Second opinion please :)

[Darkcloak]

Just finished building and testing a new rig, relevant highlights are:

E8400 with Noctual NH-U12P HSF (fitted with AS5)
Rampage Extreme (X48 - DDR2)
4Gb OCZ 8500 5-5-5-18

I've been playing round with different overclocks, the 'stable'* options shortlist is:

4.0 Ghz 8*500 (DDR2-1000) @ 1.30V CPU - Load temp ~ 62
4.05 Ghz 9*450 (DDR2-900) @ 1.32V CPU - Load temp ~ 64
4.05 Ghz 9*450 (DDR2-1080) @ 1.32V CPU - Load temp ~ 64
4.25 Ghz 8.5*500 (DDR2-1000) @ 1.35V CPU - Load temp ~ 67
4.27 Ghz 9*475 (DDR2-950) @ 1.35V CPU - Load temp ~ 67

Ram timings for all these are 5-5-5-18 2T, with tRD/CPL of 9. All other voltages are manually set to defaults (or small bump above)

My current thinking is the 8.5 * 500 @ 1.35V is where I'd like to be, but I'm slightly concerned about running it at 1.35V long term, and the load temp sounds a little high. I'll try reseating the HSF, but does 67 sound reasonable? Is 1.35V reasonably if the temp is lower?

If running at 1.35v or 67'C is too much for 250Mhz gain, which other OC would be best. I'm leaning toward the 8*500 for the 1:1 FSD : RAM stability and performance, but open to suggestions.

Feel free to criticise, encourage, suggest or shoot down in flames
Ta

*stable here meaning seems stable with a preliminary P95 and memtest check, but acknowledging thats not properly tested yet

 

[BillParrish]

4GHz+ niccceeeee.

I like the 9 cpu mulitplier settings as it reduces stress on the board by a lower FSB.

Vcc max per Intel is 1.45 so IMO, 1.35 is ok but where I would call it quits, maybe 1.36, 1.375 absolute tops if that voltage gave me a significant gain (doubtful). You got 4GHz+ lets not be too upset. So I might test with a tic or two more Vcc but probally would not run there 24x7

Temp is fine 64C is nothing if that is an underload coretemp.

Frankly you are not going to see or feel much of anything different in performance unless something is really out of wack with any of those configurations. Pick a nice stable one that stresses stuff the least and go to work OCing the video card, thats where the majority of any performance increase lies now.

If you still want to "play toys" and most of us do, I would exactly characterize that memory, i.e do you know for the current settings how fast it can go before failing memtest86+ ? How fast can it go at 5 5 5 15 ? what about tRd of 8 ? drop that cpu mulitplier to 6 or seven and see/record/understand exactly what that board and memory will do with the cpu out of the picture, it might give you ideas for a different configuration. Then start benchmarking. I screwed around for 8 months "playing" before I decided on my 24x7 settings. Big fun.

 

[Forceman]

I think most people would consider 1.35 to be a "safe" voltage for long-term use on the E8400, so I'd go with 8.5 x 500 if it was me. The load temps are a little high, but with the wacky sensors on the E8400, and the small difference from 4.0 to 4.25 I wouldn't worry about it. If it was me, I'd stick at 8.5 x 500 and be very happy.