My N00b Overclocking Questions:

aeonrevolution

aeonrevolution

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Aug 30, 2004
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1) If I overclock my E6600 up to around 2.8 or 3ghz and it causes the system to run on average around 50 celsius, will that damage the cpu while thinking long term?

2) Does the memory always have to be overclocked along with the processor?




I'm using the Asus P5N-E SLI board with 2gb of G.Skill PC6400 and an E6600. I've never done any overclocking before whatsoever. From what little I have read it looks like you just increase the mhz x 9 multiplier and then increase the memory accordingly?
 
1. no unless by long term you mean a few centuries. jk. 50c is no sweat.
2. you dont have to overclock your ram with your cpu. there are dividers available so you can keep it at stock speeds, if you are inclined to do that thing.

i dont know the bios of that board, but if you can, set ram speed to ddr 800.
 
Your memory runs @ at least 800mhz which will allow you to overclock to a possible 3.6ghz and even more (if possible). You bought great RAM. Don't worry about it!

In the bios just set the RAM to run 1:1 or 2.0, or 2X, or 533mhz (whatever the setting is called in your board). That just means that your RAM will run 2X your FSB.

300 FSB , RAM 600mhz...

What CPU Cooler are you using?
 
The stock cpu heatsink and fan so far.

I just grabbed a Thermaltake 80mm case fan....this is probably a really dumb question, but do case funs just run at a constant speed? This sucker has been running at like 3,050rpm nonstop pretty much.


Also since sticking in another case fan my temps have gone up 2-3 degress celsius...I'm going to wait til tonight to figure out whether its just because the sun is heating the room up or what htough.
 
vanilla_guerilla said:
1. no unless by long term you mean a few centuries. jk. 50c is no sweat.
2. you dont have to overclock your ram with your cpu. there are dividers available so you can keep it at stock speeds, if you are inclined to do that thing.

i dont know the bios of that board, but if you can, set ram speed to ddr 800.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hijack :cool:

My CPU is between 47 and 55c depending on ambient temps. (my room gets warm)

People tell me this is too hot to run it. Is this true? I have an exhaust fan (120mm) coming next week, and I also plan on buying a new HSF anyway. Ummm so, is 47-55 too warm?
 
[ T ] A C O;1030800704 said:
Sorry to hijack :cool:

My CPU is between 47 and 55c depending on ambient temps. (my room gets warm)

People tell me this is too hot to run it. Is this true? I have an exhaust fan (120mm) coming next week, and I also plan on buying a new HSF anyway. Ummm so, is 47-55 too warm?
Click to expand...

If you're getting those readings from the new CoreTemp (version 0.95) the readings are 10c high.
 
[ T ] A C O;1030800704 said:
Sorry to hijack :cool:

My CPU is between 47 and 55c depending on ambient temps. (my room gets warm)

People tell me this is too hot to run it. Is this true? I have an exhaust fan (120mm) coming next week, and I also plan on buying a new HSF anyway. Ummm so, is 47-55 too warm?
Click to expand...


its not great, especially if you are running stock.but it shouldnt damage anything. when you put on the new hs/f, make sure you are getting god contact, and try to use decent thermal goop. it doesnt have to be the best, there is only a couple degrees diff between the expensive stuf and the cheap stuff, but get at least ceramique or something. you should also have as much air going in your case as going out. so if you have 120mm exhaust, you should have at least 120mm intake.
 
Whoa seriously? So I need air going in the case too?



*jaw drops*

I've had a 80mm on the front of the case on the bottom blowing out, the 120mm on the back blowing out, and a 250mm on the side of the case blowing out!!


Holy crap I set the 250mm side case to blow in and it dropped 3 degrees in like less than a minute lol.
 
Well, you gotta be clear on one thing - are you talking about load or idle temperature. If 50C is your idle, then yeah, it's kinda high for C2D, they tend to run 30-40C. In my case, oc'ed 6600 runs at 30C idle with a stock cooler (i do intend to get a better one), but at full load it runs up to 55C or so - all according to TAT.

As for the case fans - common wisdom is that you should have slightly more on the outtake than intake or they should be equal, because if you suck in more air than yout blow out, your case will get hot air pockets and that's not good. Googling "computer case air flow" may give you some ideas in that regard (eg, http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1835899,00.asp)

Some fans can be regulated, others - not. You can always buy a rheobus or something of that sort and regulate how fast your fans are going. If your fans are hooked up to the mobo, try speedfan to regulate fan speeds (no pun intended).
 
