Official "Overclocking Help" Thread

[Miktar]

Post your overclocking tips/help/whatever here.

[ocram2912]

I'd like some help overcloking my Q6600, i have an ASUS P5Q mobo. Im sure a lot of you guys have the Q6600, any help would be appreciated :)

[K1LLER11]

hey okes
im running an AMD 64 AM2 at 2.7 GHz; my mobo is an Asus M2N-MX. i still have the original fan. i have never overclocked anything and would try to get to 3.0 GHz
any suggestions? pls :)

[KFC]

Good Day fellow NAG people.
I got a E2180 D-C (2GHz) CPU // 2 gig RAM // 8800GT 512 // 350Watt PSU :p
Getting new PSU for Christmas though.
Any Ideas how to put some heavy pumping inside?

[Frozenfireside]

ocram2912-That's a very good motherboard and it should help a lot with overclocking. What cooling do you have? Also I would look at 1.3 to 1.4volts for the CPU, 1.9 to 2.0 volts for the RAM and a increase on the NB but you would need to google that one.

K1LLER11-it should get to 3ghz but it might run warm.Ch@ps will have to help you with AMD.

KFC-Definitly get a bigger PSU and I hope you mean air so I'll say get some 12cm fans and mod your case if you have too. The best cooling setup is big fans, in front and at the rear. Side fans help little. You gcard can overclock but it will run into the 90s. look at a cooler for it. I run the same card on a Zalman VF-1000 LED.

All you guys need some decent cooling.
Custompc.co.uk

[ocram2912]

Thanks frozenfireside. At the moment im using the Coolermaster Sphere. My Specs:

Asus P5Q
Intel Q6600 (at stock 2.4)
2Gb Corsair Xms (want to upgrade to 3Gb)
XFX GTX 260 Black Edition
500 Watt PSU

[Ch@pS]

Linky (http://forums.tidemedia.co.za/nag/showthread.php?t=8290&highlight=overclock) A noob guide i wrote. Its very very basic, but should help a bit.

[Elyaradine]

Shot for the guide, Ch@pS. I was scared off of it until about 4 minutes ago. Going to give it a go. ^_^

So, like, in my (P5K board) BIOS, my E8400 reports a temperature of 14 degrees. That makes no sense to me, considering it's air cooled, and room temperature is at least in the twenties.

[Ch@pS]

The temp sensor on most asus boards is totally whack, Ive had dice on a P5K at -60c before and the bios read it as 35. Dont worry too much about that, try get everest or coretemp to read your temps.

If there are any guys in the JHB area who are really interested in OCing, just shout and we can meet up at a bar or whereever and i can OC your pc for you while teaching you all the tips and tricks. "Hands on" experience helps far more than any guide ever could.

[Frozenfireside]

You could practice chilling a beer before cooling the CPU :-/

[biffman]

I want to overclock my Pentium Dual Core E2140. What do I need to change if I want to get it to about 2.5 to 2.6ghz. I have a MSI P4M900M2-L motherboard.

My CPU-Z results if they will be of any help.

http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/biffman_101/CPU-Z.jpg

[Chevron]

I didn't realize your default cpu speed was so low. You'll have to increase your fsb by quite a bit. You'll probably get about 800mhz stable without a voltage bump. Then when do increase it the smallest amount your mobo allows.

Just check your ram speed as you go up. I know you're running 800 ram at 667 speeds, but you might still need to change the fsb:ram ratio.

[biffman]

How far should I push my FSB.

[Chevron]

Depends on your mobo. But start with a 20mhz. Then 10mhz increments.

[biffman]

What all do I need to do to get to 2.4... I am completely clueless.

[Chevron]

That depends on your fsb. You'll have to increase it by 50%.

Did you even try what i said first?

[biffman]

When I go into my Bios it says my CPU FSB Frequency is 200 Min 200 Max 500
Then under it it says CPU Frequency 1600.
So once I've increased my FSB up from 200 I can then increase my CPU frequency ... Right?

[Chevron]

Upping your fsb will up your frequency automatically.

increase it to 220. Then boot into windows and see what cpuz says your cpu speed and ram speed is.

[biffman]

Thanks for the help Chevron I will keep you posted on what happens :)

[Chevron]

Your cpu speed should be 1.760Ghz. Just not sure what your ram speed will be.

Try 240fsb next.

[KFC]

Greetings.
My question is how to use the Jumper at the HDD's correctly.
I heard that If one for example has 1 master HDD and 1 Slave HDD,
you can increase the speed by switching the jumper so that the speed increases.
Is this correct?

[biffman]

Ok, I increased my FSB in the bios from 200 to 220 and everything seems to be running fine :)
So now it should be running at 1.8ghz. I will increase to 240 in a couple of days, I just want to monitor heat and stability.

[Chevron]

Ok, I increased my FSB in the bios from 200 to 220 and everything seems to be running fine :)
So now it should be running at 1.8ghz. I will increase to 240 in a couple of days, I just want to monitor heat and stability.

What does cpu-z say your cpu and ram speeds are?

[biffman]

Now it says my FSB is 880 in CPU-Z and my core clock 1320ghz why, is that just because it's not under load?

[biffman]

It says my CPU is at 1320ghz then it jumps to 1730 or something. My RAM is at 366.9.

[Chevron]

It says my CPU is at 1320ghz then it jumps to 1730 or something. My RAM is at 366.9.

If you right click on my computer and choose properties, what's the cpu speed there.

It sounds like your ram is running at 734mhz.

[biffman]

My computer says that it is at 1.76ghz and so does that program CPU speed. Will it be safe to go to 2.00ghz. What efect does it have on my RAM?

[Ch@pS]

Greetings.
My question is how to use the Jumper at the HDD's correctly.
I heard that If one for example has 1 master HDD and 1 Slave HDD,
you can increase the speed by switching the jumper so that the speed increases.
Is this correct?

Depends, SATA or PATA(IDE)? If you're talking SATA if you have a SATA II capable mobo, remove all jumpers to take the 1.5GB/s limiter off and allow it to run at 3GB/s. If PATA, Id have to see the jumper config on your hard drive as well as the make.

[Chevron]

My computer says that it is at 1.76ghz and so does that program CPU speed. Will it be safe to go to 2.00ghz. What efect does it have on my RAM?

Well your ram speed is derived from the fsb and a special ratio. If you don't change the ratio, upping the fsb increases the ram speed as well. Remember though that you're using ddr2-880 ram, so you've got wiggle room before you have to worry about the ratio.

[biffman]

Ok thanks, will I need to change any ratios if I want 2.0GHZ?

[Sven]

Depends, SATA or PATA(IDE)? If you're talking SATA if you have a SATA II capable mobo, remove all jumpers to take the 1.5GB/s limiter off and allow it to run at 3GB/s. If PATA, Id have to see the jumper config on your hard drive as well as the make.

Isn't there usually a helpful little diagram stuck to the top of every hard drive? That's what I usually refer to.

[Chevron]

Ok thanks, will I need to change any ratios if I want 2.0GHZ?

Well since your ram is so close to 800 you'll probably have to. Just increase the fsb to 230 and see what your ram speed is.

[biffman]

Ok cool.

[Ch@pS]

Isn't there usually a helpful little diagram stuck to the top of every hard drive? That's what I usually refer to.

Not with most older maxtor drive. And thats what i need to see to help him. :D

[KFC]

Ok. Now I have removed the Jumper from both HDD's and WHOLA!
....no change in speed. Still at average 20 megabytes per second.
Someone promised me it will run at 100mbps :/ ;_;
The 80Gb has a 16mb cache and the 250Gb a 32mb cache (as always).

[Ch@pS]

So SATA then. Someone was smoking something very strong that day, poor guy. There shouldnt be any speed change, all you're doing is theoreticly taking the speed limiter off. Try get yourself another 80GB and RAID the drives(even if its a windows software RAID), then you'll see some nice speed increases. Otherwise I'd say disk check the drives, defrag them, make sure you have some free space on both etc etc.

[KFC]

Someone was smoking something very strong that day, poor guy. .
I know what you did thar ^.-

Where is the Defrag Tool for Vista? couldnt find it anywhere. Must it be
downloaded?

[Ch@pS]

I dont know what i did thar O_o

Disk Defragmenter is in System Tools, under Accessories.

Alternatively try this. (http://www.vistarewired.com/2007/02/15/defragment)

[KFC]

Found it. Thanks.
Usually I never use defrag, since I reformat my PC each month (or every second)

[Ch@pS]

I feel your pain, used to do that every week or 2. Solution, get a spare hard drive and ghost a current freshly installed OS onto it. Then whenever you get problems, just format your main OS drive and Ghost the backup onto it. Its much easier and faster than reinstalling every time.

[KFC]

OK Done. Now both Jumpers are removed and both disk defragmented.
Sweet 40mbps on the average. That really helped. 20avg-->40avg

[biffman]

If your RAM is already running at what it is supposed to running at eg 400@400, can you still overclock your processor without worrying about RAM speed?

[K1LLER11]

hey okes; finally decided to overclock my rig; i downloaded NVidia NTune cause ive got an NForce board; any one got any tips on how to use it properly; last night i got my CPU from 2.7 GHz to 2.9GHz but this morning all the settings had reverted back to the factory settings? like wtf?

[Chevron]

If your RAM is already running at what it is supposed to running at eg 400@400, can you still overclock your processor without worrying about RAM speed?

You'll have to adjust the fsb:ram ratio.


hey okes; finally decided to overclock my rig; i downloaded NVidia NTune cause ive got an NForce board; any one got any tips on how to use it properly; last night i got my CPU from 2.7 GHz to 2.9GHz but this morning all the settings had reverted back to the factory settings? like wtf?

That's you should rather use the bios to overclock. While I haven't use ntune, look for an option called "always apply settings at startup" or something to that effect.

[Fredder]

I think you need to tick a setting box to keep the system applying the overclock. If not, then I suggest setting up an overclocking profile in NTune with a conditional trigger to apply the overclock permanently.
Haven't tried it myself, as I no longer have a N-force mobo. Good luck!!!

Basically what Chevron said . . .

[K1LLER11]

I think you need to tick a setting box to keep the system applying the overclock. If not, then I suggest setting up an overclocking profile in NTune with a conditional trigger to apply the overclock permanently.
Haven't tried it myself, as I no longer have a N-force mobo. Good luck!!!

Basically what Chevron said . . .

thnks man
chevron: i know the BIOS is more reliable im just abit nervous about overdoing it (especially since i have no spare cash in case something goes wrong) if someone could tell me what sort of increments to use with voltage it would make my life a lot easier

[Chevron]

thnks man
chevron: i know the BIOS is more reliable im just abit nervous about overdoing it (especially since i have no spare cash in case something goes wrong) if someone could tell me what sort of increments to use with voltage it would make my life a lot easier

With voltage use the smallest increment your bios allows. Don't go more than two increments up because then usually it's not worth it due to diminishing returns.

[K1LLER11]

thnks man
didnt really work so well; any1 know how Asus diguises thier overcloking functions in thier BIOS menu's? NVidia's NTune is begining to annoy me

[GeometriX]

Jumper-free configuration is what you want.

[Ch@pS]

What board do you have? In fact, please list :

CPU
Mobo
RAM

for me and I can tell you where to go next, there's alot more to overclocking than increase volts, increase FSB, and RAM ratios. ;)

[K1LLER11]

now i need help;
im running an Athalon X2 at 2.7GHz stock; with an Asus M2N-MX mobo with 2GB of RAM (1Gb Samsung DDR2-800 and 1GB Jetram DDR2-800 ) running at +- 400 MHz and a Gigabyte 9400GT GPU running at 550 MHz; i have a 400W PSU. i tried upping my FSB from 200 MHz to 225 MHz to achieve a CPU frequency of 3GHz. windows boots and the system runs stable until i try to run a game. i load the game and the system shuts down. like WTF??!! im a noob at this but could the problem be that my PSU is not coping? could someone help me on this

[Wesley]

now i need help;
im running an Athalon X2 at 2.7GHz stock; with an Asus M2N-MX mobo with 2GB of RAM (1Gb Samsung DDR2-800 and 1GB Jetram DDR2-800 ) running at +- 400 MHz and a Gigabyte 9400GT GPU running at 550 MHz; i have a 400W PSU. i tried upping my FSB from 200 MHz to 225 MHz to achieve a CPU frequency of 3GHz. windows boots and the system runs stable until i try to run a game. i load the game and the system shuts down. like WTF??!! im a noob at this but could the problem be that my PSU is not coping? could someone help me on this

You overclocked your processor too much - traditionally AMD's never handle overclocking very well. You usually had to find a really good aftermarket cooler and hoped to god that it would lower your max temp while doing something intensive, like playing a game.

