[Ginolard]

Firstly, I apologise for asking what is probably one of the most tiresome questions to be asked on here. I realise there are countless guides, FAQs, case studies etc on here and other sites. However, the one thing these things can't give me is time

With 2 kids and a house in dire need of some repair I don't get much time to myself I would really appreciate some advice on how best I can OC my rig.

I only picked the thing up last week so everything is running at defaults

Intel C2D E6600
Zalman 8000 fan/cooler
2GB Corsair XM2 PC6400 (incl Heat Spreader)
Asus P5B-VM motherboard
Sparkle 8800 GTS 320MB
Forton Blue Storm2 500W PSU

I'm actually not too bothered about OC'ing the GFX card as I can use NTune to do that.

Has anyone OC'ed a similar rig?

ANY advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[iampoor]

go into the Bios

put the voltage on stock not auto

if there is an option set the memory tolinked.

Raise the FSB afew Mhz at a time and then stress test and make sure temps

don't go over 65 celcius on load.

This is a tireome question but you apologize so I am cool

 

[this n00b again]

the overclock concept is general

before you start oveclocking you need to download and install a few things (legally free):
orthos (stability)
Everest (system info)-(optional)
cpuz (cpu info) - (necessary)
core temp (temp monitor) - (need this or intel TAT)
intel TAT ( Temp monitor) - (need)
prime95 (stability) - (likely optional)

first you lock pcie bus at 100
next you turn off all unnecessary stuff (like spread spectrum)
then you start increasing your FSB (in small increments like 2-5)
then you start up your computer and test for stability (orthos) and take temps (using intel tat or core temp)
then when you hit a wall increasing the fsb and does no good you up the voltage (a very little bit at a time) - the cpu vcore
then you resume upping the fsb from where you left off
then you continue the process until either:
- cpu is too hot
- you cannot get higher fsb without upping the voltage past a safe point (google for max vcore on your cpu, or check the intel site, don't put too much voltage into ur cpu, it will die)
- you cannot get a high overclock with system stability
- you keep getting BSOD
- until you are satisified
remember to check stability and temps everytime

with your set up it should be easy for you to pass 3.0 ghz. u can atleast reach 2.7 ghz on stock voltage.

 

[Ginolard]

Thanks. Is there a searchable database somewhere where I can enter my rig's details and it'll return OC results (plus settings!)??

 

[afzsom]

That would be pretty neat. Unfortunately no two chips are exactly alike, much akin to our fingerprints. You've got to see where your chip can go by testing it yourself.

 

[iampoor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginolard Thanks. Is there a searchable database somewhere where I can enter my rig's details and it'll return OC results (plus settings!)??

no

Its different for every rig

good idea tho

 

[this n00b again]

that is a negative,

each cpu has a thing called stepping (basically when and where the cpu was made)

overclocking is related to stepping in a way, a good stepping cpu can overclock a lot higher than a cpu with not so good stepping (in most cases)

and all components are different so there is no standard overclock on all computers.

BUT you can find someone on this forum with a setup very much like yours and ask them what overclock they achieved, it will give you a ball park of what overclock you can get. BUT it doesn't mean you will get to that overclock. even though components are the same, computers and cpus will overclock differently.

 

[Ginolard]

Oh yes, I appreciate that. I figured my setup was fairly standard (at least in terms of the RAM & CPU ) so I was only hoping to see what settings people may have used in their BIOS. I realise that the biggest variation in is motherboards and the BIOS settings used. If anyone DOES have a setup like mine I'd appreciate some advice on what settings you changed.

Otherwise I'll just to wait until the kids are out for the day and I have enough hours to myself to begin the process.

I've seen figures of 3.6 GHZ for this CPU/mobo combination. That's with a multiplier of 9. That seems awfully high! Is it really feasible to up the CPU FSB from 266 to 400 without extra cooling? Are the Core2's THAT overclockable?

 

[afzsom]

I've got a fairly similar setup to yours...

E6600
2GB Corsair PC6400
ASUS P5B-E

Right now I'm stabilized @ 3.33GHz (370 * 9), and I've already tested my motherboard with an E6300 and it's capable of up to 445FSB. So with the proper cooling (my ultra 120 extreme arrives today), I should be able to go much higher. Cooling is the name of the game here, the cooler the processor the higher it should clock (assuming the chip isn't a dud).

 

[this n00b again]

core 2's overclock very well on stock voltage, you can push atleast 2.7 on stock vcore, if you get lucky maybe even 3 ghz on stock vcore.

i believe 9x is the default multiplier, you don't need to mess with that for now

with a e6600 you should be able to easily do atleast 3ghz with a zalman heatsink (if you put some good thermal paste on it)

the biggest worry here is usually the heat

 

[t4ct1c47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginolard I've seen figures of 3.6 GHZ for this CPU/mobo combination. That's with a multiplier of 9. That seems awfully high! Is it really feasible to up the CPU FSB from 266 to 400 without extra cooling? Are the Core2's THAT overclockable?

I'm running my E6600 at 3.6Ghz on a 24/7 basis and to remain stable I need 1.55v CPU vCore. With voltages that high running through the CPU the stock cooler wont be enough so you're going to have to invest in some decent after market cooling if you intend to try to clock that high. Alongside CPU voltage I also have to run 1.55v through the NorthBridge in order for the MCH to cope with the high FSB so you may or may not need better cooling there too. Though you should easily manage running your E6600 @ 3.0Ghz on the stock cooling with 333FSB and stock/AUTO voltage.

 

[Ginolard]

Thanks for all the tips. Much appreciated. I don't think I'll be investing in extra cooling etc just to squeeze out some extra performance. It'd be nice but I'll be quite happy getting what I can out of the stock parts.

Once again, thanks everyone. Sorry again for asking the noobiest of noob questions. I shall return to my daily routine of nappies and tantrums now