Old Build...want to overclock. Help!

[shingouki]

I have a system that is a few years old...and I want to overclock it to get better FPS out of Skyrim...but I really have no idea how to overclock! My system runs the game pretty well, it just feels like its being held back a lot by my CPU... Here's my current setup:

Intel e6850 @ 3.00 GHz 1333 MHz (Stock)
4GB DDR2 Ram @ 800 MHz (Stock)
MSI 460 GTX 1GB/OC (Stock)
XFX 780i SLi Motherboard

Can anyone help me overclock my machine? Thanks in advance!

 

[amuffin]

In the bios, but make sure you have an aftermarket heatsink

 

[Frizzo]

just raise the front side bus in the bios like 10% . it will overclock your CPU/FSB/RAM all at once. you want a simple answer to a somewhat complex process, there you go. chances are you wont have to change your voltages at 10% oc, but make sure your temperatures are ok across the board. hope you know what to do if your system doesn't boot after your overclock fails, heh.

 

[jsc]

This should be your first stop.
Core2 Overclocking Guide (generic guide based on an Asus motherboard)
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/259899-11-core-overclocking-guide

Next stop should be a guide for your particular motherboard.

Except for the memory, this one is not bad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNFWG3cgOaM

Set the memory to Linked. You gain little by trying to overclock your memory and it can increase instability.

Keep your CPU voltage under 1.50 volts and your load temps under 70 C.

 

[87ninefiveone]

I don't think the E6850 was much of an overclocker. You'd probably be better off leaving it at stock speeds and focusing on your GPU. If you don't already have it download a utility called MSI Afterburner. It will allow you to OC your GPU which will probably provide better results that trying to OC your CPU. The other thing it will allow you to do is monitor GPU usage as a percentage. What you'll want to do is start up Skyrim with Afterburner running. If after playing the graph indicates your GPU usage is at 100% then you'll know it's a GPU bottleneck. Any constant number for usage under 100% would indicate that your CPU is the issue.

Frankly I'm surprised your having an issue since your system is well above the recomended requirements. Do you have AA turned up high, have you tried stepping down one notch in resolution?

 

[Frizzo]

you can get the e6850 to 3.3ghz without much trouble. if you're good and have a good chip, 3.6ghz is feasible.