My first attempt at overclocking !!

[scouser]

Hi everyone

I have just upgraded all my pc components and thought id give overclocking ago. Everything seems to be running fine i just want someone who knows more than me to answer a few questions i have and to check if everything looks good, ill include as much info as i can.

Computer specs

Core2Duo E6300 o/c @ 2324 Mhz with original intel fan
8800 GTS 320mb pre-overclocked at 600/1800
1gb (2x512) Corsair XMS2 pc5400
Gigabyte 965P-S3
Hiper 580W Power Supply

My cpu temp is 55 idle and 65 under 100% load using TAT, how much higher would you recommend pushing this if any? Despite reading a lot about it im still not sure what settings in the bios are correct for my memory. Am i right in setting the timings to 4-4-4-12 and changing the memory multiplier to 2 ? One more thing is when i run 3dmark06 the 2 cpu tests run really slow, probably about 1-2 fps, also the screen resolution changes for these 2 tests, is this normal ? My score was 8452, is this high/low/average for my specs?. Ill include a screenshot with some more info off various programs. If anyone can see anything which i can improve please tell me.

Thanks

 

[drunkenmaster]

i hit 9k(slightly higher with the not so recent nvidia driver, with a 8800gts 640mb but stock clocks and on vista(no overclocking apps for vista work yet ).
but i'm also at 3.5Ghz on a 6600 c2d. i think stock clocks would be around the 8400 mark, which i assume puts you maybe a little low on score down to cpu. i'm assuming my increase was mainly down to being cpu limited, and somewhere on the way to 3.5Ghz i became gpu limited again. i would assume you would get 9.5/10k at least with those clocks but havent' benched in years. only benched to check vista was doing ok.

tbh i've read very very little on the lower c2d's, got this in july/august or whenever and haven't read much since then. but considering mine is stock 2.4Ghz and only needs 1.45v to get to 3.5Ghz i would think, if stuff is reading right, you really do not need to have 1.38v pushed through it for 2.3Ghz. temps i wouldn't push further with them that high, but if you drop voltage down i would think you've got another bump in speed available there and end up with same temps.

check what heatsinks fit on your mobo, i got the tuniq 120 tower, pretty damn easy to fit(though you'd have to take mobo out of case now), £29 or something and i'm running 58c full load both cores 1.45v 3.5Ghz. very very quiet case setup(antec 900 everything on low) with tuniq fan on low and a quiet ocz psu.


EDIT 3dmark things you mentioned are all normal, not sure what that mem can clock to so will leave that to someone else or do a search for threads in mem section relating to your memory. if the memory doesn't tend to go much past rated speeds then you might have issues getting higher cpu speed as you need high fsb to push that chip, dropping mem timings to 5,5,5,15 speeds if you had to would be worth it for a decent extra amount on your cpu.

what resolution do you tend to game at?, whatever happens, i would really suggest jumping up to 2gigs of memory, i got the £115 pack of ocz rev 2 plat ddr2, its currently doing 440mhz 4,4,4,15, it think i hit around the 470 mark with same timings but still trying to find cpu limit. that card, that cpu, really wants 2 gigs to make newer games run really smoothly. you don't want a £200 new card and however much that chip cost to not get smooth framerate cos its paging to hard drive all the time

 

[pegasus1]

As above as far as the 2 gig of mem is concerned.
Im not familier with your mobo but E6300 can hit 3.3ghz with decent air or water cooling.
Mine is running at 1.45V at 3.3ghz and on water it idles in the mid to high 20's (room temp 20-22C) and hits mid to high 40'sC during CPU intensive gaming and ive once hit 50C during 8 hours of Orthos.
Ultimately
Lap your CPU as loads of e6300 have badly concave IHS's and buy a decent cooler, with that you can get 2.8-3.0 ghz without a real problem.