OCing e6550

[ajrichie]

Right now my e6550 is at a stable 3.0ghz but I was looking around at other threads and noticed that people OC'd their e6550's to 3.5ghz with pc-6400 ram. Could it be that they had better quality 6400 RAM which enabled them to OC more? I tried setting my memory timings at 6-6-6-16 and my CPU voltage at 3.5 but even 3.15ghz was no go. Anyone have any tips for me? Appreciate it!

 

[outlw6669]

IMO, getting stable with a 500Mhz FSB, even with the good overclocking P35, is probably an unreasonable expectation.
If you drop your RAM to a 1:1 ratio, put the voltage at 2.1v and the timings at CL5 or higher, it should have no issues running that fast. Your motherboard and/or CPU will probably crap out long before you can get to that point.

428Mhz on the FSB is still respectable from a midrange Mb as is 3Ghz from a 2.33Ghz part.
Try putting a case fan blowing straight onto the northbrige Hs and raising the Nb voltage a few notches.
Drop the RAM to a 1:1 ratio, lower the timings to CL6 (for now) and put the voltage at 2.1v.
When/if you get it stable at a higher FSB, you can lower the timings until you locate the lowest stable.
With the settings as above, you may be able to push the FSB higher and extend your overclock.

 

[ajrichie]

Well, I got it to 3.15Ghz by upping my RAM to 2.1v. Nb is +0.1v. What is the default voltage of the Northbridge?Also, where is the Nb on the MB? My Arctic Freezer 7 supposedly blows some air on the Northbridge so I think it should be ok. My RAM is at 1:1 currently. Well, thanks for the help, i'm going to call it a night (morning) and work in it some other time.

 

[iluvgillgill]

no the AC7 is not suppode to blow air over NB its design to blow up or exhaust depend on the way to you place it.

what chipset are you using?NB is around 1.3V or 1.15v

 

[outlw6669]

No, the AC F7 does NOT blow on the north bridge.
It blows on the Hs for the voltage regulators.

Not your exact Mb but the northbirdge placement is pretty standard.

As long as his Hardware Configuration page is correct, he is using a P35-DS3L.

Good to hear you could get it stable at 450Mhz FSB (it is stable not just posting, right?).
Give the Nb Hs a little fresh air and then try again with +0.2v.
What voltage are you putting into the CPU?
If you still have it at 1.275v, you may want to bump it up a little.

 

[ajrichie]

Yeah, my hardware config is correct. And no i'm not sure that it is stable, I will check that today. The CPU voltage is at 1.3 at the 3.15 OC. I beleive my Nb is at +0.1v but I don't have any extra fans to blow on it or the proper tools to mount one. Are their fans that have a sticky side and can mount on to a case? Can anyone recommend one? There is a mesh holy on the side of my case that I could place a fan on and line up with the Nb.

 

[ajrichie]

Got it up to 3.3Ghz with the max OCZ recommended RAM voltage of 2.2 and CPU voltage of 1.325. Memory doesn't feel too hot to the touch but i'm going to try again after some gaming later. I would up the Nb but the heatsink on it already feels very hot. (can't hold my finger on it for 10 seconds) Going to get a fan and try to up the Nb some other time.

Update:

RAM test failed at 3.3Ghz (2.2v) so i'm guessing my RAM has hit it's limit. I'm going to do the RAM test on 3.15 and see how it goes.

Voltage:
CPU = 1.3v
RAM = 2.1v
FSB = +0.1v
Nb = +0.0v

Running about 36C idle and 46C full load.

 

[outlw6669]

Not bad.
471Mhz on the FSB and counting
Try relaxing the RAM timings while keeping the voltage at 2.2v.
This should give you a little more headroom with the overclock.
If you can keep the RAM and Nb stable, you can defiantly pump some more voltage into the CPU and get a little more outta it.