Overclocking an E8400

[yep_64]

Hello, I hope someone can help me with this noobish question. Ive only today considered overclocking my e8400, Core2Duo 3ghz using stock cooler. Ive read up today that it can be safely overclocked to 3.4ghz just by changing the frequency in the bios from 333 to 360. Before I want to make any changes I ran prime95 and RealTemp 3.6 to monitor the temperature while not overclocked and after a minute or so it reads 76 degrees C but doesnt seem to go over this.. I read that it shouldnt go over 60-65 so am wondering if theres already a cooling problem before I attempt to overclock? Or is it still safe to?

From what I read and ive only been looking into this today, I should change the voltage setting in the bios from auto to 1.2875 and that by doing this the temperature shouldnt go up when i change the cpu frequency because the voltage stays the same. So, my question is is my cpu and cooling ok to overclock just by changing those bios settings?

I ran a sensor test in real temp but to be honest dont understand what its telling me so ive attached a screenshot. Help?

 

[Cygnus x-1]

3.4 is a mild overclock for that chip. Absolutely lower the voltage to it's lowest stable setting. Test it out in prime95 or occt for errors along the way. I'm guessing you can clock your chip to 3.4 at or around stock voltage.

 

[yep_64]

Thanks for the reply. Would you say the temperature reported of 76 degrees C while not overclocked is an issue or not? Also, just one more thing. Ive previously read to set the voltage to 1.2875 for this cpu but have also heard that this could value could vary from chip to chip. How could i tell if this is right for my cpu? Ive run another tool, cpu-z which shows a core voltage of 1.2000 when idle. Should i be setting this value in the bios instead?

 

[Cygnus x-1]

I would give some core 2 overclocking guides a read. Your goal should be to find the lowest stable voltage for the cpu. At 3.4 on your chip you can leave most things on auto. Set pci to 100, and make sure to manually set the ram voltage and timings.