E7200 overclocking settings

Kadence

Senior member
Nov 18, 2004
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What voltages (and any other BIOS settings) would I need to OC an E7200 (M0) to, for instance, 3200/3600/3800MHz? Is there some formula to estimate the initial voltage you should try?

My idle CPU temp is 47C, 56C under load. According to CPU-Z my core voltage is 1.152V. I'm a first time OCer.
 

mancunian

Senior member
May 19, 2006
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Usually about 1.25-1.3v for those frequencies, less if you have a really good one.

How are you measuring your temps? Use Realtemp to do that with these chips. If you are already using Realtemp, your idle temp seems high, load would be ok.

If you are using Coretemp or HWmonitor, the readings with those are 10C too much for Wolfdale chips, hence the recommendation to use Realtemp.


Edit: After reading the guide Myocardia posted, try for the following: If you have DDR2 800, try to shoot for 400 x 9.5 or 400 x 9.0, disable C1E and EIST, adjust voltage as necessary until stable. If it craps out or reboots, increase vcore another notch until it runs stably, while also monitoring temps. Try to run the RAM at a 1:1 ratio. There's not a great deal to it once you understand the basics.
 

Kadence

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Nov 18, 2004
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Originally posted by: mancunian
Usually about 1.25-1.3v for those frequencies, less if you have a really good one.

How are you measuring your temps? Use Realtemp to do that with these chips. If you are already using Realtemp, your idle temp seems high, load would be ok.

If you are using Coretemp or HWmonitor, the readings with those are 10C too much for Wolfdale chips, hence the recommendation to use Realtemp.
I was using HWMonitor. I've found that CoreTemp, HWMonitor, Lavalys Everest, and OCCT all give the same temperatures, while Real Temp and and the Asus AI Suite for the mobo both the same temperature, both of which are 10 degrees lower than the others as you said (the AI suite can be 1 or 2 degrees higher than Real Temp at high load). Is it fairly certain that Real Temp and the AI Suite's values are the correct ones?

I was able to successfully run quick 15 minute Prime95/OCCT tests at 395 FSB, 1053 RAM (underclocked), and 1.38125 vcore (in the BIOS; I think that would be 1.34-1.35 in CPU-Z), giving a load max temperature of 78 in OCCT. And 400 FSB, 1066 RAM, 1.39375 vcore with a max temp of 79 degrees. I don't know if these temperatures and vcores are too high or not.

Originally posted by: myocardia
All you'll need to know is in this guide, except for things that only apply to your motherboard.
Actually I have read that guide (a couple times in fact), but I was hoping to get a voltage range to try so I'd have a starting point, as well as see if there was anything quirky about this CPU.
 

myocardia

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2003
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Well, the voltage range to start with should always be your particular CPU's VID (stock voltage, IOW). Most go a long way on stock voltage.
 

ch33kym0use

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Jul 17, 2005
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Follow guides. Be careful with RAM and CPU. Overclocking it can be tricky. Some motherboards handle it better than others. Overvolting or frequency can damage, with instability, corruption of memory, hard drive, slot failure or RAM turning bad. I warns you. Go easy and slow, go up to and follow reliable recommended settings from other people. Plan then apply knowledge. Do not overclock very high. Moderation is good.
 

AleleVanuatu

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Aug 16, 2008
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Unfortunately this is gonna be a tough nut to clock up, with such a low multi. Oh well, good luck boss. And make sure to do a 24h orthos run and 24h memtest run to ensure stability. memtest before!
 

mancunian

Senior member
May 19, 2006
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Originally posted by: AleleVanuatu
Unfortunately this is gonna be a tough nut to clock up, with such a low multi. Oh well, good luck boss. And make sure to do a 24h orthos run and 24h memtest run to ensure stability. memtest before!


Well, good luck on this site. I see you joined yesterday and all I've seen posted from you is unhelfpul bullshit. Just how exactly does the above HELP the OP? If you can't post without being a tard, go do the garden or something. If you actually have some experience with the question the OP has asked, then by all means give an answer. My guess is that you'll remain silent as you appear to have little or nothing of any value to contribute to THIS particular thread.

