This doesn't look good... any ideas?

[Damage INC]

Ok, so I've done a relatively decent amount of research and homework on overclocking before I decided to venture into it myself.

I've sorta got my hands tied because I'm working with an ACER computer, (AM5630) with an EG31M, so the MoBo has a locked BIOS and I really can't manually change crap in there.

I found a program that seems to be the most stable overclocking software out there, according to most reviews, and it's called "setFSB". It seems relatively basic and it doesn't look like it allows for anything more than altering the FSB.

SO here's my system basics..

Vista 32bit
Q6600 (at 2.4)
2x 1GB DDR2 - 667
650watt PSU
HD4870 (not that it matters)

I found the proper clock generator in the system and decided that I'd go to 2.8ghz with my Q6600, so I bumped the FSB to about 311mhz and, with a 9x multiplier that my Q6600 came with, sure enough, the new settings showed something right around 2800mhz.

Just to see if it actually worked, I checked CoreTemp, and was kinda thrown back when it read that I was only at 1864mhz. Looking at the screen a little closer, I found the the multiplier dropped down to 6, so I was at roughly 311mhz FSB on a 6x multiplier now.

I downloaded CPU-Z just to make sure it wasn't a hiccup, and sure enough, CPU-Z shows the same thing. I've tried bring it back to stock, but the multiplier appears to be stuck at 6x and I have no idea where to go with this now. Stock setings of 266mhz FSB were around 1.5ghz total.

Any help here would be great, please let me know if you need any more info and I'll do what I can to fill you in!!

Dave

 

[aevm]

Maybe your CPU is just in idle mode (SpeedStep). It does lower the multiplier to 6x to save energy.

 

[Damage INC]

You're exactly right. Right after I posted this, I ran Prime95 and as soon as it started, the multiplier went right back up to 9x again.

I didn't run it for long, but so far, it seems like it's ok. It went through 3 or 4 different tests in 7 minutes so far, none of the cores have ever gone over 62*C. For the most part, they bounce between 58-61*C so I hope this means that I can continue to run it at 2.8gHz

Thanks for the reply though, I was getting worried there for a minute, hehe!!

Dave

 

[aevm]

I know, it worried me the first time too, I have a Q6600 too

61C under load is fine.

I take it you don't have room to stick a big aftermarket cooler in there, do you?

 

[Damage INC]

No, it's not to terribly large of a case, so I really don't have much room for anything anymore, lol.

I had to relocate the hard drive just to fit the 4870 in there, lol.

Surprisingly though the stock fans seem to be doing a really good job, not to mention that there's a nice air horn over the CPU fan that reaches all the way to the vents on the side cover of the tower so it's only drawing in ambient air and not any heated air from the case. I'm sure if I took the air horn out of there I could probably fit some monster fan on the damn thing but really, I'm done spending money on the computer. I am not really an "enthusiast" that needs some state of the art machine to be happy...
the only reason I have a Q6600 is because this computer was on sale for under $400, came with Vista 32, 2gb RAM, 500gb HDD, and I was in the market for a new computer. The only money I put into it was for the 4870 and the PSU. So the whole rig cost me maybe $700. Oh, plus I bought an X-Fi XtremeGamer card from a Circuit City that was going out of business for $15 bucks

There's a part of me that wonders if I could take it to 3.0ghz without touching anything else.. but maybe I should jsut stay here and be safe.

I just gave it a good thrashing with Crysis for about an hour and a half, the CPU temps for any of the cores never went above 52*C and I know the 4870's a hot card, and I have mine set at 780/1080 (stock is 750/900) but I also changed the fan settings and it stays around 70*C while playing too. 1440x900 on DX9 with the CCC 2.21/TOD mod on #5, so I think it's safe at 2.8ghz for now, average FPS is in the mid-high 30's. SOMETIMES it'll tank to the low 20's in busy sequences but not frequently at all.

Dave

 

[aevm]

Wow, $15 for an X-Fi card. I paid $100 last year for my Xtreme Music card.

Overclocking is a bit overrated, TBH. I'll probably get flamed for saying this on an enthusiast forum In some games and types of work it helps, sure, but in lots of games it won't really do anything noticeable. Look at the numbers in this article, for example:
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770&p=5

 

[eclipseaudio4]

Wow, $15 for an X-Fi card. I paid $100 last year for my Xtreme Music card.

Overclocking is a bit overrated, TBH. I'll probably get flamed for saying this on an enthusiast forum In some games and types of work it helps, sure, but in lots of games it won't really do anything noticeable. Look at the numbers in this article, for example:
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770&p=5

I agree for me it is more of a hobby when I'm bored and about getting the most out of what I've got.