Stable at stock, how to overclock?

BigP · 29 Jan 2007 at 15:46

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)Intel
ASUS P5Be MB
Core 2 DUO LGA775 E6400 2.13GHz Retail
2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C5 DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (H195PRQT512DD-R)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM

Case fans are all set to low. It runs cold with hardly any noise. It has been running for a number of weeks without crash, wobble, or anything and I am comfortable the hardware is sound.

Now I want to overclock. But, I have never done it before so I am a n00b. I have 12 years IT experience but never overclocked lol.

I have read the sticky and it seems to make perfect sense to establish the best of fsb, ram, cpu, vcore and then set them. However, 8 hours testing here and 8 hours testing there doesn't really fit my lifestyle! I would have to do it while I sleep and what if it popped ?

Are there any suggestions on how far I can tweak without the extensive testing ?

Also, where can I find the safe temps for my hardware ?

Thanks in advance and feel free to call me lazy

melbourne720 · 29 Jan 2007 at 15:53

Just keep nudging up that FSB by 5MHz (20 once quad pumped) and run orthos for 30 minutes, keeping a log of the temps. That 8 hour test is to simulate a day's use of a PC, so you could just play Doom 3 or FEAR for a few hours and see if it crashes. Up to you really.

weescott · 29 Jan 2007 at 15:55

Hi lazy,

While trying to find the maximum stable clock run something like SuperPi 1mb, if it runs ok up the clock some more, repeat overclocking steps until its unstable, downclock 100mhz or so the run something like Prime95.

Prime Stable is one of the more extreme measures but something like 1-2hrs is enough for me.

BigP · 29 Jan 2007 at 16:05

Thanks for both comments.

When you say "until its unstable"...how does this manufest itself ? Does the software say so? Does the system crash? Do the temps exceed the max safe levels?

Also, where do I find the temperatures to stay below?

Do I need to up the speed of the case fans from low to medium or even high? I quite like it quiet! Or will it be ok as it does have 2 x 120mm intakes, a 200mm intake, and a 120mm exhaust?

melbourne720 · 29 Jan 2007 at 16:09

Orthos fails if it is unstable, and it will tell you. Not sure about other programs, as I just do a blend test on that. Try and keep your conroe under 60oC. I have a 6600 which runs a little hotter than yours, and it hits 52oC full load.

BigP · 29 Jan 2007 at 17:11

melbourne720 said:
Orthos fails if it is unstable, and it will tell you. Not sure about other programs, as I just do a blend test on that. Try and keep your conroe under 60oC. I have a 6600 which runs a little hotter than yours, and it hits 52oC full load.

Thanks for that, I don't think I have seen it go over 30 yet using CSS or UT so I guess there is some room for adjustment!

BigP · 29 Jan 2007 at 17:14

Another question, it appears I can overclock my Video Card as well using the ATI Control Panel. It says its cool, any point in this ?

furnace · 29 Jan 2007 at 18:05

I'd leave out video card overclocking for now

Make sure your using Intel TAT (Intel Thermal Analysis Tool) to monitor your CPU's temperatures. It's also a great tool to set your CPU's workload to 100% so that you can test the load temps as well as the idle temps

I agree with you on the 8hr front

Just keep clocking and testing that you can run Orthos for 15 minutes, then when you have a clock that you're happy with, you can do a longer test to make sure it's stable