QX6850 on the way, any experiences overclocking?

[LarryJoe]

Hopefully I will have this in my hands tomorrow. I am putting it in my Dell XPS 720 system to replace my Q6600. I picked this upgrade specifically because it is unlocked and will allow me to get a little more juice out of it under the limitations of the Dell BIOS. I am familiar with building systems and overclocking, but this time around I needed a PC fast and got a great deal on it. After being out of the scene for several years, I didn't have time to do all the research on current hardware to build. That said, the passion came back quickly, hence the unlocked CPU purchase.

From what I understand, the Dell mobo will automatically adjust the voltage. I haven't messed around too much in the BIOS, but these system were advertised to be overclockers if purchased with the Extreme chips.

I would be ecstatic if I could simply pop it in, set the multiplier to 11 and run it at 3.67 with stock cooling. I will be using AS-5 on it. The Dell air cooling on my system is know to be quite good. The heatsink and fan are massive.

What do you think my chances are of reaching my goal of 3.67 under default voltage?

Thanks,
LJ

 

[sgrinavi]

Umm... None of my Dell motherboards will allow any Overclocking. You will need to get an aftermarket board if you want to fully explore that beast.

PS, never allow your board to auto adjust voltage

 

[LarryJoe]

Dude, trust me on this one, you can change the multipliers on the CPU and the BIOS for the XPS 720 allows it. There is an overclocking section in the Dell manual, LOL!

 

[ghost recon88]

Hmm, maybe you could cross flash your motherboard to a different BIOS that yours is based off of?

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: LarryJoe
Dude, trust me on this one, you can change the multipliers on the CPU and the BIOS for the XPS 720 allows it. There is an overclocking section in the Dell manual, LOL!

Cool deal. I only have workstations at the office.

It'll be interesting to see what it'll do. What chipset is on it?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Change the multi sure, but that doesn't mean you can change the FSB to accomidate where multipliers give no further return. Also,, can you change voltages? That's important when you start upping clock speed.

 

[LarryJoe]

Originally posted by: sgrinavi

Originally posted by: LarryJoe
Dude, trust me on this one, you can change the multipliers on the CPU and the BIOS for the XPS 720 allows it. There is an overclocking section in the Dell manual, LOL!

Cool deal. I only have workstations at the office.

It'll be interesting to see what it'll do. What chipset is on it?

The XPS 720 is built on NVIDIA 's nForce 680i SLI chipset,. I should get it tomorrow and will post back with results.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

if you can afford that chip why wouldnt you just go out and buy a new motherboard, case etc.. and build a new computer. i know thats what i would do

 

[ghost recon88]

Originally posted by: LarryJoe

Originally posted by: sgrinavi

Originally posted by: LarryJoe
Dude, trust me on this one, you can change the multipliers on the CPU and the BIOS for the XPS 720 allows it. There is an overclocking section in the Dell manual, LOL!

Cool deal. I only have workstations at the office.

It'll be interesting to see what it'll do. What chipset is on it?

The XPS 720 is built on NVIDIA 's nForce 680i SLI chipset,. I should get it tomorrow and will post back with results.

Then depending on its exact layout, you may be able to flash it to an eVGA BIOS.

 

[LarryJoe]

Originally posted by: OBLAMA2009
if you can afford that chip why wouldnt you just go out and buy a new motherboard, case etc.. and build a new computer. i know thats what i would do

Been there done that. The XPS 720 is a pretty nice system with a very nice case. I still have a slight urge to mess with my hardware though, something I was trying to avoid by going pre-built. This will be it for me. You see, I spent way too much time over the years with my head in the case and in the BIOS and generally spending more time benchmarking and tweaking my machine than actually using it. It becomes obsessive for some.

 

[LarryJoe]

Originally posted by: ghost recon88

Originally posted by: LarryJoe

Originally posted by: sgrinavi

Originally posted by: LarryJoe
Dude, trust me on this one, you can change the multipliers on the CPU and the BIOS for the XPS 720 allows it. There is an overclocking section in the Dell manual, LOL!

Cool deal. I only have workstations at the office.

It'll be interesting to see what it'll do. What chipset is on it?

The XPS 720 is built on NVIDIA 's nForce 680i SLI chipset,. I should get it tomorrow and will post back with results.

Then depending on its exact layout, you may be able to flash it to an eVGA BIOS.

I highly doubt it given Dell's proprietary nature, but I am all ears. Shoot me a link or something.

 

[n7]

I did 3.7 GHz @ 1.4v with my QX6850, but temps were very cozy.