Back on topic, one thing Coretemp will tell you is your stock VID. You need to know this in order to ascertain where your starting point is and just what effect the increases in voltage are having. In answer to your question about temp monitoring, I would say Realtemp and the Asus utility are reporting the correct temps. I'd say those temps and vcores you are reporting are too high though, 78C? Is that with HWmonitor? if so, then 68C. But that's still too hot for my liking, you need to be aiming for a max of 60C, under is even better. You may wish to check your heatsink and reseat if necessary. If you are using the stock Intel heatsink, get an aftermarket cooler, this will reduce those high temps.

So if you're looking for a voltage range, use Coretemp to find that and then Realtemp to monitor temps. If a simple edit of a text file doesn't bother you, go into the Coretemp directory and find the 'settings' file. Open it, edit 'TjMaxOffset' to-10 and save the file. Backup the first 'settings' file before proceeding in case you make a mistake. It's very easy though.


Now Coretemp will report the correct temps, you can use it to monitor temps and find the starting VID. Use CPU-Z to see the frequencies and HWmonitor to measure vdroop when under load.








 

Tempered81

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
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yah that thing has a 9.5 x multi anyway. LOL that is more than enough to reach 3.6-3.8g on e7xxx.
 

geokilla

Platinum Member
Oct 14, 2006
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Err, there's no such thing as correct temps. Intel never published the Tjunction values. They will publish them in I believe one to two weeks at the IDF thing.

Back on topic. The guide definitely helps you overclock and explain all those voltages that Intel motherboards have. Once you find an OC that you like, just lower the voltages till your system isn't 24 hours prime stable anymore so you can lower your temps.
 

Kadence

Senior member
Nov 18, 2004
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I saw that Intel's spec for the E7200 has 1.3625 as the max vcore. I was able to go through a full pass of memtest86+ and an hour of OCCT and Prime95, no errors, with 390 FSB (multiplier was auto, tools say 9.5), DRAM frequency of 520, and vcore (in BIOS) of 1.3625. Actual CPU voltage was 1.32V. Max temperature at load was 77C/67C, depending on software. I'll adjust to 385 and do longer stability tests later.

The CPU VID is 1.175, but I don't plan on seeing how far I can go with that because the stability tests are too time-consuming and I won't have this processor and cooler for long anyway. I'm using a cheap $12 Thermaltake aftermarket cooler, and the thermal paste is in the right direction for a dual core so I don't think the high temps are due to the seating, more likely it's the high voltage and heatsink quality. I'll also mess with underclocking the memory more to see if that can help reduce the vcore.

If I did find the max FSB this could get on the vcore set to the VID of 1.175 - just say using made-up data 300FSB - is there some formula that one could use to estimate the necessary vcores for higher FSBs based on that? For instance if you increase the FSB by 25% to 375 you should increase the vcore by X%. Would it be linear or quadratic, etc.

There's no downside to running at non-standard settings like 390FSB and 520 DRAM frequency right?

C1E was already disabled before I changed anything. Is there any reason to enable it?


 

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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Originally posted by: Kadence
There's no downside to running at non-standard settings like 390FSB and 520 DRAM frequency right?
Are you using an intel chipset? If so, how are you running the dram at 520 if the CPU fsb is at 390? I would think that the dram (at 1:1) would be running at 780.

 

formulav8

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2000
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Hopefully you have a better chip than mine. I can only get 3.6ghz with absolute stability and thats at a 1.3 or so voltage.

Another problem is my mobo won't keep my memory at a set speed and just keeps overclocking above its rating settings each time the fsb goes up. Anyways, hopefully you have a better chip :)


Jason
 

Kadence

Senior member
Nov 18, 2004
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Originally posted by: formulav8
Hopefully you have a better chip than mine. I can only get 3.6ghz with absolute stability and thats at a 1.3 or so voltage.
Seems we have about the same chip :) I set the FSB to 390 with 1.3625 vcore and tested with Prime95 a couple times, one of the threads stopped after 2-4 hours. I lowered FSB to 385 and one thread crashed after 2 hours. However once I lowered to 380, I was able to pass a 24-hour Prime95 test.

