RAM overclock on new system

CF93

CF93

CF93

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28 Jan 2005
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Just built a new system for a friend, spec below:

BFG GeForce 7600 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
OCZ ModStream 450w ATX2.2 Power Supply
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Asrock ConroeXFire-eSATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Corsair 1GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300 Dual Channel Kit (2x512MB)
(keeping his existing floppy drive, Seagate 7200.7 80Gb HDD and Liteon DVDRW)

The only way to fit everything into his budget was to get the 5300 RAM. But forgetting this when I put it together I set the timings in the BIOS to PC6400 ie 667Mhz instead of 533Mhz. Everything else at stock speeds.

It seemed to run fine in Memtest - let it run for about 8 passes before turning the speed back down for a longer run.

Do you think the ram could sustain that sort of overclock long-term, or am I better turning it back down?
Memtest said the bandwidth was 2798Mb/s at 667Mhz compared to 2650(approx) at 533Mhz. Is it worth the overclock?
Would I have to turn it down again if we decided to start clocking the rest of the system?

Thanks.
 
The reason it is running fine is that 667MHz is the stock speed of PC5300 RAM!

The stock speed of PC6400 RAM is 800MHz! You could try OCing it, a bit at time, up to 800 if you want. Run Memtest as you are doing every 5-10MHz...
 
Now you see I think that's where I'm getting myself confused. Cause when I fire up the BIOS the "Auto" setting is reporting it as 533Mhz, so I naturally assumed that I'd got 533Mhz RAM. I thought that was odd at the time cause I was sure I was meant to order 667Mhz stuff.

So how come the BIOS is reporting the Auto as 533Mhz then? Is there a divider or something set wrong? EVerything in the BIOS is default settings, so do I need to change something?
 
I assume because the divider is on 1:1, and the stock FSB is at 266, which doubled up is 533 (or just about). Your choices are:-

(a) Put the ram divider on 5:4 which should give you 333 (DDR 667) on the RAM and 266 on the FSB.

(b) Overclock the system to 333MHz on the FSB and run on 1:1 divider (i.e. sync).

If you have a decent CPU heatsink (don't see one mentioned, go get a tuniq tower or a sythe) then option b would be advised.
 
Cpu was retail so using the supplied Intel heatsink, so I'll try the changing the divider. Presume running it asynch won't cause a problem?

I guess the Intel HSF won't do the job if I upped the FSB, as wouldn't that put the CPU as something like 2.4Ghz?
 
CF93 said:
Cpu was retail so using the supplied Intel heatsink, so I'll try the changing the divider. Presume running it asynch won't cause a problem?
Click to expand...

Should be fine.

CF93 said:
I guess the Intel HSF won't do the job if I upped the FSB, as wouldn't that put the CPU as something like 2.4Ghz?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't try with the stock HSF, but then you can get amazing HSFs for around £20-£30. Seems a small price to pay for 25+% more performance.
 
Ah well much as I'd like to clock the pants off it to see how far the C2D would go, it's not my system and the guy just wants a stable system since his mobo died on the old one.

If he agrees though, I might start giving the FSB a bit of a push to see how far it goes. It's noticeably much faster than his old one, and makes mine look like a real dinosaur, as it is
 
I'd pop an aftermarket cooler on the CPU if it was mine. As its for someone else, then it might not be worth the bother. Just tell him if his PC ever gets slow to return it to you for a tune up, and then fit an aftermarket HSF and clock that CPU.
 
melbourne720 said:
I'd pop an aftermarket cooler on the CPU if it was mine. As its for someone else, then it might not be worth the bother. Just tell him if his PC ever gets slow to return it to you for a tune up, and then fit an aftermarket HSF and clock that CPU.
Click to expand...

And defrag it.
 
Well I put the RAM to 667Mhz using the divider THEN clocked the CPU to 300Mhz FSB :)

Seemed to run fine, but I didn't have long for testing before I had to take it round and set everything up for him, so I had to put it all back at stock.

Once he's got it everything installed again I'll try and persuade him to start pushing :)

Out of interest, what sort of temps should the C2D run at idle/load?
 
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