CPU & RAM Overclocking Thread.

[Michael172]

Be interested to see what people have got from their CPU's and what not. Im not exactly new to overclocking but ive only begun on the ram very recently and ive had my CPU about 2 weeks now. More of a thread of interest and for me (maybe others too) to seek a bit of advice.

Specs are:

Q6600 2.4GHz @ 3.4GHz - 1.4V (58 Oc MAX Under Full Load) Using a Tuniq 150 Cooler.

OCZ DDR2 1066mhz 5-5-5-15 @ 1132mhz 4-4-4-14.

520 Watt PSU (Yes it runs stable lol)
EVGA 680i Mainboard



Tempted to push for 3.6GHz but i need to start playing with voltages i think.

WHAT should i put my ram at ?

 

[Gareth]

what are the exact settings you are using to run the CPU at that? I've got the same board, chip and memory.

 

[Griff]

I'd be happy with 3.4ghz if it's stable. Pushing it much more will definitely require more volts on the cpu, NB and ram and that will only increase temps even further for not much more gain.

 

[Keydogg]

How are you testing that it is stable?

Is that Vcore the value in bios or monitoring software?

 

[Michael172]

Prime 95. using CPUZ to test voltages.

Ironically core #2 has just let me down after 3 hours.

Ive put the memory back to how it was and am back at 3.2GHz now.


CPU fsb is 1423mhz for 3.2GHZ, and for 3.4 its 1512.


My hard drive really isnt helping me, i need to wait till thursday now to get my hard drive, if i ever get it.

 

[David]

3.2 is more than enough if you ask me, and i'd leave the RAM alone...personally.

 

[Keydogg]

If I were you Michael I would drop your multiplier to 8x and up your FSB to around 400-430 FSB if you are going for those sort of CPU speeds. Your FSBs of 355 and 378 have seen a good gain, but not as good as they could be. I have mine at 425x8 (3.4ghz) and it runs sweet as a nut.

Remember, FSB = bandwidth so the best way to increase the performance is to increase the FSB and drop the multiplier.

 

[Michael172]

Just had it on for 11 hours stress testing and its all stable at 3.2GHz.

Think ill leave it now tbh.

 

[Keydogg]

Booooo! Do some RAM bandwidth testing and let me beat yo' ass, then you will listen to me!

 

[Munson]

Currently have a QX9650 @ 420x9.

If you built the machine for benching then OC the RAM. If it's for games then don't bother IMO. I actually have my 1066 RAM running at 840 sync. Overclocking the RAM might get you half a frame in FarCry2.

 

[172Ben]

What is overclocking, and how do you do it?

<-------------Noob

 

[David]

thank you Roy!

172Ben - 'tis lke modding your car to get more horses out of it... i can't really tell if it's easy or not, i find it easy, althoug a lot wouldn't.

 

[Munson]

Indeed, the reason I run a stock 9x multiplier (it can be raised) is so that I can run a 420FSB and run my memory in 1:1 at a sensible speed (my board also won't run stable at 400/1600FSB). I've found my machine is easier to make stable this way, and half a frame in a game isn't worth the effort of overclocking the RAM.

 

[Michael172]

Right im gunna leave the ram and take your advice, although i may have a good play with the cpu to see if i can pull anything else out of it, but im hapy with 3.2ghz.

 

[Munson]

Yup, and TBH unless you're using some serious high-end graphics in SLI/Crossfire, then a 3.2Ghz Q6600 should be more than enough. It's very easy to get carried away overclocking.

 

[Keydogg]

I still state my claim that FSB is more important than clock speed, and in Michaels case he would be better off dropping his multiplier and upping FSB, but everyone seems to have ignored that

 

[Munson]

Not ignoring it as such. Simply stating that overclcoking the RAM isn't that important in games

 

[Michael172]

Keydogg i might try it at some point, a friend at college also said the same thing.

6x multiplyer and a bigger fsb.

Any reccomendation ?

 

[Keydogg]

Not ignoring it as such. Simply stating that overclcoking the RAM isn't that important in games

Agreed!

Michael - Firstly do the RAM benchmarks in Everest then post scores up here and I'll show you how they can differ with FSB changes. Then try copying my speeds of 425x8 and see if you can get it stable.

 

[Munson]

Strangely, I found an 'FSB hole' in my 780i board. 400/1600 was unstable, yet 420/1680 is stable on the same voltage (stock is 333/1333). Be prepared to expect this kind of thing when going for higher FSBs IMO Although nForce chipsets are far from perfect so...

I'm just thinking though, I kind of have the luxury of an unlocked multi, so I guess higher FSBs is your only way to big OCs anyway TBH

 

[Mike_182]

5549MB/s Read, 4144MB/s Write, 3897MB/s Copy and 82.9ns Latency...

 

[Keydogg]

What spec Mike?

My Spec for this test was q6600 @ 425x8, 2gb 1066 5-5-5-15 (standard speeds in brackets)

Read: 8697 (6959)
Write: 7707 (4852)
Copy: 6929 (4971)
Latency: 58.8ns (71.5)

Needless to say I have seen a very noticeable performance increase since over clocking!

 

[Mike_182]

A laptop! Lol. Dell XPS M1530.

 

[Michael172]

The new raptor came today, itl be nice to actually have things load in a reasonable fassion. No Power connector !! ??

Ill try the 425x8 settings keydogg.

Where abouts in Hull you from ?

 

[Keydogg]

Just east of hull mate, I work at Burstwick Golf Club!

 

[Michael172]

Ah right im in West Ella mate.

West Side n s**t.

 

[eggy790]

how do i bore my cpu out from 2.8 to 3.2 ghtz

 

[Michael172]

lol ^^

What processor you got ?


Go into your bios and change your cpu's front side bus. Dont reccomend taking it too far unless you have a decent cpu cooler though.

 

[CS_182]

AMD 64 6000+

Stock 3.0Ghz (X2)
Clocked to 3.35 (X2) 222 FSB x 15 Multi IIRC

Temp Loaded is 59deg c
Tested Stable in Orthos (dual core tester)

i clocked my ATI 4850 too but i've taken that off, i got a pretty good OC on it which was stable but thought i'd wait untill games can stress the 4850 first, before i start the OC again.

 

[Chris1.4RT]

Got my Q6600 sitting at 3.6GHz on air cooling. Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro along with Antec 900 case (two front fans, rear, side and top).
800Mhz ram @960mhz.
Asus P5K-E wifi
OCZ 600w stealthxstream psu
2x74gb raptors in raid0
2x80gb wd 80gb in raid1
8800gt 512mb @700mhz

Been pretty lucky to get that out of the cpu but it's sat like that since January no probs at all. That's without any voltage changes too.

 

[Michael172]

jesus lol.