Help in OCing e8400

[supergod]

Hello,
I'm looking to overclock my cpu it's an intel e8400 core 2 duo. i looked at the forums and i think i kind of understand some of the things but i've never done this sort of thing before and i would just like more step by step process rather than the piece meal that i currently have in my head. the following are my components

CPU INTEL|C2D E8400 3G 775 45N R - Retail

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

PSU ANTEC|TP3-650 RT

video card visiontek 6870 1gb (if that matters)

motherboard: MB MSI P43 NEO3-F 775 RT

I have put a new cooler on my CPU and it runs at about 45 degrees celcius under stress give or take a few degrees.

the new fan is: PUCOOL|ARCTIC FREEZER 7 PRO REV.2

If possible i would like to overclock to 4.0ghz but less is fine and i'd rather not overclock my ram (unless it's easy and someone doesn't mind explaining)

thank you in advance.

 

[apache_lives]

msi motherboard? oh great

good luck, those things barely work stock

 

[55Range]

msi motherboard? oh great

good luck, those things barely work stock

Oh come- maybe for the low ends one- But the goods one do Work - and well-
Btw- Not nice posting this for the Op with his msi board-


@ Op
try this http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26401674
If you are not sure, ask before changing settings- Also try this for basics/and details
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1804
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2368074,00.asp

 

[aberchonbie]

lol @apache_lives! you just hated on msi really blatantly right there! HAHAHA!

anyways, you should hit 3.6 relatively easily by bumping the FSB to 400 and setting your ram mutliplier to 1:1 so that your ram runs at "800" speeds.

should need little to no extra vcore to make it stable. you should not leave vcore on auto since motherboards tend to overcompensate. hope this helps!

 

[supergod]

thanks for all the replies. It seems to be going up and working not bad so far. However, i think i've narrowed down one of the instability problems to steady spectrum being disabled (which i read it should be in multiple places but not specifically, just as a setting list). is there anything bad about it being enabled my computer seems to be more stable with it enabled.
thank you

 

[supergod]

oh and also for prime 95 what setting should i be using current i'm trying the "Small FTTs.." setting because i read that it tests the cpu the most.

 

[supergod]

i have two 1:1.00 ratios. but i don't understand their difference. they are both listed in the same list of possible ratios.

also does anyone happen to know the difference? also most recently i'm getting two types of crashes. one is a blue screen saying there has been an error in my hardware and it starts dumping memory too 100 then restarts the other type of crash is just it turns itself off and restarts.
i know ocing is an inexact science but if anyone has an idea why these two might be caused that would be great. I get both of these at speeds under 3.5 ghz

also i've read nothing about vtt fsb voltage and isb voltage (i think it was called isb). Should i leave these two on auto or just put them on minimum settings i've found nowhere saying that is hould raise or lower them.

sorry about the multiple posts i'm kind of updating here as i go. hope it's ok i figured it would be because i started this particular topic

 

[55Range]

Try to increase your vcore and ram voltage- BUT only by a little margin -

 

[4745454b]

First, put everything back to stock. Go into the bios and take ALL voltages off of auto. You should get the default voltage when you do. Some boards will increase the voltage (without telling you) when you overclock and this can be a problem.

When you get the blue screens, what are the settings? I/we'd love to help, but we don't know anything about your system settings. More voltage? Looser timings? Not a clue. I agree that it sounds like you need just a slightly higher Vcore.

 

[supergod]

blue screen these settings

fsb frequency:398
cpu ratio: 9
cpu frequency: 3582
fsb/dram ratio 1:1.00
dram frequency 796
cpu voltage: 1.1175
dram voltage 1.824
mch vol 1.100
vtt fsb vol 1.2
ich vol 1.5

spread spectrum enabled

it passed a 20 minute test at of prime 95 on a slightly low fsb frequency about 385

maybe if that is any help the fsb voltage was a little lower on the above good test

 

[55Range]

Increase the vcore= [cpu voltage] to next value-

 

[jsc]

1.8 volts is the default voltage for DDR2 RAM. What is the factory suggested voltage for your RAM?

Even if it is 1.8 volts, try increasing the voltage to no more than 2.2 volts and see if your system is more stable.

If you have two settings that will give you a 1:1 FSB:RAM ratio, try both. One may be more stable.

If your "stock" CPU voltage is around 1.2 volts, you have a very nice CPU. The max recommended CPU voltage for a Wolfdale is 1.45 volts, so you have a lot of room to increase vcore. Just remember to keep monitoring your core temps. Keep them under 70 C at load.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

My 4.050 OC is 450FSB with 1.28v and my RAM is 2.1v at 900mhz cas 5-5-5-15. Speedstep is enabled and it idles at 28/29C.

 

[supergod]

my stock cpu voltage is 1.085 so that's a very good thing i take it? and it's a wolfdale. i'll try increasing my voltage. how do i check the suggested voltage for my ram? i'll check original purchase site and see if it says on there.

@anort3 what is Speedstep

temps at approximately 1.2 are less than 40 degrees
i will try suggestions tonight after work haha

should i ever mess with the non-cpu voltage/dram voltage? or just take them off auto and leave them, i.e. mch vol 1.100, vtt fsb vol 1.2, ich vol 1.5.

thanks again for all the help. I appreciate it

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Speedstep drops the multiplier to 6 when not needing full processor speed. What is showing you 1.085v for your CPU? Seems a little low to me.

