GA-965P-DS3P | E6600 | Patriot PDC22G6400LLK x2 (4GB)

nox

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Hey all, this is the first time i've posted on here so be gentle =)

I'm attempting a first time overclock, i have read the guide on the forum and a previous article on gaining 81% performance for £20 and am still confused on a few issues (not really that hard tbh =P)

Here are my system specs:

Chassis: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P Rev 3.3 Bios F4
CPU: C2D E6600
RAM: Patriot PDC22G6400LLK x2 (4GB in total)
HSF: CNPS9700 LED
GPU: XFX Geforce 7900GS 256MB
PSU: Coolermaster iGreen Power 500W
HDD: 320GB Seagate Barracuda SATA II x3
Optical Drives: DVD/RW


When i built this rig i bought all my components with overclocking in mind so hopefully this setup will overclock well!

At first i had read up on the C2D overclock guide here, but there was an article which specifically used my board so i decided to use that instead: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/overclocking-guide-part-1-uk,review-2058.html

Following the guide i disabled unused CPU features and those that would otherwise contradict my manual frequency and voltage selections.

I then set the system memory multiplier to 2.00 (which as i understand is the 1:1 ratio which i want to achieve?) changed my ram timings to 4-4-4-12 (which is what my memory is rated at)

Ask the guide asked i then increased CPU core voltage to 1.45V, DIMM voltage to +0.4V (2.20V), and Northbridge voltage to +0.3V (1.55V).

I set my CPU Multiplier to x9 (which i think it was already at) and then changed my FSB to 333 which gives me a overclock of 3Ghz.

It all passed the POST process and has been running stable, no issues, one of my friends has the same setup as me apart from the graphics card and has the same overclock settings as me and knows this is a very stable setting as he's run numerous stress tests.

Core temp reports: idle temps as: Core0 32c and Core1 28c
stess temps as: Core0 53c and Core1 53c

Speedfan also reports the same temps at idle and stressed

Here is what CPU-Z shows:
cpuz.jpg

Here is what CoreTemp shows:
coretemp.jpg


Are the temps normal? i know with the setup i have i should be able to overclock it further without issues, but im not sure how to proceed? what do i change to get a higher overclock? what do i change voltages by and for which component? Any advise, changes etc would be very welcome! I really want to get the best bang for my buck as such! (or power for pound in my case!)

Oh and i just noticed cpu-z displays my core voltage as 1.424v and Core Temp displays my vid as

Thanks for helping guys!

nox
 

Evilonigiri

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Temps are normal. Don't bother what Coretemp displays, it's the VID. CPUz shows the actual voltage after Vdroop and Vdrop.

To proceed, you must make sure that your core temps won't exceed 65C when stress testing using small FFT. If so, just increase the fsb in by a moderate amount, perhaps to 350MHz fsb. Then stress test all over again, making sure the core temps doesn't get too hot.
 

nox

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ah ok so i just need to use CPUz for the correct voltage?

what do i change exactly? the fsb? the multiplier? the ram timings? voltages? etc? im not actually sure what i need to change as i was only following the guide with a bit of common sense, but i don't trust my common sense without a guide to overclock further =)

if i change the fsb to something higher what else would i need to change? the volts to the cpu? and if thats the case, by how much? and if i did change the fsb would i not need to change something with the ram to keep the 1:1 ratio?

thanks!
 

Evilonigiri

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You're suppose to change the FSB to OC the cpu and or ram. The E6600 has a locked multiplier, so you can't go higher than 9x. Thus you can't OC by raising the multiplier.

The guide explains it better than I do, but this is the basics:

The fsb x cpu multiplier = cpu frequency. Thus in order to increase the cpu frequency, you must OC either the fsb or increase the cpu multiplier. In your case, you can only increase the fsb.

The fsb x the system memory multiplier = ram frequency. Just set the system memory multiplier to 2 and the timings to 5-5-5-15 at 1.9v or something.

So now if you want to hit 3.15GHz on your cpu, and you are using the multiplier of 9x, what fsb do you need? That would be 350MHz.

I suggest you to reread the guide again.
 

nox

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i already understand that my cpu has a locked multiplier and that i have to change the fsb, but what i meant was, if i change the fsb (which is currently oc'd to 3ghz | fsb 333x9) do i have to change my ram settings? my ram is rated at 800Mhz, timings of 4-4-4-12 and voltage of 2.2v, i already changed the timings to this and my volts to that when i overclocked to 3ghz. do i have to change them again if i raise my fsb?
 

nox

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ok i just went into the bios and i think i understand it now =) currently because the fsb is set to 333 and the system memory multiplier is set to 2 the ram was running at 667mhz and it can go as high as 800mhz (as thats what my ram is rated at?) and for me to do that i'd have to set my fsb to 400 to use my ram at 800mhz? or did i just get that terribly wrong? and if i raise the fsb and the ram mhz then i'd have to increase the cpu voltage and the ram voltage? if so by how much?
 

