Ok, kind of a strange problem here with a new system that I'm trying to overclock.

I just got a ga p35 ds3l mobo, e2160 dual core, 2x1GB ddr2 800 ram 500w Antec Neopower PSU.

I worked with it for a while last night and after a little tweaking I got everything stable at 3ghz with 333fsbx9. CPU voltage on 1.425 in the bois, ram +.4v (Ram is rated 2.2 - 2.3v) with the rated ram timings of 444-12. I had the ram running with the 2.4 multi for 800mhz for the RAM. I ran orthos for 5 hours of CPU stress and followed by 5 hours of blend test to make sure everything was stable. I didn't have any errors or warning, temps peaked at 55c, idle was around 29-32c.

So I thought everything was great! However... After I rebooted I noticed on post it said memory speed was only 480??? So I went into the bios, everything was still the same and looked good in there, however again, after I rebooted it still said 480 speed for memory, and the FSB had reset back to 200 (it was using that 200x2.4 to get the 480 it looks like). So my bios settings wouldnt stick.

I tried to update my bios from F7 to F8 and restore default settings, but still was a no go. Whenever I change the FSB it just defaults back to 200 when I reboot.

Can anyone help?

I reset the settings using the mobo jumper and everything seems to be back to normal now. Very strange though. Hopefully it just doesn't happen again.

Eventually I'd like to get 400fsb x 8 for 3.2ghz but I'm gonna stick to 333x9 for a few days and make sure everything runs stable.

This is my first overclock but I did a lot of research before taking the plunge. I do have a question though, are prime95 and orthos about the same as far as testing stability? I only used orthos so far. I ran CPU stress (small fft?) for 5 hours then the blend for about 5 hours as well. There were other tests but I only ever remember seeing people talk about these two. Am I getting a good stress on the system by running just those two tests?

Thanks in advance for everyone's time and advice.

I prefer using Prime95 for at least 12 hours before I'm happy with my OC. Never used Orthos, just prefer Prime95... I remember reading somewhere that is was better but I can't back that up with anything factual.

Ok, im still working on this system. I can get 333x9 (3ghz) working stable, running orthos 10+ hours w/out errors. But when I try to get 400x8 (3.2ghz) I am running into problems. First problem is that sometimes when I run orthos, in the first 5 seconds the system will just shut down. No blue screen, no freeze, just turns right off. After taking the voltage up on FSB 1 notch and taking the processor voltage to 1.45 in the bios, I can run orthos for about a minute or so, but then errors start coming up, and also it still sometimes just shuts down completely.

Would this be the chip hitting a wall or the mobo or PSU perhaps? The temps are still fine with the voltages upped to that level, 39c on the mobo and 57c load CPU temps.

Whats holding me back here? I really want to run 400mhz FSB but that doesn't seem to be happening for me.

I think I got it. Ran orthos small fft (cpu stress) for 14 hours so far and no errors.

Running at 400x8 for 3.2ghz. Had to bump the voltage in the bios up to about 1.46xx to get the chip to stay at 1.408 under load in windows. That seems to have me stable.

Now, however, Im focused on my temps. My temps peaked at 69c and averaged 66c over the 14 hours that I ran orthos. Is this too high? I've read elsewhere that as long as its under 70c its fine, other times people say that it should be under 60c. I seriously doubt I can drop enough voltage and remain stable to effect my temps at all.

So, is 69c too high?

69C is fine for 100% load.

As long as the cpu doesn't exceed 65C for normal usage, it's cool.