Overclock FSB or DownClock RAM?

[Guest]

I have an
E8400 Cooled with 9500NT
Asus P5Q BIOS 2011 or something it's recent ez2 flash works well
PC Power & Cooling 610w 8 pin is used instead of just the 4 pin for the mobo
G.Skill DDR2 800 PI-Black the 4-4-4-12 at 1.9v (it is 1.9 i check the EPP info lol newegg lies to me says 1.8~1.9)

Currently I'm using these settings.

I tried to Overclock but i'm not expirenced so i figured lowering things at worst i would just need to clear cmos anyways i played with these settings and tighened up the RAM pretty well i think...

But frankly ionno really what these settings mean i looked up things and didn't really mess with voltages.

I'm willing to OC to 400FSB 3.6GHz but i didn't want to use auto voltages and it wouldn't post past 395 doing it at err 1.1185 and i didn't know what the other voltages are for.

I'm just babbling now would an oc be worth it? Can you help me?
Or will just tighten up timings even more work

Either way i don't like how auto works it seems to run everything higher cpu-z had auto not oced 8400 at 1.225 i think a ton higher then it needs to be

 

[boonality]

I'm not expert like most around here but lock your memory bus to as close to stock speeds as you can get, then lock your PCI bus to 100. Then play with your processors FSB and up it just a little at a time.

This is a good starting point without your memory becoming unstable. If you are you looking to overclock more than say about 400 MHz then you will want advice from people that know what they are talking about with voltages and what not (that isn't me )

But what I said above is exactly what I did, I have a Q6600 O/Ced to 2.8 with my memory DDR2 800 locked at 780 and PCI e locked at 100 and it's been stable like that for over a year.

 

[Guest]

why wouldn't you push the Q6600 to 3.6 (400x9) and have your DDR2 800 run at 800?

 

[boonality]

Does that not depend on your ability to play with voltages? Also 3.6 is rediculously higher than average. An "average" Q6600 chip reaches 3.0 stable. Not to mention that you have to have a good motherboard, I'm running P35. Also I have 4 sticks of 2GB memory totalling 8GB further limiting my O/C ability vs having 2 sticks of memory in a mobo with 4 slots available.

I hear people tell me all the time "why don't you just do xxx" when they really have no idea what my setup is or my knowledge either. Makes me feel like I'm not so dumb after all.

 

[Guest]

sorry, it was an assumption that you could hit that speed. my bad

 

[jsc]

I did reach 3.6 GHz.

But so many factors come into play. First is the CPU VID. VID is the voltage that the CPU programs the motherboard to provide. It varies from chip to chip. Mine is average - 1.2625 volts. VID has a great bearing on how far you can push a chip. A higher VID means less headroom before you bump into Intel's recommended maximum voltage.

Motherboards: some brands and models are better overclockers than others.

Cases and coolers, especially coolers, also have a great affect. You want a cooler that's good at extracting heat from the CPU and a case that's good at moving air through it, not just recirculating it inside the case.

Experience and skill may give you the last little boost. OTOH, all the skill and experience in the world won't get you much if you have a lemon of a CPU. Remember, Intel doesn't guarantee you a 50% overclock. They only guarantee that you can run at the CPU's stock frequency.

softtalk wrote:
I have an
E8400 Cooled with 9500NT Excellent choice for a C2D. With good cooling, people are hitting 3.8 - 4.0 Ghz. 9500NT by today's standards is a mediocre HSF.
Asus P5Q good motherboard.
PC Power & Cooling 610w 8 pin is used instead of just the 4 pin for the mobo Very good PSU.
G.Skill DDR2 800 PI-Black the 4-4-4-12 at 1.9v (it is 1.9 i check the EPP info lol newegg lies to me says 1.8~1.9) Good memory. newegg didn't lie. Almost all memory, when used at stock frequencies, will run at 1.8 volts. In fact, that's the stock voltage setting.

Two guides (keep in mind that guide isn't a cookbook):
HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - Guide v1.6.1
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

Core 2 Quad and Duo Temperature Guide
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/221745-29-core-quad-temperature-guide

And google something about overclocking your particular motherboard.
----------
Overclocking since 1978 - Z80 (TRS-80) from 1.77 MHz to 2.01 MHz

 

[Fruity]

As jsc said, the stickies will help you.... a lot

A few things to try. Can't promise they'll work:

Set CPU Multiplier to 8
Set FSB Freq to 400 (that will give 1600MHz FSB, your mobo's max)
Set DDR2-Freq to 800MHz (if it doesn't allow it then change the FSB Strap to NB value until you get an option for DDR2-800 or there abouts)


Set First RAM timings to 5-5-5-15
Set your RAM voltage to exactly manufacturers spec
Would keep all other RAM timings as Auto until stable

You need to work out the voltages needed for NB, FSB VTT and CPU GTL / PLL. Leaving them on Auto could easily mean that they are over-volting. That could kill your PC or at least reduce its lifespan.

Probs worth having Loadline Calibration enabled as well

The way that I OC'd this PC was to work out the max stable FSB that I could get (and what voltages) first, then go for OCing the CPU. Worked very well after a few hiccups. The BIOS on this (Asus Rampage Formula) is far more complex than anything I've done before)

 

[cevi]

Ok i need help here guys.
I have Abit KN8 mobo.
It has 4 RAM slots
On the first two i have 2 ddr 256 that run on 200 mhz freq.
Few days ago i buy one ddr 512 MB but 333 mhz
When i plug it in i got 1024 MB but from time to time i`ve got blue screen of death.
At the and i`ve endet with reinstalling Windows.
Can anybody tell me how to downclock the freq of the 333 on to 200 mhz in the Bios menu.
Thanks from advance.

 

[computabug]

Lol first of all, how did an 'anonymous' user get so many replies? Well anyways, the previous posts have basically covered just about everything. Great explanations, guys.

@cevi
Don't try to steal a thread, it ain't kool. And it ain't 'ok'
And from what I can tell, I beleive you have a complete wrong idea of whatever you're talking about. Just leave it be, those nice old ddr1 are all running at 200mhz already. To change the speed to 200mhz, hit Del at POST until you hear a scary beeping sounds, then scroll over to DRAM Frequency, hit enter, scroll down to and highlight 200, hit enter, hit Esc, save changes. Boot into your OS, and google up an English Grammer course, and you're done

 

[cevi]

I don`t know whats your problem computabug but anyway thanks for your reply.Not that i get much help from it.To be clear.
You are telling me to set the freq to 200 manualy so i can then use the 3 ram modules right?Or u are telling me to leave only the 2 256 MB modules?

 

[jsc]

computabug, I didn't notice the "anonymous" user. I was too busy looking at the trees to pay attention to the forest.

cevi, I will be a little more tactful. Please start your own thread. We will be glad to help. To paraphrase the old Texas Ranger saying, "One thread, one problem."

 

[computabug]

thmb up @ jsc

@cevi: like I said, leave them there at 200...