Safe overclock

[ankanx]

Hello,

Im running
MBoard:Asus P5E3 Deluxe
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.16Ghz
Cooler: Thermalight Venomus X + Mounted fan.
DRAM: Corsair Dominator 1600mhz DDR3
Graphics:Geforce 8800GTX 756mb gddr

Current settings:
CPU voltage stable @ 1.28V
FSB @ 391 and a ratio of 9.5 getting me a 3.7Ghz Stable CPU.(yes i have messed around a bit)

All other settings are at manual for the time being as i havent read up on Ai Tweaker in the current BIOS V.1502

The question is:
As a novice i want to learn more about how to associate hardware with overclocking and get better at it, how do i find the right documentation? and is my spec in rdy for clocking of any kind?

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[purple stain]

Main thing to worry about when O.C.ing is your temps.Make sure you know the max temp for your CPU and don't exceed it.As long as you don't go over the max temp then theirs not much harm you can cause to the CPU other than the Life cycle which i'm sure you already know.

Theirs lots of guides in the Overclocking Section.

 

[ankanx]

So its "safe" as long as i dont exceed the 72.4°C max temp rekomended? (not counting Life cycle)

Yes there are a lot of guides, what i meant was i was looking for a guide of some kind to help me reqognize the bond between hardware spec and clocking possibility, you may think im lazy while requesting instead of reading more then a few guides that comes back in search results.
But i thought i might ask if there was any "favorit" ones avaveble that was rekomened.

yet again thanks!

 

[purple stain]

Knowing the limitations of a certain prossesor is difficult.You can read around and see where people have O.C.ed your certain prossesor to,it will give you a guide line as to how far it will go but every prossesor is differnent in the results vary for each user.For an example,i've seen people get the phenom ii x4 965 to 4.2ghz or 4.3ghz but i've just realized my cpu's thershold is 4ghz,no matter what i do i just can't push it any further,basicly i've maxed out my CPU as far as it can go.Like i said it vary's from user to user but the only way to find out how far "your" prossesor will go is to keep pushing it until you can't find a stable setting.That would be your max.

Yes your hardware does play a factor,mainly your mobo,but it is minimal.Mostly it's just your prossesor,if it won't go any higher than chances are it probably won't,even with a new mobo.

 

[ankanx]

Now one more thing, as i said i have Corsair Dominator 1600mhz DDR3 DRAM but CPU-Z is reporting a Frequency or 421MHz (and yes i know the dual data fact) but still dose that mean my RAM is running at 842MHz instead of the 1600MHz its able to?

 

[purple stain]

Might be,what's your mobo?
I have an issue where i bought my pc from cyberpower and they installed 1600mhz RAM into a 1333mhz mobo with no support for 1600mhz so i'm out of luck.It might be that the mobo has underclocked the RAM for some reason.

 

[ankanx]

Well thing is i built this PC a few years back and not long ago installed those 1600MHz Dominator ram AFTER checking compatibility.

 

[purple stain]

Well does your mobo support 1600mhz naturally or is it an O.C. setting?

Is this your mobo?The exact one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131218

It's listed at 1600mhz as an O.C. That means you have to manually go into the BIOS and set them yourself.

If you go into CPU-Z under the SPD Tab and select which slot your RAM is in.It should list all availible frequencies your RAM supports.Under the 1600mhz it will have the timings and voltage settings for it to run at 1600,input those at the BIOS screen.

Have you even checked the RAM in the BIOS to see what the multiplier is or what speed and timings it is set to?Besides looking in the BIOS you can look at the timings in CPU-Z,just go under the memory tab and report back what the timings are and such.Screen shot would be best if you can.

 

[ankanx]

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6134/namnlspc.png

and yes thats the board.

 

[purple stain]

Hmmm i have no idea.Looks like your RAM is running at 1333mhz.Yet i can see in the model # it's rated for 1600.

Does your RAM look like this?I know those are XMS but they have the same serial number.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145200&cm_re=CM3X2G1600C9DHX-_-20-145-200-_-Product

Or are they the Black and blue Dominator verions.

Try changing the DC Mode from Symmetric to Ungauged.When you do this see if theirs a multiplier.If their is change it to a higher number.Like 8x.

Have you messed with the DRAM settings before in the BIOS?

Your proably going to have to manually set the timings in your bios in order to get it to run at 1600.

