Overclocking CPU + GPU

Sketcht

Sketcht

Sketcht

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Joined
2 May 2007
Posts
9
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.
 
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.
 
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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
 
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
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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.
 
Generally speaking you do, mainly because the CPU will be running faster than it would normally be doin and therefore will need more power to do it.

Haven't had any experience with the Diego cores, so dont know how far they can go on stock voltage, for you it looks like the 2.6 clock that you have.

There should be an option in the BIOS for VCore setting. Increase this a small amount until you can get your system to run stably.

With the increased VCore, it will increase temps so make sure you have sufficient cooling in there.
 
Sketcht said:
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?
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LOL 2.5Ghz on stock volt is not too bad tbh. Try upping the vcore to 1.4V from stock 1.35V in 0.025 increments. Just keep an eye on the temp and you'll be ok.

GPU has much higher tolerance for temp so 48C isn't so bad at all.
 
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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. :)
 
Nowadays no, it isnt particularly dangerous as the new cpu's have a mechanism built in that will throttle them if they get too hot.

Also, if you set something the computer doesnt like, then it just wont boot, so u just have to reset the CMOS and start again.

If you're gonna make any modifications to the BIOS, do so in small increments and one thing at a time, so if something goes wrong you know what has caused it.
 
Hey, my friend (The topic poster) has been unable to boot his system because he is recieving an error after his post message.

The error reads:
"NTLDR is missing - press ctrl+alt+del to restart"

He says he didn't change anything in the BIOS apart from the CPU Voltage (which he has changed back to default (1.35V) within the jumper free settings.)

I have walked him through resetting his CMOS but with no prevail. He has re-installed windows and was able to boot once, then after that he got the error again.

Can anyone help please?
Thanks in advance
 
Does he have only 1 hard drive? If no make sure he is booting from the OS drive, clearing CMOS might have messed up the boot order in BIOS. This maybe a long shot but worth giving a go.

What motherboard does he have?
 
He uses an "Asus A8N SLI-SE" motherboard. And he also has two hard drives one which he boots from and another just for storage. I'll suggest to him checking his boot priorities.
 
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 said:
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.
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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 ;)
 
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 ;)
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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.
 
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