Safe CPU overclock?

[lavagirl669]

okay...see my rig below....

What would be a safe OC to start with on this CPU without blowing this thing up?

 

[justin1466]

I could see that baby hitting at least 3.2 since you've got real good ram. I must warn you though, get a after-market heatsink if you want to crank this up a few notches. Thermaltake and cooler master make quality HSF combos. As for blowing things up, you'll likely just fry your mobo and cpu if you pass the heat thresholds

Ha, now I know why you call yourself lavagirl, cuz i'm melting to my seat 😉

 

[lavagirl669]

I've got a Thermalright SP94 and Panaflo 92mm on there

so would that work ok for the crankin?

*edit* blushing on that last comment, thanks....
actually the "lavagirl" is because I live on the island
that has been erupting for the past 20+ yrs

 

[yourdeardaniel]

see how far you can go with stock voltage by upping FSB by 5MHz increments, then add more vcore upon reboot/instability.

also set ur ram to highest rated voltage, loose timings. and agpv to like 1.6v or 1.65v.

u shouldn't go above 1.7vcore for northwood. i think most ppl stick with 1.6 or 1.65 and lower.
safe oc IMO would be highest stable OC u can with stock voltage (assuming u have good cooling).

 

[lavagirl669]

thanks Yourd...

got real good cooling IMO

 

[BFG10K]

Usualy 10% is safe and anything above that will vary according to the piece of hardware. Take it slow when trying to go higher.

 

[myocardia]

Since 3.4-3.5ghz is about average for the 2.8C's, you shouldn't have any problems at all, especially with an SP-94 and 7 case fans. If you have any problems, we'll help you get past them.😉

 

[RussianSensation]

1) make sure to fix the AGP/PCI lock when overclocking
2) you should enable ratios (CPU:RAM because your RAM is PC3200 so something like 5:4 should be the best)
3) there is no need to set AGP voltage beyond 1.6 volts as that rarely provides any benefit
4) keep the cpu voltage at or below 1.65 (get Motherboard Monitor 5 to check for voltage stability and adjust accordingly if your motherboard overvolts or undervolts)
5) download WinmemTest to check for memory stability and Prime95 to check for cpu and overall system stability (run the Torture test), and maybe run several loops of 3dmark01

- this should provide you with more or less a safe overclock

Everyone overclocks differently, but you could just keep increasing the FSB and loading windows on stock voltage until your cpu crashes or freezes. Then once you load back into it adjust the voltage, if it keeps freezing/locking up or w/e again adjust it more. Then start increasing the FSB again until you encounter the same problems and adjust the voltage one more time or as necessary. Finally once you reach the 1.60-1.65 safe Northwood limit, you should settle for that and follow point #5 to check for stability and downclock if necessary.

Good luck and let us know how you did.

 

[myocardia]

I forgot about telling her to set her ram-to-fsb ratio to 5:4! If you can make it all the way to 250fsb, that's perfect, because you'll be running your ram at exactly 200mhz (400 DDR).

edit: 250 mhz fsb with a 2.8C is 3.50ghz.

 

[lavagirl669]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Since 3.4-3.5ghz is about average for the 2.8C's, you shouldn't have any problems at all, especially with an SP-94 and 7 case fans. If you have any problems, we'll help you get past them.😉

I know you will...you guys rock...as always!

thanks....
*edit*
The LanParty Mobo allows you to set different OC settings and switch between them if you want
which is kinda cool

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: lavagirl669
The LanParty Mobo allows you to set different OC settings and switch between them if you want

Yeah, mine has that too. That way, it makes it much easier to run it at 2.5ghz anytime I want, but still be able to run it at stock speed while defragging, installing software, etc (and not have to remember all of the settings for everything!).