Deciding whether to OC...

Mak3R

Mak3R

Mak3R

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Joined
26 Feb 2009
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2,313
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Norn Iron
First off hello all!

Ive never overclocked anything in my life tbh and therefore dont really have a clue, gotta start somewhere right? :). But i built this system last summer with the option of an overclock in the future if i wanted.
My system is:
Intel C2QPro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) (stock cooler)
Asus P5K Pro Intel P35 (Socket 775)
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB)
Gainward ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5
Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant Power Supply
Vista Premium 64bit

I use a 22" Samsung T220 to game at 1680*1050. I only use it for playing games really, such as anything Source, CoD's, Crysis, Bioshock and others.

So my question is to you knowledgable folk, would it be worthwhile to OC my CPU? I dont want to change the cooler as im a lazy git :). Can it be done using the stock cooler? Would i see any benefits or is it pointless? The idea of it clocked to 3.0GHz is strangely appealing tho...
(If you need any other details just ask)
 
Yeah do it, make sure you have a reasonable cooling solution, stock cooler wont be suffiecient apart from a mild OC.

Good luck :)
 
Mak3R said:
In truth I've no idea! Nor any clue how to find out...i told you i was new :D
Click to expand...

If your temps are quite respectable, e.g. don't exceed around 70C under load, then there is room for overclocking and i'd say go for it :)

Check your temps using Core Temp or Real Temp. Quick google and you'll find the downloads.

Obviously you will be quite limited with the standard cooler, but i don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to get around 3.0GHz.
 
OK iv just used Core Temp and Prime95 to see what its like on stock levels. Idle the cores are between 34-40C. After roughly a 5 min stress test using Prime95 they were up to 67-70C. Is that ok, would it be fine for it to be hotter than that? Core1 also sems to sit like 4-5C hotter than 0,2 and 3 is that typical?
 
Mak3R said:
OK iv just used Core Temp and Prime95 to see what its like on stock levels. Idle the cores are between 34-40C. After roughly a 5 min stress test using Prime95 they were up to 67-70C. Is that ok, would it be fine for it to be hotter than that? Core1 also sems to sit like 4-5C hotter than 0,2 and 3 is that typical?
Click to expand...

Personally I don't like to allow temperatures to exceed 70C as it is pretty close to Intel's quoted maximum.

However, you should still be able to overclock to around 2.8-3.0. This is because your temperatures won't change much as long as you don't adjust your voltages. So basically you want to push it as far as you can on stock VCore. Just remember to change the voltage in BIOS from auto to your VID voltage.
 
You should definately be able to OC a Q6600 quite a way without changing the voltage.

Go for it, if you can get it up to 2.8 or 3Ghz like IllusivePro said, you should definately notice a difference in performance
 
It's compulsory :mad: + :p

No need to be scared either as there is excellent built in safety these days.
Basically it is all about temps, Ambient & load whilst heavily stressed.
The temps are the ceiling so you'll just have to creep the clocks up to find the ceiling & then notch it back a touch & run it.
Once you do this though you'll get a taste for it & buy a better cooler & maybe better ram & push a tad more.

Clocking is an Art not a skill so be patient, Kind of like a delicate balance, I Love it :cool:

Now go off & read all the guides & come back with relevant questions.
 
I can understand your hesitation Mak3R.;)

I also bought my components with overclocking in mind and so far not touched a thing (I have put in many hours reading the various guides though).

If i bought a second pc and had this one as a spare, i would do it in a heartbeat. It's just i cannot really afford a new pc, so if something goes wrong (fairly small chance i know) im left with my netbook:cool:.

Although i play a lot of modern titles as long as i get between 30(min) & 60 fps im happy.
 
Overclocking on most boards is easy peasy lemon squeezy, and less dangerous than crossing the road tbh.
 
I had a fiddle with the ASUS AI suite thing, i changed the CPU frequency from 266*9 to 271*9 just to test it, then changed it back. However now according to the suite and Core temp im now running 266*6 instead of *9 multiplier. Iv reset it all to default, normal mode etc reboot and all that but it stays at *6, unless under load then it goes up to *9 again. Whats with that? On boot up i open core temp and see the multipler flick between 6 and 9 and eventually stops at 6. It wasnt like that yesterday until i used that damn assus suite. My boot ups now take a lot longer too... :S What have i done!?
 
Cheers. I told you i dont have a clue! Muhaha ( I shouldnt be allowed to own a computer i think sometimes...)
 
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