Lower your overclock a little, and check what settings you can change on your memory. Your memory might be the reason as well, perhaps those modules don't overclock at all. Try with just the Jetram module installed, and see if your pc can handle the overclock. Try a lower divider, that allows your memory to run at less than 800MHz.

By the way, does anyone here remember owning an Nvidia 6200 with the NV44 core? I got it for free from a family member, but I am disappointed with the fact that I cant unlock the extra pipelines as with the NV43. Anyone remember what frequencies they got when overclocking this card?

[Chevron]

Yeah. Lower the clock a little and check your ram ratio. You should be able to get 3Ghz though. MIGHT need a voltage bump to do so, but doubt it.

I think snow_patrol was right on the money. Overclocking your cpu overclocked your ram as well. Maybe set them to ram 667 then overclock. Would probably end up around 800 after the overclock anyway.

[K1LLER11]

u guys rock!!! wow thnks so much; all i had to do was up the RAM frequency to 667 and the system is fine at 225 MHz!! everything loads and runs perfectly stable

[Wesley]

u guys rock!!! wow thnks so much; all i had to do was up the RAM frequency to 667 and the system is fine at 225 MHz!! everything loads and runs perfectly stable

Thats good to hear. Now consider buying some Corsair XMS2 6400OC RAM with your next upgrade. You'll get faster and more stable overclocks with decent-quality RAM.

[biffman]

How do Transcend JetRAM DDR2 800 modules overclock? Will it damage or not make it last as long if it is overclocked to 820 or 850?

[Chevron]

How do Transcend JetRAM DDR2 800 modules overclock? Will it damage or not make it last as long if it is overclocked to 820 or 850?

Well if you overclock too far it'll be the former. If not that much the latter. I say it's not worth it overclocking ram. With upping the voltage slightly you might get 850 or 900.

[K1LLER11]

i had to reset my CMOS cause my system was unstable (THIS IS DRIVING ME INSANE :( :( ) the problem is my BIOS says that the settings are the default settings but CPUZ and Ntune say that the FSB is 225 MHz and the CPU is 3GHz. wat is wrong?

[biffman]

I want to get my processor to 2.0ghz, am I able to do this without damaging my RAM?

[Chevron]

i had to reset my CMOS cause my system was unstable (THIS IS DRIVING ME INSANE :( :( ) the problem is my BIOS says that the settings are the default settings but CPUZ and Ntune say that the FSB is 225 MHz and the CPU is 3GHz. wat is wrong?

Most likely you over did it. Either drop the speed or up the voltage by the smallest increment your bios allows.


I want to get my processor to 2.0ghz, am I able to do this without damaging my RAM?

Yes, just adjust your ram to run it at 533 or something slower. You should be able to do that by adjusting the fsb:ram ratio.

[K1LLER11]

i had to reset my CMOS cause my system was unstable (THIS IS DRIVING ME INSANE :( :( ) the problem is my BIOS says that the settings are the default settings but CPUZ and Ntune say that the FSB is 225 MHz and the CPU is 3GHz. wat is wrong?
chevron that didnt quite help; im still getting these different readings from the BIOS and CPUZ; plus when ever i load a game or in fact anything i get the blue screen of death and get told that my overclock has failed

[Ch@pS]

chevron that didnt quite help; im still getting these different readings from the BIOS and CPUZ; plus when ever i load a game or in fact anything i get the blue screen of death and get told that my overclock has failed

Your bios looks to be wrong and CPUZ, you can tell so by the instability. Tone your overclock down a bit

[Wesley]

Your bios looks to be wrong and CPUZ, you can tell so by the instability. Tone your overclock down a bit

Perhaps, Killer, you should also update your bios as well if you can - it cant do much harm at this stage. Consider as well the possibility that you have a motherboard that plain sucks at overclocking. Maybe it cant handle your overclocking of the HTT bus, and crashes when you try to do anything remotely data-intensive.

In the meantime, get the info off the bsd and google it or post it here. You know how to do that, right?

[K1LLER11]

guys soz about that i worked out the problem; my version of Ntune had for some reason upped the FSB and i didnt notice; i un-installed the program and now everything agree's with each other.
im goin 2 try overclock it one more time otherwise im holding out 4 an upgrade to something decent (possibly a black edition or an intel chip)

[Chevron]

guys soz about that i worked out the problem; my version of Ntune had for some reason upped the FSB and i didnt notice; i un-installed the program and now everything agree's with each other.
im goin 2 try overclock it one more time otherwise im holding out 4 an upgrade to something decent (possibly a black edition or an intel chip)

If you have an Am2+ board, you'd be dumb to not consider the PhenomIIs. Even if you have an Am2 board. It'd be cheaper to get a quad or tri core phenom than an intel board and chip.

[K1LLER11]

ja i know ; have u guys heard any thing gud about the Athalon black edition?

[Chevron]

ja i know ; have u guys heard any thing gud about the Athalon black edition?

The 6000+? To be honest I don't think it's worth it, considering what you have now. If you want a cpu get the 2.4Ghz Tri core.

I've got the 5600+ and haven't found it lacking at all. Never had a reason to oc.

[Frozenfireside]

Unlocked multiplier is useful.

[Wesley]

ja i know ; have u guys heard any thing gud about the Athalon black edition?

Rather stay away from the earlier Athlon Black Editions, they dont overclock very well. Rather wait until the Phenom II cpu's hit our shores, then treat yourself to a good quad-core.


Unlocked multiplier is useful.

Useful, but doesn't really make much of a difference with the early Black Editions.

[K1LLER11]

thnks guys; ive decided on a better decision; im going 2 go rob fort knoks and then spring 4 a Core I7 extreme and the Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME hehe :) :)

[Wesley]

thnks guys; ive decided on a better decision; im going 2 go rob fort knoks and then spring 4 a Core I7 extreme and the Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME hehe :) :)

Or rather get the Phenom II 7750 Dual Core and an Asus AM3 motherboard in a few months. Grab yourself a water-cooling kit and overclock that baby to 5GHz!

By the way, a little tip: try improve your english in your posts. A little effort goes a long way, and you'll gain respect if you do so.

[Elyaradine]

So, like, in my (P5K board) BIOS, my E8400 reports a temperature of 14 degrees. That makes no sense to me, considering it's air cooled, and room temperature is at least in the twenties.

I updated my BIOS and now it shows my CPU temperature as 39-48 degrees, which is more like what I'd expect.

E8400 (3Ghz)
Asus P5KC board
2x1GB OCZ Platinum-2 DDR-800

Any idea how far I can push it (conservatively)?

[Chevron]

I updated my BIOS and now it shows my CPU temperature as 39-48 degrees, which is more like what I'd expect.

E8400 (3Ghz)
Asus P5KC board
2x1GB OCZ Platinum-2 DDR-800

Any idea how far I can push it (conservatively)?

3.4-3.6

[Elyaradine]

Thanks.

[edit] So I bumped my FSB up to 400 and lowered my multiplier to 8.5.

But for some reason right-clicking My Computer -> Properties gives me 2.83Ghz, and RealTemp is giving me a value that keeps jumping between 399.9 x 6 MHz (~2.4Ghz) and 399.9 x 8.5 MHz (~3.4Ghz). Mostly on the lower speed, with the higher one (the one I want) appearing every few seconds for a moment.

Did I do something wrong incorrectly?

[Wesley]

Thanks.

[edit] So I bumped my FSB up to 400 and lowered my multiplier to 8.5.

But for some reason right-clicking My Computer -> Properties gives me 2.83Ghz, and RealTemp is giving me a value that keeps jumping between 399.9 x 6 MHz (~2.4Ghz) and 399.9 x 8.5 MHz (~3.4Ghz). Mostly on the lower speed, with the higher one (the one I want) appearing every few seconds for a moment.

Did I do something wrong incorrectly?

Perhaps Intel's Speedstep technology is clocking down your processor when its in the desktop mode and not being utilized for heavy work. Check on your motherboard manufacturer's website to see if you can turn this off on your motherboard's bios or not.

[Elyaradine]

Ah, thanks. I think I do remember seeing such a setting in my BIOS. ^_^

[BlackMage]

Okay I need to o/c a gecube 4650 1024mb.
but in Ati Tray Tools it shows the core and mem at 13.5 mhz.
Normal core 600mhz mem 400mhz.

No "lulz wat a krap GPU" please.

[Chevron]

Maybe try rivatuner.

[BlackMage]

rivatuner is for geforce cards is it not?

[Chevron]

rivatuner is for geforce cards is it not?

It supports some ati cards too. Well it used to anyway. Haven't tried it a while.

[Wesley]

Okay I need to o/c a gecube 4650 1024mb.
but in Ati Tray Tools it shows the core and mem at 13.5 mhz.
Normal core 600mhz mem 400mhz.

No "lulz wat a krap GPU" please.

Like Chev said, rather use Rivatuner for overclocking graphics cards - you'll have a lot more options to play with and you'll end up with a more stable overclock.

What you should also do is get updated drivers from your manufacturer's website. Your problem should be solved with a updated driver set, because I do remember seeing a few other users on other forums complaining about the same thing.


Did I do something wrong incorrectly?

lol. Epic fail. So you did it right?


rivatuner is for geforce cards is it not?

Its for both Nvidia and ATi cards, even the newest 9-series and the HD4000-series cards are supported in the latest version of Rivatuner.

[Elyaradine]

lol. Epic fail. So you did it right?
How embarrassing. Seems I didn't do it wrong. :P

[BlackMage]

Thanks folks.
I'll try rivatuner.

[Interfan]

I don't know if evga sells ati cards but if they do and you have one you can use their precision software. Its less complicated than riva tuner and does a very good job.

[K1LLER11]

hey guys im back !!! (after a little 'misunderstanding' about my opinion in a thread)
i saw that AMD released the PhenomII; like finally !!!! anyone heard anything about it?

[Wesley]

hey guys im back !!! (after a little 'misunderstanding' about my opinion in a thread)
i saw that AMD released the PhenomII; like finally !!!! anyone heard anything about it?

You should rather be looking in my Hardware News from Around the World thread, the last 5 pages practically are dedicated to AMD's Phenom II range.

[Predator]

I'm looking into maybe overclocking my intel E8500, I have a gigabye S2 6 quad series mobo and 650watt psu. Here's a pic of cpu-z and coretemp for the details.

http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/NIC808/Untitled-1.jpg

[Ch@pS]

Set your CPU voltage to 1.37v, and up your FSB to 418. You may need to up your nb voltage a tad too. Make sure your ram can handle the speed you set and you should have a 4GHZ E8500 easy as that.

[Predator]

What about my mobo. Will it handle a 4ghz overclock. Is all this stuff in the bios? And also take into account I have the stock cooling. What about temperature.

[Wesley]

What about my mobo. Will it handle a 4ghz overclock. Is all this stuff in the bios? And also take into account I have the stock cooling. What about temperature.

Yes, your motherboard should be able to handle the proessor at those speeds easily, and yes, everything you need is in the BIOS. Just poke around, eventually you'll find what it is you're looking for. As for stock cooling, bear in mind that you have a 45nm CPU running at +3GHz. Getting to 4GHz with stock cooling should be no problem for that CPU.

By the way, how much did you pay for that thing? I am liking de Hypa-Thredding ideaz wiz de nu 45nm CPUz ;):P

[Chuluka]

To what clock speed is it safe to overclock a E2180 (2GHz) under stock cooling?

