[hamishdean]

Hi all,
This is my first post and i thought this forum would be the best place to answer the questions i have as an apprentice overclocker...

Here is my dilemma:

Last week i bought my new system as follows,
Intel Core Duo 2 E6600
Asus P5N32-SLI SE Mobo
2Gb G.Skill F2-6400CL4D DDR2

Parts i'm already using are are 7800GTX, seagate HDD's, etc, etc.

I have seen so many reviews of the E6600 being overclocked over the 3GHz mark. The most i seem to get is about 2.98 GHZ on stock cooling within a thermaltake soprano case. I know with the parts i have, i can overclock past 3GHz - thats we you experts come in, i'm learning and i want the most out of my setup.

What i have done already is:

Up the FSB to 1325 with a multiplier of 9x
Memory at 798 MHz
CPU volts at roughly 1.25v
Memory (rated at 1.9 - 2.1v) upped to 2.20v
Northbridge (1.4v) and Southbridge (1.4v) upped to 1.60v
NB and SB Hypertransport frequency at 800MHz
Memory timings at 5,5,5,15,20 @ 398.4Mhz, Ratio FSB

RAM = 5:6 (CPU-Z)

What the hell am i doing wrong?? I'm guessing the NB and SB are getting too hot thats why i cant get over 3Ghz. I can get the PC to boot up over 3GHz when i increase the FSB to say 1350 and memory freq to 840MHz, but not if i decrease the memory however it will hang during boot up. That doesnt make sense to me...

Any expert guidance would be most appreciated

 

[Chozart]

Motherboard is the culprit.

The nVidia 4 and 5xx based motherboards for the Intel platform are lousy overclockers, and often don't overclock any better than like 20%. You're getting like 24% out of that board, which is not bad at all!

The only solution is a better board (either P965 Express chipset, 975X chipset, or the nVidia 680i chipset)

If you don't plan to go SLI ever, I'd take a look at the ASUS P5B Deluxe

If SLI is a must: ASUS P5N32-E SLI (it's $300 though...)

 

[hamishdean]

Darn it. I literally just spent $334.40 AUD on this board last week

There was no 680i's available and the nforce4 seemed to be a better choice
than the 590 as i didn't need quad SLI.

Anyway, looks like i'll have to wait for the shops to start selling them here and then turf my old board for the 680i. One thing though, with that board you recommended (SLI as i will be using it), what would be the best memory to go for? 800Mhz or higher? Would the current memory i have be good enough to get the most performance out of it?

Thanks for you insight into this issue Chozart.

Cheers!

 

[Chozart]

The ASUS board I linked is a good one. There are other 680i boards like eVGA, but they're all based on the reference board, and have some issues with SATA when you overclock.

For SLI, 680i is the ONLY way to go on Intel. (unless you get a board like the Asus P5W DH Deluxe, and use modded drivers....)

I think the memory you have should be good enough with that mobo and the E6600.

 

[hamishdean]

Ok sounds great, thanks for the advice again Chozart. I suppose i'm restricted until then but will be back on the forum after that. Cheers!

 

[Chozart]

Ok

don't worry.. plenty power to play games as you are now

 

[hamishdean]

Hehe ye i wouldnt say enough power, the Graphics card is holding me back bad!
Sorry, i did have another question in the meantime...

In regards to overclocking and calculating ratios, how would you know the best speed to set your memory at in relation to the CPU? From wot i believe, the best ratio is 1:1, so if my FSB is 1325, multiplier is 9, then 1325/4 (quad pump) = 331.25 and 331.25 x 2 would give me the speed of the memory (662.5Mhz) which would give me a ratio of 1:1??

Is that correct or am i just talking poo? If not, how would i go about getting the right memory speed PLUS timings correct for the FSB and speed of the CPU?

Sorry if i'm not concise in asking my question...

 

[Chozart]

You are correct in your statements.

You achieve a 1:1 divider by setting the RAM to DDR2 533 speeds in your BIOS. However, with the Core 2 Duo, you might have a slight advantage by setting the RAM a bit faster (like at DDR2 667 speeds, a 4:5 divider).

I ran a couple of tests with the following settings:

1. Bus speed 333MHz, FSB 1333MHz, CPU clock 3.0GHz, RAM at 1:1, thus DDR2 667 speeds.
2. Bus speed 333MHz, FSB 1333MHz, CPU clock 3.0GHz, RAM at 2:3, thus DDR2 1000 speeds.

I ran SuperPi 1MB using those two settings, and had a 0.25 second difference consistently. Thus, running your RAM faster can have a positive effect. However, no difference in 3DMark06 CPU benchies (did not run the whole 3DMark06...laziness...LOL)

 

[hamishdean]

Hmmmm ok, very interesting results Chozart.

So really, i should run at a ratio of 1:1 but bumping up the memory frequency would help a lil but not much?

Also, how would i work out the best timings when I've underclocked the memory?

Right now, the memory is at 662.5MHz @ 1:1, therefore Frequency in CPUZ is 331.25Mhz. G.Skill give the following guidelines:

for 266MHz, use 4,4,4,10,14
for 400Mhz, use 5,5,5,15,21

I can also run at 400Mhz with 5,5,5,15,21 timings @ 1325 FSB without any hassles just so you know...

Cheers