Well its about that time. The shine has worn off the new computer and it needs to be put back on. Except my overclocking skills are about zero. On my last mobo I could change the frequency of the CPU, and not the multiplier, now with this new board I can do the opposite...

Anyways here are my specs

E6600 Core 2 Duo "Conroe"
ASUS P5N-E SLI
8800GTS
2GB of Corsair DDR2 800
600w Coolmax PSU

Cooling
Tuniq Tower w/ 120mm
PSU has 120mm
4 case 120mm
reseated and AS5'd North bridge h/s
put small h/s from 9200SE on Southbridge with AS5
8800GTS has stock cooling
Case is inverted ATX

I'd like to O/c both my CPU and RAM.


*braces for the onslaught of links and guides*

The first thing todo is to raise you CPU VCORE to 1.45v and keep increasing your FSB... I'd like to help more but don't know about your board, I think Reflux and Dex have them though so they could help you (hopefully).

Thanks guys, reflux any chance I can get step by step instructions? I'm really really new to this....

EDIT: have you updated your BIOS yet? They just released 6801 at the end of June

Quote: Originally Posted by Dreyco Thanks guys, reflux any chance I can get step by step instructions? I'm really really new to this.... EDIT: have you updated your BIOS yet? They just released 6801 at the end of June

I'm not familiar with your board, but I'll have a try.

Go into your BIOS, find the voltage settings, and make sure your vcore is at 1.35v. With 1.35v you should hit an OC of 3.2ghz, or at least 3.0ghz. Good starting points. If you have FSB voltage and SPP voltage you might want to raise them to like 1.3v each

Then go to your advanced chipset features or wherever you change FSB speeds in that board. Your FSB will either be shown as it's quad pumped figure - 1066, or as 266. Up your FSB to 1333 (quad), or if it shows it as '266' as opposed to '1066', then up it to 333.

333x9 = 3.0ghz etc

Run some stability tests in Windows to make sure it's stable, then continue on upwards.

Best thing you can do is push your CPU to 3.6ghz with an FSB of 1600 should your cooling be sufficient. You'll need about 1.5-1.6v to hit 3.6+. Whilst at 1600FSB with your RAM at 800mhz you'll be running 1:1 RAM:FSB ratio which is ideal. You could OC your RAM but you'd start running out of sync unless you adjust the FSB accordingly. Not a major problem but it does make a difference.

Thanks Mr. Fiddles, I'm a little confused on the voltages because they arent set any where near what you said they should be. Also for the life of me I cannot get the BIOS to flash with EZ flash 2 for some reason.

Hmm maybe this pic might help a bit.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Excellent. You hit 3.0 then! Your CPU-Z says 1.2v and your other monitoring says 1.5! 1.5v is WAY overkill for a 3.0ghz OC so drop that vcore straight away. You're idling at 47c there which isn't cool.

Right, well with my E6600, I can hit 3.0ghz on 1.25v, but I have to make a large jump to 1.35v to get 3.2ghz. Don't worry if your voltages are set lower, some motherboards do that. Your E6600 has a max safe voltage of 1.35v. Just watch your temps. Try to keep to a max of 55c @ full load, and keep your idle temps @ 40c or less.

Also, CPU-Z often shows different voltage readings to your BIOS. This can be becuse of the board's vdroop, or just CPU-Z playing up. At 1.35v mine shows up at 1.32 in CPU-Z.

Push your FSB up a little higher and go for the 3.2ghz OC. Put your FSB to 356, (1423FSB quad) and your vcore to 1.35v. Run an Orthos stress test, and if it's stable for 2-3 hours, you're prolly ok. Once you've found a speed you're happy with, run a nice, long, 8 hour stress test to be sure it's completely stable.

Your MAX safe temps for 24/7 use according to intel is 61.3c so make sure it doesn't pass 60c AT ALL to be extra safe.

If you're not stable @ 3.2ghz with 1.35v then try upping it a little bit at a time, to 1.3625, then 1.375 etc etc etc. If it's still not stable then maybe up your FSB and SPP voltages a fraction. I'm not sure the safe voltages for that motherboard chipset and so fourth though, so check with someone who knows the board.

You can probably expect to hit 3.2-3.3ghz on 1.35v. To hit 3.4ghz you'll need 1.4-1.45v, and to hit 3.6ghz, you'll need 1.5-1.6v but the latter is risky unless you're water-cooled, or have a really good chip and great air circulation in your case.

3.6ghz isn't really worthwhile for the CPU performance increase compared to say 3.4ghz, and 3.4ghz should require significantly less voltage than 3.6ghz however it will enable you to run your RAM at 1:1 (800mhz RAM // 1600 FSB) which IS worthwhile.

Also, I added you to MSN. Drop me a line when you next sign in.

Some good advice here. As Fiddles or Mr. F? said watch your temps above 55-60C. If you are maxing out around 3.2 or 3.4 with that setup back it down to 3.0 and try dropping your voltages as low as it will allow stable and run it there for your everyday things. However, if you get a challenge or feel as if you want more speed, bump it back up there and up the voltages.

Super PI, a good program here to help you see the difference in speed changes, which is not too much... Select the 1m PI value to bench, and compare with others In addition, you can run this program as a stress test.

I run my Opty at 2.7 gigs from a stock of 2.0, but I can achieve 3.1 gigs benchable. There is no point to run it maxed out because you will not notice the difference in everyday tasks (and most games.) Of course, it is your gear, if you crave the speed then run it pushing the voltage then! If you can keep the temps down then it might work just as long as the lower clocked form, maybe

That board has wicked Vdroop, I had it. And CPUZ almost never reads vcore right

OH EM GEE!!! So i moved my computer from on case to another and noticed my heatsink was propped up on some capacitors. I took it off and it was only touching on less than a third!

After a bit of trimming and grinding on the retaining bracket I got the heatsink to mount properly. As an added bonus the fan is now matching the airflow of a chasis fans (w00t).

hmm well I can't check the temps right now cause I'm packing to move, I'll let you guys know how much of a difference it made. I'm just glad I didnt fry the poor CPU...