Help with overclocking E8400

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/Prod [...] 6813128372

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115037

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231209

Graphic: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102801

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?

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.

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?

My cooling is Arctic Freezer 7 :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134

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?

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/Prod [...] 6835233003

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.

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.

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.