Hi, looking for help with my very first build/Over-clock.

e8500 with stock cooler
msi p45 neo-f, bios v. 1.5
4 gigs DDR2 1066
Radeon 4850
SATA HD 640 Gigs
SATA DVD
PCI wifi
slot fan
480 W power supply (hand-me-down)
Case has a top-fan(disabled), side-fan in addition to the rear exhaust (hand-me-down)

Looking for a starting point/ step-thru for a modest OC. I cant really buy anymore new parts so i have to work with what i have. I don't want to destroy anything

From what i understand, the multiplier can't go up from 9.5, and changing the FSB effects everything in the computer. The FSB is 333, but 1333 for the CPU (333 x 4), and 1066 for RAM [(333 x 2) / (5/8) ].
Would upping the FSB to 533, multiple to 6, for example, set the CPU 3.16GHz and setting the DRAM 1:1 would be [(533 x 2) / (1/1)] = 1066 MHz? How much hotter would that run and what other setting would have to change to protect the PCI, PCI-e, and SATA equipment from scaling with the FSB?

Just curious about these settings, seems to be a good place to get familiar with the topics

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks

First, what are the specs on the power supply?

What are the timings on the ram? I would set the fsb:ram ratio to 1:1 and try to lower the ram timings. You will generally get better results this way. I definitely wouldn't up the fsb to 533. You would need some crazy voltage to run it that high and you would be stressing all the other components as well.

You say you can't buy any more parts at the moment. Can you afford a $25 after market cpu cooler? You will have very limited overclocking options due to heat until you upgrade from the stock fan.

Hope that helps.

Yes thanks,

The default timings on the RAM are 5-5-5-15, and i'm not sure what the specs are on the Power-supply off-hand, tho i could check later. I was posting more on whether i had my math right, and to see what would be more reasonable then the 533 FSB overclock. I'd like to see if its possible/worth it to try to OC with the stock cooler.

Thanks for post!

You do have your math right. I have an e8500 oc'd to 3.8ghz (400*9.5) and it's very stable. You can overclock with the stock cooler, but you'll probably only be able to hit 3.4-3.5ghz.. I really don't know what the limit is with the stock cooler. What are the temps like right now with stock cooling?