O.C. questions about a new build I'm planning.

[PureRumble]

Hello!

As you all will find out soon (considering the questions I'll ask), I am very new to this overclocking thing. I am planning to build a system. I want to show it to you so you can answer a few of my O.C. questions (hence why I present my build in this O.C. subforum).


* CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2,5GHz Tray
* MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4
* MEM: Corsair XMS2 Xtreme TwinX DDR2 800MHz CL5 4*2 GB
* GPU: Asus GeForce Extreme N9600GT/HTDI 512MB

* DVD: Samsung SH-S203N.
* HD1: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 16MB 250GB
* HD2: Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD753LJ 32MB 750GB
* CPU-COOLER: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme

My quesitons.

1. Will I be able to O.C. that MEM to 1200 MHz? If not that high, what is your guess?
2. Will I be able to O.C. that CPU's each core to 3,2 GHz. If not that high, what is your guess?

3. Will I be able to perform 1 & 2 at the same time? Estimations?

4. If you want to O.C. your MEM to a higher speed, then your MOBO must be able to work with that speed. I.e. a MOBO that lists DDR2 800/667/etc. as possible configurations can not O.C. DDR2 800 to 1066. Is this statement correct?

5. Given that I'm planning to do all this reckless O.C.ing, what power box do you recommend?

Well, Thanks!

 

[dagger]

1. Unlikely. I'm not familiar with that specific ram, but 800 to 1200 is a
big stretch. Quality ram should be able to go from 800 to 1066 with
some relaxed timings.

2. Yes, 3.2 gb is only mild overclocking. You should be able to go
significantly higher, especially since your x38 chipset motherboard
won't be a bottleneck.

3. You should keep your ram at or below specs while ocing your cpu.
When you get the highest stable clockrate, oc the ram for its highest
stable rate. Keep it so that only one variable for causing unstability
is present. Do cpu first, it's more important.

4. That's basically right, although you don't have to worry about it.

5. 600 watt should be enough, although you may want more headroom. Get
one with high 12v rail ampage. Multiple 12v rails are good, though keep
in mind it's the total 12v ampage that matters, not number of rails.

 

[Evilonigiri]

1.) The only ram I've heard that can do 1200MHz is the Transcend Axe ram and the Crucial Ballistic. I believe Corsairs aren't very good OCers.

2.) Assuming the mobo can do up to 500MHz fsb safely, the highest Oc you can manage to do on the Q9300 is 7.5x500 = 3.750GHz. Because of the Q9300's low multiplier, you're limited by how high the mobo can go.

3.) While it's possible to OC the ram and cpu at the same time, it's better to go one by one. However I disagree with dagger, memory stability is more important since it can cause an error on small FFTs.

4.) The mobo doesn't officially support those speeds but who cares?

5.) A decent 500W is more than enough, a cheap 600W is fine also. I prefer a Corsair 500W.

 

[dagger]

1.) The only ram I've heard that can do 1200MHz is the Transcend Axe ram and the Crucial Ballistic. I believe Corsairs aren't very good OCers.

2.) Assuming the mobo can do up to 500MHz fsb safely, the highest Oc you can manage to do on the Q6600 is 7.5x500 = 3.750GHz. Because of the Q9300's low multiplier, you're limited by how high the mobo can go.

3.) While it's possible to OC the ram and cpu at the same time, it's better to go one by one. However I disagree with dagger, memory stability is more important since it can cause an error on small FFTs.

4.) The mobo doesn't officially support those speeds but who cares?

5.) A decent 500W is more than enough, a cheap 600W is fine also. I prefer a Corsair 500W.

2) X38 chipset is able to reach 4x500mhz easily. It shouldn't be the bottleneck. And Q6600 has a multiplier of 9, Q9300 is 7.5


3) What I mean was cpu speed makes a bigger impact on overall system performance than memory speed, thus it's a reason to oc it first. Also, cpu overclocking changes ram clock, so you really can't oc ram first, because once you touch the cpu, it would be ruined. As a rule, both cpu and ram should be stable at the end of oc.

4) X38 supports up to 1600mhz (4x400) natively, so you can oc to that point without worries.

5) It's better to leave yourself some headroom.

 

[Evilonigiri]

2) X38 chipset is able to reach 4x500mhz easily. It shouldn't be the bottleneck. And Q6600 has a multiplier of 9, Q9300 is 7.5


3) What I mean was cpu speed makes a bigger impact on overall system performance than memory speed, thus it's a reason to oc it first. Also, cpu overclocking changes ram clock, so you really can't oc ram first, because once you touch the cpu, it would be ruined. As a rule, both cpu and ram should be stable at the end of oc.

4) X38 supports up to 1600mhz (4x400) natively, so you can oc to that point without worries.

5) It's better to leave yourself some headroom.

I meant Q9300, not Q6600. My bad.

3.) I find it easier to OC the ram first. By changing the the FSB, ram speed will change. So if the PC doesn't boot or fails small FFTs, which is the cause? The cpu or ram? To eliminate the variables, simply drop the multiplier of the cpu. Ex: Goal OC is 4GHz = 500 x 8. Dropping the multiplier to x6 will give you 3GHz, which you know the stable vcore of (ex: 1.3v). Running 1:1 fsb to ram ratio, you're ending up with 1000MHz, which is rather hard to do on DDR2 800MHz. By eliminating the cpu as a cause of instability, you can concentrate on ram, since unstable ram WILL cause error in small FFTs. Once ram is stable, bring the multiplier back of to x8 to achieve the goal. Any further errors will be the cpu. I do it this way based on my experience.

4.) I was referring to the OP's example of DDR2 800/667/etc. A misunderstanding, I should have made myself clearer.

5.) A Corsair 500W will leave plenty of headroom. There's people running OCed Q6600 at 3.2GHz with a 8800GTS 512Mb OCed on them so I don't see why a 9600GT and a Q9300 needs more.

 

[PureRumble]

Sorry for late answer, thank you both!

 

[Dunkel]

Power supply

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-vx-550w-atx-power-supply/q/loc/101/205852646.html