Questions about overclocking an E8400 on a P5Q Pro.

[Nightskeeter]

I have a few questions about overclocking an E8400 on a P5Q Pro.



Im using the stock cooler, and am just right now trying to get to 3.3, or 3.4 Ghz weak overclock untill I get an aftermarket cooler. I'm just trying to get down the basics of this. I read many tutorials but I still have a few questions and would appriciate some feedback.

I was gonna use the FSB of 360 for now, just as a "first timers" clock-job.

(Number 1)

I have DDR2 1000 5-5-5-15 Ram, since my board automatically changes the ram speed when I overclock should I start the RAM timing out on DDR2 800, and then up the FSB of the processor so it doesnt way surpass DDR2 1000 Rated Ram timings? I'd hate to toast my RAM.

(Number 2)

When using Prime95 to stress test it and monitoring with SpeedFan. Should I pay much attention to Core 0, and Core 1 temperatures? Or just worry about the overall CPU temperature? It seems the Core's get higher than the overall CPU readout and it kinda makes me confused on that factor. Core 0 gets around 54 Celcius at times, when the CPU only gets to around 45-46 Celcius....



(Number 3)

And lastly is their anything else a first timer should know about a weak overclock?

 

[jsc]

This should be your first stop.
HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - Guide v1.6.1
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

Next stop should be a guide for your particular motherboard. Google is your friend. And there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

Go through the guides. Then go into the BIOS and change the System Memory Multiplier (or whatever your BIOS calls it) from AUTO to 2.00, 2.00B, or 2.00D - whichever you need to set the Memory Frequency to twice the FSB. Then when you increase the FSB, the memory clock will rise in step with it. If you are at 3.0 GHz (333 MHz X 9), your memory clock should be at 667 MHz.

Download CPU-Z to check your FSB:RAM ratio.

Warning - confusion factor between what some BIOS's call things and what CPUZ calls things. What the BIOS calls "memory frequency" is actually the memory clock. What CPUZ calls "memory frequency" is half the memory clock - DDR2 RAM, remember? It transfers two chunks of data each bus cycle. What you want in CPUZ is a 1:1 FSB:RAM ratio.

 

[Nightskeeter]

You missed the only question of the 3 I didn't figure out from many hours of reading


Its mainly about the Core temps of the CPU.

I see the CPUs temp, core 1 and core 0.

The overall CPU temp dont go over 60 C
While the cores do... that was my main concern, i already figured the rest out! it's running at 3.4 atm

 

[jonpaul37]

actually, you'll want to focus more on the individual core temperatures. Anything past 60*c @ load and you might want to back down the OC a little...

 

[jsc]

Keep the load temps under 70 C. for a 45 nm CPU. I set the thermal alarm in my motherboards for 70 C. But I try to stay under 65 C or so.

I think Intel's recommendation for max is 71.4 C.

 

[kzzz]

I have it at 423 (423*9 = 3807) and CPU voltage set at 1.25V. I should mention that I have P5Q Turbo Pro (bought it yesterday) and also a thermaltake TMG i1 cooler. If your serious about overclocking, then go ahead and buy a cooler! The one I have is not one of the best, but it made a huge difference temperature wise (especially under high loads) and didn't cost me much (around $45 CAD).

As far as what you call weak overclock, I'm not sure how much of a difference it really makes. You can always try benchmarking it to see if 3.3 or 3.4 makes a noticeable difference over stock settings. My friend and I both have e8400 and we did a lot of reading and a lot of trial and error and settled with the FSB and voltage I mentioned above. I've had these settings for about a year now, and never had any stability issues.

For core temp. I use RealTemp because it works well and I personally hate SpeedFan With my OC and the cooler, my core temp. is 37C at idle and I've only managed to get it to 62-63C when testing it with Orthos CPU stress test at full load. It never gets that hot when playing games (anywhere from 45-52C), which is the most stressful thing I do with my PC.

I also upgraded my ram recently from 800 to 1066. I had to set it at 1014, otherwise it wouldn't boot, and to be honest, I'm not really sure why but it seems other people here are more knowledgeable about OC memory so follow their advice. From my experience, it's kind of scary to play around with memory unless you know exactly what your doing. Also, since our MB are almost the same, there should be a list of memories and their recommended settings in the MB manual, so take a look at that as well.

This MB is very OC friendly, it even prompts you when your OC fails at boot and lets you enter setup to reconfig. But I wouldn't mess around with the memory, as you said it COULD get damaged. Hope that answers most of your questions.