[Wesley]

To what clock speed is it safe to overclock a E2180 (2GHz) under stock cooling?

You're looking at about 3.4Ghz max overclock for your E2180 with a good cooler. With a stock cooler, I reckon you'll hit 3Ghz with relative ease and no voltage tweaking. Start browsing through this Google search (http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=E2180+overclock&meta=) to see how other people have done with your CPU.

Good luck!

[Chuluka]

I've got a bit of broomstick up the pooper... Intel boards don't over clock so I'm stuck with my 2GHz :(

[Wesley]

I've got a bit of broomstick up the pooper... Intel boards don't over clock so I'm stuck with my 2GHz :(

Eugh. Intel motherboards. Gag. Bleh. -_-

Are you sure there's no clock frequency settings or FSB settings in the BIOS? Nothing at all?

[Chuluka]

None at all, i searched everywhere. The most I can do is change my RAM frequencies and timings.

[Wesley]

None at all, i searched everywhere. The most I can do is change my RAM frequencies and timings.

Then you are screwed amigo. For the time being everything should run fine, maybe in the future you can contemplate a motherboard upgrade, perhaps to a G31 Chipset (which is what I hope to get sometime this year).

[Ch@pS]

Didn't feel like starting a new thread so I'll say it in here, how many of you would be interested in coming to an overclocking demonstration, with dry ice, LN2, the works etc?

[Wesley]

Didn't feel like starting a new thread so I'll say it in here, how many of you would be interested in coming to an overclocking demonstration, with dry ice, LN2, the works etc?

I would. Pick me! Pick me! Where is it?

[Chevron]

I'd be interested.

[Ch@pS]

I'm trying to get something together, need to speak to a few people first though. It'll be planned possibly for this weekend, will let everyone whose interesed know by tomorrow.

[>>PyRoN<<]

Just out of interest . . i installed (yesterday) and overclocked my Intel E7400 2.8GHz from 266 to 300 (2.8GHz to 3.16GHz) and my fallout 3 kept crashing . . I tuned the CPU back to factory settings but the problem with Fallout 3 still persists . . . i have the latest patch for the game and up to date drivers for my CPU, Motherboard and GFX card . . . is it just the game being a bunghole or have i caused damage in some way with the overclock?

[Chevron]

Just out of interest . . i installed (yesterday) and overclocked my Intel E7400 2.8GHz from 266 to 300 (2.8GHz to 3.16GHz) and my fallout 3 kept crashing . . I tuned the CPU back to factory settings but the problem with Fallout 3 still persists . . . i have the latest patch for the game and up to date drivers for my CPU, Motherboard and GFX card . . . is it just the game being a bunghole or have i caused damage in some way with the overclock?

If downclocking did fix it, I doubt you caused the problem. Unless of course you forgot to adjust your memory divider and overclocked your ram to hell and back. That might leave permanent damage.

[>>PyRoN<<]

The thing is, i didn't touch the RAM or anything to do with it in the BIOS . . . but Fallout3 is now bringing blue screen errors and restarting my machine . . . and it's doing it with COD4 too aswell . . DRIVERS MAYBE???

[Wesley]

Just out of interest . . i installed (yesterday) and overclocked my Intel E7400 2.8GHz from 266 to 300 (2.8GHz to 3.16GHz) and my fallout 3 kept crashing . . I tuned the CPU back to factory settings but the problem with Fallout 3 still persists . . . i have the latest patch for the game and up to date drivers for my CPU, Motherboard and GFX card . . . is it just the game being a bunghole or have i caused damage in some way with the overclock?


The thing is, i didn't touch the RAM or anything to do with it in the BIOS . . . but Fallout3 is now bringing blue screen errors and restarting my machine . . . and it's doing it with COD4 too aswell . . DRIVERS MAYBE???

Is it only doing this while playing games in general, or only Fallout3? If its a general thing, then perhaps you need to reset your CMOS settings and check if that works, because I have a suspicion that your motherboard overclocked the PCI-Express bus and somehow didn't reset the speed when you downclocked your CPU.

Maybe, maybe not. Its a wild guess ;) But I've had this problem before, with an old AGP card that refused to run at higher bus speeds.

[>>PyRoN<<]

Is it only doing this while playing games in general, or only Fallout3?
Only Fallout 3.

because I have a suspicion that your motherboard overclocked the PCI-Express bus and somehow didn't reset the speed when you downclocked your CPU.

I tuned it back to factory settings in the BIOS . . it should have done this for me shouldn't it?

EDIT - i'll re-install Fallout3 (NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! all my playing time!!!) just to make sure . .but surely it should have picked up the new hardware and recognised it . . it's not even fancy **** . . /sob

[Chevron]

The thing is, i didn't touch the RAM or anything to do with it in the BIOS . . . but Fallout3 is now bringing blue screen errors and restarting my machine . . . and it's doing it with COD4 too aswell . . DRIVERS MAYBE???

The fact you didn't touch the ram settings is why your ram could be stuffed. Let me take a random ram ratio to illustrate my point. Let's say your ram to fsb ratio is 3:2. That means when your overclock your cpu by 60mhz, you also overclock your ram by 40mhz. So you could've pushed your ram too far.

[>>PyRoN<<]

The fact you didn't touch the ram settings is why your ram could be stuffed. Let me take a random ram ratio to illustrate my point. Let's say your ram to fsb ratio is 3:2. That means when your overclock your cpu by 60mhz, you also overclock your ram by 40mhz. So you could've pushed your ram too far.

i'm only using 1gig kingston 800 ram . . . if that means anything . . .

I ran Sandra and it didn't find errors with the RAM . . . told me to reduce the FSB or FSB/memory . . .which i did(hopefully) by resetting eveything to factory settings, and then it gave me the same message . . have i missed something??

**** . . why wasn't i just satisfied with 2.8?? WHY!!?!?
i'm only using 1gig kingston 800 ram . . .

[Wesley]

1gig kingston 800 ram

Er, well...Chev could be right about this one. I know for a fact that Kingston memory doesn't like to be overclocked much. Can you tell us what your memory divider for your RAM is now set to?

Edit: Hang on, whats this?


I ran Sandra and it didn't find errors with the RAM . . . told me to reduce the FSB or FSB/memory . . .which i did(hopefully) by resetting eveything to factory settings, and then it gave me the same message . . have i missed something??

What motherboard are you running?

[>>PyRoN<<]

Er, well...Chev could be right about this one. I know for a fact that Kingston memory doesn't like to be overclocked much.

Sh1t.


Can you tell us what your memory divider for your RAM is now set to?

Well . . it's my first time at this so i'm not quite sure . . but in the bios it says something about 'DRAM' being set to AUTO? And the only other obvious info about the RAM s that there is 1024MB of it and that there is only one RAM stick . . . or is it something else that i should be looking for?



Edit: Hang on, whats this?

SANDRA?? Oh, it's basically a system diagnostic application.
It's pretty good, i think . . .
http://www.sisoftware.net/



What motherboard are you running?

ASUS P5KPL-CM G31

[Wesley]

1GB of RAM? Gee, that sucks major. Games wont really like that little to work with, but fair enough. I cant actually comment myself, because I'm running on 512MB :P

With regards to your motherboard, its easy to pinpoint that your RAM is the problem. The P5KPL allows for up to DDR2-1066 RAM in dual-channel mode, so your motherboard kept on clocking up the RAM as the FSB crept higher. Your FSB is quad-pumped, so I assume your processor is now running at 1066mhz FSB? If so, it would mean that your memory is now running at 266mhz (800mhz) with a 3/4 divider.

Do me a favour. Re-boot, set your memory settings to Manual, and set your RAM to 667, if you get the option to do so. If not, change your memory divider to 3/5 (if you can) and change your FSB on your CPU to 1333. Re-boot and see if this works for you. Your CPU should boot up with a healthy 3.33Ghz, and your RAM should be running at 800mhz full speed. Then run Fallout3 again and tell me if you have the same problem. If you do, then I'd highly recommend you consider buying 2gigs of RAM.

[>>PyRoN<<]

Do me a favour. Re-boot, set your memory settings to Manual, and set your RAM to 667, if you get the option to do so. If not, change your memory divider to 3/5 (if you can) and change your FSB on your CPU to 1333. Re-boot and see if this works for you. Your CPU should boot up with a healthy 3.33Ghz, and your RAM should be running at 800mhz full speed.

is this right??

http://img18.picoodle.com/img/img18/3/3/5/pyron333/f_BIOSm_2fb33d2.png

If so, more RAM it is . . .

EDIT - should i re-install windows or is this unlikely to fix anything?

[Wesley]

is this right??

http://img18.picoodle.com/img/img18/3/3/5/pyron333/f_BIOSm_2fb33d2.png

If so, more RAM it is . . .

EDIT - should i re-install windows or is this unlikely to fix anything?

Yup, thats it. Give it a try and see what happens when you increase the CPU frequency to 333mhz. And uninstalling Windows will solve nothing, its clearly a hardware problem.

[>>PyRoN<<]

Ok, i set it to what it is in the picture and the error occurred again . . wrong values maybe?

[Wesley]

Ok, i set it to what it is in the picture and the error occurred again . . wrong values maybe?

No, its a hardware problem. So far, we can only assume that your RAM is the faulty. Can you find a floppy or something, and run Memtest86? Either that, or find a utility that stress-tests your RAM. If it still happens, then your memory is definitely faulty. If it runs cleanly, and only ever crashes in Fallout3, then I can only assume that your copy is a buggy one.

[>>PyRoN<<]

Crap . . alright thanks for all the help Wes. I appreciate it man. I guess the main problem is the RAM cos it does the same thing for Battlefield 2 aswell . . \checks corsair RAM pricing

[Chevron]

Crap . . alright thanks for all the help Wes. I appreciate it man. I guess the main problem is the RAM cos it does the same thing for Battlefield 2 aswell . . \checks corsair RAM pricing

You can get a 4gig set for R700 (http://www.prophecy.co.za/corsair-2x1gb-ddrii-twin2x20486400c4dhx-xms2-p-23328.html). That's the dominator set as well. 2gig kit for R500 (http://www.prophecy.co.za/corsair-2x1gb1024mb-twin2x20486400-p-23325.html), but that's the xms2 set.

[Ch@pS]

Take RAM out.
Switch PC on with RAM out.
Switch PC off and put RAM back in.
Find CMOS clear jumper(refer to your manual)
Reset Cmos with jumper.
Switch PC on but dont go to bios, just go straight to windows.
If memory problems persist, send the RAMs to me and I'll try what i know to fix them.

Or, if you really want to be epic, stick them in a freezer for a few hours, take them out, WAIT FOR THEM TO DRY, then try in your PC again. No, I'm not kidding.

[Wesley]

Take RAM out.
Switch PC on with RAM out.
Switch PC off and put RAM back in.
Find CMOS clear jumper(refer to your manual)
Reset Cmos with jumper.
Switch PC on but dont go to bios, just go straight to windows.
If memory problems persist, send the RAMs to me and I'll try what i know to fix them.

Or, if you really want to be epic, stick them in a freezer for a few hours, take them out, WAIT FOR THEM TO DRY, then try in your PC again. No, I'm not kidding.

You've got to be joking 0_0 How does the freezer thing solve the problem?

[Chevron]

You've got to be joking 0_0 How does the freezer thing solve the problem?

Supposedly works with hard drives too sometimes. Don't ask me why though.

[Ch@pS]

I'm not joking. The expansion and contraction of the sillicon allows the ram to "reset" itself. Its got something like a 60% success rate on damaged overclocking RAM.

[KanesFury]

LMFAO! My gf was telling me just now that if mt HDD crashes, i must put it in the freezer. And now you posted this here. lol. Anyway, im in the process of overclocking my Asus motherboard P5SD2-FM for the first time and the darn thing doesnt let me access any of the settings in the BIOS so i can adjust the FSB. Any idea on how i can overclock my FSB and increasing the voltages?

[Chevron]

Set the overclocking options to manual and not auto.

