Pre-Overclock Check

MADMAN69UK

MADMAN69UK

MADMAN69UK

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Joined
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Hi there :)

I'm looking to do my first ever overclock.
I just thought I'd run my hardware by you experts and see if there's anything I should be aware of before I begin.


Here's my current setup:
  • Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case
  • Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
  • Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 Motherboard
  • Intel C2D E6600 2.40GHz CPU
  • Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU
  • MSI ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 Graphics Card
  • OCZ 4GB PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (4-4-4-15)


Does anyone forsee any problems with me overclocking with this setup?

I was hoping to get the CPU up to around 3.0Ghz - 3.2Ghz?

Thanks :rolleyes:
 
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Bradley8988 said:
u dont have any ram... Umm you want to find the stock voltages of your cpu, nb etc. find whatever voltage your ram is rated to run at, most say on the sticker stuck on em. Set them manually otherwise on auto your board may start pushing all the others up without you knowing. keep your fsb:Dram low so your ram is running well within what its rated at. Set your PCi frequency to 100 if its not already. then keep an eye on temps when giving it a quick stress. intel burn test may be good for you to give it a short burst for say 20 mins then when you think your happy go for 8 hours with prime. once your stable either push further if temps and voltages allow or try and get the voltages down.
Click to expand...

Whoopsie, forgot the memory. Just added it to my first post.

Ok, sounds like I have some reading up to do on stock voltages. What's "nb" by the way?
 
If I was able to pull off a successful overclock I was going to purchase this:
MSI ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

And also double my RAM to 4GB.

Is that going to impact the overclock?
 
Ok, the computer has been on for a good hour and these are my temperatures whilst idle:

2947004238_cddf4f0cc4_o.jpg


Does all look ok?
 
Ok, I'm getting lost with all this northbridge talk.


Here's a picture of the interior of the PC:

2946168477_3c323800a9_o.jpg



Is the northbridge that big silver heatsink just below the CPU cooler?

If so, it is rather toasty.
 
How would I go about getting cooling over that particular area? With it being in the middle of the case.

Also, when you say I need the stock voltages for my CPU, Northbridge and RAM, where do I locate those exactly? BIOS?

I found some numbers on the RAM, 4-4-4-15, is that something of interest?

Pretend you're explaining this to a complete moron if you can ;)
 
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A friend just pointed out on my SpeedFan screenshot that Core is represented by flames... is that right or is something wrong?

I haven't begun any overclocking yet, this is all at stock.


Edit: Looks like "Core" in this case is my graphics card...
 
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First post updated with my new spec.


Also, I ordered a fan for my NB which I installed earlier. In the image below, do you think it's positioned well enough for my overclock attempt?

2958883651_748fdb248d_o.jpg



Here are my current temperatures from SpeedFan:

2959744314_1578afa12f_o.jpg



Assuming everything is sufficient, could someone do me a quick guide for chimps? ie. 1. Press this button. 2. Twiddle this knob.

Only looking to get the CPU up to 3.2Ghz tops, with the least amount of messing possible. I've had a good read through the beginners guide FAQ but I'm just getting more confused than anything :rolleyes:
 
Bradley8988 said:
1, Set your voltages to manual.
2, push up fsb (if it was me i would go straight for 3ghz) but others say small increases.
3, make sure Ram is running within spec (voltages/speed/timings)
4, Boot up and if you get into windows start to stress test with Prime95 while keeping an eye on temps.
Click to expand...

That's great, thanks :)

Hopefully last question... On #3, how do I know what the voltages/speed/timings should be on my memory? Is that related to this 4-4-4-15 number I wrote down?

I assume that means turning up the FSB effects the memory in some way?

I read something about asychronous? But like I said I just got confused more than anything hehe.
 
Ok, I'm still hitting too many if's and but's :(

Decided I'd just take pics of the BIOS screens to clarify exactly what I should be doing.


Ok... so I went to the BIOS and did this:

2964881926_813ca90df0_o.jpg


Ok so far?

I then did this to the memory:

2964882126_3f3da4fb07_o.jpg


Still ok?

