Core 2 Quad Q8200, w/EP45-UD3P mb,best settings

Are you talking about overclocking? The Q8200 can be overclocked but it is sometimes limited, most people can squeeze 3.2 out of them...

yes, I want to overclock to get the most out of this combo.
thanks!

what kind of heatsink/fan do you have? If it is the stock heatsink/fan, then overclocking will be tough, if you have an aftermarket heatsink/fan, then you will be able to overclock more.

I have the stock, what would you recommend, without me having to give up an arm or eye?

i currently use this which is very good to me, it keeps my Q6600 @ 3.6 with 60*c average @ load...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233027

Others may suggest cheaper/better ones, but this is what i have used for the past 2 years and i love it.

thanks, i tried both links but no luck, if you have a model# i will try to locate it.
Thank you for visiting Newegg.com. We apologize for your inconvenience. The page you requested is unavailable.

Retention bracket model # = XIGMATEK ACK-I7361

heatsink/fan model # = XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

hey i have the q8200, i use the zalman 9700 led to cool my cpu, fsb 430, multiplier 7 have it running on 3.01 ghz stable.. achieveble with stick fan too. i used zalman as it gave me a 7 degree improvement. plus it reduced overall temps by 2degrees, relatively cooler system. impt, if you cant get past boot leave voltages and mem multipliers as auto.   hope that helped

thanks for the suggestions

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-overc...

Shadow's Gigabyte motherboard OC guide:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-245679_11_0.ht...
It's for an EP35-DS3L but all the Gigabyte Core2 BIOS's are similar.

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.

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

Warning - confusion factor between what the BIOS calls 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.

Here are three under $50 heatsinks that are pretty popular:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Sunbeam
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Xigmatec Dark Knight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The Hiper 212+ seems to be winning in the marketplace, probably because excellent performance for the price.

They all require a somewhat different approach to applying thermal compound.
Suggestions for applying thermal compound:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_conten...

And they are pretty large, so they might not fit inside your case.

Thanks for the info