[>>PyRoN<<]

Take RAM out.
Switch PC on with RAM out.
Switch PC off and put RAM back in.
Find CMOS clear jumper(refer to your manual)
Reset Cmos with jumper.
Switch PC on but dont go to bios, just go straight to windows.
If memory problems persist, send the RAMs to me and I'll try what i know to fix them.

Or, if you really want to be epic, stick them in a freezer for a few hours, take them out, WAIT FOR THEM TO DRY, then try in your PC again. No, I'm not kidding.

Well thats unconventional, but ok thanks :) Anyway i sorted it out, turns out Wesley was right . . another gig of RAM worked the charm for Fallout 3 and seems to have helped slightly with the performance but Battlefield 2 is still crashing on start-up, even after a re-install . . \Tear

[Glordit]

Well thats unconventional, but ok thanks :) Anyway i sorted it out, turns out Wesley was right . . another gig of RAM worked the charm for Fallout 3 and seems to have helped slightly with the performance but Battlefield 2 is still crashing on start-up, even after a re-install . . \Tear

Sorry I might sound like a noob here.

Does all of your RAM have the exact same timing. eg 5-5-5-12 on every single chip? I had BSOD's and crashes for a few months on my old PC before realising that my 1GB ram chip ran 5-5-5-12 and the other 5-5-5-15. GW would BSOD, CSS/DODS would crash.

[N3G4T1v3]

Ok need help, I've been fiddling with overclocking lately.
I tried overclocking my RAM, I have 2 x 1GB 1066MHz of OCZ Fatal1ty (https://www.take2.co.za/electronics-ocz-fatal1ty-edition-memory-ddr2-1066mhz-2gb-kit-2-x-1gb-3962133.html), I'm using an AMD Phenom x3 2.4GHz and an Asus M3A78-CM mobo, and when I ran CPUZ, and it says my DRAM frequency is 333MHz instead of 533MHz, so I reset me BIOS to try fix this, and it remains the same, I'm sure it was a 533MHz when I first setup my PC.

Non the less, I forced it to run at 533MHz, it ran fine for about an hour just playing music and browsing the net, and then my PC just rebooted, and every time it was about to boot windows, it would reboot. Changing the DRAM frequency back to auto, windows then booted fine.
Does anyone know what may cause this, I also updated my bios lately, could this have cause the ram to drop speed for some reason?

[Chevron]

Ok need help, I've been fiddling with overclocking lately.
I tried overclocking my RAM, I have 2 x 1GB 1066MHz of OCZ Fatal1ty (https://www.take2.co.za/electronics-ocz-fatal1ty-edition-memory-ddr2-1066mhz-2gb-kit-2-x-1gb-3962133.html), I'm using an AMD Phenom x3 2.4GHz and an Asus M3A78-CM mobo, and when I ran CPUZ, and it says my DRAM frequency is 333MHz instead of 533MHz, so I reset me BIOS to try fix this, and it remains the same, I'm sure it was a 533MHz when I first setup my PC.

Non the less, I forced it to run at 533MHz, it ran fine for about an hour just playing music and browsing the net, and then my PC just rebooted, and every time it was about to boot windows, it would reboot. Changing the DRAM frequency back to auto, windows then booted fine.
Does anyone know what may cause this, I also updated my bios lately, could this have cause the ram to drop speed for some reason?

You probably need to up the voltage to 2.1v to get it stable at 533.

[N3G4T1v3]

You probably need to up the voltage to 2.1v to get it stable at 533.

Shouldn't the bios to this automatically?

Ok, I'll give it a shot

Edit: Still not working, I set my ram speed to 533MHz and 2.1V and windows starts booting but reboots before it enters windows and then sometimes as windows begins to boot

Edit: Ok, I switched my ram around, and it seems to be fine http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b298/slatem/untitled-1.jpg

Although the clocks seem to be wrong, apparently they should be 5-5-5-15, but those setting are on auto atm

Semi final Edit: I got it to run at 5-5-5-15, hope it remains stable, I tried playing some Crysis and it seems stable, I'm going to leave it running over night and see what happens.

Final Edit: Ok my system, didn't seem to like the 5-5-5-15 timings, but it seems happy at 533MHz with the timings on auto, which are the same as the picture, would this have a major impact on performance?

[pArkEr]

I've been trying to overclock my CPU. I have an Intel Celeron 440 @ 2.00GHz and a GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2C S-Series Motherboard. Basically I read Ch@ps tutorial, didn't get everything but got the gist of it. I went into the M.I.T in the BIOS and changed the clock to 250 (originally on 200). There was no setting for multiplier so it was stuck on 10. The computer booted, at the POST screen it says 2.5 GHz (250X10), and in My Computer> Properties. But according to CPU-Z:

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/2e3667b5ed.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

wtf?

[Ch@pS]

Its because you have speedstep enabled, just disable it, your CPU runs at 2.5GHZ under load.

And for all that is holy LOWER THOSE CPU VOLTS!!! Try at 1.3 and work your way up till its stable.

[pArkEr]

EDIT: nevermind, figured the speedstep out, it was called enhanced halt. As for the voltage, I set System Voltage Control to Auto.

What I want to know is how much I can get out of the overclock. On the box it says the FSB is 1333, what does that mean?

[Ch@pS]

It means the fsb runs at 333(quad pumped to 1333) x multi to your CPU speed. No way that CPU is a 1333FSB CPU, itsan 800FSB one. Your board can support up to 1333 FSB though. What that means is, you can up the FSB to 333 and only after that will you be "overclocking" the northbridge beyond stock. So keep NB volts slightly higher than stock(like 0.05v higher) and actually set your CPU voltage, never rely on auto, it almost always overvolts.

[pArkEr]

Shot, thanks man. I left the FSB on 333, and raised both the NB and CPU voltage, running fine now. It's amazing how well the old Celly can overclock.

[Frozenfireside]

Chaps I want to sell my P5N-T Deluxe mob and get a P5Q Pro.
I will never run SLi I think and the P5Q series is supposed to be excellent to overclock. The 780i chipset also doesn't like quads much either and I want a Q6600 soon.

I can upgrade to the P5Q Pro for R100 extra as I can get R1600 for my board.

Go for it? I think so.

[Ch@pS]

Whichever noob is buying your board for R1600 I feel for them. :(

But yes, go for it,

[fakey_ak]

i've got a p5q pro and runs great with my q8200. Good board.

[fakey_ak]

what cpu cooler would u guys recommend for my q8200. Was thinking of getting the thermalright true black ultra - 120. Was thinking of overclocking it 2. Need some help there aswel.

[Chevron]

what cpu cooler would u guys recommend for my q8200. Was thinking of getting the thermalright true black ultra - 120. Was thinking of overclocking it 2. Need some help there aswel.

The TRUE is an excellent cooler.

[fakey_ak]

sweeet. Should i stick with the thermal paste i get with it or should i get something better! And whn can help me with the overclocking bit. Im a noob so please b gentle.

[Ch@pS]

I'm running a lapped true at the moment and boy is it the best air cooler money can buy. If you want some decent thermal paste, Artic Silver based products are the ones to go for.

[<O_COOL>]

Hey guys. Don't know if I am posting in the right thread but here goes: If a motherboard that supports 4 Dimm slots is rated at 1.5V and the memory you plan to use uses 1.9V would you have to overclock the VDIMM to 1.9V? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I have to know. Thanks.

[Ch@pS]

Just set the Vdimm to 1.9v, what board and memory are you talking about, that'll clear it up. :)

[<O_COOL>]

Thanks heres the board:
Msi AMD 790FX-GD70
http://www.take2.co.za/electronics-msi-amd-790fx-gd70-motherboard-socket-am3-4405737.html

and the memory:
Corsair XMS3 DHX DDR3-1600 4GB (2X2GB) CL7

http://titan-ice.co.za/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35_38&products_id=264

[Ch@pS]

That should be fine, although you'll need to manually set the RAM speed and voltage to 1600, 1.9v respectively.

[<O_COOL>]

Why? Is the RAM not already running at 1600mhz out of the box?

[Ch@pS]

Nope, you'll have to set the dividers right, and possibly overclock your HT bus or whatever its called on AMD motherboards, the board suppoers 1600mhz(OC) which means its cant run that speed at non overclocked speeds.

[<O_COOL>]

Ok thanks. Forgot to read that part ^_^

[Tigman_1]

Hey guys, I recently bought a 250GTS, and it's great.

So, i thought i may just want to overclock it just the slightest bit, but quite frankley i have know idea what I am doing, so therefore I have posted screen-shots of the program (which cam with the card) to overclock.

Please tell me what I should do. Linky (http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8626/60247103.png)

[Wesley]

Hey guys, I recently bought a 250GTS, and it's great.

So, i thought i may just want to overclock it just the slightest bit, but quite frankley i have know idea what I am doing, so therefore I have posted screen-shots of the program (which cam with the card) to overclock.

Please tell me what I should do. Linky (http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8626/60247103.png)

Its simple, really, Use the sliders on the program to set the GPU to 788, the shaders to 1386, and the memory to 1150. A 50Mhz overclock should be possible in all three ranges. Then click "Test". If it runs fine, click "Apply" and find a game to test with. If it runs smoothly after an hour of play at settings that the card can handle, then its a successful overclock ^_^

[BTROG]

Hey all overclocking pros, I want to overclock my computer but I have never done overclocking before, do you have any tips for me thanks ;)

My specs: Elitegroup 945GCT-M2 motherboard, 9500GT, 3GB 667Mhz ram, Intel E2160 Dual Core 1.8Ghz

[Tryxst3r]

Hey all overclocking pros, I want to overclock my computer but I have never done overclocking before, do you have any tips for me thanks ;)

My specs: Elitegroup 945GCT-M2 motherboard, 9500GT, 3GB 667Mhz ram, Intel E2160 Dual Core 1.8Ghz

E2160: Specific Guide (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160.html), General Guide (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-240001_11_0.html), General Temperature Guide (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-221745_11_0.html).

You need to head into you BIOS on your motherboard, but I don't know much about the 945GCT-M2 and how well it can OC. I do know that the E2160 is a nice chip to OC, like any other E series chip. If you do things properly, you can get a stable 2.6GHz clock speed with your default cooler.

As for the RAM, push it to 800MHz for better performance.

To learn how to use your BIOS, download the manual for the motherboard from Elitegroup's website.

After doing a bit of research, it doesn't have many OC options, but it should be fine for a first time OCer.

I know I'm gonna get slaughtered over this, but if you buy this months issue of PCFormat, you can get all the nice CPU freeware monitoring tools without having to download them.

[@@GJC@@]

Hey you guys I have a 2.4 Ghz Intel processor en have managed to overclock it to 3Ghz, but i'm still young and my parents aren't willing to pay for a new CPU (or RAM,GPU) if I burn it out by oc'ing it. What is a safe temperature for the CPU to be at. Any help very much appreciated

[Wesley]

Hey you guys I have a 2.4 Ghz Intel processor en have managed to overclock it to 3Ghz, but i'm still young and my parents aren't willing to pay for a new CPU (or RAM,GPU) if I burn it out by oc'ing it. What is a safe temperature for the CPU to be at. Any help very much appreciated

For a Pentium 4, any temperature under 60 degrees at idle is fine. Under load it shouldn't exceed 80 degrees. By the way, I have an older Intel Celeron 2.4Ghz, and in one afternoon I pushed it to 3.2Ghz with the stock cooler 0_o

[StilleNacht]

For a Pentium 4, any temperature under 60 degrees at idle is fine. Under load it shouldn't exceed 80 degrees. By the way, I have an older Intel Celeron 2.4Ghz, and in one afternoon I pushed it to 3.2Ghz with the stock cooler 0_o

what would be a good add-on cooler for an intel Q8400?

[@@GJC@@]

So if my CPU wat hovering around 60?C under load I can still push it a little big further. Will try this

[Lysis]

I am trying permanently overclock my Inno3D GTX 260 and I have encountered a barrier. Anything over a 5% overclock produces either artifacts or below average performance. Now I know that these issues are not caused by overheating as the card temperature stays at the usual 40 degree mark. Could it be that my power supply is to blame here? I am using Rivatuner to overclock btw.

