Why can't I go higher ?

[Guest]

Hi!

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to OC. I read a lot of posts, but still can't figure out why can't I go higher on my CPU.

My rig is:

Intel Core2Duo e7300@2.99GHz (299x10)
3GB Apacer RAM (2+1) DDR2 800MHz
AsRock 945GCM-S motherboard
420W PSU
Nvidia 9500GT 512MB DDR3

I got my CPU from stock 2.66 to 2.99, by changing FSB speed only. But when i try to go for 300MHz FSB computer freezes(using AsRock OC tuner).
Temperatures are normal, didn't mess with voltages, just changed the FSB speed.

And btw a side question. My motherboard can go only to 667MHz for RAM, but that RAM is 800MHz. Is this crippling the RAM or it doesn't matter ?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

You dont mention a make for that psu but I'll bet a valuable pair of body parts its not a decent reliable brand, and you need a reliable power supply to deal with the increased demands an overclock needs to be stable
I would make any changes in your bios, not using software btw,
I used both ac tuner and overdrive when I first started, they are very conservative in what they will overclock to, think of it as sandbox overclocking,
You get to say your 'overclocking' and get any due bragging rights, but its set at such a safe level that should avoid you melting anything
on the subject of the ram, how come three sticks?
Your Mobo is dual channel so either 2 sticks or four will get you the best results, and d.d.r. is double data rate, the important thing to remember is double.
for your ram to be running at 800Mhz, its actually running at 400 doubled so the fastest ram your board would support is 1333Mhz so you're fine on that count, its just the extra/missing stick thats a concern.
get a decent branded psu, add or lose a stick of ram and look to upgrading your graphics card (although this doesnt affect your overclock, just its a bit of a weak link there) and you should see a deal of improvement.
Moto

 

[Guest]

Well my PSU is a LC power.
I firstly tried "OC-ing" in ac tuner, then went in BIOS and changed FSB speed, so my poorly OC is in BIOS. With the RAM i was thinking of ditching the Apacer ones and going for a Kingston, A-Data or a Crucial 2+2GB 667MHz, as it seems my motherboard can't go higher than 667Mhz so no point in having 800MHz RAM or is it ? For the graphics card was looking at Gigabyte Radeon HD5670 1GB GDDR5.

 

[lowjack989]

Yes get the better RAM 667MHz is all that board can handle....So for OCing purposes underclock the mem modules to 333MHz...Then start your OC...when you raise the FSB you directly raise CPU and RAM speed as they both use the FSB for their multipliers...so with a FSB of 300MHz your OC would be as such: RAM@667 MHz the CPU would be at 3.0 GHz as your CPU multi is x10

 

[wolfram23]

You don't need to get slower RAM, just reduce the current RAM's speed and drop the timings.

 

[lowjack989]

@wolfram23--->Thats what I said....I did suggest getting a better quality set...but he can use the one he has just thought that a better quality set would come in handy...leave the timings alone OP..as when you raise the FSB to 300 MHz they will be going back up to 667MHz speed

 

[Guest]

Well timings are as standard 5-5-5-15-21
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/204/cpud.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/821/rameh.jpg/
Hope you see the images

 

[lowjack989]

yeah that looks right...5-5-5-15...leave those alone...until you get a stable OC then you might be able to tighten them a bit, if those sticks will allow it...really tight would be 4-4-4-12-1N...I don't think your RAM is gonna allow for those timings though..So, your best bet is not to touch the timings..just the clockspeeds

 

[Guest]

Well if i use my oc tuner and I go from 299 to 300 FSB my computer freezes immediately ... and I don't know why.

 

[wolfram23]

Could be voltages and/or simply unstable. What sort of stress testing have you done?

 

[Guest]

At 2.99GHz, prime95 for whole night about 13h or so ? Temperatures were reasonable 60C, no errors. This is on stock cooling.

 

[lowjack989]

OC tuner is that a BIOS OCing program or is it software used in windows GUI..If so stop OCing through software and go into BIOS and enter your desired values

+1@wolfram23--> didn't even think about the voltage..doh...yes OP bump the volts a touch...or you may have just hit the OC wall of your Hardware

 

[Guest]

Tried in BIOS going from 299 to 300 and did nothing... Monitor flickered a bit and then computer restarted. Maybe its my PSU that's letting me down ?

 

[lowjack989]

Its possible...PSU...can definetly be the weak spot when OCing...always get the best PSU you can afford

 

[Guest]

Well this rig is 3 years old and store bought, I didn't even expect extreme numbers from it ... 3GHz isn't bad ... not good but not bad

 

[Guest]

I got 1 more question what will run better:
1:1 ratio 2,66GHz CPU and 266MHz RAM or
4:5 ratio 2,99GHz CPU and 373MHz RAM ?

 

[lowjack989]

That latter one, will be better performing

 

[Guest]

Thank you

 

[Guest]

I got a question.
In BIOS on the main screen it says for my RAM that they're 2GB and 1GB 266MHz, but in the settings I locked my RAMs to 333MHz. Why ?

 

[jsc]

I got 1 more question what will run better:
1:1 ratio 2,66GHz CPU and 266MHz RAM or
4:5 ratio 2,99GHz CPU and 373MHz RAM ?

1:1 will be more stable. Overclocking RAM in a Core2 system adds very little extra performance.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/251715-29-ratio-myth

The stability is more important.

I have 4 OC'd Core2 systems:
GA-EP45-UD3P | Q9550 OC'd to 3.6 GHz (425 MHz X 8.5) C3 stepping
GA-EP45-UD3L | Q6600 OC'd to 3.6 GHz (400 MHz X 9)
GA-EP35-DS3P | E7500 OC'd to 4.1 GHz (373 MHz X 11)
GA-G41M-ES2L | E6500 OC'd to 3.87 GHz (352 MHz X 11) chipset limitation
All are running FSB:RAM ratios of 1:1 and all are 24 hour Prime95 stable with SpeedStep enabled.

Changing RAM timings from 5-5-5-15 to 4-4-4-12 will increase memory i/o about 2% yielding an insignificant increase in overall system performance.

 

[Guest]

My computer is stable at 2,99GHz and 373Mhz. No stability problems, I saw a lot of people saying 1:1 is better than any other ratio. Is this just more stable or also better performance ? And do you know the answer to my question about RAM frequency in BIOS ?