FSB levels for various speeds
- Thread starter subbytna
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that's not nice coming from someone from Armoy at someone from Moyarget just outside Ballycastle....
anyway.....
I've got a pre built rig with little in the way of manoeuvring for OCing
I had a thread going a while back about it but didn't want to risk breaking my PC so chickened out of it in the end
Just been onto American Megatrends site as they supply my BIOS but not really got a clue where to start
This si showing 2.9 but it's actually sitting at 3.0 just now with FSB at 355 or 357 or something....
How can I get a breakdown of what settings I currently have going on my system? Like a "print off" of my BIOS current settings?
I'd really like to be able to do this OC safely to a good 3.2 and I'd be happy with that small increase.
I've read about RAM tweaking as well but I don't know why....or how to do it either.
I guess I need someone (some kind soul
) to baby steps me through it 
I've read about people increasing voltage. but I don't know how to 
In my head I'm thinking I cna increase the FSB to 376 to get up to 3.2 but when I tried it the PC came on but the monitor stayed on standby
PCIE was sitting at 100 but I increased it to 104 and....should I have or not?
I really need to be able to get a breakdown of what I've got going on in my BIOS just now so someone can say....go here and move this and increase this etc... and by reading and seeing where to go I can do it
In my head I'm thinking I cna increase the FSB to 376 to get up to 3.2 but when I tried it the PC came on but the monitor stayed on standby
PCIE was sitting at 100 but I increased it to 104 and....should I have or not?
I really need to be able to get a breakdown of what I've got going on in my BIOS just now so someone can say....go here and move this and increase this etc... and by reading and seeing where to go I can do it
Soldato
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- Cheshire
Ok, first thing, make sure you monitor your CPU temperatures closely when overclocking, "coretemp" is a good program to use. Make sure you keep you load temperatures below 70 degrees to be safe.
Does you PC have an aftermarket cooler or just the stock intel one? If you want to do some serious overclocking - £20-30 on a cooler is a good investment.
The best way to overclock is to find the limits of each of the parts (motherboard, RAM, CPU) . First find what the maxiumum FSB you can get is: do this by setting the cpu multiplier down to lowest (x6 i think) and slowly increase the FSB speed 10Mhz at a time and see if its stable using a program like OCCT or Orthos. Before you do this - set the RAM to run synchronously with the FSB (RAM usually runs much faster than FSB so this should be very easy on the RAM) as this makes the system more stable. Once you find the limit of motherboard, move over to the CPU.
Set the FSB to the limit you found earlier (maybe 10MHz less just to be safe) - then slowly increase the multiplier 1/2 a point at a time. Run the stress test after each increase to ensure its stable and the temperatures are safe. Keep doing this until it fails to boot, load into windows or complete the stress test. When this happens - you can do 1 of 2 things. 1) Stop there, put the multiplier back down to the highest stable level - do a long 6hr stress test to ensure it is cool and stable. Overclock complete. or 2) increase the volts until it is stable and continue the process until you reach worrying tempertures or voltages.
Throughout this - keep the RAM link synced (ie FSB-333MHz, DDR2 RAM 666Mhz ). There should be a setting for this in you motherboard. If you keep the FSB under 400MHz then your RAM will be under spec, so no worries. When you get over 400Mhz you will be overcloking your RAM - you may want to do a separate test on the RAM to find it's limit if you plan on overclocking it too. Best bet is to keep the FSB at 400MHZ (if you can reach it) and work from there.
I know this is a pretty big post, but its effectively a guide to clocking your chip (I have one of the q9550 chips too). If you have any questions or want me to clarify anything I have said please just ask
Does you PC have an aftermarket cooler or just the stock intel one? If you want to do some serious overclocking - £20-30 on a cooler is a good investment.
The best way to overclock is to find the limits of each of the parts (motherboard, RAM, CPU) . First find what the maxiumum FSB you can get is: do this by setting the cpu multiplier down to lowest (x6 i think) and slowly increase the FSB speed 10Mhz at a time and see if its stable using a program like OCCT or Orthos. Before you do this - set the RAM to run synchronously with the FSB (RAM usually runs much faster than FSB so this should be very easy on the RAM) as this makes the system more stable. Once you find the limit of motherboard, move over to the CPU.