Actual voltage was read as 1.32, and on the last test the max temp was 66C according to Real Temp.
Originally posted by: formulav8
Another problem is my mobo won't keep my memory at a set speed and just keeps overclocking above its rating settings each time the fsb goes up. Anyways, hopefully you have a better chip :)
Yeah, same for my BIOS - it's based on ratios, and so essentially you can select from various ratios, but not the specific DRAM frequency.
Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Are you using an intel chipset? If so, how are you running the dram at 520 if the CPU fsb is at 390? I would think that the dram (at 1:1) would be running at 780.
1:1 is underclocked, 4:3 is standard I believe for 1066. But for my latest test 380FSB/1.3625vcore, I did underclock the RAM to 1:1 just to make sure it wasn't the RAM. I'll now raise it back and test again.
Originally posted by: ch33kym0use
C1E/EIST/SpeedStep is power savings when idle.
But should I enable C1E if it is disabled by default?
 

disports

Golden Member
Jul 18, 2008
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lol you got a better chip than mine. i'm at 3.42 ghz at about 1.344 vcore, max temp 57ish?
 

toadeater

Senior member
Jul 16, 2007
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Originally posted by: smithrwon
lol you got a better chip than mine. i'm at 3.42 ghz at about 1.344 vcore, max temp 57ish?

For 3.4GHz, most E7200s don't need more than 1.25V. So I'd check the rest of your settings before cranking up the CPU voltage like that. Maybe more RAM or Northbridge voltage, or a looser tRD. 4GB of RAM generally needs more voltage to OC than 2GB, even two sticks.
 

disports

Golden Member
Jul 18, 2008
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i'll take a look at it later. my VID is 1.2125, too lazy to work on it right now.s
 

Kadence

Senior member
Nov 18, 2004
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Passed a 24 hour Prime95 test at 380FSB/1013 DRAM. 1.3625 BIOS vcore/1.336 actual idle/1.32 actual load, 66C max temp according to Real Temp.
Originally posted by: ch33kym0use
yes, it works when overclocking, if anyone tells you otherwise, they are bullshittin you
The guide here says, "C1E ? Intel?s so-called enhanced halt state. Read Anandtech?s blurb about it here for more. Disable initially, enable later on and see if the system remains stable." I guess maybe as a just in case thing?
 

thewestpole

Junior Member
Aug 30, 2008
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My E7200 results so far:

4.009GHz (422 x 9.5) @ 1.46V (CPU-Z, idle) passing Orthos Blend for 24 hours with RealTemp readings of 26C min / 74C max temp. Before the 24-hour run, Orthos small and large FFTs also passed for 3 hours each. I know this is pushing it, but Intel's 1.45V max spec on this processor has been broadly and fairly challenged among overclockers (Google "wolfdale 1.4v myth") and because my temps were okay I went ahead. Orthos Blend varies in its power damands and the 74C max temp was only intermittently hit. By contrast, I ran the Crysis Benchmark utility, an excellent surrogate for intense game play, in a 50-pass loop (in search of max stable overclock on my 8800GT) and the CPU only hit ~57C. That said, because my comfort level with current Intel processors is low 70s peak in Orthos and I don't particularly like pushing Intel's specified limits, I'm not yet entirely comfortable with this overclock. (BTW, my motherboard is no where near as good as yours for overclocking and by my research yours should hit 4GHz with around 1.36V.)

An alternative I'm currently testing:

3.8GHz (400 x 9.5) @ 1.36V (CPU-Z, idle) is now running Orthos Blend in its sixth hour and the temp has not exceeded 65C. Because 3.8GHz benchmarks 3DMark06 in my rig only 125 points less than 4GHz does, I may well decide to keep it there as my final 24/7 choice. Haven't decided yet. (Again, your board would hit 3.8GHz with lower voltage.)

A note on my low-end HSF setup. Yea, I'm thrifty, but not stupid. The E7200 replaced an E4500, which had a heat sink twice as thick as the one included with the new processor, so I kept it. But there's a trick I've employed for a number of years with AMD and Intel stock HSFs. I use a Zalman fan bracket to mount a low-RPM 120mm fan an inch or two above the stock setup. (The initial idea was to be able to slow/quiet down the small high pitched HSFs while maintaining cooling in "silent" PCs.) Because it is larger in diameter it helps to keep the hot air exhausted at the base of the heat sink from feeding right back into the fan supplying it, greatly increasing the HSF's efficiency, and as a bonus it cools the NB heat sink as well. It's not better than the best of the aftermarket HSFs, of course, but it's as good as all but a few at significantly decreasing temps over stock. And you're out ~$10.

Good luck. Watch your temps...