Well how do you think I should orientate my fans?

The back case fan is 120mm

the fan on the front bottom near the harddrives is 80mm

and the side fan is 250mm but doesn't turn as fast as a normal fan.



Right now I've got the 120mm and 80mm sucking air out and the 250mm pushing air in. The idle temp is staying right at 34-35 degrees on the cpu and 33 on the motherboard.
 
I switched stuff around a bit. I kinda got rid of the 80mm fan for now and went back to buy another 120mm case fan. Sadly, they were out of the Antec ones so I grabbed a Mad Dog one. $11 so I figured meh might as well try it.

I now have the 120mm MadDog on the front of the case as an intake, the 250mm on the side of the case as an intake, and the 120mm on the back of the case as an exhaust.

The temps haven't really changed a whole lot though. CoreTemp has the cores idling around 39 pretty much constantly.

If I were to create a spot to stick in the 80mm where should I stick that? Would it even be worth it to create another spot for it?
 
aeonrevolution said:
If I were to create a spot to stick in the 80mm where should I stick that? Would it even be worth it to create another spot for it?
Click to expand...

You could hang it over your RAM, or aim it around your northbridge area or something. Yeah, i'd probably have it on the NB, but it depends what temperatures you are getting on each of the components.
 
My room is at 80 F and my C2D is idling at 52c :( Damn this weather. In winter it would be idling at 40c.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
You could hang it over your RAM, or aim it around your northbridge area or something. Yeah, i'd probably have it on the NB, but it depends what temperatures you are getting on each of the components.
Click to expand...

Haha no way...just like have it dangling in my case?

The northbridge is the other part of the motherboard that has a spot to put a heatsink on, yeah?
 
front 120m intake
250mm intake
back 120mm exhaust.

39c seems like a decent drop from 50c. if you are overclocking, you might want to consider getting a hs/f for your nb. the 250mm fan should be great for cooling your ram and sb, tho, if its the one on the side panel.
consider the ambient temp of your room. even the absolute best air cooling will only get you to about 5 or 10c over ambient at idle. i run with high vcore, around 1.585v, 24/7 almost, for months. this is around 43c idle and aound 63c on my machine. i dont think you will be able to harm a c2d unless you are way over 70c for very long periods of time.
 
Awesome! Thanks guys.

With the heat picking up we kicked on the AC full blast. The computer is idling at 33 on both cores now! :D



I do have more questions regarding the opening post about overclocking, though.

When I go into the BIOS to play around with the Cpu speeds I can't seem to find anything regarding the 266mhz bit. I know that the speeds work on stock 266mhz x 9. I just can't find this setting anywhere in the BIOS yet. I have a P5N-E SLI board. There is some odd setting that is at 100mhz...I'll have to restart and go write down what it is. The memory timings are all there for me to fiddle with, but I don't think I need to mess with that just yet. I tried sticking the memory at 1:1 just to see what the heck happened, all it did was take another 30 seconds to get to the bootup screen and then when I checked CPU-Z the timings were all the same.

*shrugs*

Anyone know what I'm missing?
 
The FSB might be displayed as 1066Mhz which is FSB (QDR), because the FSB is quad-pumped.

That 100Mhz you saw might be the PCI-e frequency.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
The FSB might be displayed as 1066Mhz which is FSB (QDR), because the FSB is quad-pumped.

That 100Mhz you saw might be the PCI-e frequency.
Click to expand...

Ahh yeah it was PCI-e frequency. There is a seperate control thing that has the 1066mhz setting int here, though.
 
Ahhh this is so easy!

I was so dumb lol. You just have to go in and raise the FSB and that will raise the clock speed of the processor!

:D

I bumped the FSB up to 1150mhz (because I was scared :p ) and that knocked the cpu speed up to like 2587mhz or so.

The temps are exactly the same as with the stock 2.4ghz speed!


Wewttt!


Do I need to mess witht he memory timings or whatnot? I set the CPU and Memory to Unlinked also...so the memory is at 395 in cpu-z. So thats still at 800mhz
 
sorry to hijack this post but i have the same temp problem.
i;m running at 9*320=2880 mhz
and i;m idle at 47/50C my room temp is only like 65F
i;m using stock coolers and HSF and voltage is set at 1.325V

i;m hoping to get the temp down to 30-40, i have a exhaust in the back but i don;t have a intake.

what more can i do to lower my temps?

thank you very much
 
Go buy an intake....duh



I just tried hopping the processor up to 3ghz and put the memory right at 1000mhz...running OCCT it made it 18% in and then froze up.

