Q8300

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 17:04

ok, expect some more OCCT pics later tonight

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 17:13

cmndr_andi said:
Then apply a small rice grain sized blob of thermal paste in the centre of the CPU.

is this the best way of doing it, or is it better to apply a smooth thin layer across the top of the cpu?

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 17:26

I used to spread it, but with very flat heatsink bases that can create air bubbles - which you really don't want.

With the blob method its very simple and the heatsink spreads the paste out well without creating any air bubbles.

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 17:32

cmndr_andi said:
I used to spread it, but with very flat heatsink bases that can create air bubbles - which you really don't want.

With the blob method its very simple and the heatsink spreads the paste out well without creating any air bubbles.

ok will do that then. not long til hometime and i can go and play

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:32

ok well its all fitted and had 25 min OCCT test. not sure if these are good results for the cooler or not.

and this is the temps from realtemp while OCCT was running.

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:34

Max temps of 52 degrees looks very good, certainly a lot better than the stock heatsink.

I think you are in a good position to try out some overclocking now

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:35

lol will do a temp test with 3dmark06 in a bit and then see where i can go from there.
do i leave everything as is and just change the fsb, or do i see if i can change the clock multiplyer too?

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:42

Just change the FSB and make sure that CPU multiplier is at its maximum.

I suggest increasing the FSB in 10-20MHz jumps - and after each jump run OCCT for 20 minutes to see if it is stable and the temps are safe.

If the PC doesn't POST, load into windows or crashes/gives an error/BSOD during OCCT then add a small ammount more voltage and retest.

Continue this process until you are stable and reaching temperatures ~68 degrees or are needing more than 1.4 volts.

Also, at all times make sure that your memory divider is set so that the RAM does not run faster than stock.

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:44

cmndr_andi said:
Just change the FSB and make sure that CPU multiplier is at its maximum.

I suggest increasing the FSB in 10-20MHz jumps - and after each jump run OCCT for 20 minutes to see if it is stable and the temps are safe.

If the PC doesn't POST, load into windows or crashes/gives an error/BSOD during OCCT then add a small ammount more voltage and retest.

Continue this process until you are stable and reaching temperatures ~68 degrees or are needing more than 1.4 volts.

the max multiplier being 7 for mine?

with my bios, how do i know if its more than 1.4v?

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:55

Aye, 7, unless you can get it to do 1/2 values - but I don't think it will.

As your stock voltage is 1.2875, that means a +0.1125 boost would put you at 1.4V. However, this may not be accurate - I suggest checking in windows using this program. Check the Vcore at both idle and load as it will change.

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:57

ok thats kool, but we think i should be good to get 3-3.2GHz without touching too much other than fsb?

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:00

Hopefully, but it reckon you will have to pull out some vcore increases on your way up.

Good luck with the overclocking

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:16

results whilst running 3dmark06

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:17

Aye, that seems good.

Though bear in mind 3D mark doesn't stress the CPU nearly as much as OCCT, hence why I use OCCT for stability tests.

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:18

not a huge decrease but is definatly cooler. now to try some overclocking and see how it gets on. these changes wont be affected when i upgrade the graphics card will it?

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:20

Adding in a new graphics card won't affect your overclock at all - so feel free to clock it to the skies

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:22

lol will give it a go then, abit concerned about the multiplier not being 7.5. instead of 400fsb to get 3.0GHz its going to have to get up to 429fsb, quite a jump

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:32

i cant change the multiplier at all as that option isnt in the bios, but on post it says multiplier is 7.5

paradisiac · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:44

well its running at 3.0GHz (400x7.5) and OCCT has been going for over 8mins at so far max temp is 52 degs

will wait for the 25mins to be up and then see if we can go higher

what am i realisticly looking at hitting, 3.5GHz or could it be possible to go higher?

cmndr_andi · 10 Dec 2009 at 20:58

Sounds very good indeed.

To be honest, i'm not sure how much further you can push it as I can't find any reviews of the board which give an indication of maximum stable FSB frequencies. Also, you will eventually hit a CPU FSB wall, a hard limit where the CPU can't take any higher FSB frequencies.

However, I say aim for 3.5 and see how close you can get