[Tigman_1]

I have an intel core 2 duo e7200, 2.55ghz, what would be a safe over clock?

[RaptoR]

Just a bit of a noob tip but there may be noobs here anyway :
When over clocking try avoiding the voltage of the CPU as its more dangerous to mess around with the voltage than the CPU multiplier and the frequency...I overclocked my 2.6ghz cpu to 3ghz without touching voltage, although i only have a stock cooler so i decided to just keep it at stock speeds, especially since i game for extended periods of time!! :D

[@@GJC@@]

I have an intel core 2 duo e7200, 2.55ghz, what would be a safe over clock?

I Have an Intel 2.4Ghz processor and pushed it to 3.2 Ghz with the temperatures staying at +- 60? with the stock cooler. You should be able to achieve an even higher clock speed. Just be careful not to overdo it as it may lead to a lag in performance.

The Temperatures at Idle, as Wesley said, should not be over 60?C and the temperature under load should not be over 80?C

[Wesley]

So if my CPU wat hovering around 60?C under load I can still push it a little big further. Will try this

Good luck dude. Most Pentium 4's I've played with can go to 3.4Ghz. I once played with one at college that reached 3.8Ghz on stock air cooling.


I am trying permanently overclock my Inno3D GTX 260 and I have encountered a barrier. Anything over a 5% overclock produces either artifacts or below average performance. Now I know that these issues are not caused by overheating as the card temperature stays at the usual 40 degree mark. Could it be that my power supply is to blame here? I am using Rivatuner to overclock btw.

Na, you just have a GTX260 that won't budge at all.


I have an intel core 2 duo e7200, 2.55ghz, what would be a safe over clock?

3.4Ghz should be attainable with stock voltages and the stock cooler. You could probably get to 4Ghz with a better cooler and motherboard.


Just a bit of a noob tip but there may be noobs here anyway :
When over clocking try avoiding the voltage of the CPU as its more dangerous to mess around with the voltage than the CPU multiplier and the frequency...I overclocked my 2.6ghz cpu to 3ghz without touching voltage, although i only have a stock cooler so i decided to just keep it at stock speeds, especially since i game for extended periods of time!! :D

I second this, but overvolting happens a lot less these days. You can ask Ch@ps, its not that easy anymore. Most processors fry themselves at voltages of more than 1.575v, and you'll find that the majority of processors available today operate at stock voltages of 1.3v, so there's a decent amount of headroom for a bit of error here and there.

[@@GJC@@]

Is it possible that while overclocking, if you push your clock speeds to far, can the performance be influenced negatively. Or, if this happens, does it only happen because the CPU doesn't have enough power in other words the voltage is set to low????? Any help appreciated!!

[BTROG]

I've been overclocking my 9500GT and I successfully got it to a stable (core/memory) 800Mhz/1070Mhz at a temperature of about 40 degrees so I tried to push it a bit further but then I get lower frame rates. Is this because I'm using a 450W psu or is it something else?

[Tryxst3r]

I've been overclocking my 9500GT and I successfully got it to a stable (core/memory) 800Mhz/1070Mhz at a temperature of about 40 degrees so I tried to push it a bit further but then I get lower frame rates. Is this because I'm using a 450W psu or is it something else?

Generally this tends to happen, however other factors may be influencing the drop in performance. Remember, the higher you OC something, the more power/energy it needs to remain stable. If you cannot keep it stable, things tend to go wrong.

[Wesley]

I've been overclocking my 9500GT and I successfully got it to a stable (core/memory) 800Mhz/1070Mhz at a temperature of about 40 degrees so I tried to push it a bit further but then I get lower frame rates. Is this because I'm using a 450W psu or is it something else?

Its because you have pushed it too far and to save itself from burning out, it throttles clockspeeds down to a predetermined level by the BIOS to allow it to continue working.

[Tigman_1]

Hey guys,

I was thinking of over clocking my pc a little bit, but being inexperienced, I have come to you. I have this program "Fox One" that came with my pc.

Take A Look:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8666/image1dwr.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8666/image1dwr.jpg)

Anyway, I have to sections in the program, take a look:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/5770/image2j.th.jpg (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/5770/image2j.jpg)

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/7415/image3ryk.th.jpg (http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/7415/image3ryk.jpg)

Anyway, can someone explain what I should do and how it works please. Thanks alot.

[Tryxst3r]

Its because you have pushed it too far and to save itself from burning out, it throttles clockspeeds down to a predetermined level by the BIOS to allow it to continue working.

Or that...

[Tigman_1]

Hey guys,

I was thinking of over clocking my pc a little bit, but being inexperienced, I have come to you. I have this program "Fox One" that came with my pc.

Take A Look:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8666/image1dwr.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8666/image1dwr.jpg)

Anyway, I have to sections in the program, take a look:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/5770/image2j.th.jpg (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/5770/image2j.jpg)

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/7415/image3ryk.th.jpg (http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/7415/image3ryk.jpg)

Anyway, can someone explain what I should do and how it works please. Thanks alot.


Anyone going to help?

[Lysis]

The first panel seems to be a general monitor screen. It provides you with information on frequencies, temperature, voltages, etc. There is nothing you can really 'do' on this screen.
Now the second panel is where the overclocking starts. The first option there allows you to overclock your RAM frequency, currently it is running at 800Mhz, but from here you can make it run faster. However, I foresee a problem with overclocking your RAM in this manner. Increasing your RAMs operating frequency may require you to relax the default timings it runs at. Check the physical RAM sticks to see what timings they are rated to run at and then check your BIOS to see what timings they are actually running at (I have found that most boards default your RAM to much looser timings than they are rated to run at). If the timings are loose, you have a bit of headroom and you can overclock your RAM using the Fox One utility.

The second option on that screen allows you to overclock your PCIe channel. Afaik this will not overclock your graphics card, it will overclock the channel between the physical PCIe slot and the Southbridge. Ask somebody who is more experienced to explain the benefits of such overclocking.

The third panel you have posted is probably the one you are looking to fiddle with. This panel allows you to change your computer's FSB. By overclocking your computer's FSB you can overclock your CPU. Notice the top left circle in the application, it contains information about your CPU, it displays the current FSB speed, the CPU multiplier and the CPU frequency. As you can see your CPU is currently running at 1.6Ghz and your FSB is at 266Mhz and your CPU has a 6x multiplier. What this means is that your FSB frequency multiplied by 6 will give you your CPU frequency. So if you increase the FSB speed to 300Mhz, your CPU will be overclocked to 1.8Ghz.

That's it really. Please take into consideration that, although I know my way around a BIOS and I understand the very basic concepts of overclocking, I am by no measn an expert. If you wish, wait for somebody more experienced to validate or correct this post, before you take my advice. However, I do believe I have explained your application correctly.

[BTROG]

This might be an insane question but will I be able to overclock a E2160 1.8Ghz processor to 4.0Ghz using the Zalman CNPS7000C-Cu Led CPU Cooler and a 450W psu

[Machine]

This might be an insane question but will I be able to overclock a E2160 1.8Ghz processor to 4.0Ghz using the Zalman CNPS7000C-Cu Led CPU Cooler and a 450W psu

The short answer would be: No.

I'm sure it is possible but I think only with water cooling or more extreme cooling methods. 4ghz is not ideal for long term use AT ALL, perhaps only for a quick benchmark IF you can manage to get it there stable.

I would attempt something more modest like 2.8Ghz. If that works out to be stable, then perhaps push for 3.2Ghz.

[RaptoR]

Hey guys,

I was thinking of over clocking my pc a little bit, but being inexperienced, I have come to you. I have this program "Fox One" that came with my pc.

Anyway, can someone explain what I should do and how it works please. Thanks alot.

why dont you just use your BIOS? Depending on what motherboard you have there should be quite a few things you can do to overclock..FSB for example

[Wesley]

This might be an insane question but will I be able to overclock a E2160 1.8Ghz processor to 4.0Ghz using the Zalman CNPS7000C-Cu Led CPU Cooler and a 450W psu

No chance in hell will you reach 4Ghz on air cooling. Maybe with a P45 motherboard, but even then the highest speed you will attain will be 9 * 400 = 3.6Ghz (9 being the multiplier, 400 being the highest rated speed for a P45 chipset). There will be limiting factors, like an FSB wall which might only let your chip get to 333Mhz FSB, which would give you 2.97Ghz. Watercooling won't do much for you, it would only be useful in conjunction with a motherboard that can reach past speeds of 400Mhz FSB, and you can only imagine how much those must cost.


why dont you just use your BIOS? Depending on what motherboard you have there should be quite a few things you can do to overclock..FSB for example

Overclocking in Windows is better for beginners to get a hang of it and learn all the terms and nuances associated with it.

[RaptoR]

Ok so i recently got a new HSF. the Artic cooler 7 Pro mainly coz i wanted to overclock my cpu without it getting too toasty. I have a E7300 and an MSi P35 Diamond mobo. I know the E7300 can easily overclock to 4ghz on air. I managed to get mine to boot up @ 4ghz but after a shoort while i get a blue screen of death and it restarts my PC. Any idea why this is so?
THANX

[Chuluka]

I would like to get a bit more power out of my Mushkin GTX260 Core 216.

Its default clocks are:
Graphics clock: 576MHz
Memory: 999MHz
Processor: 1242MHz

What is a safe frequency to set the card at without changing voltages?

[McDangerous]

Ahoy guys

i guessed this was the best tread to put this post in, seeing as it has to do with 3dmark vantage..

I got this score:

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/TyronLab/3dmarkvantage.jpg

Specs:

AMD Athlon64 X2 6000+ @ 3.01GHz
4GB DDR2-800, dual channel, @ 667MHz (mobo limited i think)
XFX HD4870 XXX edition 1GB @ 780 core and 1GHz memory
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB

is it a normal score? i see guys getting a lot more with 4870s.... is my processor limiting me a lot?

and if it is, how much will a new mobo and a PhenomII X3 720 BE help my score and game performance in general? i game at 1680x1050 btw, may be moving to 1920x1200 end of the year...

[Rizzla]

Looks about right, here's mine for reference:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e82/allzir/vantagescore.jpg

Specs:

Mobo: Asus M4A78T-E
CPU: Phenom II X3 720 BE @ 3.2Ghz
GFX: XFX 4870 1GB
RAM: Corsair DDR3-1333 4GB XMS3 Kit

Benching is overrated anyway, just worry about how your games play :)

[McDangerous]

that's the problem though, how does FarCry 2 and Unreal tournament3 run on your system? on mine, in farcry, everything set to ultra high, 4xAA, 1680x1050 in the opening scene i get between 40 and 23 fps, which is rather low for me... i should be getting more i think. and i get vicious slow-downs when i go into the town (Pala), it drops to like 20fps and stays there... these slowdowns are regardless of the image quality settings i use or resolution. it's really starting to bug me.

same in UT3, whenever i get into a large area, the courtyard in the Shangri La level for instance, my frame rate drops from 60+ fps to 30ish, which isn't bad i know, but it makes aiming very hard....

those are the reasons i posted this up.

if you could tell me how these games play on your setup Rizzla, i'd know if the 720 whould be a worthwhile upgrade or not.

[Rizzla]

I don't have access to UT3, but during the opening scene of FC2 my fps doesn't go below 30. It varies from low 30's to high 40's, mainly staying around 40. At 1680x1050 using 8x AA and everything max.

Running the FC2 benchmark, everything on ultra DX10, I get a min of 23fps during the explosions and masses of fire but the rest is smooth. Get an average of 33 fps.

[Wesley]

Ok so i recently got a new HSF. the Artic cooler 7 Pro mainly coz i wanted to overclock my cpu without it getting too toasty. I have a E7300 and an MSi P35 Diamond mobo. I know the E7300 can easily overclock to 4ghz on air. I managed to get mine to boot up @ 4ghz but after a shoort while i get a blue screen of death and it restarts my PC. Any idea why this is so?
THANX

Your chip doesn't like this level of overclock because it isn't stable enough, so after a while it reboots. Back down to 3.9 or 3.8Ghz, download and run a program called Prime95, and stress-test your pc at its overclock for at least four hours. If it passes that mark, then its stable.


