There's gotta be something I miss: you mention undervolting each time, and I don't quite get it --> why not setting CPU and RAM as meant by the manufacturer, without going over or under? Is it not possible?
yep, it's easy
but if i use "default" vcore then i am adding temperature without discernible improvements in stability
my standard approach is to test the max overclock available at stock volts; then i see whether a notch up in volts produces >50mhz improvement - if not, why bother i reckon
then, i reduce vcore to the stable level that holds the "original" best speed - cooler, less stress for the cpu, more leet for me
for my 939 opterons, it was 2.7 (150% stock speed) at 1.4 stable
for the single core 939's - a selection of san diegos and venus - the sweet spot was 2640 (from memory) at various volts, none over recommended vcore, several well under
seems to me there is a resonant speed for silicon from a given iteration, however binned - the difference is in the manufacturer's labelling - thus a denmark is a denmark, but might be an opty 165 up to a 180, but the stepping is more indicative of potential than the arbitrary stock number
i know the e8400 was good to go in the ep35-
ds3p at 4gig, and i know the xeon e3120 (an e8500 by any other measure) hit 3750 stable in this rig (ep35-
ds3, not the "p") but that the ram was at 395 (790) not overclocked, due to the extra x0.5 multi i had in hand
i reckon the motherboard and / or ram don't like me exceeding 800 5-5-5-18 and i'm not keen on pushing volts to force it - either vdimm, or northbridge, although the team dark 1 gig x2 might offer experimentation at higher fsb and a low multi to hit the same 3.6 and prove a point (9x400 versus 8x450) on stability
happy for any input, but stock vcore is not required for cpu stability from my perspective, and i am quite certain that the rig is stable as set at 3600, but pushing the ram past there (or maybe the fsb) is the issue
ntoskrnl is just the symptom, but i am still intrigued as to why embedded flash is the trigger, when much fiercer loading in games is never unstable
thanks for your ongoing interest