Overclocking advice

[akaliel]

Hey all, I just picked up the following PC rig:

Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13Ghz)
Asus P5N-E SLI (650i)
Enermax 535W
Mushkin 1G DDR2-6400 (5-5-5-15)
XFX 8800GTX
SB X-Fi XtremeMusic
LG 20" Widescreen (1650x1080)
Antec Nine Hundred (love this case with all it's big fans)

I'm looking to do most of my gaming at 1650x1080 and would like to overclock my PC as much as I can. I've done a bit of overclocking in the past, but have had nothing that can overclock as much as the C2D. I've read a bunch of overclocking guides and know the basics of how to go about doing it, but given the configuration listed above. What do you guys think I should shoot for, for a overclocking target. I don't want to play with voltages, if I don't have to. I'm not an expert at this kind of thing and I don't want to damage anything. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shimmishim]

A good goal to target would be 3.2 ghz or 8 x 400.

Your voltage should be fine and your timings set to auto should be fine.

You shouldn't need to bump up your voltage except for maybe the vcore (1.35 depending on the default vcore) and your vdimm(depending on rated voltage).

 

[akaliel]

How do I reduce the speed of the RAM, so that when I overclock the FSB my RAM won't try to push 1200Mhz?

 

[Shimmishim]

You're not going to need to reduce the speed of the ram assuming that your fsb and ram are running in sync or 1:1.

I'm not too familiar with the bios for the nvidia chipset unfortunately. someone with more info might ring in.

 

[akaliel]

My RAM is DDR2-6400, so 800Mhz, I'd have to reduce it's speed to 533 to get a 1:1 ratio, then by overclocking the FSB to 400 it would be running back up at 800 Mhz. I don't think there's anyway I'll get that RAM to run at 1200Mhz. I need to reduce it's speed first.

 

[Shimmishim]

Ah, so the ram/FSB setting is on auto which is causing your mem to run at a higher divider than your FSB at the moment.

It appears your ram is running on the 2:3 divider.... meaning your FSB = 266 but your MEM = 400.

So yes, you need to find the bios setting to make your FSB and mem run in sync or 1:1 so when FSB = 400, mem will also be 400.

 

[akaliel]

Precisely. Because then my CPU and FSB are way overclocked but my memory is running at factory speed and not being strained too much. My case has plenty of air cooling (the Antec Nine Hundred cases are fantastic). So I'm not worried about overheating.

 

[orion23]

There should be an option for selecting FSB and RAM as "UNLINKED"

Then enter your own settings

1600 FSB
800 RAM

Even better, 1620 FSB, 810 RAM (Many people recommend staying away from a 400 FSB and instead going for a 401 FSB)

 

[akaliel]

So can I go straight to the BIOS and do those two things? I don't need to increase voltages, or slowly clock my way up, or anything?

 

[orion23]

No Wait...

Disable all Spectrum or Throttle related settings

Set RAM timings and recommended Voltage

Disable C1E, Speedstep and Thermal Control

Set FSB to 1.3 or 1.4V

Set the SPP Voltage 1.45 or 1.5V

Set the CPU Voltage to 1.50V (for now, if it works, try lowering it until it fails again so that you can find the right voltage for your overclock and it will hopefully be less than 1.5V)

Remember, 1.55 should be the maximum, 1.6V is too much!

And watch your temperatues, Never exceed 60c during load.

Other Voltages can remain as AUTO

 

[akaliel]

Yikes, voltages... Alright, hope I don't fry it. Damn thing cost me my entire bonus.

 

[Shimmishim]

Keep it below 1.5 for vcore

 

[akaliel]

Perhaps it's safer to just ask clock as high as I can with 1.45V on vcore.

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: akaliel
Perhaps it's safer to just ask clock as high as I can with 1.45V on vcore.

yes. if you're uncomfortable with raising vcore too high, then see how high you can get with 1.45.

one thing to remember though is that asus boards have vdroop so when you set 1.45, you're actually going to get lower than that.... by how much? i have no idea.

just something to remember

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: akaliel
My RAM is DDR2-6400, so 800Mhz, I'd have to reduce it's speed to 533 to get a 1:1 ratio, then by overclocking the FSB to 400 it would be running back up at 800 Mhz. I don't think there's anyway I'll get that RAM to run at 1200Mhz. I need to reduce it's speed first.

Yes, couldn't have said it better myself

What HSF are you using? If your using the stock HSF I wouldn't go over 1.5 on the vcore.

Don't be afraid of playing with the volts, just monitor your temps and stay within reason

 

[akaliel]

Okay, I overclocked the Vcore to 1.5. The only other voltage options I could find in the BIOS was for the NB (I'm assuming that means northbridge) and USB. So I left those at Auto. I didn't see FSB voltage, or SPP voltage anywhere.