I would like to get a bit more power out of my Mushkin GTX260 Core 216.

Its default clocks are:
Graphics clock: 576MHz
Memory: 999MHz
Processor: 1242MHz

What is a safe frequency to set the card at without changing voltages?

You can safely add another 50 - 100mhz to the graphics clock, another 100 - 200mhz on the memory, and likely anywhere between 50 and 200mhz on the processor. Once you overclock, run a few games and see how stable it is. If you have Unreal Tournament 3, you can use their looped benchmark to stress-test your card.


Ahoy guys

i guessed this was the best tread to put this post in, seeing as it has to do with 3dmark vantage..

I got this score:
Specs:

AMD Athlon64 X2 6000+ @ 3.01GHz
4GB DDR2-800, dual channel, @ 667MHz (mobo limited i think)
XFX HD4870 XXX edition 1GB @ 780 core and 1GHz memory
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB

is it a normal score? i see guys getting a lot more with 4870s.... is my processor limiting me a lot?

and if it is, how much will a new mobo and a PhenomII X3 720 BE help my score and game performance in general? i game at 1680x1050 btw, may be moving to 1920x1200 end of the year...

Dude, we've been telling you this for weeks man, get yourself a new processor and motherboard. Something like the Phenom x3 chips and an AM2+ motherboard will give you a pretty big performance boost all-around.

[McDangerous]

Yeah, i just remembered you did wes.... Gosh darn forgetfulness...

I just ran that bench Rizzla, same settings, on the Small Ranch level, and i got a minimum of 11fps, an average of 28..... So i guess a new processor is in order!! The only **** part is, since i've still got my minute Packard Bell case, i'll have to buy a new case too, that'll fit the Xfire mobo i'm planning to buy... Oi, i guess that's my 21st moneys spent then! :)

[jasong]

An x3 720be costs R1450 and an Asus M4N78 PRO goes for R1280. That's R2700 - minus the 2ndhand cost of your current mobo/cpu setup, probably R1k. So your upgrade comes to R1700 or less :)

[goleastro]

If anyone here has an i7 procesor and has overclocked please post your results..

So far i have got my i7 920 2.67ghz to 3.6ghz running stable on stock fans. I increased the frequency from 133mhz (stock) to 180mhz. I then increased the cpu voltage to 1.3v, and i left my ram (stock 1333mhz) on auto. I am quite happy with my results and i might try get further tomorrow.

[steve]

hi i need help
ive got an amd phenom 2 965 black edition which is ment to run at 3,4 ghz ,but is running at 800 mhz
iv'e got an ecs amd 740g am2 motherboard.Every time i try overclock it to its proper speed it doesnt boot, and i have to reset my cmos.
please help its driveing me crazey

[Predator]

Hi all I need some advice on overclocking my Intel core 2 duo E8500 and my gigabyte 9600gt.

For starters the goal for my processor is 4 ghz. My current mobo is the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2C (http://www.gigabyte.co.za/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=2866). It supports DDR2 1066 but I am currently running 800.
My cpu's temperature is constantly 32 Degrees, when playing games it goes up to about 36/38 maximum.

I am going to invest in a new cpu cooler for the overclock [ Coolermaster Hyper TX2 (http://www.prophecy.co.za/coolermaster-hyper-rrcchl9u1gp-copper-base-aluminum-p-23199.html) ]

And as for case cooling I will be ordering 2 new 120mm fans and my side panel will be modified to take 3 x 80mm fans. I also have a pci blower extracting underneath my vga card.

For my graphics card I want to push it up at least 100mhz or so. Or if I can get it higher that would be great.

Please give me exact numbers and details on what to change my FSB and voltage to. And what I must change the voltage to on my graphics card.

Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated.

Here's a shot of my Gigabyte vga gamer hud utility. And all tabs of cpu-z just click links to show extra tabs.
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/NIC808/GamerHud.jpg

http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/NIC808/CPU.jpg

Cache (http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/NIC808/CACHE.jpg)

Mainboard (http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/NIC808/MAINBOARD.jpg)

Memory (http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/NIC808/Memory.jpg)

SPD (http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo316/NIC808/SPD.jpg)

[Machine]

@Predator

I can tell you haven't fiddled with your BIOS just yet (since SpeedStep is on), I would advise you start googling around for settings and look at other peoples successful overclocks and of course their relative settings.

Your multiplier is dynamic since SpeedStep is on, this is no good for a successful O.C.

Did you notice in your CPU-Z, it shows you're running at around 2Ghz instead of your CPU's rated speed of 3.16Ghz... Your multiplier should be 9.5 not 6. That is because SpeedStep is enabled. Go to you BIOS and disabled it, also disable C1E, Max CPUID value limit and Vanderpool. Disabling those options in your BIOS should help with overclocking.

In order to get to 4Ghz, you'll need to pump your FSB from 333 to around 420 - 450. You'll need to add some extra voltage to your NB Core, your NB Termination and of course your CPU (there's a few other details I didn't mention here but you should read up on this stuff before doodling around in your BIOS). If your BIOS has an auto setting for your NB voltages then leave them auto (according to an Asus BIOS, I don't know Gigabyte). You will HAVE to add a little voltage to your CPU in order to stay stable at 4Ghz and don't attempt this without an aftermarket cooler, seriously.

Anyways, in order to determine whether your CPU, mobo and RAM can handle the stress I would advise starting smaller, like 3.5Ghz and work up bit by bit. Remember to run Prime95 with small FFT's for at least 12 hours to check if you have a stable O.C. and download RealTemp to keep a watchful eye on your CPU's temperature.

Sorry I did not comment on overclocking your graphics card, this is something I don't have much experience in and I'm not into OCing graphics cards. I tried it once and it didn't give me good results. To me, it's not worth lessening the life of your card. CPU's are much more robust than GPU's IMHO.


Seriously, if any one is vaguely new to overclocking, please check out this overclocking tutorial: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-240001_11_0.html

[goleastro]

Does, or can ram bottle neck a pc? I am using an i7 and im probably going to get the hd5850 but i have transend jet ram 1333mhz, timings: 8-8-8-20

Edit: cpu-z says my ram is only running at 534.6mhz and i have set it to 1333mhz in the bios (my ram is a triple channle 2gbx3 1333mhz set)

[goleastro]

Does, or can ram bottle neck a pc? I am using an i7 and im probably going to get the hd5850 but i have transend jet ram 1333mhz, timings: 8-8-8-20

Edit: cpu-z says my ram is only running at 534.6mhz and i have set it to 1333mhz in the bios (my ram is a triple channle 2gbx3 1333mhz set)

Sorry for the double post, but i really would like to know this. Isnt their anyone who can help.

And why does cpu-z show such low ram frequencies?

[Machine]

Sorry for the double post, but i really would like to know this. Isnt their anyone who can help.

And why does cpu-z show such low ram frequencies?

CPU-Z doesn't show the multiplied frequency. I'm not familiar with the X58 FSB speeds or DDR3 triple channel technology. I do know this, I have DDR2 RAM that runs at 800Mhz effective, in CPU-Z it shows as 400Mhz because it's "dual channel" it's ACTUALLY running at 800Mhz.

Does that answer your question?

What SPD timings does CPU-Z show? Is it the same as the timings specified on your RAM chips?

[Machine]

Sorry for the double post, but i really would like to know this. Isnt their anyone who can help.

And why does cpu-z show such low ram frequencies?

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h81/metalguitaro/rammmmm-1.jpg

[RaptoR]

Yes RAM can bottle-neck a PC...i have no clue on the 5870 or wateva it is but its a new card so to be safe that your system isnt bottlenecked 1600-2000mhz RAM would be better :)

[Predator]

Thanks machine for your advice. I'm going to get a cooler before I overclock so you don't have to worry there.

[Machine]

Thanks machine for your advice. I'm going to get a cooler before I overclock so you don't have to worry there.

Always a pleasure. Please read that article I posted a link to, it's choc-full of useful information to keep in mind.

[BTROG]

I bought the ASUS P5KPL-AM SE at rAge so I could overclock my E2160 but when I change the frequencies in the BIOS and restart the system nothing changes, please help

[Machine]

I bought the ASUS P5KPL-AM SE at rAge so I could overclock my E2160 but when I change the frequencies in the BIOS and restart the system nothing changes, please help

Sometimes if your overclock is too overzealous your BIOS will automatically revert to default settings.

Did you follow my directions in the previous I made?

You should try taking a look at the tutorial I posted a link to.

What frequency did you attempt to set it at in the BIOS?

[BTROG]

Sometimes if your overclock is too overzealous your BIOS will automatically revert to default settings.

Did you follow my directions in the previous I made?

You should try taking a look at the tutorial I posted a link to.

What frequency did you attempt to set it at in the BIOS?

I set it to 333Mhz and I'll take a look at the tutorial

[BTROG]

The part where I change my cpu frequency and ram frequency is under the JumperFree Config so do I need to disable the jumper or something in order for my frequency to change to what I set it to?

[Machine]

@BTROG

Listen 333Mhz is WAY too much for a 1st time overclock for your CPU... That would make it go from 1.8Ghz to 3Ghz... That's a 67% OC (too much).

Plus if you're not adding a bit of voltage the CPU would end up being too unstable to even start Windows let alone POST.

With your CPU's multiplier of 9 and your FSB running at a default of 200Mhz (yes that's right), I would advice something smaller. Try around 266Mhz (33% OC), that will overclock your CPU to 2.4Mhz. Also, remember to disable "speedstep" in your BIOS.

Download CPU-Z here: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Run the program and do screen shot and post it here under your default CPU setting first and I will advise you on how much extra voltage to pump it. It normally should be around 0.05 of a volt extra. Please be extra careful when changing the voltages as being too aggressive can burn out your CPU.

[Philothea]

Hi guys,

I am planing on getting an i5 750, and I've never overclocked before. Is it worthwhile to overclock a brand new cpu (I read Ch@pS's thing and he rates it's always worth OCing).

The new PC will be pretty high end already. Planning on: i5 750, HD5850, 2x2GB ram etc
What kind of speeds can you comfortably overclock that cpu to?
Are you going to be running a serious risk of wearing out a cpu (i.e. is it worth overclocking if its brand new)?
Where is the line where the benfits outweigh the risks?

Also somebody posted about 1333Mhz ram posibly bottlenecking a new Gfx card like the HD5850? Any comments on that?

[FEN1X]

Hi guys,

I am planing on getting an i5 750

Snap. Now guys. Ive been reading up about these new i5 and i7 CPU's. Apparently unlike the core2duo CPU's these have no FSB? So its now -harder- to OC because you dont just change the multiplier its more complex?

[goleastro]

Snap. Now guys. Ive been reading up about these new i5 and i7 CPU's. Apparently unlike the core2duo CPU's these have no FSB? So its now -harder- to OC because you dont just change the multiplier its more complex?

Huh? My i7 is at 3.26GHz and it's just normal overclocking. (well actually this i7 is the first thing i have ever overclocked, so i don't know how 'normal' overclocking is done)

[FEN1X]

How did you OC it?

[goleastro]

I just increased the Base Clock (mhz) from 133 to 163 and vula. No voltage increases nothing else.
I also clocked my ram down to 8-8-8-20 (not very good, i know) My ram Uncore Ratio was just left on Auto, but i set my memory ratio to 1304mhz which is the closet option to 1333mhz in this clock.

I will post my screens of proof tomorow, but right now i am using a phone. (Why can't i post attachments??? I can only use photo bucket)

[B4warn3d]

Snap. Now guys. Ive been reading up about these new i5 and i7 CPU's. Apparently unlike the core2duo CPU's these have no FSB? So its now -harder- to OC because you dont just change the multiplier its more complex?

Correct, The new Lynnfield processors are based on the Nehalem and do not have a FSB to speak of, Instead it has a "Base CPU clock" Look at that as your FSB, It normally is 133Mhz


How did you OC it?
The Lynnfield processors are multiplier locked, Unlike their Bigger i7 brothers (1366 socket), Basicly you need to just raise the base cpu clock to overclock the cpu.