Evilonigiri

Splendid
Jun 8, 2007
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If you left your system memory multiplier to 2, then yes, you'd have to do 400MHz fsb to get 800MHz ram since 400Mhz x 2 = 800MHz. Or you could simply set the system memory multiplier to 2.4 if you want 800MHz on a 333fsb since 333MHz x 2.4 = 800MHz.

Truthfully, as long as you set the timings accordingly, there is no notable performance gain from 667Mhz to 1000MHz. Many people says you get the best performance by setting the system memory multiplier to 2.
 

nox

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ok when changing the fsb is there a rule of thumb? as in use multiples of something or can it just be a number which will get you the overlock you want? for example if i wanted a 3.2ghz overlock, i could use an fsb of 356 to get 3.204 ?
 

nox

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but that doesn't apply to me as i have a locked multiplier? so if i set my fsb to 356 what settings would i have to change on my ram? what voltages would i have to change and by how much?
 

Evilonigiri

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That depends from what type of ram you have. You will have to test it out by stress testing it using Prime95's blend test for at least 8hours.

If you want 800MHz for the ram using 356MHz fsb, 800/356 = 2.247 So perhaps around 2.3 as the system memory multiplier. Use the rated settings for the ram and stress test it.
 

nox

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ok, what about the cpu voltage? ram voltage? and northbridge voltage? as it stands i raised the cpu voltage to 1.45v, ram to 2.2v and northbridge to 1.55v as the guide asked me to. If i changed my system multiplier to 2.3 and used the 356fsb to get the 800mhz would i need to change any of the voltages? and by how much?
 

Evilonigiri

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I wouldn't know what the best cpu voltage should be. You will have to find that yourself, it differs for every cpu. 1.4V should be more than enough, however it is not the minimum voltage.

For the ram, just use the rated settings. 4-4-4-12, 2.2V was it?
 

nox

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yeah, ok so i will leave the cpu vcore as it is and change the other settings, if it survives prime95 small fft's for 8hrs and the blend tests for 8hrs its considered stable? if it is stable do i start to lower my cpu vcore a little and test again and keep going until i get to an unstable vcore and use the lowest stable vcore setting?
 

nox

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ok, i went into bios and my system memory multiplier only lets me go by 2.00, 2.5 and above, so i left it at 2.00 and changed the fsb to 356 and it changed the ram mhz automatically anyway =) passed post and displayed the oc correctly, will now run small fft's overnight and then blend test in the morning, will report back tomorrow night! thanks so much! finally getting the hang of overclocking =)

core temp and speedfan showing idle temps at 30c and under small fft stress at 54c, so a 1c difference in temp from the 3ghz overclock!
 

nox

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if everything runs stable, you think it'd be possible to oc it to 3.4? or would that be pushing it?
 

nox

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ah ok, if i did overclock it to 3.4, would i just keep all the settings the same and change the fsb to 378 or because of the higher fsb would i need to change some settings or voltages?

the 3.2 oc remained stable after 8hrs of small fft's and 8hrs of blend tests! no errors =) temps remained at 54c under stress at all times, never rising above that. idle still at 32c.
 

Evilonigiri

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Change the fsb only. Run blend test for 8hours again, then the small FFTs for 6hours. If an error appears for the blend test, it's either the motherboard or ram, so tweak it around.
 

nox

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ok, it didn't like an overclock over 3.2 =\ everything i tried seems to end up in endless reboots and i have to clear the cmos.

3.2 has been very stable for me, no issues at all, but just out of thoroughness i decided to run the small fft's and blend tests. small fft's were fine but the blend test had an error after abour 3hrs? but it passed it before?

i also managed to lower the cpu voltage a little from 1.45 to 1.425, i know its not much but its reduced temps by a couple of degree's =) ram timings are still at 4-4-4-12@2.2v which is what the ram is rated for. my northbridge and fsb voltages have been increased for stability.

also i was just wondering, is my psu sufficient? to save you scrolling its the PSU: Coolermaster iGreen Power 500W ?

im abit disappointed that i can't seem to push passed 3.2, any reasons as to why this is?

oh and as a reference i was using this guide as it was specific to my mobo:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/overclocking-guide-part-1-uk,review-2058-3.html

thanks again =)