Intel speedstep and overclocking

[finesse_57]

Hello,
I'm a complete novice to hardware and am just about to build my first PC I have already ordered the parts Gigabyte GA H55M UD2H
Intel i3 550 - stock cooler
Corsair 4GB 1333MHz CL9 DDR3
Corsair CX430
WD Caviar Black 500gb (from my old pc)
Radeon HD4350 GPU
Akasa case fans in NZXT Gamma case
A second monitor will come when funds allow .
This rig is not for any games except maybe chess and checkers, this is for running math based programs and general browsing, moveies and music and programming where compiling speed is vital hence my desire to OC. A lot of time is spent in the coding not intensive though I may have Gomplayer playing a movie or music and bloomberg type streamed tv. I think maybe ignorantly that OC would not be useful except for when I compile (very often while bug fixing). So can I benifit from Speedstep while increasing FSB? or is it like the turbo feature on i5s where from reading other posts, must be switched off. A hot CPU slow down is very noticable on compiling which is why I hope speedstep would keep the CPU cool in readyness. Any help or redirection is of course appreciated.
Nick

 

[jsc]

I think most of us turn SpeedStep off before overclocking.

I turn it off, get my settings, and turn it back on again. That way the systems loaf along at reduced power and thermal load until I need the performance.

I am still struggling along with Core2 systems, but from what I understand about the i3's and i5's, you want to either use the Turbo feature ofr the overclock, but not both.

 

[finesse_57]

Thanks for the quick answer, jsc.
I think I'll keep speedstep on for daily use and use the hotkey function on gigabytes software to overclock when reaching the compiling phase. I havn't got the mb yet but hopefully it(the supplied windows software) will force the speedstep off or let me add the variable as part of a saved profile. If that doesn't work the I'll use your suggested method of rebooting. The idea of getting 25% cpu gains is a very tantalising one.
Thanks again,
Nick

 

[finesse_57]

Thanks Gene,

I'm sure this will be a useful tip for many who haven't delved too deeply into windows7, I havn't noticed these extra options before. So this should mean I can set to 100% while tuning and then bring Speedstep back in without the reboot.
Another useful element is the system cooling so I can slow the fans while watching late night movies (If I am understanding active/passive definitions correctly).

 

[MRFS]

Our ASUS motherboards have pre-set overclocking options,
which work very well with Intel's SpeedStep ("EIST" in the BIOS).

For example, on our older P5WD2 Premium, there is a pre-set OC setting
that increases the FSB from 800 to 960 MHz while maintaining the same
min and max FSB multiplier.

Without needing to adjust anything else, like core, MCH or memory voltages,
this one change pumps our D 945 all the way to 4.08 GHz when this PC is busy
(240 MHz x 17), while leaving the RAM at stock DDR2-800.

And, of course, the CPU now idles faster too: 240 x 12 instead of 200 x 12.

NICE!!


MRFS

 

[finesse_57]

Well, just as a follow up
It turns out using Gigabytes software does need a reboot guess Gene O's suggestion in reverse would work to keep the cpu at standard and then increase max to 100% when needing a boost. All worked well at 150Mhz (from 133) getting 55C after 20mins using Prime 95. Then I went to do a defrag and went away for awhile to come back and find my PC shut down. Restarting gave a note about overclocking and voltage errors in the bios portion of the startup. Now I can't get any overclocking done not even 140 as the bios just reboots and gives the same error about clocking and voltages. Unless I have a flash of insight on how to get back on the road, think I'll give OC'ing a miss for a few months.