I then went here:

2964040433_3f22d44690_o.jpg


Is Unlinked correct?

Hitting enter on the FSB brings up this:

2964040665_deae8be81a_o.jpg


Am I in the right place? What sort of values am I supposed to be entering?


Just for extra information:

2964882030_1b20054228_o.jpg



And I heard this can be turned up?

2964040733_2fe068d066_o.jpg



Hep meh peas! :) :rolleyes:
 
Ok, so I tried this from the P5N-E thread:

Hi,

Try these settings for an E6600;

In the Advanced Menu go to;

CPU Configuration
Set CPU Internal Thermal Control to [AUTO]
Everything else except Execute Disable Bit should be set to [DISABLED]

Chipset
Leave all the memory timings on AUTO until you have got the CPU overclock sorted out

Spread Spectrum Control
Work your way through the menus and disable everything

SLI Broadcast Aperture
Leave this at Disabled

LDT Frequency
Leave this at 5x

Onboard Devices Configuration
Turn off the JMicron SATA controller - this will fix your cold boot issues

In USB Configuration
USB Legacy Support [DISABLED]

Then back up to JumperFree Configuration

AI Tuning
Set this to [Manual]

System Clocks - PCIe
Leave this at 100 for stability or upto 125 if you like your graphics as fast as possible

Voltage Control
Set the VCore voltage to 1.4
Set the VCore Offset Voltage to +100mV
Set the Memory Voltage to [2.259]
Set the NB Core Voltage to [1.563]

Reboot and re-enter the BIOS

Then go to the CPU and RAM FSB
Select unlinked
Adjust only the CPU at the moment
Start at 1200, then work upwards to 1500 in jumps of 48 FSB Reboot at each stage.

When you reach 1500 do a system stability test with Orthos. At this point you will want to overclock the RAM - come back when you have the CPU stable at 1500 and we can discuss options.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I set the FSB (QDR), MHz to 1200, along with all the other settings, when I logged into Windows XP the computer froze, so I had to turn off.

Now I can no longer set the FSB (QDR), MHz, whatever I set it to, it turns to Auto again on reboot. I notice the CPU multiplier is now x9 when it was x6 and I haven't touched it. If I change it to x6 again and reboot, it just reverts to x9 again.

So at the moment I'm getting extremely ****** off with it.

Has something popped? Is my board and / or CPU shafted? :mad:
 
Kennysevenfold said:
in that dec fsb just set it to 1333 and the voltage to 1.4 and f10 and exit, that worked for me to get to 3.0GHz lol

though i have came a long way since my first time oc
Click to expand...

I can't set the FSB at all, everytime I put anything into that DEC box and reboot, it automatically changes the whole page back to Auto again.

I was able to set Vcore to 1.4v but that's it.

AAARRRGGGGHHH!
 
Ok, I did a complete BIOS reset for a good 30 mins.

Afterwards, when I went back into the BIOS, I was able to change settings and save again.
So I tried to adjust just the memory timings and FSB.

Currently the FSB is 1333, and CPU multiplier is x9. Does that sound ok?

I've been in Windows and stable for a good 30 mins now, but while running a stress test this happend:

2971019397_7e7f36cd02_o.jpg


2971019393_cae922f945_o.png


2971019395_eca4a8a983_o.png


Does anyone have any advice on what might be going wrong?

Shouldn't the Freezer Pro 7 be able to cool the CPU sufficiently?
 
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decrypt3r said:
your volt is 1.49 for 3.3

i currently use 1.375 for 3.6ghz stable

the volt is your temp issue

you are gona need a better cooler
Click to expand...

My VCore voltage you mean? I set it to 1.40000 in the BIOS.

Are you saying I should turn it down to 1.375?

I'm using the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, is there a better air cooler?

Do you think maybe it's not seated right on the CPU? Or not enough thermal compound maybe?
 
I turned the VCore down to 1.3750 and ran the stress test.

Failed after a few minutes with high temperatures again :mad:


Edit: Even running at stock I was getting temps over 60ºC. Is that normal?
 
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