Tips and Tricks

[LunaticDan]

Hi guys, i've just bought a new motherboard, processor and cooler. And i was wondering what do i need to take into account when overclocking and how would i do them?

I plan to overclock the E5200 to about 3.2ghz+.

Any tips and tricks would help me a lot. Thanks.

Just to help anyone who wants to help me, my memory is DDR2 PC2-5300 (333MHz)

 

[LunaticDan]

I've not really delved into overclocking my CPU before, i know you have to keep the Ram clock speed at stock, what sort of things do i adjust and how do i know how to adjust them?

Thanks.

 

[LunaticDan]

Any adjustment on the system bus (FSB) will effectively increase the RAM frequency but this is ok providing the ram is rated at the effective speed. You are using PC2-5300 so you should bge able to increase your FSB to 333MHz without running into problems. However, since your multiplier is high you may have to drop this when trying for higher FSB overclocks else your PC will be running at over 4GHz.. That could be too high.

It's always best to overclock in small increments first and test.

So you could try changing the following as a start:


JumperFree Configuration Settings


AI Overclocking: Manual
FSB Frequency: 256MHz
PCI-E Frequency: 100MHz

CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled


If this boots into windows, run a stress test for a while, then increase the FSB again to say 272Mhz to achieve 3.4GHz then repeat the stress test.

Any higher, you might have to consider dropping the multiplier

Remember to to select the RAM frequency to nearest the 333Mhz.

Thanks for the help, i'll be sure to try it out when i get my motherboard. (I'm sitting here waiting for it to come VIA city-link!)

 

[LunaticDan]

You need to use the high multiplier with the E5200 as they really do not like high fsb's. I seriously doubt that you will hit 333mhz with one. The max i can get mine stable is 3.6Ghz. Other's have found that 3.2Ghz is the most they can get. It's a bit hit and miss with thees cpu's. Just don't give it more than 1.4-1.45v vcore. Ideally the lower the better. As it's a 45nm Wolfdale core you run the risk of it de-grading with any higher voltage.

Hi guys, i've got all my hardware set up now. I can sucessfully overclock the processor to 2.6ghz (Small step as i'm testing) but i noticed the memory speed went to 350MHz, how can i keep the memory at 333MHz? I can't find any option for changing the clock speed of memory in the Gigabyte Bios.

Thanks.

 

[LunaticDan]

Gigabyte does this stupid thing with their bios. You have to press Ctrl+F1 at the main bios screen to get all of the advanced options. Don't ask why.

Anyway, as you have discovered, when you increse the fsb you increase the memory speed as they are linked. There is a good chance that you are only able to use the system memory multiplier to adjust ram speed. This will probably mean that you will run the ram much slower than it's stock speed. You can always adjust this when you reach your final clock or drop the .5x cpu multiplier and run it at 12x which means you run a higher fsb for a given clockspeed.

It's also worth locking your PCI-e frequency. I have mine locked at 101 mhz.

Hi, i managed to work it out before hand. I've overclocked to 3GHz and maintained my memory at a speed of 320MHz which is pretty good. I get a temp of 20 degrees idle and 30-45 load which i'm happy with. I don't want to overclock anymore because i don't desire to increase volts.

Thanks for the help.

 

[LunaticDan]

If only all cases were like that

Well, i'm very happy with my Antec 300, my 8800 GTS runs at 45 degrees on load. I'm using 3x 120mm red LED fans and the stock 120mm fan on the rear and the 140mm fan on the top.

It is quite loud but i prefer optimum cooling over sound. Head phones are an excellent sound blocker!