Newbie Overclocking Question

[roy3306]

I just had a quick question, I plan on building a system within the next month or so and I have been reading all over the internet about overclocking and such. Here are the components I planned on getting, and my question will follow them.

1x EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW Motherboard
2x OCZ SLI-Ready Dual Channel 2096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory
1x PC Power & Cooling / Silencer / 750-Watt / Quad PCI-Express / SATA-Ready / Black Power Supply
1x Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme PCIe
1x EVGA GeForce 8800 GT Video Card - 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Video Card
1x Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor HH80562PH0568M - 2.40GHz, 8MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Kentsfield, Quad-Core, OEM, Socket 775, Processor
1x OCZ OCZTVEND2 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
1x CoolerMaster Cosmos 1010 ATX Full-Tower Case
1x OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound - Retail

My question is, would I be able to overclock the Q6600 to 3.2ghz and have it with a 533mhz FSB with a 6x Multiplier to run 1:1 with my 1066mhz RAM or would it be better to go with the 800mhz RAM and do the 400mhz FSB with an 8x Multiplier? Just a note, I am trying to get to 3.2 with minimal voltages changes, if any as I'm new at Overclocking and don't want to screw anything up.

 

[dagger]

4x533mhz fsb is impossible on 750i chipset. 4x400 is possible. Your best bet at good oc is use the 9x multiplier. 750i is not a good chipset for oc. Try to minimize the stress on it by using higher multiplier and lower fsb.

 

[SirCrono]

As posted the 750i might have troubles reaching 400 MHz (and will not, let me stress that, WILL NOT reach 533 MHz under any cirscuntance short of a miracle), so with that board your best bet at 3.2 Ghz would be something like 360*9, maybe 400*8, but that's a maybe.

Anyway, the gains from ram speed are almos always neglegible next to the gains from CPU speed.

 

[aznguy0028]

holy god, 533mhz? T_T sircrono is right, i would definitely go with 360x9 as your best chance, 400x8 is possible too, but the higher ur FSB, the more heat it'll produce.

if you are new to OC-ing, i would suggest you take it to 333x9 first to see how that turns out.

 

[roy3306]

I figured 533mhz was too much, but I wasn't sure. However, struggling to reach 400mhz on that chipset is a suprise. I've read a lot of reviews about it and a lot of folks seem to be running it around 400mhz. Is there another chipset you would recommend in the same price range that would reach a 400mhz FSB better?

 

[shadowthor]

I don't know what the price of the mobo you listed, but the rampage can hit 480 fsb i think with a quad.

 

[roy3306]

It's priced between $180 and $200 pretty much everywhere. So something in around that $200 mark would be good.

 

[dagger]

I figured 533mhz was too much, but I wasn't sure. However, struggling to reach 400mhz on that chipset is a suprise. I've read a lot of reviews about it and a lot of folks seem to be running it around 400mhz. Is there another chipset you would recommend in the same price range that would reach a 400mhz FSB better?

Well, a p45 starts at $90, and runs 1600mhz (4x400) fsb natively. That is, it's there, even without any oc.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280+107172615+1071740132&name=Intel+P45&Order=PRICE
X38/48 also runs at 1600mhz fsb natively, plus full pcie2.0x16 crossfire support, but cost much more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280+107172333+1071734674&name=Intel+X48&Order=PRICE

The current oc record holder is this p45 board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138118

Those are the boards you'd need if you want to reach 4x533mhz fsb.

 

[roy3306]

533mhz FSB isn't something that's necessary for me, I was really just looking for 3.2 ghz for the overclock so I went with the faster RAM for a little better performance, but I would be just as happy going with the 800mhz RAM and a 400mhz FSB.

 

[dagger]

533mhz FSB isn't something that's necessary for me, I was really just looking for 3.2 ghz for the overclock so I went with the faster RAM for a little better performance, but I would be just as happy going with the 800mhz RAM and a 400mhz FSB.

Keep in mind 4x400mhz fsb is still not guaranteed on 750i. It's hit or miss. You need at least a 780i or better to reliably hit 4x400.

 

[roy3306]

Is the P45 Board SLI Supported or is it just Crossfire Supported?

 

[dagger]

Is the P45 Board SLI Supported or is it just Crossfire Supported?

Some p45 boards support crossfire, but at pcie2.0x8, it'll bottleneck 4xxxs cards.
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1472/7/page_7_benchmarks_crysis/index.html

Only Nvidia boards support sli. The top end Skulltrial support both sli and cf, but cost $600.

 

[roy3306]

Now that I think about it, I may just go with the 750i and just OC to 3.0ghz and then maybe see if I can tweak a little more out of it. Maybe I'll run 350mhz FSB instead. I'm really just looking for an increase in game performance and also multitasking performance. Or maybe I'll go with the 780i and get the 800mhz RAM which is cheaper than the 1066mhz RAM anyway. I should break even with the price difference and then maybe I can hit 400mhz easier.