First time overclocker :-)

[bulb66]

Hi everyone,

As a stop gap before upgrading I've been playing at overclocking my i3 530, so far all i've done is change the fsb to 166 which has given me a 24% increase to 3.6Ghz from 2.9Ghz. and i've decrease the memory divider to keep that at 1333mhz.

However i am confused when it comes to voltages, my mobo is a gigabyte ga-h55n-usb3 and all I've done so far with voltages is to change the setting from auto to normal I assume this sets a fixed voltage based on hardware defaults?

I've run OCCT for an hour and temps reached a max of 78c & 76c at idle I'm sitting at 36c & 31c, is this OK?

So other than asking if the temps are OK, my question is what should i do with the voltages and should I go more on the CPU speed?

Thanks

 

[elJarmen]

Regarding voltages you want to keep them as low as possible while ensuring a stable system - you'd have to set them manually. This could be a rather lengthy process depending on how much of a perfectionist you are.

The main voltage for the CPU is vCore, however the naming could be different on your MOBO. If you are happy with your CPU speed then the next step would be to start taking down the voltage, test rinse and repeat everytime until you find the lowest point possible. This would have the effect of decreasing temps of the CPU while it's on load. Your current temps are OK. You'll find normal usage temps much lower than what you see of stress testing, but these are a good indicator anyway.

I'm not sure how this particular CPU OCs, but 24% looks about right usually. If you could squeeze an extra 100Hz or two I see no reason not to, but bear in mind higher clocks usually mean lower component life regardless of how much you keep temps on check.