Let's take the i5 you're getting as an example, It's 2.66Ghz, and the multiplier is 20 and the Base CPU clock is 133Mhz. You can effectively increase your base clock to overclock your i5. example 163(base clock) x 20 = 3260Mhz :D it's simple. And because you are getting 1600Mhz Ram, You can expect to get a much higher overclock than just 3260Mhz :P Just be sure to get proper cooling for the CPU.

When you get the i5 let me know :) I'm getting the i7 860, Would like to compare some benches :D

[FEN1X]

Im only going to be using air cooling, so i wont do anything extreme, like a 15% OC to get it to 3Ghz?
So then let me see.. Multiplier is 20x therefore I must change the base clock to 150? Is that all then, and would that be a "safe" overclock?

[B4warn3d]

Im only going to be using air cooling, so i wont do anything extreme, like a 15% OC to get it to 3Ghz?
So then let me see.. Multiplier is 20x therefore I must change the base clock to 150? Is that all then, and would that be a "safe" overclock?


You can expect to get a much higher overclock on proper air cooling than just 15% in fact, Why would you overclock it to 3Ghz if it will do that all by itself?, I've been looking around and Guru3D have overclocked their i7 870 to 4113Mhz on Air cooling alone, It is capable of going even higher but they will have to switch to water cooling to achieve that.

Oh and a 15% overclock on that CPU should be perfectly safe.

Just also take note that the Lynnfield processors have got a much better Turbo Boost function than the 1366 i7 Processors, Your i5 will automatically overclock itself to a maximum of 3.2Ghz if it detects you are running high intensity threads (games). Best part is that it won't overclock the entire cpu as a whole, It will overclock each core individually, So if you are playing a game for instance, And it runs on one core, Your i5 will automatically overclock that seperate core to 3Ghz, The rest of the cores will happily churp along at their base 2.66Ghz.

So like I said, If you are only going to overclock it at around 15%, It won't really be necessary...As it will Automatically do that by itself :P

[Lysis]

The only time overclocking becomes unsafe is when you mess with voltages, or if the core starts overheating. Now afaik, modern processors have a built-in 'failsafe' so that they will shut down at a certain temperature; this is to prevent them from running at temperatures which will damage the silicone (or whatever they are using these days, Hi-K or something like that). So this means that your only concern should be damages due to overvolting the CPU, but the overclock you are looking at will not require voltage changes, that is only necessary for extreme overclocks.

[FEN1X]

You can expect to get a much higher overclock on proper air cooling than just 15% in fact, Why would you overclock it to 3Ghz if it will do that all by itself?, I've been looking around and Guru3D have overclocked their i7 870 to 4113Mhz on Air cooling alone, It is capable of going even higher but they will have to switch to water cooling to achieve that.

Oh and a 15% overclock on that CPU should be perfectly safe.

Just also take note that the Lynnfield processors have got a much better Turbo Boost function than the 1366 i7 Processors, Your i5 will automatically overclock itself to a maximum of 3.2Ghz if it detects you are running high intensity threads (games). Best part is that it won't overclock the entire cpu as a whole, It will overclock each core individually, So if you are playing a game for instance, And it runs on one core, Your i5 will automatically overclock that seperate core to 3Ghz, The rest of the cores will happily churp along at their base 2.66Ghz.

So like I said, If you are only going to overclock it at around 15%, It won't really be necessary...As it will Automatically do that by itself :P

Orly? But do you have to set the Turbo Boost?

What happens if I say OC it to 3.2Ghz would it Turbo Boost that?

[B4warn3d]

Orly? But do you have to set the Turbo Boost?

What happens if I say OC it to 3.2Ghz would it Turbo Boost that?

Turbo Boost is already enabled when installed, So all you can do is Disable it if you want to.

For the people who want to go all out overclocking, It's advised to disable Turbo Boost in order to get the maximum overclock.

With it enabled, every change to the base clock will increase the turbo frequency. If you increase the bus speed to 160 MHz for a base clock speed of 3.2 GHz you would get a maximum turbo clock speed of 3.84 GHz.

[FEN1X]

Turbo Boost is already enabled when installed, So all you can do is Disable it if you want to.

For the people who want to go all out overclocking, It's advised to disable Turbo Boost in order to get the maximum overclock.

With it enabled, every change to the base clock will increase the turbo frequency. If you increase the bus speed to 160 MHz for a base clock speed of 3.2 GHz you would get a maximum turbo clock speed of 3.84 GHz.

Ok, so now, isnt this Turbo Boost a little dangerous?

Theoretical scenario:
I have OCed the base clock to 150Mhz. I decide to run "Borderlands" maxed out. My CPU will then go "aahhhhh graphics too beautiful to compute, its too hard" and OC itself to cope. But the temperature raises too high, and in order to save itself shutsdown?


Or will it work out, hmmm maybe Im working too hard, and not push itself as far as it could?

[B4warn3d]

Ok, so now, isnt this Turbo Boost a little dangerous?

Theoretical scenario:
I have OCed the base clock to 150Mhz. I decide to run "Borderlands" maxed out. My CPU will then go "aahhhhh graphics too beautiful to compute, its too hard" and OC itself to cope. But the temperature raises too high, and in order to save itself shutsdown?


Or will it work out, hmmm maybe Im working too hard, and not push itself as far as it could?

haha You worry too much :P

Turbo Boost is perfectly safe, If you run the cpu on standard specs you will not have any problems, And like I said, these chips are begging to be overclocked, All that's holding them back is temperature, Even if you overclock that chip to 150Mhz, And have Turbo Boost installed, The CPU won't reach dangerous temperature levels from such a small overclock. So you will be fine.

And even *IF* the cpus temp rises too high, Then yes, It has a temperature protection function built in, It should give a warning first to indicate that the temperature is reaching dangerous levels, If you choose to ignore that warning, It will automatically shut down the system to prevent damage.

[FEN1X]

haha You worry too much :P



Better be safe than sorry :D I cant afford to damage this new CPU.

[B4warn3d]

What mobo are you getting with that cpu again? Asus P7P55D? The normal one, Evo or Deluxe?

[FEN1X]

Deluxe :D

[goleastro]

I just increased the Base Clock (mhz) from 133 to 163 and vula. No voltage increases nothing else.
I also clocked my ram down to 8-8-8-20 (not very good, i know) My ram Uncore Ratio was just left on Auto, but i set my memory ratio to 1304mhz which is the closet option to 1333mhz in this clock.

I will post my screens of proof tomorow, but right now i am using a phone. (Why can't i post attachments??? I can only use photo bucket)

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv277/goleastro/CPU-ZClock.jpg


Edit: YAY, I found out how to post images!

[B4warn3d]

Deluxe :D

Cool cool, I see you already got your rig :P

Share some pics dude! And show us some performance stats (Bench screens).

[FEN1X]

Cool cool, I see you already got your rig :P

Share some pics dude! And show us some performance stats (Bench screens).

Only the RAM and PSU have arrived. Still waiting for the CPU and mobo etc.
But I shall!

[B4warn3d]

Got my i7 860 early this morning :D

Before I even think about puting the build together, I want to get Windows 7 first, And well, Everyone is out of stock, But apparently new stock will be arriving tomorrow.

I'll be taking pics of the process and then posting some bench pics :P And see how the OC'ing is.

[Tigman_1]

I recently upgraded to Windows 7 and I use Xtreme Tuner to handle my graphics card over clocking. However, the program is not compatible with windows 7 :(. Are there any other good programs out there? I have a nvidia geforce 250GTS. When I installed windows 7, It appeared that all the Drivers had been installed already. However, I still want to install the latest drivers for my graphics card just incase but which one do I choose - XP version or Vista version?

[Chuluka]

You get windows 7 graphic drivers. Just got to the drivers section on nvidia.com

[Philothea]

So i have just ordered my new PC :D

so i'm getting a MSI-P55gd 65, which has this "press one button" overclock thing.

How does that work and how does it compare to manually overclocking? I also assume there is no possibility of the motherboard overloading and frying your components?

[Devine.Insanity]

I haven't overclocked before and know very little about it, I'm interstead in overclocking my cpu just want to know as much as I can before I attempt anything.

Cpu: Intel core 2 duo E8400 3.00ghz
motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Gpu: Geforce GTX 285
Cpu cooler:Gigabyte G-cooler 2 pro
Ram: DDR2 4gigs 800

If any other information is required let me know.

I have done a lot of research today, I was just wondering how do you know how much to adjust your cpu vcore, and cpu termination and when would you need to adjust those settings? is it just trail and error?

one last final important question what temp should a cpu not exceed? The reason I ask is because I think my temps are high already and it's not overclocked.

overclocked to 3.6mhz without any temp increase, cant seem to get it to 4.0mhz

not overclocked: (min temp) core1 51*c, core2 51*c , (Max temp) core1 59*c, core2 57*c
thats on 376.1 x of 8.0

[Devine.Insanity]

I need to start a new post the previous one is getting confusing, don't shoot me please

so I have two problems the first is, my temps are confusing me I'm getting two different readings, not sure which one is correct, are they high or stable? http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu112/devine-insanity/untitled-8.jpg

Second problem, I managed to overclock to 3.6 can't seem to get past that, my cpu host frequency is at 400 and if I push it past that I can't balance out the memory frequency which is at 800, my system memory multiplier is at 2.00B, if that helps, I have tried to drop the multiplier of 9 and that does't work just can't seem to get it past 3.6

http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu112/devine-insanity/untitled-9.jpg

Woot managed to get to 4.0 on my first overclock, don't think thats to bad, ran prime95 and it's not stable any suggestions?

[Wesley]

I need to start a new post the previous one is getting confusing, don't shoot me please

so I have two problems the first is, my temps are confusing me I'm getting two different readings, not sure which one is correct, are they high or stable?

Temp reading programs are always going to be out according to one another, they're never going to be completely accurate. CPUID looks like it's reporting a close to accurate temp, but for your GTX260 you should rather use the Nvidia drivers for checking its temperature. What chassis are you using and how many fans do you have? How are they configured?


Second problem, I managed to overclock to 3.6 can't seem to get past that, my cpu host frequency is at 400 and if I push it past that I can't balance out the memory frequency which is at 800, my system memory multiplier is at 2.00B, if that helps, I have tried to drop the multiplier of 9 and that does't work just can't seem to get it past 3.6

Woot managed to get to 4.0 on my first overclock, don't think thats to bad, ran prime95 and it's not stable any suggestions?

Not getting past 3.6Ghz is more likely a voltage issue. I'd suggest reading this guide below and then seeing what you can do with the chip with a little voltage increase. Instability at 4Ghz also seems to be a voltage issue for most people, but I'd also suggest an aftermarket cooler since the chip needs to be kept very cool at 4Ghz.

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=717

[Devine.Insanity]

I'm using the Gigabyte 3D aurora 570, it has the two 120mm in the rear and a 1200mm in the front, and my cables are all managed well so there is airflow in the case, and I'm using gtx285

Thanks Wesley for the reply. I managed to get it to 4.0 and been running prime95 without any errors for about 5min now, it was the Vcore adjusted it to 3.35 and it seems to be running stable now

p95 test ran for 27min, worker #1 failed #2 still running do you think its cooling?
increased Vcore to 3.4 and p95 been running for a hour no issue, if cooling was a issue would prime95 be aware of it?

well my temps were at 80 and above so I set it back down to 3.8ghz temps are at 70*c with a load of 100% is that ok? Is my cpu cooler decent?

[LEEROY]

You set your voltage to 3.3V?

LOLWUT

Max voltage on an E8400 is 1.365V. How did you set the Vcore to 3.3 or even 3.4?

80 degrees is rather hot, as is 70, but 70 is WAY better, less wear on components etc etc. What cooler are you using?

