Overclocking e6400 question...

[invaderzog]

I'm a relative newbie to overclocking. I have read the forum stickies + a number of articles at AnandTech, but I still have some questions.

I'm planning on buying an E6400 and Either a P5B deluxe (what I am currently leaning towards since it is ~$50 cheaper than a P5W deluxe). I want a nice boost in performance, but don't want to play things "risky"...

I wasn't sure what memory to buy and what multiplier/FSB I should plan on using.

From what I understand, the default is 8x266 which would be matched at a 1:1 ratio with DDR2-533.

An AnandTech article said that they upped the FSB to 360.5 without any difficulties.

If I went with the more conservative 360.5 and I want to keep a 1:1 ratio (assuming I do want this), I assume that means that I should tell the system I have DDR2-667 and run the memory at higher speed.

OR ... it looks like I could get a similar core speed by using a 400 FSB, DDR-800 memory at its natural speed, and a 7 multiplier

OR ... I could be more aggressive and do a 400x8.

I've been confused as to whether I should be purchasing DDR2-800 or DDR2-667 for the board. An article at AnandTech (Conroe guide) recommended some Adata DDR-533 memory as they said it ran up to DDR2-800 just fine. If so, that is a good $70+ in savings that would be nice.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[invaderzog]

Do you recommend DDR-667 4-4-4-12 over DDR-800 4-4-4-12 because of the cost savings ($40) or for performance reasons?

The OCZ Plat 800 claims 4-4-4-12 @ 400 --- which I assume would perform better than a 667 that has been sped up.

If I decided to not be as agressive in my OC (i.e. instead of kicking it from 266 to ~400 only did in the 300 range, does that change anything memory wise?)

Thanks for the assistance

 

[invaderzog]

Thank you for the advice/info. As long as I am picking your brain...

I was also not planning on buying anything fancy for the coolers (i.e. just using the stock intel cooling). I've read that the stock intel cooling isn't bad, but I don't want to fry my new toy either. Am I being stupid?