Arch doesn't like my OverClock

Amanda S · 2014-01-07 17:56:58

I don't know why, but Arch is going nuts with my overclock. I can't even play CS 1.6. Either I get a Kernel Panic or the system freezes, making me manually restart.
It happens on every game I have, after a period of time. On Left 4 Dead 2, for example, I can't even finish a single map.

Here's what changes in my OC:

Processor clock from 3.0 GHz to 3.6 GHz
Processor Vcore from 1.4v to 1.47v
NorthBridge clock from 1600 MHz to 2400Mhz
NorthBridge voltage from 1.25v to 1.4v
RAM stays the same, 1600 MHz, but with 1.59v instead of 1.5v

This OC is not pushing my hardware to it's limits. I tested it for over 30 hours with prime95, no errors happened.
It's not high temps as well. My 9800GT only gets 60º C on full load. My processor gets 50ºC MAX with it's own box cooling. The memory stays warm, nothing to worry about. HD also stays worm. All this on Full-Load.
Also, on other distros such as Debian, I can easily push my OC to 3.82 GHz and NB to +2500 Mhz.

I have no clue what it is. There's no logs. Or, I'm too stupid to find them.

My Specs:

AMD Athlon II X2 250
4GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance
ASRock N68 VS3 UCC
1TB WD green S-ATA II
Seventeam 500W Power Supply (way above recommended)

Cooling system:

1 120mm fan under my GVA
1 5cm fan on the NorthBridge
1 80mm fan throwing air at both processor and NB
1 25cm fan (220v) throwing air at my case.

So everything is at a no-risk operational temperature at full-load.

Any ideas? I assume it's the video driver or the kernel. I'll install the legacy nvidia driver to see what comes out of it.

graysky · 2014-01-07 18:40:29

Amarildo wrote:

Any ideas? I assume it's the video driver or the kernel. I'll install the legacy nvidia driver to see what comes out of it.

Linux is a sensitive beast when it comes to overclocking. You are not stable with the settings you are using.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Stress_Test

Amanda S · 2014-01-07 18:47:00

I'm not stable on Arch. heheh
Never had problems with other distros. Guess the old hardware of mine doesn't go well with the latest linux software. I'll do that stress test.

brebs · 2014-01-07 18:53:53

prime95 is not the same test, because it does not simultaneously stress the video card. Which is attached to your motherboard.

Playing a game is a better stress test than prime95

graysky · 2014-01-07 19:47:48

brebs wrote:

prime95 is not the same test, because it does not simultaneously stress the video card. Which is attached to your motherboard.
Playing a game is a better stress test than prime95

Or p95 + make + gaming etc. is the best way to measure stability. Like I wrote in the wiki, you will want to take a blended approach.

Amanda S · 2014-01-08 01:54:05

brebs wrote:

prime95 is not the same test, because it does not simultaneously stress the video card. Which is attached to your motherboard.
Playing a game is a better stress test than prime95

That's why I'm here. I can play any game I want on any system I want, except Arch. That makes me sad because it happens on such a beautiful system.
I'm not blaming arch, btw, just looking for a fix for my problem.

I removed the 331 nvidia driver and installed the legacy one. I'll game and see what happens.

ewaller · 2014-01-08 02:37:36

As an engineer who likes to know what are his margins, I disapprove of overclocking and under-volting; I just don't like being a test pilot That said, start up one of the Linux distros that work for you, and find out what modules are loaded with lsmod. Compare that list with the list when running Arch. Mayhaps that will provide some insight.

Amanda S · 2014-01-08 03:42:31

I'm 99% sure it was the nvidia-331 driver. Installed the legacy one and played L4D2 for almost 2 hours, now playing CSS.
Funny that it didn't happen on 325.
As for the overclock, there's no problem as longs as the temps are good. As for the undervolt, I don't do it, I do OVERVolt.

Last edited by Amanda S (2014-01-08 03:50:17)

Arch Linux

#1 2014-01-07 17:56:58

Arch doesn't like my OverClock

#2 2014-01-07 18:40:29

Re: Arch doesn't like my OverClock

#3 2014-01-07 18:47:00

Re: Arch doesn't like my OverClock

#4 2014-01-07 18:53:53

Re: Arch doesn't like my OverClock

#5 2014-01-07 19:47:48

Re: Arch doesn't like my OverClock

#6 2014-01-08 01:54:05

Re: Arch doesn't like my OverClock

#7 2014-01-08 02:37:36

Re: Arch doesn't like my OverClock

#8 2014-01-08 03:42:31

Re: Arch doesn't like my OverClock

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