[Devine.Insanity]

Lol my bad set it to 1.3V, I'm using the Gigabyte G-power pro 2 cooler

[Wah]

Hey guys, I got my hands on an i5 750 and P7P55d today and I had a shot at overclocking it, but I ran into some problems. Given that I have 1600Mhz RAM I thought that I had tons of headroom for overclocking it. I managed to get the base clock to 160mhz which worked perfectly, but to be safe I clocked it down to 150 which is when my system crashed. I'm rather new to overclocking so I'm not 100% sure on frequency support on RAM, but are there sweetspot frequencies that need to be reached for the RAM to function fully?

[jasong]

I have an msi twin frozr 260, decided to push it a bit on the overclocking to see what headroom I could get. However none of the utilities I've downloaded will take the d/l. I've tried Rivatuner, Ntune and MSI Afterburner - across the board whenever I apply the changes it reverts back immediately to the core speeds without taking. I've restarted, etc etc. Do i need to flash the bios perhaps? Any suggestions welcome.

[Wesley]

I have an msi twin frozr 260, decided to push it a bit on the overclocking to see what headroom I could get. However none of the utilities I've downloaded will take the d/l. I've tried Rivatuner, Ntune and MSI Afterburner - across the board whenever I apply the changes it reverts back immediately to the core speeds without taking. I've restarted, etc etc. Do i need to flash the bios perhaps? Any suggestions welcome.

That more to do with the clock settings you're trying. What are you aiming for? Do you have the normal Twin Frozer edition, or the OC one? The OC edition starts off with a core clock of 655Mhz, while the normal version starts with 576Mhz. I think MSI would've, within reasonable limits, limited overclock settings in the BIOS so people wouldn't fry their new toy too quickly. You can contact MSI for a BIOS that will allow higher overclocks but I doubt they'll give anyone a custom one. Perhaps you could flash the BIOS with one from Asus as their settings can go as high as 800Mhz, but this is a risky business indeed. Rather settle for whatever overclock you can get from the Afterburner utility and be happy with it.

[Splash]

Alright heres my problem. Today, trying to clock my cpu further, I've run into a bit of a buffer. When I set my fsb higher than 400 mhz the overclock fails. I then set the cpu spread spectrum to disabled and it posts but then proceeds to tell me a file in xp is missing or corrupt. I tried booting onto my windows disk to repair windows at that clock and there is an error.

Anyone have any ideas. This may be a noob question but do I have to overclock my mobo to get higher fsb speeds?

I've got a asus p5q se2 mobo, intel q9550 cpu, corsair xms2 1066 ram

[Chevron]

Alright heres my problem. Today, trying to clock my cpu further, I've run into a bit of a buffer. When I set my fsb higher than 400 mhz the overclock fails. I then set the cpu spread spectrum to disabled and it posts but then proceeds to tell me a file in xp is missing or corrupt. I tried booting onto my windows disk to repair windows at that clock and there is an error.

Anyone have any ideas. This may be a noob question but do I have to overclock my mobo to get higher fsb speeds?

I've got a asus p5q se2 mobo, intel q9550 cpu, corsair xms2 1066 ram

You're gonna have to do a windows repair. Some motherboards just can't take an fsb over 400.

[jasong]

That more to do with the clock settings you're trying. What are you aiming for? Do you have the normal Twin Frozer edition, or the OC one? The OC edition starts off with a core clock of 655Mhz, while the normal version starts with 576Mhz. I think MSI would've, within reasonable limits, limited overclock settings in the BIOS so people wouldn't fry their new toy too quickly. You can contact MSI for a BIOS that will allow higher overclocks but I doubt they'll give anyone a custom one. Perhaps you could flash the BIOS with one from Asus as their settings can go as high as 800Mhz, but this is a risky business indeed. Rather settle for whatever overclock you can get from the Afterburner utility and be happy with it.

:) turned out to be the Nvidia driver bug. Updated to the beta and it clocks no problem. It's the OCv3 one btw. Lovely card.

[Splash]

You're gonna have to do a windows repair. Some motherboards just can't take an fsb over 400.

After a little research I found out that my mobo will accept a fsb speed of over 400mhz. I tried to do a windows repair but need the administrator password because I can't remember it or ever setting one. Would anyone know where to find it?

[jasong]

Sometimes you have to add it yourself. Just go to your User Accounts and edit the main administrator profile. It's quite straightforward :)

[Splash]

You sure thats not the only administrator password? I've tried everything and it's not working. Making a separate admin account and everything. I guess I'll have to wait for win7.

[Wesley]

Alright heres my problem. Today, trying to clock my cpu further, I've run into a bit of a buffer. When I set my fsb higher than 400 mhz the overclock fails. I then set the cpu spread spectrum to disabled and it posts but then proceeds to tell me a file in xp is missing or corrupt. I tried booting onto my windows disk to repair windows at that clock and there is an error.

Anyone have any ideas. This may be a noob question but do I have to overclock my mobo to get higher fsb speeds?

I've got a asus p5q se2 mobo, intel q9550 cpu, corsair xms2 1066 ram

Okay, I tried this yesterday just to see if I could replicate the problem. Its your clockspeed, or more specifically your motherboard is at fault here because either it doesn't seem to be stable at over 400Mhz FSB, or your quad has likely hit an FSB wall that requires more voltage. I overclocked my little Intel Celeron from 1.6 to 2.4 and it wouldn't boot. Since I'm trying to keep voltages at stock, I move to 2.3Ghz. It boots, but Microsoft's BOOTMBR appears to be "missing or corrupt". Its not, actually. Its still there, you just need a more stable overclock. I pushed things back down to 2.2Ghz and I now have a much happier Windows 7. Don't sweat it, a repair isn't necessary here.

[Machine]

Okay, I tried this yesterday just to see if I could replicate the problem. Its your clockspeed, or more specifically your motherboard is at fault here because either it doesn't seem to be stable at over 400Mhz FSB, or your quad has likely hit an FSB wall that requires more voltage. I overclocked my little Intel Celeron from 1.6 to 2.4 and it wouldn't boot. Since I'm trying to keep voltages at stock, I move to 2.3Ghz. It boots, but Microsoft's BOOTMBR appears to be "missing or corrupt". Its not, actually. Its still there, you just need a more stable overclock. I pushed things back down to 2.2Ghz and I now have a much happier Windows 7. Don't sweat it, a repair isn't necessary here.

I'm pretty certain he hasn't added enough extra juice in the right places. The northbridge will need some extra voltage as well as the CPU (Vcore). The NB termination voltage might need to be picked up a bit too but perhaps one notch, not too high.

If anyone is trying to attempt a BIOS overclock for the first time, don't rely on auto settings. They might work but usually push WAY TOO MUCH voltage into all your parts (NB, SB, CPU and so on). If you're unsure of how much, read up on overclocking.

New to overclocking? Read this: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-240001_11_0.html

[Splash]

Okay, I tried this yesterday just to see if I could replicate the problem. Its your clockspeed, or more specifically your motherboard is at fault here because either it doesn't seem to be stable at over 400Mhz FSB, or your quad has likely hit an FSB wall that requires more voltage. I overclocked my little Intel Celeron from 1.6 to 2.4 and it wouldn't boot. Since I'm trying to keep voltages at stock, I move to 2.3Ghz. It boots, but Microsoft's BOOTMBR appears to be "missing or corrupt". Its not, actually. Its still there, you just need a more stable overclock. I pushed things back down to 2.2Ghz and I now have a much happier Windows 7. Don't sweat it, a repair isn't necessary here.

Thank you so much Wesley. Why the hell couldn't windows just tell me that.I got 425Mhz fsb with +/- 1.25v though I think I need more as it only runs for about 40mins in prime95, but I still need to run some games and do a bit more experimentation(grade 10 is a bugger).
Oh and 1 other question, should core#0 run as high as 5C above the other 3 cores when running prime95?


I'm pretty certain he hasn't added enough extra juice in the right places. The northbridge will need some extra voltage as well as the CPU (Vcore). The NB termination voltage might need to be picked up a bit too but perhaps one notch, not too high.

If anyone is trying to attempt a BIOS overclock for the first time, don't rely on auto settings. They might work but usually push WAY TOO MUCH voltage into all your parts (NB, SB, CPU and so on). If you're unsure of how much, read up on overclocking.

New to overclocking? Read this: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-240001_11_0.html

I read that article. Didn't have a clue before I did, it really does help.

[Sw!zzCh33se]

I overclocked my cpu for the first time yesterday. I overclocked it 13% , I have a 2.5Ghz core 2 quad proccesor.

I did it using the BIOS. and I think 13% is a 97mhz overclock because I took it from 750mhz to 847mhz.

But strange thing is I am not seeing any diffrence in temps. Is this normal or did I do something wrong and its not really overclocked?

EDIT : I am using realtemp to monitor them.

EDIT #2 :This is what windows says about my proccesor : Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz, 2500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

[Chevron]

I overclocked my cpu for the first time yesterday. I overclocked it 13% , I have a 2.5Ghz core 2 quad proccesor.

I did it using the BIOS. and I think 13% is a 97mhz overclock because I took it from 750mhz to 847mhz.

But strange thing is I am not seeing any diffrence in temps. Is this normal or did I do something wrong and its not really overclocked?

EDIT : I am using realtemp to monitor them.

EDIT #2 :This is what windows says about my proccesor : Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz, 2500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

You didn't increase the volts so the temps shouldn't increase.

[Sw!zzCh33se]

Well to get the extra 100mhz out of my proccesor is it necesary to increase the volts?

EDIT : In my BIOS the volts are set to "auto".

[Chevron]

Well to get the extra 100mhz out of my proccesor is it necesary to increase the volts?

EDIT : In my BIOS the volts are set to "auto".

You should be able to increase to at least 2800Mhz without increasing the vaults. Unfortunately with the Bios set to "auto" it increasing automatically.

[Sw!zzCh33se]

You should be able to increase to at least 2800Mhz without increasing the vaults. Unfortunately with the Bios set to "auto" it increasing automatically.

Oh ok thanks for the help.

Is there anyway I can see if my overclock is succesfull? Some benchmark I can run or something?

[wir]

Oh ok thanks for the help.

Is there anyway I can see if my overclock is succesfull? Some benchmark I can run or something?
You can run Prime95 and leave it overnight.

[McDangerous]

Well, you'll get a general feel for stability after about half an hour of Blend in Prime95. If it passes that, you have a relatively stable OC. If it passes that go for a 6 hour run and you'll know that your OC is completely stable.

Also Chev, the BIOS doesn't automatically increase the voltages, it just automatically applies the stock voltage of the processor, unless you used the automatic overclocking tool provided in the BIOS (which usually says overclock by 10% or 20% or whatever), then it automatically changes all the settings to attain that OC.

[Chevron]

Well, you'll get a general feel for stability after about half an hour of Blend in Prime95. If it passes that, you have a relatively stable OC. If it passes that go for a 6 hour run and you'll know that your OC is completely stable.

Also Chev, the BIOS doesn't automatically increase the voltages, it just automatically applies the stock voltage of the processor, unless you used the automatic overclocking tool provided in the BIOS (which usually says overclock by 10% or 20% or whatever), then it automatically changes all the settings to attain that OC.

So that's why my mobo adds an extra .2 volts when I oc my processecor manually.

Thanks dude. You're so smart.

[McDangerous]

Dude, are you being sarcastic? What mobo do you have? My 790XTD-Evo doesn't change the voltages automatically when I bump up my FSB manually... It keeps it at my stock 1.25V

[Chevron]

Dude, are you being sarcastic? What mobo do you have? My 790XTD-Evo doesn't change the voltages automatically when I bump up my FSB manually... It keeps it at my stock 1.25V

I've got an ECS 790gxm and use a PhenomII 955.

And no. I don't use sarcasm. It's not in my nature.

[McDangerous]

Ok... But, your motherboard does bump up the voltages automatically?

[Chevron]

Ok... But, your motherboard does bump up the voltages automatically?

Yeah. Crazy thing. 'Auto' means 'automatic'.

Who would've guessed?

[McDangerous]

EDIT: Old and wise 1, young and n00bish 0.

You were right, it does up the voltages, but way more than it needs to. I only need 1.45V to get my PII to 3500, whereas the bios sets it at 1.55V automatically.