Zeroepix is having some difficulty with his registration, so I'm posting this on his behalf.

Ok Here's my problem:

My core system is this:
Asus Striker (non extreme)
Q6600 G0 w/ ThermalRight 120 Extreme
2GB Corsair 6400C4
8800GTX
800W PSU

I can't seem to increase the FSB on my MB (Asus Striker) much at all! Even with the minimal multiplier (x6), I can't seem to get past 333/1333 fsb...beyond that it just doesn't post. Am I missing something? I've heard that these boards can go to 450+, and I know the memory can handle it...so do I just have a bad north bridge? or just a crappy cpu?

I'm currently on bios 0304, and I've tried the la-*test*-('") 0605, but that only caused a complete failure -> power cycling and not even getting past video setup. I thought it was doomed at that point, but a cmos battery reseat seemed to fix that...had to use a spare slow ddr2 stick to let it boot (had no problems booting with my normal memory in the default bios...its lost compatibility in the new version??). Reflashed it back to the default that came on the cd. Downloaded the bios again to see if it was a bad download but it did the same thing.

For a long time I couldn't even get the PC stable (failing prime, crashing in every game) at the default FSB. I thought it may have been the psu (was using a noname 450W), but the 800W one didn't make a difference. I eventually got a fan to blow over the north bridge/memory, which actually seems to have helped a lot, and I realised it was probably heat related. It's mostly stable and I can use it now, but it's still not prime stable...will fail after a few minutes, but games/etc seem to work ok.

I've currently got it running @ 3.0GHz (333x9) with 1.152v (cpu-z), and I'm not too fussed if the cpu can't go much higher, but I would like the fsb to be pushed up a little more. After I put the fan over my ram I've managed to get 444MHz out of it, whereas before it would only be stable @ 266. Temps wise the CPU is 36-37 idle and around 50 under load, so I'm sure there's cpu room for more overclocking. I just want to know what's up with the fsb!

What vcore voltages have you tried as you increase the fsb?

Thanks Arlie for making me able to post ^^

I've -*test*-('")ed from 1.4->1.65v vcore in 0.05 increments. I've also done the same with the other MB voltages -> gone up in small increments until around 1.55v max. This is to -*test*-('") low multiplier (6x) with fsbs above 333/1333. I've tried roughly 20-25mhz increments up until 400/1600, with most of them not posting. If any did post, none booted windows, and all had errors by the 3rd or so -*test*-('") in mem-*test*-('").

With the voltages, I only did one voltage at a time...ie picked a reasonably high vcore (around 1.6v) and 350/1400 fsb, then pushed each individual voltage up 0.05 at a time until I got to around 1.55 then put it back and tried the next one. I've tried putting them all up at once...nothing!

It seems like the mb just can't do above 333 stably . Somehow it posted once at 3.375GHz, with 1.5 vcore, 1.5 the rest and 375/1500 fsb, but wouldn't boot windows. It seems that no amount of playing around with the MB voltages made any difference.

I didn't really like pushing the vcore much more than 1.65 in bios...at that voltage the MB was reporting something like 50-55c idle for the cpu.

Vegasr was able to get his Striker to do somewhat ok with the Q6600. But, the Striker is known to be a board that doesn't play well with quads. Until the p35 and x38 boards came along, no boards really did well in clocking quads very high.

Sounds like you did everything right. Let see if vegasr has anything to recommend.

One key with the quads is matching the vcore to the CPU termination voltage (CPU VTT Voltage in Bios). If the two are out of sync when running at load, you will be unstable. By default, the CPU termination voltage is set to 1.2v. Your goal should be to keep the termination voltage at a value no less than 0.02v less than the load voltage drawn by the CPU and no more than about 0.03v more.

Figuring out how to set it can be a bit of a trick, as the voltages produced by these boards have a lot of wobble. You may set 1.35v for vcore and at load get 1.27. The VTT voltage setting is fairly true on mine. If you have a good monitoring tool like Everest Ultimate, you will be able to see what the system is actually yielding. You can then pick combinations of vcore and VTT that are compatible.

Once you get up beyond 1333, you will also probably need to add some HTT and NB voltage as well. Here, you need to be very careful, as the NB chipset runs red hot on these boards. Add a fan to the NB heatsink before you add any voltage there.

