Would someone familiar with the Gigabytes DS3L Bios V F8a please take a look at the changes I have made in my Bios settiings and post your observations?
{Any advice or comments would be appreciated. I have read through hundreds of posts and 4 or 5 forum 'guides' learning to OC my system but I simply do not know if I should make any futher adjustments!}

Today I ran the OCCTPT2.0.0a CPU test for 1 hour and got no errors.
My temps got as high as 51c on each core.

I then ran the Prime 95 "Blend" test for 4 hours with no errors.
The highest temp recorded was 43c.(Realtemp w/no calibration)


My Components are:
Antec 900
Corsair 520HX
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
E8400
Artic Freezer 7 Pro
EVGA 8800GT 512MB
Corsair XMS2x1024-6400CL4
WD 74GB Raptor
Samsung SATA DVD S203N
Win XP Pro SP3

My current Bios settings (changes from defaults) are:
C1E Disabled
CPU Thermal Moniter 2(TM2) Enabled
EIST Disabled
Vcore 1.284V
DDR18V 2.32V
3.3V 3.424V
12V 11.985
System Temp 32c
CPU 23c
CPU Warning 70c
CPU Fan Fail Enabled
CPU Fan Speed 2586
CPU Fan Failed Enabled

CPU Clock Ratio 3.60GHz [400X9]
CPU Host Frequency [100]
Performance Enhance [Standard}
DRAM Timing Selectable [Manual}
Standard Timing Control [Manual]
5-5-5-15
Advanced Timing Control [Auto]
3-3-6-42-2-3-8-0
Only other changes from here=
DDR2 +0.3
CPU Voltage Control 1.27500

I would greatly appreciate a more experienced overclocker's opinion.
Thank you!

It looks fine. There's perhaps a little more adjustment to be made to the vcore to minimize the voltage, but it's totally fine as is.

I highly suggest running Prime 95 blend for at least 12hours and Prime95 small FFT's for at least 8hours to ensure stability.

And use a program called CoreTemp to check temperatures.

Heck, why not grab HWMonitor while he's at it? That way he can monitor his motherboard and HD temps as well.

Evilonigir i, do you feel I should reduce the CPU Voltage and test again?
I would like to get as much longevity out of my system as possble. (BTW- I have latest versions of Coretemp, HWMonitor, and Realtemp... This thread explains why my attitude is a bit, “been there, done that" about temps: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] s#t1823481
What about my Corsair CL4 memory timings, should I be running at 5-5-5-15 or 4-4-4-12?
Also, I could hold my finger against my NB or memory modules for 15 – 20 seconds easily while testing – they were warm but not hot.

I am not a very experienced overclocker but it seems your system is stable. I'm not a big fan of testing stability for hours as others have done so sucessfully and then have their MB revert back to stock settings. IMO after testing the only proof of stability is to run the system normally and have no errors.

Seems to me you have done everything right. Now you can tune your memory if you like but run some bench marks before and after to see if its worth the overclock. Anand's overclocking experience tells us that the most important memory setting is tRD. In the Gigabyte bios it is called Static t Read Value. You may also read about this in Shadow's excellent overclocking guide. The Performance Enhance setting is also involed in this setting. Though since you are overclocking I would leave the PE setting at standard and experiment with the Static t Read Value. The lower the number the fast your memory will run.

My settings with the same setup but not overclocked, including the same memory purchased in March 08, with MCH at stock voltage is:
3-3-6-42-3-6-1

Also IMO you should try to run your system at the lowest voltage that runs reliably.

Let me know your experience, which is important to me, since our sytems are so close. Please send a PM as I may miss your post. Thanks.

I have a Q9450 and an EP36-DS3R board, but all the bios settings seem to be pretty much the same. I can't get my board stable at 400FSB with less than +.3V to the MCH. I'm not sure why everyone else seems to get to 400FSB without any overvolt. I have a lot of case cooling, but stock Gigabyte northbridge cooler.

Also, your settings look great. If you want that last bit of performance, go after the memory timings - see how low you can get your tRD, as Merman suggested.

Settings look good. You might want to increase "FSB Voltage" by +.1 or so. You MAY also have to increase "(G)MCH" voltage by +.1 or so if going above FSB 400. Run Prime95 Small FFT for 8hrs+ for good/safe stability.

For more info see:
GUIDE: Overclocking On P35-DS3L

Thanks Shadow, I've read the guide extensively.
Got my system set stable with the following settings:
C1E Disabled
CPU Thermal Moniter 2(TM2) Enabled
EIST Disabled
CPU Voltage 1.275v
DDR18V 2.1v
CPU Warning [Enabled] 60c
CPU Fan Failed [Enabled]
CPU Clock Ratio 3.60GHz [400X9]
CPU Host Frequency [100]
Performance Enhance [Standard}
DRAM Timing Selectable [Manual}
Standard Timing Control [Manual]
5-5-5-18 Static Read (tRD) = 6
CPU Voltage Control 1.27500

Here's Hardware Monitor's readings at idle;

Temps under load have not exceeded 53c on either core under OCCT or Prime95.

1. Are the temps based on HWMonitor? If so you might want to check out the RealTemp/CoreTemp readings. HWMonitor is known to be inaccurate. (For the best readings use the C2D Temp guide and calibrate SpeedFan)

2. How long did you run Prime95/OCCT?

Uncalibrated, Realtemp runs about 10 degrees lower than Coretemp. 43c was highest it read. Coretemp and HWMonitor yielded the same temps.
Haven't heard that HWMonitor was inaccurate. (I like Everest Ultimate/trial)

P95 for 8 hours. OCCT, test 1, for an hour.

Either way, temps look fine. Prime95 stable 8hrs is more than enough imo. I usually run for ~9-12hrs. Read the C2D Temp guide and try calibrate SpeedFan. From my experience it comes close to +/-2 to 3C reading as compared to a IR thermometer reading.

Not that it's of any particular interest, but I realized that I have my tRD set to 7, which is why my MCH voltage runs so high at such a low FSB. I think "Auto" will get you 9, which I think will significantly degrade memory performance.

On my system, I manually set the tRD in the bios to 6. Initially I was trying to run my memory at 444-12, then 555-15, (both @2.1 volts) but I wasn't getting very good benchmark results in Everest...
I manual adjusted my memory settings to 555-18, still using 2.1 volts, set my tRD at 6. and now I achieve my highest benchmarks in Everest (Ultimate free edition, latest version)
Corsairs PC6400 C4, benches best for me OCed @ 960 MHz with 2.1 volts - this yields the best results of all the conbinations voltage/timing combinations I've tried.
My current settings achieve the 'second slot' tier amongst all the included tiers, in this particular edition of everest.

Interesting... I'm not sure I can get a tRD of 6 stable with a 400MHz FSB frequency. I'm re-working my overclock and it's looking like I can lower voltages and reign in timings considerably from what I had.

I haven't run any benchmarks, so I'm not totally sure about the performance of my subsystems with different configurations - I just know that tighter timings tend to be good, and that higher than 1:1 memory settings aren't likely to provide me with much performance increase.