help enable spread spectrum ep-8rda+

[Bob The Great]

I'm oc'ing my pc right now and I have it sitting @ 200x10 (2500+ barton). I will push it to 11x200 tommorow, but I'm having issues getting spread spectrum to enable! The option in the bios is blanked out and I'm getting interference from the cpu on me speakers. During 3dmark it makes a very fast paced humming sound that goes up when I hit 300fps or above in 3dmark. ergg... Anyone have any ideas why it won't enable?

[paul9]

probably a safety feature for overclocking. as i understand it. the spread spectrum feature deviates the clock frequency above and below the stated frequency, to cut down on a fixed frequency interference. this would not make much difference at stock speeds, but when you are overclocked and a few extra megaHertz could destabilise or fry your cpu and your house, dog, budgie and bank account, then spread spectrum could be a bad thing. i hear that if you run your pc with the case sides attached, then it may reduce interference. however the only time the sides were ever on the case of my pc was when i picked the case up from the computer shop. try moving the pc or speakers or using shielded wires, or possibly underclock the pci bus host clock.

[Bob The Great]

wow, thanks for the detailed reply. Yeah the pc sides are on right now. So basicly the way it is, is it hurting anything. I have to turn the speakers up like all the way to get any of this interference.

[RamonGTP]

I believe when you set the option to "manual" or maybe it was "expert" to make your own adjustments, it deactivates that option.

[paul9]

only hurting your ears. no permanent damage otherwise should come of it, except if your pci bus is running overclocked. your soundcard may not be able to run much above the standard 33MHz pci bus speed. this may be the main source of your interference. you could theoretically get a reduction in interference from cpu radio frequency emissions to your soundcard by moving it to the furthest slot from your cpu. however, this would probably not be enough for you to notice. try switching off your monitor at the mains switch whilst you run a benchmark test, to see if the interference is coming from there, especially for a crt monitor. if the humming decreases in volume, then buy a tft monitor, or reroute your wiring for a cheaper solution.

[Bob The Great]

its onboard so thats not going to be able to happen. I'll try checking the monitxor, but its a really kicken .20 dp samsung so I'll just live with the humming while oc'ing. Thanks again for the help

[paul9]

try an el cheapo (tm) brand sound card and disable all references to on board audio and ac97 codecs in the bios, you may get better results that way. the on board sound is probably still affected by the pci bus speed, though. it is built in but still connected through the pci bus. my built in sound lost a channel so i use an el dirto cheapo (tm) brand sound card, now. i think it was more a case of unplugging jack plugs on a live system rather than the 27 to 100 mhz overclock i usually run on my 900 MHz celeron.

[Bob The Great]

the onboard sound for this mobo is pretty tight. It reduces the cpu load so I want to keep this. Its not bad, again its just at really high volumes. Might have to do with my decoder card too. Dunno.

[John Prophet]

spread spectrum is basically a useless thing..it is to reduce emi so that the things can pass govt specs etc....has nothing at all to do with performance.

I doubt it has anything to do with buzzing speakers....but u could reduce the overclock and try it then to see if it makes any difference

[Bob The Great]

ah, I will try that. I always thought it kept down the pci and agp and other htings from going over there rated speeds when you oc the bios. My bad.