Help with overclocking E8400

[markj]

I posted this on the forums and nobody answered..

I have ordered a whole system from newegg.com and now I want to know how to overclock it before it arrives. I have done overclocking before, on my Pentium D, taking it up to 4.08 Ghz.

These are links to what I will be using:

MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

Graphic: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

Does anybody have recommendations on what I could do to it? I have read about FSB vs. Multiplier. What is the best thing I could do with these? And what RAM timings can I use for best performance?

 

[RJR]

Your only problem is going to be your Ram, it's going to limit your OC.

 

[cadder]

E8400 is a 9.0 multiplier, right?
With DDR2-800 ram, you can set the FSB at 400 and have a pretty fast computer. Of course if you tinker with it you might get that ram to go a little higher, but 3.6 is fast enough for just about anything. You didn't mention your cooler, that will be a real critical part of the overclock.

 

[jonpaul37]

i have the same EXACT items you posted above, i have my CPU OC'd to 4.0 with just an FSB increase to 445 and upped the RAM to 891 to match to a 1:1 ratio, also reduced the timings from 5-5-5-15 to 4-4-4-12. Give it a shot, hopefully you are as lucky as me.

PS. that RAM will NOT limit your OC, it's decent overclocking RAM...

Edit: i have the ASUS mobo going now, but i had the EXACT same OC on my Gigabyte Mobo as well, so no worries there... i just liked the ASUS options better...

 

[RJR]

So what if he wants to OC it to say, 4.1-4.3 Ghz, the Ram may have something to say about that.

Or maybe that DDR2-800 can OC to 950-960. If it can that's great.

johnpaul37, you have the same exact setup, what can you push your Ram to?

 

[calinkula]

With the RAM you picked out you budgeted $55 for RAM. You can get some DDR2-1066 for that amount. Might as well get 1066 instead because then the RAM will not limit your OC.

Will make the OC process much much easier once you get into a FSB of 450 or higher.

 

[markj]

My cooling is Arctic Freezer 7 :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

I was aiming for the Dark Night, but it was out of stock. This one is supposed to be decent but not great.

Thanks for the information so far.

I didn't know about the RAM numbers (like DDR-800) until after I ordered it. I will stick with them for now.

I will be using a 21" HDTV, so relatively low resolutions (1280) might be good enough for me during gaming.

Calinkula, how will it make the OC process easier if I get to 450?

 

[calinkula]

Well DDR2 gets it's speed from FSB x 2(assuming 1:1 ratio). So max FSB with DDR2-800 without overclocking the RAM would be 400 FSB. If you keep increasing the FSB above 400 at some point you will need to mess with voltage and/or memory timings. Could be 420, 435, 450 and its basically luck of the draw when it comes to overclocking. No way to tell how far that RAM can go.

With DDR2-1066 you could go to a FSB of 533 without having to worry about pushing the RAM out of spec. So you can hit DDR2-900, 1000 with just leaving the RAM timings and voltage at stock. Seems like less work to me.

 

[RJR]

GEEZE I took to long to post this:

All he (Calinkula) stating (like I tried to) is the E8400 is capable of higher OC's than the DDR2-800 Ram can (usually) handle. You may be able to get to 4.0 Ghz without a problem and be happy there, thus the Ram WILL NOT hold you back. We were just trying to let you know that OCing DDR2-800 ram to 900-1000 is possible on some but isn't the norm.

Have you ordered the cooler yet?

If not, I would suggest this for the same price:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

If you have NO big deal at all, the E8400 will most likely be an E0, so they are known for running at very low vcore, hence lower temps.

Enjoy the build.

 

[markj]

I have ordered everything, unfortunately.

Will there be any kind of damage to the RAM if I run it at higher frequencies than 800?

Also:
1. what is the normal voltage for the E8400? All I find is the min and max, but no normal temperature.

2. If CPUZ shows lower voltage that BIOS, should I increase it so that it reaches the normal temprature mentioned in 1?

 

[RJR]

As far as the Ram goes, it will become unstable (reboot computer, BSOD) when you have exceeded what it likes, then you just have to adjust.

Well, there is no NORMAL voltage or temperature per se.

Your Ram and cpu will DEFAULT to a given value that should give you a starting point to work from.

What you want to do is OC, test and monitor temps as you go along. You can stick to Intel's max temp and voltage recommendations (I would) or not, it's up to you. Like I mentioned the E8400 (E0) is very frugal when it comes to voltage, unless you want 4.2-4.5 Ghz OC, then it will take a jump in voltage.

Cpu-z will almost always show a lower voltage than your BIOS, this is normal. It's called vdrop, and under load it will most likely drop some more, vdroop. After I did the pencil mod on my Asus P35 mobo, I eliminated both, but that's not common.

It would probably be a good idea to take a look at the OCing guide here and GOOGLE it for others. They can be very helpfull.

When you get it going let us know what happens. Good Luck.

 

[markj]

I have everything up and running. I have overclocked it to 3.6 Ghz (400 FSB X 9) with RAM at 800 (4-4-4-12).
I play Crysis at 1900x1080 with 8x antialiasing and vsync with no problem. The core tempratures are at 40 idle and 56 maximum load (10 minutes with Prime95). Is this temprature good?

Thank you guys for your help and recommendations.

 

[cadder]

You're good at where you are. You might push it a little more, with temperatures being your limiting factor, but doubt if you could tell the difference in actual use. The E8400 at 3.6GHz is a darned powerful machine.

 

[ryanb213]

Im using the arctic cooling freezer 7 pro, and i have my 8400 oced to 4.2GHz
Did i mention i have 800MHz ram? it didnt limit me
btw p5q pro

fsb: 467
multi: 9
vcore: 1.35

ram timings: 5-5-5-15
ram: 934MHz (1:1)
ram voltage: 2.05

all other settings dont apply for this o/c