Any Intel specific OCing advice?

[papaschtroumpf]

I just ordered the following, not necessarily with the intention of OC'ing, but I was just curious if you guys think I might be able to OC a little with this:

INTEL Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz FSB1333MHz 4M LGA775 Retail BX80557E6750
GIGABYTE Intel® P35 + ICH9 Chipset DDR2 1066 ATX GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory

I have no experience with Intel overclocking, I haven't bought an Intel rig since the mid-90s, anything to know about Intel overclocking that might be different from AMD?

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: papaschtroumpf
anything to know about Intel overclocking that might be different from AMD?

Well, first off, I think you'll be astounded at the OC headroom of the current generation of C2D chips. Those 3 main components you chose are a good foundation -- I'd be surprised if you didn't hit 3.3ghz (25 - 30% OCs are normal). Get yourself a decent cooler like a Tuniq, TR Ultra 120, or Scythe Infinity for maximum air-based OCing. You can definitely spend less, but I wouldn't recommend the stock cooler for much more than a token OC.

Next, same rules always apply. Read and research all you can in advance from multiple websites (xtremesystems, nforcershq, PCPer, etc) from people that have similar or same mobo/cpu/RAM combos. Ask questions in the forums about settings you don't understand (preferably after some preliminary research). Copy/print out bios screen shots of your mobo and get familiar with what the line items do. Acquire all your monitoring tools and utilities in advance (Orthos, Prime95, memtest, Speedfan, CoreTemp to name a few). Have an overclock target in mind (low, medium, high). Always have a pen & paper at your side to record good/bad settings. And most of all...be methodical and patient! Good luck.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

The usual then

Looks like the multiplier is set on Intel chips, so less knobs to tweak.
Not planning to go too extreme, for one thing I like my computer quiet, although I want to break the 3G barrier, wich after doing a bit of research on those components should be quite easy (as you point out I 3.3 seems common)

Any smaller suggestions on the cooling? the scythe is huge! how noisy is it? Also, can something that huge be mounted in an upright tower or do you need to lay it flat?

What should my upper target should be for northbridge and CPU temps? mif 50s under load OK?

I'll check the sites you point out since it's been a while since I built my last system.

 

[brencat]

Multipliers are downward unlocked and upward locked. Only the Extreme series is fully unlocked. The default multi on the E6750 is 8x, so that means you'll have access to 6x, 7x, and 8x. With that chip however, you'll find the most productive multi to be the default 8x with a FSB hopefully in the 400 - 450ish range.

Yes, the best air coolers are pretty big -- that's the en vogue thing right now. Don't worry about the weight when upright -- your mobo can handle it plus the heavy coolers come with backplates. Takes a lot to break a multi layered PCB, though some people have noted a slight bowing with the very heavy TR Ultra 120.

For something a bit smaller, try the Scythe Andy or even the new Thermalright Ultima 90 which got great review by AT right here about 2 wks ago - just search for it. And take a look at the Scaling of Cooling Performance chart within that article. Compares pretty much every cooler AT has reviewed in past 1+ year with temps at idle and OCed. But...be sure to add 3-4C to the temps you see there...the guys at AT have one of the best (cherry picked by Intel) CPUs out there.

Personally, I wouldn't go over 1.5v Vcore, nor much above 60C load under Orthos stability testing when OCing. For 3.3ghz, you may need 1 bump in NB & SB voltage in addition to 1-3 bumps in vcore. These chips go quite far on stock volts though. Don't give it any more than you need.

Edit: Almost forgot...how's your PSU? What brand/model are you using? Corsair, Seasonic, PC P&C are good. Be careful with Antec.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

Antec TruePower 2.0 550W and is one of the components I don't want to change. I'm going for a refresh of my current system, not a full-blown redo.
The Ultima 90 looks like a great little cooler, I need to find the cheapest source.

 

[The-Noid]

Originally posted by: brencat
Multipliers are downward unlocked and upward locked. Only the Extreme series is fully unlocked. The default multi on the E6750 is 8x, so that means you'll have access to 6x, 7x, and 8x. With that chip however, you'll find the most productive multi to be the default 8x with a FSB hopefully in the 400 - 450ish range.

Yes, the best air coolers are pretty big -- that's the en vogue thing right now. Don't worry about the weight when upright -- your mobo can handle it plus the heavy coolers come with backplates. Takes a lot to break a multi layered PCB, though some people have noted a slight bowing with the very heavy TR Ultra 120.

For something a bit smaller, try the Scythe Andy or even the new Thermalright Ultima 90 which got great review by AT right here about 2 wks ago - just search for it. And take a look at the Scaling of Cooling Performance chart within that article. Compares pretty much every cooler AT has reviewed in past 1+ year with temps at idle and OCed. But...be sure to add 3-4C to the temps you see there...the guys at AT have one of the best (cherry picked by Intel) CPUs out there.

Personally, I wouldn't go over 1.5v Vcore, nor much above 60C load under Orthos stability testing when OCing. For 3.3ghz, you may need 1 bump in NB & SB voltage in addition to 1-3 bumps in vcore. These chips go quite far on stock volts though. Don't give it any more than you need.

Edit: Almost forgot...how's your PSU? What brand/model are you using? Corsair, Seasonic, PC P&C are good. Be careful with Antec.

Very great post all this information is very well constructed. If you are <60C load, I believe you can go over 1.5v. I would however not go over 1.55v.