Overclock Advice for E2160+GA P35 DS3L+XMS2 DDR2 800 Cas5

[vasanx]

Hi everyone. I am a NOOB when it comes to OC.

I have so far only managed to build a pc (A64 3500) but i'm building a new rig for my pal.

I want to overclock the E2160 to 3GHz minimum so that it can keep up with the 8800GT at 1680*1050 resolution for his brand new 22 inch monitor. Lookin to play Crysis and Bioshock.

This is the setup:

Motherboard - Gigabyte P35-DS3L iP35 775 PCI-E D2-SL
CPU - Pentium Dual Core E2160 1.8 775 800 1MB
CPU COOLER - CoolerMaster Hyper TX II
Memory/RAM - 2GB Corsair XMS DDR2-800 5-5-5-15 LL
Hard Drive - WD3200KS 320GB SATA 16MB
Graphic Card - GALAXY 8800GT 512MB DDR3
CasingPower Supply- CoolerMaster Elite 460w

My understanding so far from what i've read is that, all i need to do is:

1. Change PCI-Express from Auto to 100MHz so as not to fry the graphic card.
2. Increase the 200Mhz FSB to 333Mhz to get (333*9 = 2997) 3GHz.

Here are my questions:

1. Can i change from 200MHz to 333MHz straight away or do i have to do the whole 5/10 Mhz increment thingy?

2. I'm buying the XMS2 bcoz i read Value RAMs are no good for OC. But i'm not planning to fiddle with the XMS timings, so is this worth buying over the Value RAM or am i suppose to do something with the timings to get 3GHz?

3. How do i fiddle with the timing, if i have to?

 

[Evilonigiri]

1.) Go ahead, it's fine if you do that.

2.) Any DDR2 800MHz ram will suit your needs. They are good for speeds up to 3.6GHz for the E2160.

3.) Just lower it? If it becomes unstable adjust the voltage.

Read the OCing guide here, it will give you an excellent idea on OCing.

 

[vasanx]

Thanks for the reply.

I have another question based on question 3.

After reading more, i realize, like you said, i can bump the FSB to 400 to get (400*9) 3.6GHz because of the DDR2 800 RAMs based on the 1:1 ratio.

1. So, can i get 3.6 GHz by just adjusting FSB to 400 and setting DRAM Frequency to DDR2-800 without adjusting the core voltage?

2. Since at this point the XMS2 is still at relaxed timing,5-5-5-18, does lowering it to 4-4-4-12 have any effect on the CPU speed? I read that the XMS2 runs at stock speed on 1.8v and to get to 4-4-4-12, it needs to run at 2.1v which will result in it having only a 6 month-1 year lifespan.

3. Is 3.6 GHz a bit ambitious for a noob since i'm only using the cheap CoolerMaster Hyper TX II 110 to cool the cpu?

 

[Dunkel]

You will not be able to hit 3.6 with that chip. I would shoot for a stable 3.0 if you're using aftermarket cooling. Read the guides including the temperature guide. But no amount of knowledge will get you to 3.6.

With stock cooling, stick with 2.8GHz and lower Vcore.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Thanks for the reply.

I have another question based on question 3.

After reading more, i realize, like you said, i can bump the FSB to 400 to get (400*9) 3.6GHz because of the DDR2 800 RAMs based on the 1:1 ratio.

1. So, can i get 3.6 GHz by just adjusting FSB to 400 and setting DRAM Frequency to DDR2-800 without adjusting the core voltage?

2. Since at this point the XMS2 is still at relaxed timing,5-5-5-18, does lowering it to 4-4-4-12 have any effect on the CPU speed? I read that the XMS2 runs at stock speed on 1.8v and to get to 4-4-4-12, it needs to run at 2.1v which will result in it having only a 6 month-1 year lifespan.

3. Is 3.6 GHz a bit ambitious for a noob since i'm only using the cheap CoolerMaster Hyper TX II 110 to cool the cpu?

1.) You can get 3.6GHz by doing 400MHz x 9 and 800MHz by doing 1:1 or system memory multiplier of 2 for the ram. Ram voltage doesn't need to be changed, but the cpu voltage will require a significant boost. Ex: 1.3V @ 2.4GHz --> 1.45V 3.6GHz.

2.) Lowering the timings will not increase or decrease the cpu speed, rather it will increase the performance of the system. You may find yourself with a smoother pc, but the differences are usually very small. I don't know where you heard that setting the ram voltage to 2.1V will decrease the life to a mere 6months-1year lifespan, but that is total BS. If the specified ram voltage for the memory is 2.1V, you may safely use 2.1V. Any higher than the specified voltage level would void the warranty and may result into much shorter lifespan, but certainly not to 6months.

3.) Yes, you will need a better air-cooler, such as the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (TRUE). The general rule of thumb is to stay under 65C for core temps (aka Tjunction) under load. Read the temp guide by Compu and the OCing guide by graysky for further insight.

 

[Dunkel]

Just a guess, but I would say that less then 5% of the E2160s can hit 3.6GHz.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Not impossible though But very unlikely.

 

[vasanx]

1.)
2.) Lowering the timings will not increase or decrease the cpu speed, rather it will increase the performance of the system. You may find yourself with a smoother pc, but the differences are usually very small. I don't know where you heard that setting the ram voltage to 2.1V will decrease the life to a mere 6months-1year lifespan, but that is total BS. If the specified ram voltage for the memory is 2.1V, you may safely use 2.1V. Any higher than the specified voltage level would void the warranty and may result into much shorter lifespan, but certainly not to 6months.

quotemsg]

Look for post #43 by DJPlayer: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=756368&page=3&dealalertmsgfinal=1

Thanks for your insight. I did kinda guess bout the whole RAM got nothin to do with CPU speed. But seriously, "You may find yourself with a smoother pc, but the differences are usually very small." Is it really small? I mean lowering the timing and bumping the voltage is not goin to give me an appreciable increase in performance? I'm really bumped out to hear that.

Value RAMs here i come.

 

[Perp]

400*8 for 3.2

or

400*9 for 3.6 (if you are lucky)

or

400*7 for 2.8 (if you are unlucky)


With a good air cooler you should be able to keep the temps in reason, it's just a matter of how much voltage it takes to get the speed you want and how comfortable you are at that voltage. I'd suggest setting a 1.5v limit and see how far you can get with it.

 

[bildo123]

I would say if he is lucky he will hit 3.2 for a 24/7 OC, I will tell you right now he will not reasonably be able to utilize 3.6Ghz so although possible, not worth the time trying to get. I would shoot for 400*8. I however tried this on my E2180 but I think was limited my FSB using the same board (DS3L), although I have read many people getting it to FSB 400 no problem, so I'm assuming its my chip thats at fault. However it works very nice and stable at 9x333. So If 400x8 doesn't work try 9x333.