I lowered the clockspeed back to 2700mhz and the memory at 450mhz and am gonna try OCCT again
 
ipam45 said:
sorry to hijack this post but i have the same temp problem.
i;m running at 9*320=2880 mhz
and i;m idle at 47/50C my room temp is only like 65F
i;m using stock coolers and HSF and voltage is set at 1.325V

i;m hoping to get the temp down to 30-40, i have a exhaust in the back but i don;t have a intake.

what more can i do to lower my temps?

thank you very much
Click to expand...

Set your HSF speed to 100% in the BIOS. How's your cable management? Although, if there's no intake i doubt moving cables around would make a lot of difference.

Oh, and the apostrophe key is there for a reason!

aeonrevolution said:
Go buy an intake....duh



I just tried hopping the processor up to 3ghz and put the memory right at 1000mhz...running OCCT it made it 18% in and then froze up.

I lowered the clockspeed back to 2700mhz and the memory at 450mhz and am gonna try OCCT again
Click to expand...

What's your RAM's rated frequency, timings (not so important) and voltages?
 
They're rated at PC6400 800mhz

Voltage is um....I'm not entirely sure lol. Its either 4.87 or 12.16 or 3.36

I'm looking at PC Probe and those are the only voltages that I know aren't the CPU (which is at 1.33)



If the computer just locks up during an OCCT test, does that basically mean the overclock is not stable?


Ahhh and the timings I didn't manually mess with. Its still at auto.

In CPU-Z they read out 5-6-6-31


Tras being 31 and Trc is 23 (I forget which is the 4th digit)
 
aeonrevolution said:
They're rated at PC6400 800mhz

Voltage is um....I'm not entirely sure lol. Its either 4.87 or 12.16 or 3.36

I'm looking at PC Probe and those are the only voltages that I know aren't the CPU (which is at 1.33)



If the computer just locks up during an OCCT test, does that basically mean the overclock is not stable?


Ahhh and the timings I didn't manually mess with. Its still at auto.

In CPU-Z they read out 5-6-6-31


Tras being 31 and Trc is 23 (I forget which is the 4th digit)
Click to expand...



Alright a few things here:

Your ram is PC2-6400 or DDR2-800. Meaning it'll run at 400MHz stock. There are two options in your BIOS one is the FSB (QDR) so 400 x 4 is 1600Mhz. 400 x 9 = 3600MHz and that's pretty high.

You're gonna be looking for 333 x 9 = 3000MHz. So set your QDR FSB number at 1333 and your divider at 533 or 1:1. That would give you 3GHz with your RAM running at 333MHz DDR (1333Mhz), that's below its stock speed of 800DDR (1600QDR).

Your chip should be able to do that. There might be a divider that would make your RAM run closer to its stock speeds of 400MHz (800MHz DDR, (1600MHz QDR)) but you'd have to fiddle around with that. Also each time you change your divider in the BIOS it should tell you what your QDR and or RAM (DDR) frequency is going to be.

Now I don't own an intel system so some of this might be wrong or slightly off, but I have fiddled with some so I think it's pretty much on.
 
Ha oh.....

I just read the 1:1 you said and linked the processor stuff to the memory. I tried botting up with 1333mhz FSB and 1333mhz memory speed :D :D :D

Yeah...

So basically you're saying to underclock the memory a bit? Set it to 333mhz in the bios to achieve that? I've got it at 425mhz memory and 1275 mhz FSB now and it seems to be fine.

I don't think I am seeing the 1:1 divider thing you were talking about, though.
 
aeonrevolution said:
Ha oh.....

I just read the 1:1 you said and linked the processor stuff to the memory. I tried botting up with 1333mhz FSB and 1333mhz memory speed :D :D :D

Yeah...

So basically you're saying to underclock the memory a bit? Set it to 333mhz in the bios to achieve that? I've got it at 425mhz memory and 1275 mhz FSB now and it seems to be fine.

I don't think I am seeing the 1:1 divider thing you were talking about, though.
Click to expand...

Well, BIOSes are different. Depending on the motherboard you have it'll either say "1:1" or it'll let you type in a number. "533" is 1:1.

