Is there a good thread on overclocking OEM systems (dell,hp,lenovo,etc)

[Emulex]

Not trying to start a new thread but i'd like to pin(bga so not really pin) mod my
hp workstation xw4400.

Since this unit is under 3/3/3/nbd on-site warranty i think its pretty safe to mod the cpu if its remove-able.

Anyone have much luck? The ICS chip is unsupported and no reference documentation to support overclocking for the 975x (ICS954105) so no setfsb support. Unless someone nice here has source to its datasheet ?

One thing i was unclear, would pin-modding to 1066 require faster memory or not?

I got the micron HP ddr2-667 now but i could pick up some DDR2-800 hp memory (its like $62 a piece minus 40 rebate) which is likely to work better? I have been unclear if memory is being overclocked or if interleaved 667(1066) is just used? I noticed the 1066 processors listed as options do not require DDR2-667 (e6xxx) and same for quad core so i'm guessing under normal conditions the bios is just running the memory at ddr2-667 speeds?

any thoughts?

 

[AllWhacked]

While I haven't padmodded an oem system, I have padmodded a few cheap ECS boards that I got in those Frys combos.

When you padmod, it tricks the motherboard to run the CPU at a higher FSB without overclocking the RAM, PCI, etc. So in essence, if I padmodded an e4x00 chip, it will run it at 1066FSB as if it was an e6x00 processor. So if you were to put in some PC4200 memory, it will still run the memory at its default 400Mhz clock speed.

Likewise, you can also put in faster memory so that you can run the memory and CPU at a higher 1:1 ratio.

As for it working on OEM systems, I have read posts that some people have tried it with success.

You can read up on the modding procedure Here and Here

There is also a mod to overclock a e6x00 to 1333FSB.

Anyway, here are some caveats I've experienced overclocking the e4300 and e4500 (haven't done the e4400).

From the reports I've read, you can do the above mentioned mod to the e2x00 and the e4x00 series CPUs without issue, so long as your board supports 1066FSB. However, not all boards will work with this. And example being some of the ASrock boards. Though with those boards, you can lock the PCI bus, etc and overclock to 300FSB through the motherboard settings so it's not that much of a loss.

Anyway, I found that all the e4300s I've overclocked to 2.4Ghz could do so without any need of a volt increase. Which makes sense, since 2.4Ghz is a low ceiling for these chips. However, I did overclock two e4500s to 2.93Ghz and 1 needed to increase its voltage to remain stable, wheras the other one didn't.

And unfortunately, I was overclocking on a cheap ECS P4M800Pro and so I could only increase the vcore to .03v. In the end I could only use 1 of the chips overclocked and the other had to remain at stock speed.

So... for those planning to overclock, be careful overclocking the e4500. You might get lucky and get one that overclocks effortlessly or you'll get a dud that will overclock via the mod, but will be unstable.