First overclock

[Womble]

Did my first overclock today and it was a success but I have a few Qs that dont seem to be covered in the FAQ.

I have:

Geil ultra low latency pc6400 ram but the settings seem to be 5-5-5-18 can this be changed?
Gigabyte DS4
E4300
BFG 7600GT OC
Stock cooling

I think I have read something about the CPU FSB having to be linked with the ram. The ram above runs at 800fsb right so any overclokc on my cpu should be fine since there is no way the fsb can get that high

Is it possible to change the ram timings? Should I even do this and is the ram good enough to do it?

Can the graphics be overclocked? Couldnt find anything in the bios

Anyway, I am a 2ghz at the moment and only want something mild. Dont want to change VCores or anything like that. Gonna aim for 2.5-2.7Ghz. Is there likely to be any problems with that?

Oh, also - my cpu fan is connected to the sys fan bit on my motherboard. Will this have any effects? I ahve tried to move it but cant unplug the thing :S The temps I gotr after 2 hours of orthos was about 23 degrees and idle it is about 16. Is that right? It seemed a little low

 

[techmonkey]

Did my first overclock today and it was a success but I have a few Qs that dont seem to be covered in the FAQ.

I have:

Geil ultra low latency pc6400 ram but the settings seem to be 5-5-5-18 can this be changed?
Gigabyte DS4
E4300
BFG 7600GT OC
Stock cooling

I think I have read something about the CPU FSB having to be linked with the ram. The ram above runs at 800fsb right so any overclokc on my cpu should be fine since there is no way the fsb can get that high

It doesn't have to be linked to the RAM bus but on most of the Intel based motherboards I've come across you can't set it to unlinked anyway. As your RAM is rated for 800Mhz you shouldn't really run it too much over that speed. As for the 5-5-5-18 timeings, they can be lowered but you would also have to lower the bus speed of your RAM.

Is it possible to change the ram timings? Should I even do this and is the ram good enough to do it?

I wouldn't bother lowering the timeings, just be sure to keep your RAM running as close to 800Mhz as you can. There should be an option in your motherboard's BIOS to do this but I can't recall where it is on Gigabyte boards.

Can the graphics be overclocked? Couldnt find anything in the bios

You don't overclock graphics cards in the BIOS, you use programs like RivaTuner. Just google for it or alternatively Google for "NvTweak" or "CoolBits". That's basically a registry key that unlocks the overclocking features in the control panel of Nvidia graphics cards.

Anyway, I am a 2ghz at the moment and only want something mild. Dont want to change VCores or anything like that. Gonna aim for 2.5-2.7Ghz. Is there likely to be any problems with that?

I'm not too familiar with the E6400, as in at what speed you need to raise CPU vCore but once you reach a certain bus speed on any CPU you will have no choice but to raise vCore or lower the multiplier to go any higher. When it comes down to raiseing CPU vCore or lowering the multiplier you will have to disable EIST and C1 thermal control. If you don't do this thwe power saveing features of your operateing system will ignore the vCore that you have set in the BIOS.

Oh, also - my cpu fan is connected to the sys fan bit on my motherboard. Will this have any effects?

No.

I ahve tried to move it but cant unplug the thing :S The temps I gotr after 2 hours of orthos was about 23 degrees and idle it is about 16. Is that right? It seemed a little low

Google for "Intel Thermal Analysis Tool", I find that it's the most accurate program for monitoring your CPU temperatures.