Try 1333MHz FSB with either 333MHz memory, or if that's not in there then type in 533 or choose 1:1 as the RAM:FSB ratio. Yes that will run your RAM under spec a touch, but it'll let you see how your CPU overclocks.
 
Okay I think my BIOS is different than what you mean.

When I enter 1333 into the FSB and hit the memory to 1:1 it will make the memory run at 1333mhz.

So say I want to run the memory at 800mhz stock speeds, I would just put in 800. You don't have to take the multiplier into account when you enter the memory speeds. So you're saying I should put the memory speed at 533 total? Not 533 meaning 533x2 = 1066?

On another note I set the memory at stock 800mhz and the FSB at 1333 and it posted and seemed fine, but the monitor lost signal 30% into the OCCT lol
 
aeonrevolution said:
Okay I think my BIOS is different than what you mean.

When I enter 1333 into the FSB and hit the memory to 1:1 it will make the memory run at 1333mhz.

So say I want to run the memory at 800mhz stock speeds, I would just put in 800. You don't have to take the multiplier into account when you enter the memory speeds. So you're saying I should put the memory speed at 533 total? Not 533 meaning 533x2 = 1066?

On another note I set the memory at stock 800mhz and the FSB at 1333 and it posted and seemed fine, but the monitor lost signal 30% into the OCCT lol
Click to expand...

Well see, this is where I'm a little fuzzy too.

If your BIOS lets you select your ratio as 1:1, then do you have a linked/unlinked option?

If you select unlinked then you can manually enter your RAM and FSB settings independently.

Just for fun, try entering 333 into your FSB and make the memory 1:1, see what that does.

Maybe it would help if I knew what mobo and BIOS version you have (Phoenix, Awardbios, etc...). :) Also what RAM do you have?
 
Okay I got it set to what you meant :D

I have had it at Unlinked the whole time which is what was causing the confusion.

I entered in 666 for hte memory and 1333 for the FSB.

It is running fine so far and OCCT is running as I type this. In CPU-Z the memory is listed at 333mhz and 1:1 FSB:DRAM

Hopefully the computer doesn't crash on the stress test this time ha.

But this kinda bugs me, wouldn't lowering the memory speed like this sort of negate the cpu boost? I guess it won't really slow the loads times that much...oh well.

Also here is the memory I have

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231087
 
aeonrevolution said:
Okay I got it set to what you meant :D

I have had it at Unlinked the whole time which is what was causing the confusion.

I entered in 666 for hte memory and 1333 for the FSB.

It is running fine so far and OCCT is running as I type this. In CPU-Z the memory is listed at 333mhz and 1:1 FSB:DRAM

Hopefully the computer doesn't crash on the stress test this time ha.

But this kinda bugs me, wouldn't lowering the memory speed like this sort of negate the cpu boost? I guess it won't really slow the loads times that much...oh well.

Also here is the memory I have

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231087
Click to expand...

Glad you got it running :D

Well, I'm not sure on the total facts, but if you're running the memory slower than default it's not going to run as fast as it would with higher MHz (obviously). I guess to answer your question, I don't think it would negate the speed boost because you're only loosing 67MHz on the memory but you're gaining 1200MHz on the CPU.

I'm sure it would negate the speed boost if you only gained 100-200MHz, but not 1200 :D

That's my take on it anyway :)
 
Err...the Core 2 Duo E6600's run stock at 2.4ghz so I'm only gaining 600mhz so far :)


So when talking about memory you wouldn't say I'm losing 133mhz?

I get so confused with whether you are supposed to say the number that gets multiplied or the end product number sometimes :D

Anyways this basically means my memory is holding me back now :(
 
aeonrevolution said:
Err...the Core 2 Duo E6600's run stock at 2.4ghz so I'm only gaining 600mhz so far :)


So when talking about memory you wouldn't say I'm losing 133mhz?

I get so confused with whether you are supposed to say the number that gets multiplied or the end product number sometimes :D

Anyways this basically means my memory is holding me back now :(
Click to expand...

Sorry, that was my bad LoL! :/

For some reason or another I thought you had an E4300....

Anywho, 3GHz was just a setting I suggested you start with. You can slowly work your way up to 400MHz FSB (1600 QDR) and that'll put you at 3.6GHz, then your memory would be running at 800MHz DDR so you would set it up at 1600QDR FSB, have the memory at 400MHz (800 DDR) with the multiplier at 9x.

