as choose a random number as I choose something small. PCI Freq. can damage your video hardware and quite possibly hurt your hard drive. Since PCI Freq. scales with FSB, as long as they are low and in Sync with your FSB, you have nothing to worry about. It's normal for it to be up to AND/OR AROUND 115...however, it's good to keep it LOCKED at 100/101. Our motherboard does not give us the option to do so. PCI Clock Sync. is also very important to keep pinned at 33, as it also causes damage to video and storage hardware. Short term exposure shouldn't harm anything, but ANYTHING could always happen. Again, our motherboard does not have a lock on it but AGAIN, low numbers higher than 33 in our case don't appear to hurt (or so Asus feels...).

*In addition to PCI Freq. & PCI Clock Sync. above noting that numbers increased in excess of what your board/video card can handle do cause problems with your video card functioning even at stock. I was trying to get you guys at 3DMark06 run @ 3.0ghz and it was pushed so far out of Sync. that it just froze or locked up. So...let this incident that I stumbled into shine upon some of Turbo Gear's issues when Overclocking and Gaming. My 3.0ghz clocks where using the same PCI Freq. & PCI Clock Sync. numbers as the 15% (Overclocking Mode). At 306x9 my games do crash, 3DMark06 will not run either due to this. So...Asus might need to learn a few things from what I've discovered, or possibly stop ignoring, or in my honest opinion, just simply disable.

*Overclocking is possible with this laptop. Huge numbers are not going to be possible, ever. Get a combination of RMClock going and ClockGen. I'm looking to get something a bit higher than 266x9 out of my e6600. It used to be under Phase pushing 5ghz so I know what it can handle

Now that I've bored the hell out of you guys with my rambling, here are the goods.

The Setup




I tried...lol


I've never seen this before...but it said "Overclocking Failed" lol.


Stock/266x9 Idle


Stock/266x9 Load


Like those temps???? I sure do

Stock/266x9 SuperPI 1M


Magic 3ghz/333x9 Idle


Magic 3ghz/333x9 Load (Notice the difference in temperature)


Magic 3ghz/333x9 SuperPI 1M


3.050ghz, 3.1ghz, 3.150ghz, 3.2ghz, 3.250ghz
http://www.distantnexus.net/images/computers/clockgen/339x9.jpg
http://www.distantnexus.net/images/computers/clockgen/345x9.jpg
http://www.distantnexus.net/images/computers/clockgen/350x9.jpg
http://www.distantnexus.net/images/computers/clockgen/355x9.jpg
http://www.distantnexus.net/images/computers/clockgen/361x9.jpg

3.2ghz SuperPI 1M


...And Finally, 3.3ghz!!!!!!!!


Temperatures were relative to 3.0ghz at Load. It was locking up so many times that whipping out Core Temp did not come to mind. Well, if you guys have any questions or comments, POST UP!

 

Nice! Way back when the c90 was new I tried clockgen to overclock and failed. Has a new version added PLL support?

Im sure with my mod that I can get some nice temps with a high overclock and that fan is just like what I did too.

 

Nice numbers ziggo! Vicious, look here for how to use ClockGen with the C90S http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=205300

 

No comment swoley? Thats surprising.

 

How does that say anything about clockgen? I have used clockgen many times in the past, but you have to know what PLL # to use if it doesnt auto detect. Maybe the new version worked without the extra work.

 

Nice work. + Rep only thing is that wprime is the new test to do for multicore processors.

 

Whoops, I linked the wrong thread. It's supposed to be this one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=205300. I found the PLL number for the C90S and made a thread about it. Apparently, nobody realizes this though...

 

If your calling me out to try that with my e6700 FORGET IT! I tried again this morning. Fresh install of xp, chipset drivers, house fan...locks up at 3.149ghz. Can only run around 3.0ghz without prime95 locking it up. I plan on swapping my desktop e6600 with the e6700...but I still dont plan on running it at 3.3ghz! very nice. were you able to run test at 3.3ghz for stability? also your temps are amazing! even with my fan the lowest i got was 40C!

BTW: In order to go past 2.981ghz i had to install turbogear and have it running in overclock mode already before applying clockgen.

 

Ziggo, you should run 3dmark06 at 3.2ghz with your gpu overclocked too. That way you get even more e-pe**is

 

Now, try doing it with the laptop fully assembled on carpet. Tell me what you hit.

 

Yeah I found the thread after I posted that. Nice find. I seriously tried every PLL on the whole list when the c90 came out, thats why I figured it was added with a new version. I even looked for the crystal to get the PLL # on the c90 itself with no avail.

 

Vicious,

Yeah the PLL was added, I believe, with version 1.0.5.3. Here's the chip if your interested....

 

Thanks for the Rep! Tonight I'll try to get 3.3ghz up again and run a wPrime. It's a lot different than SuperPI.

What did you have the PCI Freq. and PCI Clock Sync. at in Clockgen? I will try getting 3.3ghz up again and test for stablity. There is a good chance that it won't be stable. On another note, 300x9 is 4+ hours Orthos stable with 1.275vcore. This yields with no cooling pad and just sitting on a hard surface, temps of 74C! Which isn't to bad. CoD 4 ran for a good hour or two before I had to head out at this speed. However, for some reason, the CS:S Stress Test yields me 15 LESS* FPS whenever I overclock the CPU, anyone got an idea as to why?

Read through the part where I talked about the PCI Freq. and PCI Clock Sync. They are up so high and out of spec, the second the video card starts to do anything 3D I get an instant lock up. However, tonight I will give it a try again

 

The first time I tried out clockgen, I used turbogear to see what it put as the pci freq and clock. I used those speeds in clockgen without turbogear and then with turbogear. I wasnt able to get higher than 3.149ghz. FYI, my desktop mobo(680i) went out and had a small puff of smoke so i went ahead and took the e6600 out and have it in my c90s now. Im disappointed i have no desktop now but evga rma seems to be really good.

 

that is a light o/c for the e6600 but man thank you!! this chip can run at 4.5ghz on each core yall shouldnt be to worried about heat... unless its in your lap but proper cooling obviously makes it more efficient

nice!!

 

TXcharger, without the ambient I had an a box fan blowing on the heatsink, our idle temps are in between 50 ~ 60C and load is up in 70 ~ 80C. Heat is a problem for us.

 

Not for me! Load was at max 68

 

well i what i meant was the chip is designed to handle heat even more extreme temperatures

 

Oh, my bad, missed your point

 

lol its ok i sometimes phrase things difficultly, they sound good when i say them but don't come out the way i intended

 

Has anyone tried the load clocks on startup option in clockgen in Vista. I check the option but it does not work on startup.