Originally posted by: Ausm
I am thinking about getting a E8400 for my other computer. I have a few questions I would like to ask the O\c gurus in here.
1)What is the average O\C i can expect out of this CPU.
2) Will it be easier to overclock then my Q6600?
3) Stock fan ? Yes no? Temps to high with a stock fan?
3) Safe Vcore voltage for overclocking this CPU.
TIA
You'll get less cautious advice from others on the matter of voltage. I accept Intel's own specs as an indication of their own extensive testing in both chip development and production.
The spec voltage "safe" range for all E8x00 cores is 0.85V to 1.3625V. The spec sheet mentions a wider range, topping out at 1.45V, noting that running the processor for any length of time in the differential 1.36-to-1.45V range will damage the processor over time. I think many of us here are assuming that the voltage setting is less significant than the reported CPU-Z values from the voltage sensors. And you'll see some of our colleagues here saying that 1.4V is their recommended maximum.
There is another spec printed on the retail-box: a "voltage maximum" for E8x00 of 1.25V.
With any over-clocking, I'd recommend against the stock cooler, although the stock cooler has been adequate for my own over-clocking of low-end E21x0 CPUs. But if you keep the load voltage within 0.01 to 0.02V of the retail-box spec, only the speed setting itself will be a factor in temperature increase, and temperature only scales linearly with speed. So the stock cooler may be adequate.
Some people are pushing the E8400 above 4.0 Ghz, but they're also running up the VCORE setting to do it. You choose your own red-line for the voltage, and that would determine your red-line over-clock setting. 3.6 is a 20% OC and easy -- possibly with a reported voltage at or below the 1.25V spec. 3.8 probably requires an increase in VCORE. 4.0 -- definitely. Going from 3.0 to 3.6 Ghz, the CPU FSB approaches/equals 400 Mhz. At that speed, you will need to increase the default setting for the CPU_VTT (aka CPU_FSB) voltage. You are advised to avoid exceeding 1.4V for that voltage setting (or its sensor-reported value), and less is better -- higher than that, and you may be looking for a CPU replacement in short-order.
I, too, have a Q6600, and the dual-cores are always easier to OC than the quads. That is, if I'm using the correct word here, the duals like the E8x00 cores are more "scalable." Conversely, the same percentage OC for the dual more than likely requires less voltage stress than for the quad.
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