Right now no, your memory is not holding you back. You could look at it as your CPU holding your memory back :) Just for the moment though, until you bring the CPU clock up higher.

3.6GHz is the magic number, your CPU and RAM will be running 1:1.
 
Ahhhhhhhh this is all starting to make sense. You have to set the memory and cpu speeds in relation to each other.

I was just stick stuff in randomly, like 1333fsb and 900mhz for the memory! :D :D


Be right back, I'm off to try 3.6ghz and 800mhz fsb.



Meh....it failed to boot once, I restarted, and then it loaded windows but the monitor lost signal after 10-15 seconds or so. :(
 
aeonrevolution said:
Ahhhhhhhh this is all starting to make sense. You have to set the memory and cpu speeds in relation to each other.

I was just stick stuff in randomly, like 1333fsb and 900mhz for the memory! :D :D


Be right back, I'm off to try 3.6ghz and 800mhz fsb.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're probably going to have to up the voltages on that one. Probably not much but I'm not sure how thoroughly you understand the concept of voltage upping lol :p

Once you start to wrap your head around this overclocking stuff it gets pretty easy. I'm just starting to fiddle with Intel CPU's but I've been overclocking AMD's for years. AMD in my opinion is easier to overclock for somebody who's new to overclocking. But then there are others that will disagree with me and that's fine, I'm not trying to spark an AMD vs. Intel debate.

But yeah, what sort of cooling do you have on that mamma jamma? :)
 
aeonrevolution said:
Ha oh.....

I just read the 1:1 you said and linked the processor stuff to the memory. I tried botting up with 1333mhz FSB and 1333mhz memory speed :D :D :D

Yeah...

So basically you're saying to underclock the memory a bit? Set it to 333mhz in the bios to achieve that? I've got it at 425mhz memory and 1275 mhz FSB now and it seems to be fine.

I don't think I am seeing the 1:1 divider thing you were talking about, though.
Click to expand...

If you set the FSB - Memory Clock Mode to LINKED and set FSB - Memory Ratio to Manual then you should be able to set dividers, such as 1:1.

However doing so is stupid. You have the UNLINKED option and you should be using it (which I think you are anyway).

Regardless, my advice is this....

Set the FSB (QDR), MHz to 1360
Then set MEM (DDR), MHz to 860, and arrow up a bit until the ACTUAL MEM (DDR), MHz number changes. The ACTUAL result should be an even number somewhere between 800 and 860MHz (no decimal). If it has a decimal lower the MEM number until it doesn't.
Your CPU MHz under these settings will be: 1360*2.25 = 3060MHz CPU.

To test this download ORTHOS, CPU-Z (to verify settings), and Core Temp Beta 0.95. Run all three, with ORTHOS running Small FFTs. If you are happy at 3060MHz then run ORTHOS for 8 hours to verify stability. However if you want to jump up a step and test higher then run it for 30 minutes before rebooting and changing your settings again...

To test a higher setting add 40mhz to the FSB (QDR), MHz (1400, 1440, 1480, etc.) and redo the memory settings if they aren't even (should be one of 800, 820, 840, or 860 every time). You may have to raise your CPU voltage as your OC gets higher. Default is 1.325, and you will likely be able to reach 1400 (3150MHz) without raising it.

If you need an 'interim' FSB setting then jump up by 20MHz, but really you shouldn't need to make that small an adjustment, if the next 40MHz jump doesn't work without massive voltage jumps then it's not worth it... Any higher setting than your last stable test will only be for the purpose of increasing the size of your e-penis.

Always test after a change, and test for 8 hours if you intend to keep the settings long term. If Core Temp is reporting temps over 55C definitely don't use those settings long term. Personally for long-term overclocking I use whatever settings end up with me hitting between 49 and 51 degrees after 8 or so hours.

Also keep in mind that in the summer you need to check your settings again on a hot day and lower them because of the high ambient temp, and in the winter you can retest and run higher settings. This is assuming you don't have good AC for the summer of course.

Anyway, hope that helps.
 
I want to point out a few other things... 3600MHz is FAR from common on these CPU's, so don't be in a hurry to get there.

Also there are a LARGE number of settings you may need to tweak to get much past 3200MHz. If you want to go that far, then let me know and I can tell you exactly what they are.
 
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