Overclocking Intel E8400 with Asus P5Q deluxe to 4GHz

legoalan

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Jun 6, 2011
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Hi everyone, I have just signed up and first of all with a hello :)

I have been using my setup for a year and a half now on stock settings and after hearing that the E8400 can reach 4.0 Ghz it would certainly be nice to have the boost in performance. Can anyone tell me some of the settings that I need to change and if possible talk me through some of the things I need to do to achieve 4.0Ghz. I have been told that I could start by using this setting

FSB: 445
VCORE: 1.3
NB V: 1.28
And then use the lowest setting on my ram

My setup
Mobo: Asus P5Q deluxe
CPU: Intel core 2 duo E8400
RAM: 2X2GB DDR2 800mhz OCZ gold edition PC2-6400C5
PSU: OCZ StealthXStream 600W
GPU: Sparkle GTX 275 896mb
CASE: Antec 300
CPU cooler: Acrtic Colling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2

If anyone needs more info I will try my best to find out. Any help or advice would be really appreciated
 
Vcore will vary with the CPU chip. Chips with lower VID's tend to be easier to overclock.

Your ACF7P will probably be adequate for your C2D chip. An E8400 does not present the thermal problems that the quads do.

Run the memory at 2.2 volts and relax the timing one set of numbers (4-4-4-12 to 5's-15 or 5's-15 to 6's-18). That will not hurt your speed that much and it should remove the memory as a limiting factor.

This should be your first stop.
Core2 Overclocking Guide
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/259899-11-core-overclocking-guide

Next stop should be a guide for your particular motherboard. Google is your friend.

Go through the guides. Then take your core voltage off Auto and set your memory voltage to factory recommended values. Change the System Memory Multiplier (or whatever your BIOS calls it) from AUTO to 2.00. Then when you increase the FSB, the memory clock will rise in in proportion with it. At an FSB of 333 MHz, your memory clock should be at 667 MHz.

Download CPU-Z to check your FSB:RAM ratio. It should be a 1:1 ratio.


 

legoalan

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Jun 6, 2011
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Thanks for the reply, I am now on this setting:
445 FSB
auto multiplier
891 DDR2
6-6-6-18 timing
1.275 vcore
1.22 NB voltage
1.9 dram
Everything else is on auto

I have ran the intel burn test and it said it was stable with max temperature 60, but when I went into a game it would play for a bit and then the whole computer would freeze up. Any idea what is causing it?
Thanks
 

legoalan

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Jun 6, 2011
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Sorry for the newbie question but how to you change the memory divider?

I had a play around with the settings and it seems to be stable as I play GTA 4 for about an hour without crashing, when I changed the settings to:
445 fsb
891 ddr2
6-6-6-18 timing
1.28125 cpu voltage
2.0 dram voltage
1.24 nb voltage

Anything I can do to turn down the voltages so the cpu and ram would last longer?
Thanks
 

shening

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Jul 1, 2008
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That is a really good voltage for a 4Ghz E8400. I could never get mine to 4 stable, even with a 1.37 v. As long as the CPU does not overheat ( stays under 65 or so) it should be fine at that voltage.
Make sure your chipset does not overheat also from the overclock since the FSB increase from 333 to 445 can do that to chipsets.
 

legoalan

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Jun 6, 2011
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Thanks shening, but how do I check what the temperature for the chipset is? I dont see one for chipset on speedfan. Can you recommend a software to monitor it?
Thanks