HOW to get EL4200 to rated specs

[kgs]

ASUS P4C800E- Deluxe
2.6C cpu
OCZ EL4200 (2x256) RAM
2x WD Raptor 36.7GB HDDs (boot OS and apps only)
IBM 30GB Ultra ATA-100 HDD (long term storage/usage only)
Pioneer DVD-116 (player only)
floppy
ATI Radeon 64MB DDR AGP4X VIVO
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 pci
3com 2976 FD voice modem pci
Enermax EG465P-VE FC psu
Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu cpu cooler
4 80mm Vantec Stealth case fans (F,S,R,T)
40mm fan on ICH5R stock HS
Side blowhole window, gold wire and Cr laser cut fan grills, 8 cans of spray paint, coloured knurled head screws
Vantec Nexus NXP-305-BK Fan(3) & Light(2) Controller
WinXP Pro
MBM5

HD Tach
SiSoft Sandra 2004
CPU-Z

I am just now big on hardware, low on knowledge.

I have been succesful with the 5%, 10%, and 20% AI Overclock, and tried the 30% , but after Win2K loads, I start getting problems as soon as MBM5 starts to load (at start-up time), and then locks.
Using AIOC I get 5, 10, 20% boost in both GHz and FSB (eg 3.12 & 240.1/480.2/960.4 @ 20%)

This AI Overclock is my first attempt at OCing anything. I didn't even know what to expect. cpuz.exe tells me my GHz, FSB, and timings, and MBM5 tells me my temps on the systray.

I've read all about what to expect, but now I don't know how to get there. In fact if I stick with the 5/10/20/30 I won't even have the same overclock as everyone else who uses theses exact same products in every review (with some exceptions).

How do I even get the RAM set to the 266/533/1066 @2.5-4-4-7 @2.8V rated level MANUALLY, because I think that is the only way I'm going to get the rated performance. Could it be my cpu won't go there? Or is my graphic card holding me back? Or should I put the DRAM freq to 400, or auto?

And I'm just talking about with Turbo and performance(s) off.

I tried setting the AI overclock tuner to manual, and with the + key I set cpu external freq to 266.,, but then I changed the DRAM frequency to 266, from 400 or auto, or whatever it was.

I disabled the SPD and tried to set 2.5-4-4-7 @ 266 @ 2.8V.

The 2.8V is another thing. Options are 2.85V, 2.75V, 2.65V, 2.55V. Does this matter.

I'm not complaining yet, but MOST folks get a rig like this close to 280 don't they, with everything on: at least to the 266 its rated at. I can't get to a 260, with everything off. I've been to 240, and thats 3.12 GHz out of a 2.6C, however I haven't really put on PAT, Turbo, or PAM. I've read every review I can find many times. Starting with the ocztechnology.com site, and using their review links from the product. Do reviewers have special cpus?

Must be my technique right.

I know I've asked you to tell me how to go beyond the 30% ever so slightly which had already failed to achieve the reated specs. But it's rated to do this. What do I try next: for instance 400, not 266 (there are a limited number of options here)- I'm too scared I'm gonna fry something without advice.

 

[myocardia]

Okay, you're confused about what all of these numbers mean. Your 2.6C is supposed to run at a 200mhz fsb. A 30% overclock would give you a fsb of 267. First of all, your motherboard won't do that, because it has the Intel 865 chipset. The 865's are known for only being stable up to 240-250mhz fsb. It's the 875 chipset boards that will do up to about 300mhz fsb. But, since your 2.6C has a 13x multiplier, 13x267(266.6)=3466mhz. It's fairly rare for a 2.6C to do more than 3.4ghz, even with an 875 chipset. The average 2.6C overclocks to around 3.25ghz. So, if you want the extra 5-10mhz of fsb, and the extra 100-125mhz of processor speed, you'll need to do this: 1. lock the pci bus to 33mhz 2. lock the agp bus to 66mhz 3. raise your processor's voltage (called vcore in bios) to around 1.65v 4. set your ram to a 1:1 ratio 5. set your fsb to 240. Now, save the changes. Boot to Windows, and make sure it's completely stable at those speeds. If it's totally stable at 240 fsb, reboot, go into the bios, and raise your fsb a few mhz, and repeat the cycle. Test it with everything you're going to run with it. If it isn't completely stable, then you need to reboot and lower the fsb back to the last frequency it was stable at.