intel 540

[kris984]

I own a intel 540 3.2GHz how fast do you reckon i could overclock it to on air

 

[mdd1963]

Using the factory heat sink, I'd really not go beyond 200 more MHz....; run Prime95 for 2 hours to check core temps under full load, looking for any instances of probable clock throttling...; core temps vary, but most folks are uncomfortable with core temps beyond about 60C with a Prescott core)

Even with water cooling or a high quality sink/fan, I'd be careful going beyond 3.5-3.6...there is bound to be a reason why Intel has not released single cores beyond 3.8 or so!


(If gaming, the extra heat and 200 more MHz will only gain you .5 frames/sec anyway at high res with AA/AF, where the gu is the most important)

 

[Scout]

With the right board, probably somewhere between 3.6 and 3.8

 

[WINDSHEAR]

on air? 3.8Ghz... probably. It all depends on your current voltage/temp. Mine is 1.3volts/23C on a overclock from a 530J 3.0Ghz to 3.48Ghz, mobo limited. If it was unlimited, and I raised the voltage a bit, I'd say I could reach 4Ghz no problem. Considering the heat/voltage everyone else is talking about, I'm pretty impressed with my Prescott.

btw, it says that voltage in the BIOS, CPU Informer says I'm running with about 2 volts. CPU-Z verifies that I'm running at about 1.300 to 1.324 volts. I trust CPU-Z and my BIOS.