My first expeience of overclocking:)

shuzzbutt · 28 Jun 2009 at 14:22

Hi guys, first of all I have to say this forum is a fantastic source of information and pretty much everything I have learnt about oc'ing has been from reading these threads

Through the many years of using pc's, I have never had any desire to overclock at all. However, a few weeks ago I built my very first custom pc so that the missus could play sims 3 at decent setings without spending a load of cash. So I ended up with the following:

coolermaster 333 case with cm extreme 460w psu,
intel e5200 cpu (stock hsf),
gigabyte g31m-es2l mobo,
2gb generic (nanyatech) ddr2 800mhz ram,
320gb samsung hd,
radeon 4770 graphics card.

Once I got it setup, I downloaded a few demos (including crysis :rolleyes:

) and I guess the bug bit me! I have not found it nearly as easy as some of the regulars here, but I guess practice makes perfect.

My e5200 has a VID of 1.2625 which is higher than most I've seen mentioned so I am happy enough with my current oc:
3.0ghz with 12.5 x 240 fsb, ram set at a 3.33 divider with all ram settings on auto. My vcore is 1.318 in bios showing as 1.28 in CPUID HW monitor.

Look forward to hearing any suggestions/comments

OzZie · 28 Jun 2009 at 14:31

Download and run Intel Burn Test on maximum settting, at least 15 times, but the more the better. If you're settling for this speed, i'd run it about 30 times which will be about an hours worth, but it'll tell you if it's stable.

Then i'd run Prime95 and run each test for an hour each. If these pass (which is more than likely if your system passed IBT) then your all good to go.

Also, download and install coretemp/realtemp monitoring software to check temperatures. IBT @ max will produce more heat that any other test, so expect temperatures to hit 60+ quite easily.

shuzzbutt · 28 Jun 2009 at 14:34

Thanks for the quick reply, I am actually running the LinX test with memory usage set to all and its currently on 19/20 runs. So far its been running for 56 minutes and the highest temp has been 58 degrees

edit: just completed 20 runs in 57m 38s with no errors- highest temp 58 degrees- thank god!

OzZie · 28 Jun 2009 at 14:41

You know what this means.

Push it further!

Max temp of Linx/IBT of 58 in this weather is not something i expected from a stock cooler. You've got another 20 degree's of headroom left. :eek:

shuzzbutt · 28 Jun 2009 at 14:53

That does sound tempting, but I'm concerned that CPUZ is showing a core voltage of 1.296 just to achieve 3.0ghz- I'm reluctant to feed it too much voltage in-case I fry it.

Also I like my ram running at 800mhz. My cheapy mobo only has ram dividers of 2.66/3.33/4.0 so I'd need to up my fsb to 300 giving me 3.75ghz :eek:

with the divider at 2.66 to get 800mhz. I did try that setting but was only brave enough to set my bios vcore to 1.3625 as per intels reccomendations- it didn't boot

Angst · 28 Jun 2009 at 15:09

1.put try putting your fsb to 400 and lowering you cpu multi + your ram should rrun 1:1
2.if you wanna test max temps download a nifty little program called core damage

Mr Goat · 28 Jun 2009 at 15:11

shuzzbutt said:
Also I like my ram running at 800mhz. My cheapy mobo only has ram dividers of 2.66/3.33/4.0 so I'd need to up my fsb to 300 giving me 3.75ghz with the divider at 2.66 to get 800mhz. I did try that setting but was only brave enough to set my bios vcore to 1.3625 as per intels reccomendations- it didn't boot

Having read the following part of your original post:

'3.0ghz with 12.5 x 240 fsb, ram set at a 3.33 divider'

that means you're already running your ram at 800Mz (240x3.33)? Unless I've misunderstood you?

shuzzbutt · 28 Jun 2009 at 15:27

Mr Goat said:
Having read the following part of your original post:

'3.0ghz with 12.5 x 240 fsb, ram set at a 3.33 divider'

that means you're already running your ram at 800Mz (240x3.33)? Unless I've misunderstood you?

Your right, I am running my ram at 800mhz at the moment- what I was saying is if I wanted to go faster by upping my fsb, in order to keep my ram at 800mhz, I would have to up my fsb to 300.

shuzzbutt · 28 Jun 2009 at 15:47

phill0i said:
1.put try putting your fsb to 400 and lowering you cpu multi + your ram should rrun 1:1
2.if you wanna test max temps download a nifty little program called core damage

I'll look into core damage even if the name scares me lol!
I can't put the fsb up to 400 as my lowest multiplier is 2.66 so that overclocking my cheapy ram by a bucketload!!

I am however trying a fsb of 300 with the divider at 2.66 for 800mhz ram and the mutiplier currently at x10 to see if it's a stable alternative.
Currently running linX full memory for 12 minutes and counting....

Mr Goat · 29 Jun 2009 at 09:56

shuzzbutt said:
Your right, I am running my ram at 800mhz at the moment- what I was saying is if I wanted to go faster by upping my fsb, in order to keep my ram at 800mhz, I would have to up my fsb to 300.

Ah, I see what you mean. I've had the same issues/headaches in trying to work it all out, gets very complicated for my little brain!

My E2220 is set to 3.0GHz (12x250) @1.325v and my ram multi to 4 which means it's running at 1000MHz @ 2.1v (.3v overclock). It's OCZ PC2-6400(800MHz) ram, so I'm overclocking it a fair bit but it seems stable.

It would be well worth you buying better Ram, that should give you better scope for overclocking for a relatively small outlay

Minty-Linty · 29 Jun 2009 at 10:10

I agree, I had the same ram OCZ gold ddr6400, I have tried to push this ram, but it doesn`t seem to like overclocking much

Mr Goat · 29 Jun 2009 at 10:23

I've got this - OCZ2P8004GK - and as you can see from my settings above, it seems to overclock fine. I have even manually set the timings to 5-4-4-18 whilst running it at 1000MHz @ 2.1v and it seems very stable.

Hopefully this isn't just burning it out double quick, but as it's my first serious bit of overclocking I've no previous experience to go by!