Overclocking E8400 + 4850 as a noob.

Trebby

Trebby

Trebby

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22 Jul 2009
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Hi there!, I'm quite new at the overclocking stuff but I have been reading a couple of thread for a while now but I could not keep myself to ask a few questions to people who know more of this than I do.

For starters, here is my setup (dates back to August '08)

Antec Sonata 3 + 500Watt
NEC AD-7203S-0B SATA Labelflash Black
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3GHz, 6MB Cache, Box)
Asus P5Q Pro
Samsung 320GB SATAII
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 (512MB DDR3 - clock 625Mhz - Fan)
Arctic Fan 120mm (AF1025L)
Corsair 4096MB DDRII 800Mhz (4-4-4-12)

Scores on 3DMark05: 3DMark Score 17226 3DMarks | 13968 CPUMarks

The temperatures:
E8400 idle: core#1 39-42°C
core#2 39-42°C

HD4850 idle: 72-74°C

Regarding those temps, I suspect that the ones received from the CPU are quite normal? (Everything is standard fans just 1 eextra 120mm fan to improve airflow) While the temperature of the graphicscard is, atleast to my opinion after reading some threads, quite high? the fans are at 25-30%.

Now, when I'm powering the fans up to 100% (something I have to do when I'm going to play a game or something heavy for my graphicscard, cause else my screen falls out and I guess it's my graphicscard which shuts down when it gets too hot). So when powering up to 100% (the fans) I get following results:

those of the e8400 are sorta the same (stable at 40°C - both cores)

those of the HD4850 idle: 54-58 °C
a big difference then before, but how is this possible? The card has not been overclocked or anything and I even put in an extra fan (120mm) to improve airflow.

Also, do you guys recommend starting to overclock, when I'm inexperienced so far and I'm not going to invest into watercooling and stuff like that, when looking at the high temperatures I'm already getting now before overclocking. Or should I just invest in a year or so and buy a new CPU and a new Graphicscard?

And last, if overclocking is the answer, what should be the first thing to check/buy to get started? Better fans, after market coolers, upgrade bios, what tools to get,...?

I thank you all already !
 
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the e8400 is a cracking chip and is begging to be o/c'ed if ur a lil hesitante to clock it try a basic o/c to say 3.6, the chip will do this quite easy 9x400 theres a guide if you need 1 at the top of thread and inc's all the tools you will need to download.
you will alse see slight gains in any games you may play , for me cod4 was much smoother.

as for your 4850 have u thought about reapplying good thermal compound (always an option) you might see your temps dip a little on that front.
 
wel as for now, I just checked out a bit all the different stuff, I removed the heatsink and fan from the cooler, but as it turns out now, I can't quite put the heatsink and fan back on properly :s I can click in 1 of the 4 "screws" but as for the other 3 they don't really work that well. and at the moment, getting idle temps on the cpu from around 62°c and 14% stressed it's already over 72°C. I don't really know what's wrong, I can't get the fan back on properly :s

what I do have lying here is artic silver 5 but I'm reluctantly at the moment as I want to bring the temperatures on the cpu down at this moment.

please keep in mind, I did nothing at the moment, no overclocking, no paste, nothing. only thing I did was remove the heatsink and fan from the cpu to check if the vendor already put on some artic silver 5 which I ordered with the PC, and I put back the heatsink and cpu as stated in the manual. just this one fact that I can't seem to put it back on as it's supposed to be. I should push 2 fasteners at the time in a diagonal sequence, but I only can push down and hear the click of 1 fastener, the rest does not work. :(

edit: I got 3 of the 4 fasteners connected. but I'm thinking of buying a replacement for the stockcooler. so a new heatsink and fan, any suggestions as to which would be recommended?
 
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O.k first up a aftermarket fan is a must for any serious overclocking and ther general consensus is a titan fenrir is a cracking choice but you will have to remove the mobo to mount it.
Secondly the E8400 as said above is a cracking overclockable little jem and can get 4Ghz+ with a little time and effort.
The P5Q pro mobo BIOS is very straightforward to use just remember to disable speedstep in the settings and get stuck in, and as dragy said you should be able to boost to 3.6Ghz with very little effort.
Good Luck
 
I myself have just got a new E8400 + 4850 system, so this is a great thread.

So you know, my idle temps on the card are about 42c. I used the ATI overdrive (legal OC), and boosted it up by about 20mhz on the core and memory, and the temps went up to like 50c. I was like, nup, stuff it for the moment, Ill mess around with it when I know what I am doing. That small increase shouldnt have made the temps go up so quick.
 
:rolleyes: I guess you still have the stock cooler on your cpu then. Definately upgrade before giving that E8400 what it was made for. i.e. A nice big phat overclock. :D
Enough lame innuendo and phonetic spelling. (Boy do I dislike phonetic spelling.) I just had to get in on this E8400 + HD4850 thread, with it being my first build an all.
 
Haha me 2. Got to love E8400 + 4850, they were made for each other, "like a glove".

Well, actually, were they? I dont know, Im just trying to talk them up cause they what I got.
 
so far I have got these things on my shopping list:

-Arctic-Cooling Arctic Fan 12 PWM (front fan to improve airflow)
-Scythe Mugen 2 SCMG-2000

these are mainly to get the standard E8400 and 4850 down to acceptable temperatures. as for now I'm getting over 42c in idle on both cores and over 70 at 100%

as for the 4850, getting 49c idle temps and 60-65c at stressed

at first, I'd like to get 35-38°C idle for both cores (without anything o'clocked) and 45c stressed. you guys reckon' I'll be able to get it down to those temperatures? or am I being far to optimistic in getting those temperatures, with the above stated heatsink and fans?
 
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