Question about overclocking and FSB vs Ram speed

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Hickeroar

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I'm in the process of building myself a new gaming rig on newegg. ( Wishlist for those who have newegg accounts: https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=4304932 Any hardware not on there is something I already have...)

I'm getting the Intel C2D E6300 because i've heard great things about its overclockability as well as the gaming performance of the C2D processors.

The ram I'm getting is Corsair DDR2 800 (PC2 6400).

The motherboard I've chosen isn't multiplier unlocked. The only two out that ARE multiplier unlocked (that i've found) are a gigabyte model which people have complained about with stability and an asus model that only supports LOWERING the multiplier. The MSI board I have has great reviews regarding out-of-box ease of use as well as coming in first in a gaming performance comparison that tomshardware.com

I'm looking to get 2.5-2.6 GHZ out of this CPU so that shouldn't be a problem. Some people have gotten 2.8-2.9 with a locked motherboard in stuff I've read, but I'm not all about destroying my CPU here...

Anyway, what I want to know is if I raise the FSB for overclocking this processor, will it mess with my RAM speed or stability? As far as i know they're pretty much separate clocks, but I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into.

I want to leave the ram at it's stock "800mhz" and just overclock the processor. If there's one thing I've noticed, it's that ram, even expensive stuff, can be pretty finicky about overclocking.

Can someone enlighten me as to any issues other than heat and CPU stability I might encounter? I haven't built an overclocking system since about 2002 so I need a bit of a refresher...

Thanks!
 
processor multis arent unlocked in the bios, it depends on what processor you get. to the best of my knowledge only the 6800 extreme and better chips have multis you can go higher with. the 6300 should be able to do around 3ghz no problem.
this being said, when you overclock your cpu, unless you underclock the rest of your system while doing so, the rest of it gets OCd as well. to increase mhz you raise the fsb, which raises the ram and so on. you CAN NOT buy a nice cpu and skimp on everything else and say 'im just going to overclock the cpu, the rest can be cheap' it doesnt work that way. and yes when you up the CPU your ram will increase and you will need more voltage. try doing a search "overclock core 2" either here on the forums or google. you will need to learn about fsb ratios and be sure to read up on your motherboard.
 
OK, i think i get it. Thanks for your info.

I'm getting some decent ram with the system. It's been used in a LOT of core2duo overclocking tests (Corsair XM2 DDR2 800).

I'm gonna have to research a little more about the ratios and such.

Edit:
Questions-

1) So I may want to DOWNCLOCK the ram as if it's DDR2 667 (or what-have-you) so my overclocking will bump it back up to about where it should be?
2) I'm having trouble finding out how the ram speed relates to the front side bus. The FSB is 266mhz (x 7 = 1.86ghz (E6300)). How does that relate to the 800mhz ram? I've been looking around and can't find any explanations thusfar.
 
The RAM is actually 400mhz, so if you bump your FSB up to 400mhz also you will be able to run it at a 1:1 ratio, giving you a total clock speed of 2.8Ghz.
 
So, in a 5:4 relationship, would the ram be the 5 or the 4? I'm assuming the ram would be the 4... are there alternatives like a 4:5 or something? I'd prefer not to stretch the cpu all the way to 400mhz since I've only got a cooler that's moderately better than stock. I'm not up for investing in watercooling at this point.

I wouldn't really want to go 4:5 though. the ram would be running at 400 and the cpu would be at 2240mhz and that's a bit too slow. I guess I could TRY 1:1. I've got GREAT cooling in the case I'm getting.

I take when running at a 266mh FSB you're getting about a 1:1.5 ratio?
 
I believe in either case the RAM speed will be higher than FSB. So the 4 corresponds to FSB and 5 to the memory. To my knowledge, anyway.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
I believe in either case the RAM speed will be higher than FSB. So the 4 corresponds to FSB and 5 to the memory. To my knowledge, anyway.
Click to expand...

Yeah i looked around and that was the case.

I'm trying to find out what ratios my mobo will support so I can plan on what I want to try it with when I get it.
 
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