 

[supergod]

when i take my cpu voltage off auto (by using the "+" button) the first value that pops up is 1.085. sorry if this isn't actually my voltage or my default voltage or something
how do i know if i have speed step? i don't remember seeing it in bios

 

[Deleted member 217926]

You need to read this : http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/259899-29-core-overclocking-guide

 

[supergod]

so because of my ram being ddr2-800 i shouldn't bother trying to go above 400mhz for fsb? do i have that correct?
my bios looks completely different then the one on there....lots of those options don't seem to exist on mine.
should i do the memory entering that it talks about on that site entering 5-5-5-18 for my memory?
for my memory here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-N82E16820145184

it says that voltage is 1.8 is that maximum or should i look on website?

i will keep reading that topic but have to work now

thank you for your help

 

[supergod]

see i'm a little bit confused because according to the configuration your signature thing says you have is over 3.6 (or fsb significantly above 400) but you have ddr2-800 ram as well so i'm a little bit confused by exactly what the ram holds back according to the article you mentioned.
the link you give says that your fsb limit is the ddr2-xxx divided by 2. that is the xxx/2.

 

[RickyT23]

Yeah - DDR2 RAM means the RAM's speed in Mhz is 2x the FSB. This is when you set the RAM's ratio to 1:1. You could run it faster (i.e. 1:1.2) but, just like a CPU, it will heat up, it might throw errors etc. You can (on a good motherboard) over-volt the RAM, overclock it etc. I run my DDR2 RAM (Corsair XMS2 800Mhz) at 900Mhz (450x2), it gets a slight boost in volts. If you have good RAM with a nice cooling cover then you can probably get away with it!

 

[supergod]

so just an update. I set my cpu voltage to auto (as that topic that was suggested above said to do to begin with) at bus speed of 398.0 which is just under 3.5 ghz. under load (prime95 using the fast ftt setting, i think that's the one. the top one of the three) my core voltage according to cpu-z is hovering right around 1.176 (sometimes go down or up a bit but stays usually at that mark). my core temps are 48 and and 49.

it seems to be taking the load pretty well. really well considering on previous setting with no auto it would crash without even reaching 5 minutes of prime 95.

any comments are helpful.
also is their away to change my cpu voltage by smaller increments. it seems to be jumping from the 1.1175 to 1.3 (if i remember correctly)

thank you for your help.

 

[RickyT23]

You can push that CPU right up to 1.4v or further if you have the cooling. Just nudge the fsb, or aim for 3.8 Ghz, increase the voltages until you find stability. You can apply a (very small) bit of extra volts into your Northbridge too, don't be scared of increasing the RAM voltages if you like (a tiny bit, only if needed).

Your temps are fine, you can go past 60 degrees Keep going, get to 4Ghz!

If you apply say 1.35volts to your CPU, set the FSB quite high, like 450 maybe, then fire up Prime95, or ORTHOS is just as good IMO, and have CPUz running in the background, CPUz will show you the drawn power under load, in volts. You can then see your "vdroop" (basically the more volts you put in, the more chance the CPU has of resisting the volts, and there is a deficit, it's not to be worried about).

 

[supergod]

sorry what exactly is the North bridge? what's the abbreviation?
do i need to change the ratio of my ram from 1:1 if i want to go for 3.8 or 4ghz bc my ram is ddr2-800 so i was under the impression i couldn't go above 400 fsb.
i will now try taking off auto cpu voltage i'll aim something similar to what cpu-z shows currently.
please let me know about that 400 fsb limit on my ddr2-800 memory and whether or not i need a ratio change.

thanks a lot

 

[supergod]

umm something weird is going on. i just changed my cpu voltage from auto to 1.175 (like i said above i was going to try because it's a similar number to what auto was running at) i left everything else the same. but cpu-z says that my voltage is just 1.085 about and that's under stress of prime95. after about 3 minutes at such i got blue screen with dumping cache count down (or up whichever way it goes)....
any idea why when i set the core voltage at 1.175 i get lower core temps...and i'm assuming that's what caused the blue screen

oh i keep forgetting to ask i read that "the PCIe bus speed will increase proportionally with your FSB which is something you DON’T want to do to your expensive video board."
is this true? should i do something with the pci express frequency?

thanks sorry about all the question just a curious person who wants to understand what i'm doing and do the best possible job.

thank you

 

[RickyT23]

<quote>
i just changed my cpu voltage from auto to 1.175 (like i said above i was going to try because it's a similar number to what auto was running at) i left everything else the same. but cpu-z says that my voltage is just 1.085</quote>

Nope, that's vdroop. Its quite high for vdroop, but it doesn't shock me. You are aiming for 3.5Ghz currently. Make sure you have all power saving functions of the CPU disabled. All of them for now.
Raise your voltage in the BIOS. See how much you have to raise the voltage before you are stable.

Keep your RAM at 1:1. Your Corsair RAM is good RAM, and it will overclock. Mine has been running (mine is the same as your RAM btw) at 900Mhz for a year.

You got the blue screen because your CPU isn't stable. Give it more volts. You can go up to 1.4v no problem.

The northbridge is the part of the motherboard chipset. I'm not going to lie to you - I dont have a Bsc degree or anything, I just learned to overclock (a bit) through experience. Its a long process which involves lots of trial and error - you go for your OC by increasing the FSB in the BIOS. You set your RAM to 1:1, you turn off the power saving features. You set your voltage to the CPU to whatever you think your overclock will require. (bear in mind that yours will do 1.4 volts happily) - my friend is running his 8400 at 3.78Ghz at about 1.39volts or something.

You only need to worry about the temps. Keep it below 60. 65 if you are getting what you want (4Ghz, stable). Anything past that and you are probably gonna wear your CPU out over time.

When you get a BSD you should ask yourself what you need to increase to get stable. Things to consider - RAM voltages, Northbridge voltage settings, locking your PCIExpress frequency to 100 is a good idea. But that VCore - GIVE IT MORE POWER!!!! Then test - does it take longer to fail a test? That's progress!