Hmm...that would explain why I was unstable when vcore was at a high (auto-set) voltage, and the VTT was on default.

I just had a look in bios, and I think my voltage monitor has gone funny...I swear I could see the regular voltages (vcore, +3.3, +5, +12) as well as the extras (memory, vtt, ht, etc)...now all I can see are the basic ones.

Had a quick look at all the options to see if I'd accidentally turned off that monitoring, but I don't think I have...anyone have any idea what could have happened? Or am I just going crazy and it was never really there...? ><

BTW arlie yeah, I've got both the fan that came with the MB (centrifugal one) on the linked NB heatsink, as well as one blowing directly down onto it. Tried matching VTT/Vcore as best as I could and pushing the fsb just a tiny bit, but nothing happened .

It does the beep, then hangs just after bios declaration (bios ver 0304 <hang>)

Do you think it's worth trying another bios? I'm a little hesitant after my 0605 episode...that was a total disaster, and a total pain to recover from. It's weird that 0605 was less compatible with my memory than my current older one...!

Ah so bios doesn't make a difference....put on 0601, that seems to work ok, except every now and then mediashield can't find the raid array :-/

I had a look at the lcd thingy when it wouldn't post, and it comes up with DET IDE, could that mean anything?

detecting ide devices i think

mine used to get pissed at me and post strange things.
http://home.comcast.net/~moshea/blow.JPG

it wasn't very happy with itself either.
http://home.comcast.net/~moshea/aslcd.JPG

I had my share of headaches with the Striker, but got to overclock nicely in the end. VTT is critical here: 1.50v was the sweet spot for me (and I'm in good company here). As Arlie stated, it would seem there should be a correlation between CPU voltage and VTT. There probably is, but in my experience it doesn't make much difference in fine tuning. 1.45 - 1.50v is where the magic happens.

From my research and personal experience, southbridge voltages should be half a click higher than northbridge voltages.

RAM is the big variable here, as is Asus QAC and variability in performance among the Strikers: some do great, some are real lemons. You may have a lemon. I went through two boards before hitting a winner with board three.

The bottom line is that 680i chipset leaves much to be desired. I don't think they will last another season on reseller shelves.

cool thanks for your experience jmkays...I might play with those ranges too and see if it does anything. It could be that I have a lemon board...but is this something I could take back and demand another one for? My retailer is a low-cost parts provider so I'd probably have a fight over it.

The thing I meant with the DET IDE error, is that I think the only time I had 1400+fsb post was when I disconnected the cdrom/fdd to limit powerdraw on psu. Is it possible that an old ide dvd burner could limit the rest of the fsb? That's the only thing I have running on ide...might -*test*-('") that again now too.

lol captkirk...wish my board had a sense of humour too..

Ho hum.

So I tried your settings jmkays: 1.5v vcore/vtt, 1.6-1.8v SB, and I managed to properly post 1500fsb again...couldn't boot into windows tho.

What purpose does the 1.2HT have? I tried moving that around too, didn't make any difference.

Another thing I noticed, was that my system doesn't post at all when the NB is 1.4v+, and that's with a big fan blowing directly onto it...I think it's just a crappy nb..../sigh.

So, if I don't want to muck around with trying different strikers, which mobo is everyone moving to without these issues? I really love the options on this board, but if its a dud and there's a good chance the next one will be a dud too, I'd rather donate this to a non-overclocker and get a different board .

Blitz, anyone?

Yeah Blitz, P5K (any P35 board really) will do it.. or the new X38 chipset Asus Maximus like cool_case has although I've been reading up on it and there has been problems, its probably rushed to market without any thought put into the BIOSes, tried and proven is still the P35.. No SLI though.

I've got nearly an identical rig to yours Zeroepix and it has been troublefree and a superb overclocker. The P5K Deluxe is about $100 cheaper than the Striker and works great. See my specs below

Cool I might check those out....thanks guys ^^

Like Merc and WGF, my vote if for the P5K. It takes a few hours of experimentation to get acquainted with the new BIOS, but well worth the investment. It's probably the most stable, headache free motherboard I've ever used, with the P5N32-SLI Plus placing a close second.