1st time Overclocker. OC the CPU or the GPU first?

[SpecialForces]

My rig is almost 2 yrs old and I think I'm ready to try my hand at OCing.

As you can see in my sig, I have a E6600 2.4Ghz and a 8800GTS 320MB video card.

Which should I OC first to get an idea of the benefits of OCing? Overclocking a GPU seems much easier than OCing the CPU.

Can anyone link me to a good guide to OCing the 8800GTS?

thanks for the advice!

 

[evilcartman]

OC'ing the GPU is easier but I think you're better off starting with the CPU and stabilizing that....you'll get a better overall performance boost with OC'ing the CPU. You'll see more benefits with an OC'ed CPU rather than GPU. But once you get your CPU settled you can move onto the GPU and pump that up. Plus, I think it makes more sense to get your CPU overclock stable first because that has an effect on your whole system, while the GPU overclock will really only be used for games.




Here's a pretty good guide for OC'ing an 8800GTS....

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=gethowto&howtoID=72


Here's another you can reference as well...it also includes how to set up fan speed profiles in Rivatuner...

http://www.guru3d.com/article/rivatuner-20-fan-speed--overclock-guide/

 

[BillParrish]

I agree a decent OC on the CPU will really make that machine "feel" (and be) a lot faster. There is just so much overhead not utilized in that chip is it insane. I would do the cpu first, at least a rough cut, and as mentioned above the GPU is pretty easy - mainly just set some sliders or put in some numbers and try your game and see if/when it crashes.

I would think, even with stock cooling, you could easily set the cpu mulitplier to 8x and the FSB to 400, Vcore to 1.375 and run 3.2GHz. Find the settings in the bios and disable C1E and EIST and set your CPU Fan speed control to disabled, (check you manual for the exact names of these functions, bio section). This will force the cpu fan to run at 100% to help the stock cooler cope with the extra heat when you fire up a game or stress test. The idea here is to verify your board and cpu can do the 3.2GHz and they should easily. Then you get something like an Artric Freezer Pro 7 for $30 (or even a better heatsink if you like) so you can put the fan back on auto.

You cannot damage your cpu with heat it will just shut down.
Just do not set Vcore or Vcpu whatever they call it (cpu voltage) in your bios above 1.4V. (that cpu is rated to take up to 1.55 volts but we dont want or need to go there, there is very little increase in performance in games and a huge increase in heat and stress on the cpu by tring to get every little bit out of it you can, thats where you move on to the GPU and get some there.

Do not just slam in the setting above, well you can try it, but know where the cmos reset pins are. Set the cpu voltage to 1.35 cpu mulit to 8x and start raising the FSB in 20MHz jumps until you get past 350 and then use 10MHz jumps . Bit of an art to it but that chip is easily capable of geting to 3.2. If it will not go to 400MHz FSB bump the cpu voltage to 1.375 and try again.

Would not hurt to increase the MCH voltage by .1 (thats point 1, one tenth) volts.

Your case should have good airflow install any missing fans and as side fan to feed that video card (if the side panel will fit one) is a very good idea. It does not have to sound like a jet but you must provide as much cool room air as you can.