Overclocking CPU + GPU

Sketcht · 3 May 2007 at 15:29

Yesterday I was playing with OC'ing my CPU, and my GPU, by only using air cooling.

I got my San Deigo 3700+ 2.2/1 MB Cache up to 2.6, but it was running a little hot, and a bit unstable, so, which heatsink/fan do you recommend?

And, I was overclocking my GPU which is a 7600 GT, but I was a little worried when I saw it runs at 48º C without any overclocking at all. Isn't that too hot? Should I overclock it or not?

Thanks.

Sketcht · 3 May 2007 at 15:37

Right, I didn't know of them, heh. They're pretty cheap too.

Oh, and what's the maximum temp I should let my GFX card run at?

Thanks.

Edit: I don't understand why my 3700+ crashed at 2.6 after a few hours, on air cooling. I didn't think it was that hot inside. Should I bother getting a new heatsink and fan or not? Is the stock one good enough? People told me I should get atleast 2.8 with a stock heatsink, and that confused me, since I can only run at 2.5ish stable. Where is the problem?

I'll give some information about my rig first... Maybe the problem could be with my setup.
7600 GT
3700+ San Diego
Two fans on the front. They're small, I think 40-50mm.
A 180mm (I think, or 150) on the back. And one on the side. It comes with the case.

The case is: Atrix-9001C4-Black-Gaming-case-520W-mesh

Leaving college now, I'll edit when I'm home.

Sketcht · 3 May 2007 at 17:10

schumi84 said:
It really depends on the GFX card, would have thought that anything up to 65 degrees load is ok.

My 1950Pro sits at 48 idle, havent had a chance to see load temps as AoE 3 is a bit temperamental when minimising.

Edit - Might need to get rid of that link due to it being a competitor /Edit

Removed the link, sorry.

Ermm, do I need to do anything in the BIOS in order to stop my computer crashing at ~2.6 GHz? I heard you need to put more power into the CPU. Is this right? If so, could anyone help me, or give me a link, please.

Sketcht · 3 May 2007 at 20:33

Right ok. I have absolutely no experience at overclocking through BIOS menu.

Is it dangerous? And where would I go? I don't mean to sound like an idiot, I'm just... Paranoid when I do something with my computer.

Sketcht · 4 May 2007 at 12:55

Hi, well I got a chance to post from College, so I thought I'd quickly make a post.

I do have two hard drives, yes.
My motherboard is an Asus A8N SLI Se (nForce 4, I'm sure).

Is there any other suggestions you can make, Steve? I'd rather get all the suggestions now, and try them when I get home.

I hope this'll work, since I don't have any other machines at home, or anything to view/post on the forums with.

Sketcht · 4 May 2007 at 15:09

steve258 said:
Can't think of any other things really apart from the cliche - make sure your HTT multi is set to x3 / x4, PCI-E / PCI frequency is locked at 100/33.33 and disabling the peripherals that you don't use i.e. Parallel port, Serial Port, firewire, and onboard sound or lan if you don't use them.

Oh and don't always assume the worst

Aha, I'm at home now.

It was because my computer was trying to boot from the 2nd hard drive, which doesn't have Windows.

You and Ionis were a great help! Thanks a lot man.