First time overclocking

DITC

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Messages
394
I could use some help here as I'm very new at this.

My system is: Asus P5K, Q6600 (GO stepping), 4GB RAM (OCZ XTC Platinum, 4-4-4-15, PC-6400, 800mhz).

My settings currently is:

CPU Vcore: 1,300 (set in bios, but CPU-Z says, 1,264v, what's up with that?)
FSB: 333, running at 3ghz

RAM Timings: 5-5-5-15
RAM Volt: 1,9 (ram has max of 2,2, and minimum 1,9)

Temperatures according to bios and Speedfan (added +15 as I'm told speedfan shows wrong by minus 15, and that's correct according to bios)

My idle temps is:

CPU: 33
30
26
22
27

How does all this look? Any tips? Should I change any of the settings if I decide to run at this speed.

And how much more can I push the CPU you think?
 
Those temperatures look very good, so far.

CPU-Z reads it that way, because of vdroop, or it's usually inaccurate with the voltage reading. I'm not sure about this, so wait for somebody else to confirm.

What FSB : DRAM or divider, are you running under? 1:1, 2:3, 4:5, etc... I suggest that you run both the RAM and FSB at the same speed, for a 1:1 ratio.

You should also set your RAM, with it's default 4-4-4-15 timings, as 5-5-5-15 would be more appropriate, if you were to go over a 400 RAM speed. RAM speed is doubled, so 800MHz is really 400MHz for the RAM.

Set your RAM at it's max default voltage. 2.2v won't hurt the RAM, nor heat up the RAM. Memory doesn't get that hot. This will help stabilize the overclock.
 
I'm just starting to overclock as well, but from what I know, the reason you see a different voltage is because of VDrop, the voltage can drop while your running, there is a mod to fix this, just google VDrop Mod. Your temps look fine, you could go more if you want to.
 
CPU-Z says FSB : DRAM is 5:6 now that my RAM is at 400,

so I should lower my RAM speed to get it to 5:5?

Is that what you mean by 1:1, having both at same speed?

How high can I set the volt to CPU, I read in a guide max 1,372v for Q6600, is this correct? And is it safe to have CPU voltage at Auto, even if trying FSBs in the 360 range? I have it on manual right now, at 1,3.

BTW: I wrote in the first post that my max voltage for RAM was 2,2 but it actually says 1,9 - 2,1 on the OCZ page, but it also says: **OCZ EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 2.2V ± 5% without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_platinum_revision_2_dual_channel
 
It would be a good idea to run them at a 1:1, so neither is holding the other back. I could be wrong.

As for the voltage, it depends on the temperature. Say it's at 1.5v and you're load temperature is at 50C. You still have headroom to add more voltage. If the load was at 60-70C, then you shouldn't really increase the voltage. But in my opinion, the max safe for air, which I assume that's your cooling(What is your cooler anyway?), is 1.55v....1.6 would be ok, but not really good for daily use, maybe unless you have watercooling.

It's not recommended to set the voltage on Auto, especially while overclocking, as it gives more voltage than needed, resulting in higher temperatures.
 
My cooler is stock for now, but seems to give decent temperatures?

I updated to newest BIOS to make sure temperatures was correct.

Later I perhaps want to get the Ultra Extreme 120 thingy.

But ok, at least 1,4 and 1,5 is fine for CPU volt then?

Not sure if I should run RAM at more than 2,1? Since it says in the spec 1,9 to 2,1 but then adds a note of: **OCZ EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 2.2V ± 5% without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty.

Is 2,2 fine for everyday use then?
 
For now the stock cooler is giving good temperatures, because you haven't really touched the voltage yet, for the CPU, if at all.

Definitely get the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme, especially when overclocking a quad core.

1.4 is easy, 1.5 is ok....like I said, it depends on the temperatures.

2.1 would do fine for overclocking.
 
Okay, thanks for the help!

I will increase my voltage and see what happens to the temperatures.

I'll try and increase the FSB too.

But I've at least found stable settings for 3ghz now, and nice temperatures, so I'll at least run it at this speed with stock cooler.

Going to set RAM to 2,1 as well.

Should I keep my RAM under or at 800mhz or is it okay to go over that?
 
Is Prime95 a good test to run to check if my system is stable?

Say if I can run it for 1 hour or so without any problems and temperatures are not high?
 
Prime95 is a great stress program, especially for the quad core, since it natively supports 4 threads. I'd say the minimum is 8 hours, for stability. One hour isn't necessarily a sign of stability, but a sign of good progress. Like at least it hasn't froze or restarted in 20 minutes.
 
I've been running stable at 3,4ghz now, ran a lot of tests and it looks good, had to have my Cpu Volt at 1,4v. And Ram is at 2,1.

Also played Crysis SP demo for hours now and no crashes.
 
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