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NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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I've just started to overclock my new setup and I'm a noob so please be gentle! The only thing I have changed so far is the RAM timings to the recommnded timings ([email protected]) and have set the vcore voltage to manual and 1.36 (default... I think!), and I have increased the FSB to 1500MHz (375x8) so have got my E6420 to 3GHz and all temps are looking ok 46 degrees or under after 30mins cpu stress test on Orthos stress test.

However I went up to 3.1Ghz and tried Orthos but failed, however my temps are fine - sub 45C. After having a bit of a fiddle I noticed that it crashes out on the blend test at lower speeds (~2.9Ghz) but it passes the small FFT's (cpu test) test up to 3.1. Does this mean its my Ram holding me back? What should be my next step? I would guess upping the voltage but I dont want to increase it too much cos i'm a cheapskate who cant afford new kit :o. If so what voltage should i increase - RAM or VCore, and by how much? Thanks.

PS. Overclocking rocks!!! I really enjoying getting more out of my system than intended - it's like robbery :D :cool: :o

*edit. And is Orthos supposed to be jumpy as hell when you set it to a priority of 10 or is that a sign of instability? its fine on the same test at a different priorities
 
triggerthat said:
Give the CPU a bit more volts. (Is 2.1v what the RAM needs?)
Click to expand...
2.1v is what it says on the sticks as the recommended. Think it was at 1.8v default. I will increase the vcore but surely it's the ram that is struggling as it passing the cpu stress test but failing the ram and cpu test, or are they linked in some way? And how much should I put it up by? Just a single increment? What kind of increase starts to 'damge' the core and start reducing its life expectancy greatly? (I'm keeping the memory speed at 800MHz btw).
 
OK leave the RAM alone, just up the CPU a little - put it to 1.4, then try 1.45, then try 1.5. It wont cause damage (just make sure you've got adequate cooling!)
 
Thanks for your replies Triggerthat. I have upped the voltages to 1.4v but it's still performing the same in Orthos. It works fine on both tests when the priority is 7 or lower, but when i up the priority to 9 or 10 it is really 'jumpy' and if its the blend test the system freezes. Is this normal or does this means it's unstable? If it is unstable is there anything else I can do apart from up the voltage some more?

Or will I be alright to continue testing at a lower priority and go on the fact that programs/games wont put this much stress on it? Ta
 
Well I just left Orthos running overnight on the small FFT test on priority level 9 and it ran all the way through with no errors, yet the blend test is still freezing the system after a few minutes on anything more than priority 5. What can I try, temps are fine and volts are stable. vcore is at 1.4 and ram is 2.18v (Isn't that already quite high for Ram?). My guess is the ram but what should I try, I cant find much help with regards to ram overclocking and details, only cpu stuff :(
 
Well i think I have found the problem, I think my PSU is a 'bit limp'. I've set the vcore to 1.52v in the bios, yet when i run orthos it drops to 1.4. But after upping it to 1.52 it seems to be stable. How much higher could I go on the volts before it's going to do some damge, considering my temps are still fine (sub 50c)? The problem is though that if i stop the stress testing it goes up to the set voltage so I think going much higher would damage it.

Also does anyone know of a good (beginners) guide to overclocking RAM?

Thanks
 
I think I might be doing this all wrong. The only thing I have been changing is the Actual FSB value under the jumperfree configuration tab. This is half whatever my actual core speed is (i.e. setting to 1500 gives 3GHz). If i put the ram on 1:1 that puts my ram on 1500MHz so surely it wont be able to cope?

And another thing-i've just tried changing the multiplier but this seems to have no effect, it's not recognised in any monitoring programs (coretemp, everest, cpuz). I'm just confused because with my old setup all you changed was the bus speed and multiplier which together made your overall clock speed, now it seems I can only change 1 value. Am I doing something wrong?

Here's a screen of various settings:
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/9194/screenla6.jpg
(As you can see my vcore is a bit jumpy, i think this is the lowest it's ever dropped, does this mean my PSU is on its way out? It should be at 1.49 and sometimes it is but it jumps)
 
Well I *think* i've got it stable @3.0GHz, i lowered the vcore down to 1.45, so now it keeps it at a steadyish 1.4. So now I have 2 last questions:

1. What difference does this to my electricity bill? Much diference?

2. When overclocking my gfx card I have 2 sliders to change; core clock and memory clock. Which one is more important to increase or should ou do them both together?

Thanks for all your help, especially trigger :)
 
mpledge52 said:
Well I *think* i've got it stable @3.0GHz, i lowered the vcore down to 1.45, so now it keeps it at a steadyish 1.4. So now I have 2 last questions:

1. What difference does this to my electricity bill? Much diference?

2. When overclocking my gfx card I have 2 sliders to change; core clock and memory clock. Which one is more important to increase or should ou do them both together?

Thanks for all your help, especially trigger :)
Click to expand...

About 200 a year.. ;) j/k it won't change your bill in any way really as in the big scheme thats a miniscule change, maybe a few more pence a month if that.

Carry the mem and core as far as they can go. Once you've got the highest range, back off by about 5-10MHz to make sure its stable.
 
Thanks Justin, I've gone up a bit but it's getting pretty hot so i'm backing off til I get my exhaust fan through.

Another question i'm afraid but in terms of general performance (games included) what's more important, an extra 75-100Mhz on the cpu or like 25-50Mhz on the RAM?
 
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