Few questions

[boris20]

Im pretty new to OC'ing and trying my hand at beefin my speeds a bit to prolong the gaming life of my rig. Here are my specs before I start asking questions.

Mobo - Gigabyte MA-790gtp-UD3H
Ram - 8 gigs 4x2gig sticks DDr3 1333
Vid card - AMD 5770, soon to be 6950 once it arrives
CPU - AMD Phenom II 955x4
Wind 7 64bit
750w PSU not sure what brand
Case has front and rear 120mm fans i think

Im not sure as to what the easiest method of OC'in this system would be. I have AMD overdrive downloaded but havent done anything as of yet.

- How do i see what speeds my mobo is allowing my ram to run at? Right now all i see for numbers that I would assume is overdrive is saying Frequency 673 MHz.

- For a starter like me, should I just let Overdrive do the work and stay away from BIOS settings?

- for Overdrive to OC my system, does it need to be running at all times or does it set the speeds and they stay at that until i change them?

Ive read around on OC guides, looked thru these forums, most are talking about BIOs stuff, I dont mind getting into all that if need be, I usually catch on to stuff well, but Im not looking to max this sucker out, mainly just want to make sure my mobo is utilizing all of my RAM and my CPU is running a bit faster. I had read somewhere that this mobo doesnt like to support the full 8gb or ram, nor the speeds.

 

[suteck]

Bios is the way to go. Best thing is they stick when you reboot and when you find something you like you can save them in the bios screen, (F11 I believe), and move on to try more. If at any time it crashes because of faulty overclocking settings, happens often when you are pushing it, if it doesn't reset on its own you can use the bios reset button. Then you can reload the one you saved during bootup. If you use the software version they normally reset to whatever your bios is set to on reboot. Sometimes they kick back in after windows starts to keep settings but when you're using them to oc and it crashes, nothing is saved and you have to restart. Software versions are good for testing, write down what you change to each change you make so you know where to start from when it crashes, but are by no means the best way to overclock. But if you want to use software to practice then when you find settings that work you should make changes in bios. Again, if it fails you will have to input all the parameters again, but if you use bios you normally only have to change just the last setting you tried because everything is saved before you reboot at the new settings.
Asus boards are picky about memory, Try to make sure your memory is listed on their QVL for best results. If you want to see what speeds your memory will run at, the manufacturer tells you what speeds it's capable of. As for seeing on the motherboard all you have to do - in bios - is up the multiplyer and see the speeds increase. Trying to make then work above the rated speed is where the fun comes in. Too many variables to cover the entire process so as you go thru the experience you can ask specific questions here on Tom's. If you're planning on overclocking both the cpu and the memory you should start with the cpu. Keep the memory at stock speeds or even underclock it while working on the cpu overclock. Once you get that stable save your settings and then move on to memory. If you only want to experiment with the memory you start with the xmp profile for the first boost and best timings and start - try the multiplyer first and see where it takes you. When you get to the max that will allow your system to boot and run steady you can start increasing the BCLK slowly and see how far that get you. During the overclock you will need to keep an eye on the memory sticks temps. Overclocking, including increasing the voltage as with any overclock, will increase temps and higher temps lead to shorter life and burn outs. Put a memory cooler on them.

And remember, Overclocking is one of those annoyingly fun activities that's more like a journey than a trip to a destination. The adventures in attempting and achieving the overclock. Trial and error are the only route.