When I tried 1600 FSB and 800 RAM it wouldn't even POST. 1466/800 posted but gave me a BSOD when booting windows. The error message in it was only STOP. 1333/800 booted just fine, and is what I'm running now.

So I have 2 questions. First, so you have any other suggestions on what might help getting that a little higher. I have seen posts with people running my board (P5N-E) and getting the FSB at 1600.

Second, if 1333 is the best that I'll be able to manage, should I clock my RAM at 667 so I can get the 1:1 ratio. If I do that I can run timings 4-4-4-12 (1T). Or should I leave it at 800 Mhz where I run timings 5-5-5-15 (2T).

Thanks.

 

[Roguestar]

vCore at 1.5 is a bit high for 400FSB in my opinion.

Maybe reading this thread would shed light on some settings you haven't fiddled with yet?
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1947261

 

[akaliel]

If 333FSB is the best I'll be able to push out of this (I hope not), then I'll reduce the Vcore to Auto.

 

[Noubourne]

I always use the same overclocking target for all my chips: Clock it as high as possible so that it is still stable.

BTW, you don't usually just pick an overclock and voltage, set it, and expect it to work. You usually work your way there starting at stock volts, booting in at intermediate speeds to test for stability along the way. I usually do 10Mhz increments and a SuperPi 1M run at each on the way up, and then I lower it to 1Mhz increments when I get to a sticking point.

When it fails to boot or when SuperPi starts to error (SuperPi usually errors out before it stops booting), add a LITTLE voltage (.01v or whatever the smallest increment on your board), and then try again. Keep doing that until you find out what voltage is required to get stable, and then start increasing the FSB a little at a time again until you hit another wall. Then, add voltage a little at a time until you are stable there, and then continue. Watch your temps and stop adding voltage when you are uncomfortable with the temps. I'd say 60C load is a good cap for those chips, but of course how high you can go before you hit that depends a lot on your cooling.

I use SuperPi 1M to do quick tests for stability on my way up to a good overclock, and then for testing a "permanent" overclock setting I use Everest, SuperPi and 3dMark and 3 of my favorite games, and finally an 8+ hour run of Prime95 on both cores to test when I think I've settled on a stable overclock - this process always takes overnight.

Always use CoreTemp and a stress program like TAT to measure your temperatures. Doing the SuperPi 1M runs will give you a ballpark idea of where you are temperature-wise at each overclock/voltage. NEVER trust what the BIOS or any other software tells you about CPU temps. CoreTemp reads the temperatures using the sensors embedded by Intel into the chip itself, and is most accurate.

 

[akaliel]

Another question. Vista is reporting my RAM performance at 4.5, which I find especially odd b/c that's also the rating my RAM gets in my old PC with it's DDR266. I have DDR800 now. Any advice on how to improve on that? Or is Vista just out to lunch on it's ratings. Specifically my RAM is Mushkin 2x512 DDR800 5-5-5-15 (2T). Currently it's running as DDR667 4-4-4-12 (1T), so that it's synchronous with my FSB.

 

[ALECUBA]

look at my sig...my vcore is 1.41 and 1.37 after vdrop....as for other concerns...get urself a 680i if u still can and ocing will be much easier...i dunno why u cant reach a 1600 fsb...i was able to do it in a blink...ive actually gone to 3.7ghz but my voltages are too high for this and it doesnt pass orthos...i dont want to risk it tho...
a question for the pros: when u say dont let it go passed 1.5 volts, do u mean after vdrop or before vdrop??
thanks....
akaliel, msg me if u have more questions...good luck

 

[akaliel]

Ya the 680i was a little beyond my price range, but I bought the 650i knowing that my overclocking options would be more limitied. I was hoping to get 1600 though. What should I set the NB voltage too?

 

[ALECUBA]

im not sure cuz i have mine as auto...the one i raised was the spp voltage to 1.5, cpu fsb volt 1.5 as well....if u can set the ram and fsb to unlinked it will be best....i did the same steps as orion23 said...also disable linkboost and gpu xxx...
good luck.....for 1600fsb all u need is 1.41 and it should be fine....at least it was for me...

 

[akaliel]

I couldn't find any options for SPP and FSB voltage in the BIOS. I'm running a 650i mobo. I've unlinked the RAM and FSB and set the RAM speed to 667 (down from 800), so that it's synchronous with my FSB. Linkboost, and all those other "optimizations" have been disabled.

Yes, I'll reduce the VCore, first thing I'll do tonight.

 

[ALECUBA]

u dont need to put down the ram "unlinked" means it is not linked to the fsb...so whatever ur fsb is set to is not going to change the ram freq...so ill suggest u leave ur ram at 800 while u have it unlinked....as for the other options...i would have to see what are the bios settings availables...if u can find the manual in the net somewhere let me know and ill look at it....thx....gl