 

[ankanx]

Its the black and blue ones.

No have never messed with DRAM before, just today i stumbled over that the normal settings was making my DRAm running in a way low setting and it feels kind of stupid when u pay for something and it dosent evan achive its standard purpose.

And for some reason i cant seem to find the DC settings.
i have the frequency settings : 1401MHz and then 1681Mhz (@1401 atm) but if i cahnge it to 1681Mhz i get blue-screen @ windows login and thats couse it exceeds 1600mhz?
After adjusting it so it is exactly 1600Mhz it works correctly.

 

[purple stain]

What is the voltage set at right now for the RAM.Should say DRAM Voltage.I'm guessing it's 1.5.

Set the RAM multiplier to 1600 and then bump up the voltage to 1.6 and see if it holds.If not then try 1.65.All of the Dominator series RAM has a core voltage of either 1.6 or 1.65.Leave the timings on auto.

 

[ankanx]

What is the voltage set at right now for the RAM.Should say DRAM Voltage.I'm guess it's 1.5.Set the RAM multiplier to 1600 and then bump up the voltage to 1.6 and see if it holds.If not then try 1.65.

its at 1.5V and the 1596Mhz frequency on the DRAM holds as it is now. testing with superpi for stability.

 

[purple stain]

You said you adjusted the FSB? Increasing the FSB will increase the RAM and other componets such as the HT Link and the NB.Raising it is fine as long as you have the right voltage.Remember when you increase the speed of something sometimes it will require some extra juice to accomadate it.

 

[ankanx]

You said you adjusted the FSB? Increasing the FSB will increase the RAM and other componets such as the HT Link and the NB.Raising it is fine as long as you have the right voltage.Remember when you increase the speed of something sometimes it will require some extra juice to accomadate it.

well the RAM specs indicates 1600MHz @ 1.5V so i guess they can handle it?

im a bit worried though, ran a superpi 32M test witch finished @ 13min but under 13min of maximized CPU it did not make my CPU temp get higher (still at 35-37) can my thermometer be broken?

 

[purple stain]

Is that a mem test program?

Did the RAM settings @1600 pass that stress test?

 

[ankanx]

Is that a mem test program?

Did the RAM settings @1600 pass that stress test?

My PC has been sunning under stress tests for allmost 1h now and its completly stable so far, just that the temprature of the CPU wont nudge and i fear the thermometer may be broken(?).

name a DRAM test program and ill run it!

 

[purple stain]

Try looking for Memtest in google.It's only for memory and i have no idea how to use it.

Are you using Prime95 for the CPU stress test?

So your RAM seems to be working at 1600 now?

 

[purple stain]

It's actually Memtest.org

 

[ankanx]

Try looking for Memtest in google.It's only for memory and i have no idea how to use it.

Are you using Prime95 for the CPU stress test?

So your RAM seems to be working at 1600 now?

Well windows as i said, has been running stable now for 1h with the 1600Mhz settings under SuperPi test.

Will be running prime95 now.

 

[purple stain]

Post back with the results when your done.

 

[ankanx]

Post back with the results when your done.

atm running random test:
[Thu Feb 24 21:23:03 2011]
Self-test 1024K passed!
Self-test 1024K passed!
[Thu Feb 24 21:39:08 2011]
Self-test 8K passed!
Self-test 8K passed!
[Thu Feb 24 21:54:42 2011]
Self-test 10K passed!
Self-test 10K passed!
[Thu Feb 24 22:10:16 2011]
Self-test 896K passed!
Self-test 896K passed!
[Thu Feb 24 22:25:38 2011]
Self-test 768K passed!

 

[purple stain]

Looks like a good solid hour.It's probly stable but further testing will make sure it's completely stable.For the sake of the RAM i'm sure it will passed and stable.Usually memory errors happen within the first 30 mins.
Can you verifiy that the RAM is infact running at 1600mhz?

 

[ankanx]

Looks like a good solid hour.It's probly stable but further testing will make sure it's completely stable.For the sake of the RAM i'm sure it will passed and stable.Usually memory errors happen within the first 30 mins.
Can you verifiy that the RAM is infact running at 1600mhz?

Will do more tests.

I can only verify that by refering to CPU-z witch tells me its running @ 798x2=1596Mhz.

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1677528

This is when im not pushing it.

 

[purple stain]

Nice,good job.