First timer OC..E2160, what voltages should I manually set?

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cooltown831

n00b
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Oct 30, 2007
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Basically everything defaulted to auto on my motherboard. I heard this is bad/unacceptable for overclocking. Also the CPU fan doesn't spin when my cpu currently idles. The idle temp seems to be anywhere between 25 - 27 degrees celcius according to Speedfan.

I'd just like to feel things out a bit before going [H]ard into this OC. So I guess a modest 2.6 or 2.8ghz for my E2160 would be cool for starters, testing stability, etc.

My hardware is:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
Intel E2160 L2 stepping cooled with Ultra 120 extreme & Scythe S-Flex E
GSkill 2 x 2gb PC2-6400 4-4-4-12
Radeon X1600 Pro (my 8800GT shows up in 5 days, shutup! :p)
Antec P182 Case

So a few questions...

What kind of temperatures are pushing the limits of this particular chip? I've seen numbers for many other intel chips, are they all generally the same maximums? I searched this forum but there hasn't been much about the E2160. Load/idle temps would help a lot to know for when I test for stability.

Should I be adjusting anything with my memory for a simple OC to 2.8? I'm not sure my memory is set to the timings advertised on the specs of it. If it is set to 5-5-5 whatever, should I change it back to 4-4-4-12?

CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) - Disabled or Enabled? (Enabled by default -- according to manual sounds like it down volts when it feels like it...could be anti-OC, I dont know)
CPU EIST Function - Disabled or Enabled? (Enabled by default)

Should my CPU fan not be spinning always/no matter what? Seems like right now it often doesn't spin at all when my CPU is idling.

What should I be setting my PCI Express Frequency to? I've heard auto makes it so it raises when I increase my FSB.


Anything else a first time OC'er should know? I've spend at least 20 hours reading up on the whole thing, but if anyone have any insight on my specific CPU/motherboard that might be rare, that would help a ton.

Much thanks!
 
Ok so first update...I tried to set the CPU FSB to 266..it posted no problem...so I figured what the heck, try 300..it didn't post. Then I looked why and noticed my DDR2-800 was at a multiplier of 4 x CPU FSB, so that meant my ram was being OC to DDR2-1066 I guess...I changed this to 3.0 x CPU FSB and it posted.

I also adjusted the CPU fan so it is running at Max all the time, never stops. I'm now running from 1.8ghz with auto controlled CPU fan at 27 idle to the overclocked 2.7ghz, 300 FSB...and my core temps according to speedfan are 24 celcius! (wtf!?) 50% overclock, effortlessly I guess lol, but 24 celcius, is this reading correctly?

The weird thing is, CPU-Z is showing me still at 1.8ghz. It says my multiplier is 6 instead of 9 for CPU clock multiplier. (When I boot up, at the first post screen it shows 2.7ghz)

I ran superpi 1 million before overclocking and it took 32 seconds. I just ran superpi 1 million and now it takes 22 seconds.

Am I actually overclocked? CPU-Z says Im not. But superpi's performance is massively faster than my positive stock tests. Please help :)

If I am overclocked...wow, this is so thrilling, yet was so easy. Also how is my core temps so low???? insane!

What effect does lowering the multipler for the memory have on performance? Is this bad as long as I keep my memory FSB + multiplier running nice and high? (I think right now it is 900mhz)


edit - upped to 340 fsb, now clocked at 3.1ghz, holy crap, how far do these things go!?!?! I don't even have all the fans running in my case either (not sure why 2 of them aren't spinning but I'll swap them out soon), I'm getting giddy now. HEH HEH :D superpi 1M in 20 seconds.
 
Run prime95 to run small fft's on both your cores, then check cpuz, your cpu goes into "low power mode" when idle, whenever something is launched that needs more power, it goes into "ultra smack that bitch up mode", your overclocked, enjoy it!!

Now start fiddling with your memory, find it's good spot, timing wise, mhz wise, start adjusting voltages to get the best performance out of your memory, your cpu will more than likely go higher, they always do, look @ mine :D
 
Yea yours is a beast, thanks Ranger! I hope to hit 3.4 as well. :)

How can I test ram/memory performance in windows as I'm not really sure what the best timings and frequencies to pick are?

also what does FFTs stand for?

I just opened prime95...not really sure how to use it. I went to options -> benchmark, had speedfan open while it went. I noticed the core temps jumped to 39 celcius for a split second, then dropped to 32 for the entire benchmark. The sounds pretty good to me, is it good? Hrm, options -> Torture test, is this the one I really want to run? ;) I guess so lol, I picked small FFTs test and its running at 41 celcius the whole time. How we doin here Ranger? :)

Any idea what my core load temps should be able to go up to with my system still remaining stable?
 
My motherboard set it to 5-5-5-15 by default, even at stock, and even though my ram is rated PC2-6400, 4-4-4-12

Just finished running small FFTs, temps never went past 42 celcius. :cool: exciting for me, lol. My case is open though...I'm sure that is helping. Rebooting in a min to check my timings at OC.

-edit - yea while overclocked right not my ram is 5-5-5-15 and then the tRRD 3, Write to Read Delay 3, Write to Precharge delay 6, Refresh to ACT Delay 52, read to prechage is 3, tRD is 5, tRD phase adjustment is 1.


By the way I did bump my CPU Voltage from stock at 1.325 to 1.34375 just in case it needed it (this was before oc'ing), and I figure I'll try to drop it once I find a speed that is good for my chip. Is this a smart way to OC? I'm kind of new to the "logic" behind pushing the system farther, but it makes common sense to me lol. I also just upped the FSB to 360 (x9) so we're at 3.24ghz now. Bluescreened at Vista login screen :D Now what? lol.
 
I loosened my ram timings to 6-6-6-18 and I increased the cpu voltage 2 notches. I think its at like 1.355 now. Fully able to boot into Vista and am now running small FFTs in prime95, core 0 and 1 temps according to speedfan are 44 celcius, is this acceptable? Currently running at 360mhz FSB, 3.24ghz.
 
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