Preparing for overclocking

[Guest]

Hello, I have recently purchased computer components with the intention of overclocking (members here helped me select very good parts), and I would like to prepare for this before they arrive. First let me mention that I have no prior experience with overclocking and apologize in advance for my ignorance. That being said, I suppose it would be helpful to post my parts:

CPU- Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750

MOBO- ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM

HDD- SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

GPU- [SLI] EVGA 768-P3-1362-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

PSU- CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

CASE- Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

HSF- Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler

Thermal Paste- ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound

ODD- Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM

Sorry if all of these parts are not necessary for you to know in order to help me, but I figured this would be the easiest way to do things. Now, I have a few questions I would like to ask:

1). At what point during the building process should I enter the BIOS in order to OC? (or should I do it after the whole building process is complete?)

2). Is this a good overclocking guide for my CPU and MOBO? http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i5_750_overclocking_guide,1.html (I found this with a brief google search)

3). Do I need to worry about overclocking the RAM? I read something on this site that said it was possible. Also (correct me if I am wrong) I believe that I do not have to worry about my two graphics cards since they are pre-superclocked.

4). Could you provide guides or tips in order to make this easier? As I said before, I have no experience with this and would not like to ruin my (expensive) parts.

Thank you all very much for the help!

 

[RJR]

1) Complete the build. install the OS, download all the programs you will need (cpu-z,coretemp or realtemp, Prime95 or other stress testing program) and run the stress testing program at stock speed to see that everything (including temps) are working properly.
2)NO, stay as far away from that stupid guide as possible, the guy who wrote it is a moron. Search some more and find a guide that explaines things to you, not just up your Bclk and leave everything else on Auto.
3)When you up your Bclk you will be increasing your ram speed but first find a guide or two and do a little homework.
4)Look at 2 and 3

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick reply, and good thing I asked about that guide!

Sorry to ask another question, but what should I look for in a guide? Does it have to be CPU/MOBO specific? I guess I just am unsure where to start.

 

[RJR]

There are loads of guides out there and it doesn't have to be for your exact processor or MB as long as it the same type series. Here are a couple that will give you some information that you need and if you slowly work up your OC instead of just putting someone elses numbers in you won't have any problems.
http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overclocking/22106-core-i7-overclocking-guide-beginners.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/256144-29-1156-core-overclocking-guide

And it would be a good idea to download the Intel data sheet for your processor so you know what the voltage specs are:
http://www.intel.com/design/corei5/documentation.htm

 

[jsc]

Like RJR says, there are loads of guides out there. When you look at several, it doesn't take long to discover who knows what he is talking about. I wouldn't have judged the Legion guide quite as harshly as RJR did, but it really isn't a very good guide. Compare it to andy's guide, and you can immediately see the difference.

 

[kerryking]

Well, thank you guys for all the help! I would certainly rather have good guides that explain things rather than one that could potentially ruin my PC.

Off-topic note: If anyone noticed, I lost my original profile after not receiving the confirmation email, so I had to create a new one. The strange thing is that I was even receiving email notifications about the threads I made!

 

[tonkatuffmofo]

Guides are handy and all. There great to compare against your work.
But really spend the time to read up and understand what your fiddling with in your bios and what are defined safe limits for your components especially VOLTAGES.

Once you have read up on what is considered safe voltages on every segment of your bios before you even start playing set your self a defined limit that you are not going to exceed after you start.

STICK to the voltages you set yourself, trust me, once you start you will want to keep pushing more and more and more and fzzzzzzzz, *** I cooked my board!
Its addictive trust me.

Understand that there is a difference between the maximum overclock and the maximum 24/7 safe overclock.

Sometimes the numbers just dont add up to physical gains, Example:
My E8400 is actually faster in most applications at 3.8Ghz than it is screaming its guts out at 4.2Ghz. You need to test to confirm your actually seeing gains above a certain clock rate, if not back it off.

Its not all about the cpu, massive gains can be found in your memory settings and dividers (dont know if dividers apply to the new sockets). System tuning my friend.

RJR is right that guide is ***. Why is it ***?

Leaving turbo boost on is folly and could lead to serious instability in an already overclocked system.

Auto voltages- ABOLUTE NO NO, Even on a mild overclock dont trust the board to make voltage decisions. To trust it at 4.2Ghz is moronic. Have a look at the bios picture and his vcore is pegging 1.51v's, cpu should last a good 6-12months at that.
May be new tech and all buts its still a 45nm part. On the intel spec sheet that RJR has linked intel will state the maximum vid for that chip, that voltage is the maximum you can feed it and expect a 3 year life span out of it.

There were more errors in there but they were the 2 most idiotic.