Help me overclock my E6600...

[Random Guy]

Hi all,

I posted on the Nvidia thread about my low 8800 GTX scores in 3D Mark 06. I have come to the tentative conclusion that my CPU could do with more grunt. I have read the NForce 680i overclocking Nvidia document and I am happy to go into the BIOS and change stuff.

I want to have a 3 GHz O/C test run. My question is whether I have to modify any other settings with this O/C. To my newbie knowledge, all I have to do is go in there, disable the spread-spectrum/speed-step/other specified settings from the document, and then up the FSB so I get a 3 Ghz speed. Do I have to make changes to anything else, such as voltages, north or south bridges, ram etc????

I don't think I do, but I could do with some advice. Thanks in advance.

P.S. My system is rock solid, 680i LT, 2 GB Corsair TwinX Dominator, 8800 GTX BFG OC, Vista Home Premium 32-bit.

 

[swanysto]

I am assuming your RAM is 800mhz, so you shouldn't need to up the RAM voltage. You shouldn't need to up the Core Voltage either, but I could be wrong. I don't know if I would suggest just going in and bumping the FSB all the way right off the bat.

Since you will only need to run your ram at 333mhz to get to 3ghz you should use a ram divider to make it effectively run at ddr800. It will keep your memory speed running at 400mhz even though you are technically running at 333.

Bump the FSB up to 333 then go to your dividers and choose the one that will put you at DDR2 800. Start with that I guess.

 

[rahavsmt]

I am assuming your RAM is 800mhz, so you shouldn't need to up the RAM voltage. You shouldn't need to up the Core Voltage either, but I could be wrong. I don't know if I would suggest just going in and bumping the FSB all the way right off the bat.

Since you will only need to run your ram at 333mhz to get to 3ghz you should use a ram divider to make it effectively run at ddr800. It will keep your memory speed running at 400mhz even though you are technically running at 333.

Bump the FSB up to 333 then go to your dividers and choose the one that will put you at DDR2 800. Start with that I guess.

Is there any performance benefits running the ram higher than 1:1 ratio in real world? Everything I've read including the C2D oc sticky said than it is better to run it at 1:1.

 

[Random Guy]

I was assuming that I wouldn't have to change RAM Settings. Not sure how dividers work tbh. Will look into it. Is it just a ratio I need to make the correct adjustment?

 

[swanysto]

Is there any performance benefits running the ram higher than 1:1 ratio in real world? Everything I've read including the C2D oc sticky said than it is better to run it at 1:1.

There is a performance difference if you are not running it at 400mhz FSB.

For instance if you are running it with a 800mhz CPU like the E4300, and you are not OC'ing, you would want to run it at 1:2. That way the ram is still running at ddr2800 as opposed to ddr2400. It makes the ram run faster.

Try a few different setups. Your benchmarks and games with run faster with a divider.

If you run your 400mhz ram at 333 with a 1:1.2 divider, you will be running 399mhz effective. To figure out what divider you need, just take the ram speed (400mhz) and divide by the FSB it takes to get the clock you want.

Example. You have a 2.4 E6600 9 multi with 400 mhz ram. You want to get to 3ghz. The native FSB is 266. To get to 3 you need to divide 3000/9 = 333. So you ram needs to run at 333. Set the FSB to 333mhz. If you have a 1:1 divider, than your ram is running at a speed of 333mhz. If you make the divider 400/333 = 1.2 for 1:1.2 than your ram is effectively running at 399 ~ 400 mhz.

If you didn't want to change your divider, you could just run @ 400mhz FSB which would put you at 3.6ghz.

Someone might prove me wrong, but all the setups I have tried have given me higher benchmarks and higher fps when I have a divider that runs my ram at 400mhz.

Is it just a ratio I need to make the correct adjustment?

Yes. You shouldn't have to mess with votages or timings, cause you are not OC'ing the ram.

 

[Random Guy]

So I have OC'd my E6600 to 3 GHz by upping the FSB to 1333 MHz. My RAM is unchanged at 400 Mhz (DDR2 @ 800 MHz). So if I make the ratio 1:1.2, then I will get better performance?

 

[engiNURD]

So I have OC'd my E6600 to 3 GHz by upping the FSB to 1333 MHz. My RAM is unchanged at 400 Mhz (DDR2 @ 800 MHz). So if I make the ratio 1:1.2, then I will get better performance?

Intel platoforms perform best at 1:1 ratios. You won't notice any performance difference between 1:1 and 1:1.2 unless you're running benchmarks... and even then, the difference is negligible.