Set the FSB to the limit you found earlier (maybe 10MHz less just to be safe) - then slowly increase the multiplier 1/2 a point at a time. Run the stress test after each increase to ensure its stable and the temperatures are safe. Keep doing this until it fails to boot, load into windows or complete the stress test. When this happens - you can do 1 of 2 things. 1) Stop there, put the multiplier back down to the highest stable level - do a long 6hr stress test to ensure it is cool and stable. Overclock complete. or 2) increase the volts until it is stable and continue the process until you reach worrying tempertures or voltages.
Throughout this - keep the RAM link synced (ie FSB-333MHz, DDR2 RAM 666Mhz ). There should be a setting for this in you motherboard. If you keep the FSB under 400MHz then your RAM will be under spec, so no worries. When you get over 400Mhz you will be overcloking your RAM - you may want to do a separate test on the RAM to find it's limit if you plan on overclocking it too. Best bet is to keep the FSB at 400MHZ (if you can reach it) and work from there.
I know this is a pretty big post, but its effectively a guide to clocking your chip (I have one of the q9550 chips too). If you have any questions or want me to clarify anything I have said please just ask
that's a great post mate, one question, why do I start with the multiplier at 6 instead of 8.5?
yeah it's a stock cooler but new cooler in the post, I just want to see what the temps are like at 3.2 with the stock one....currently at 3.0 with no voltage or multiplier changes...temps running 48,48,41,48
yeah it's a stock cooler but new cooler in the post, I just want to see what the temps are like at 3.2 with the stock one....currently at 3.0 with no voltage or multiplier changes...temps running 48,48,41,48
say I find my limit of FSB and I start to increase my multiplier by 0.5 each time....I'm stuck at where in my BIOS to change the volts at the crux of my problem is that I've read loads on here about OCing but my BIOS I don't have the same settings as others on here so I don't know where to find the volts stuff or how to increase them. I';d like to know if there's a programme that can basically read my bIOS settings and show me them in a file that I can post up so others, like you , can say...go here...see that part...go in there...change that ...etc...
the crux of my problem is that I've read loads on here about OCing but my BIOS I don't have the same settings as others on here so I don't know where to find the volts stuff or how to increase them. I';d like to know if there's a programme that can basically read my bIOS settings and show me them in a file that I can post up so others, like you , can say...go here...see that part...go in there...change that ...etc...
Soldato
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- Cheshire
If you start the Multiplier at 6 then the CPU will be running below spec - therefore it will not be a limiting factor in the overclock. Hence, the Motherboard is the only component being tested. This will also keep temperatures nice and safe when raising the FSB.
As for increasing volts - the cpu core voltage is usually called VCORE or something similar. It is possible that if you have a pre built rig the overclocking features may be disabled. I believe this is your motherboard. It uses a P31 chipset, which is not particularly good for overclocking if i'm honest.
As for increasing volts - the cpu core voltage is usually called VCORE or something similar. It is possible that if you have a pre built rig the overclocking features may be disabled. I believe this is your motherboard. It uses a P31 chipset, which is not particularly good for overclocking if i'm honest.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Apr 2009
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- Cheshire
Don't worry about that - as I said in my last post - your motherboard is an as Asrock 4Core1600-GLAN (P31 based). I got that from your CPUZ screenshots (motherboard tab). Unfortunately, not a particularly good board for overclocking. You will likely be able to get 3.1-3.2 Ghz out of it. If you want more - you should look at getting a higher end motherboard like this one. ( I chose that one because it was X48 but the same price as the cheapest P45)
As cmndr andi has said, the asrock boards arent renowned overclockers, if going for a new board id look at a p45, this one is pretty good.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-280-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1155
I use the deluxe version of that board and i found it very easy to understand the bios settings (still a bit of a noob) took my q6600 from stock 2.4 to 3.8ghz. ive since replaced the q6600 with a q9550.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-280-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1155
I use the deluxe version of that board and i found it very easy to understand the bios settings (still a bit of a noob) took my q6600 from stock 2.4 to 3.8ghz. ive since replaced the q6600 with a q9550.