New to overclocking

smurfdude

Soon I'll have a Q6600 G0 stepping 95w edition (apparently runs cooler)

I've never overclocked a CPU in my life, but all I ever hear about is overclocking this and overclocking that. So i'm interested

From what i can gather the Q6600 has 4 cores, each one running at 2.4ghz. Right so obviously the higher that goes, the faster my PC will go, simple enough

But obviously what deters me is the thought of my brand new CPU melting and me bursting into tears. So really what I want to know is, what would be a happy medium to overclock this to? Like, higher than stock, but not so high it's on its limit

Ill have a slightly better after market cooler so i guess that'll help, and ill have a 750w PSU, so power isnt really an issue

Also if I increased the speed to only 2.5ghz, would it shorten the lifetime considerably? Or does it really need to be running right on the edge for it to die a lot sooner?

If I can run my CPU faster without putting it at any more risk, then I'd like to do it

kris23

there is ALWAYS a risk when overclocking, and you do void the warranty on nearly every component in your machine unless otherwise noted.

you should however, be able to get 2.8-3.0GHz on your setup

your memory will severely limit your performance in this area, thats why i suggested going for a better set.

you basically bump the FSB until you cant go anymore, adjust settings and go at it again. DDR2 1066 and higher is recommended so you dont blow up the RAM

simple but it requires quality key components to be successful.

also, can i have the particular model of cooler you're using?

smurfdude

Blow up memory? How would I make sure not to do that?

The cooler is

Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler - Ebuyer

Its a bundle deal

kris23

ahh the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7, its a very good cooler for the price you can easily keep a 2.8-3.0GHz CPU nice and cool.

the thing with silicon is that heat is what damages it ultimately, not just overclocking. the colder the chip the longer it lasts.

and the memory, the chips on those sticks are very poor perfomers and may pop if increased too far. if you had asked us before you went and ordered everything, i would have recommended something with Micron D9 ICs, the best for this purpose.

when the FSB is increased, the memory speed is also ramped up, most people recommend a 1:1 ratio FSB to DRAM setting, the FSB increases proportionally to the memory speed, good enough for a basic OC, D9s for the most part can go to 1200MHz and be stable at 5-5-5-18 2T

Crucial memory is the best to get and cheapest if you are interested.

those Corsair sticks probably can't crack 900MHz without ridiculously raising memory timings

changing the FSB to DRAM ratio to something of 4:3 is a good workaround for this.

smurfdude

So would a pair of these be better for overclocking?

Crucial 1GB DDR2 PC2-6400/800MHz CL4-4-4-12 Ballistix 2.2V SLI Ready - Ebuyer

Theres no way can I afford anything faster than DDR2 6400

kris23

those are perfect! DDR2 D9GMH packing sticks right there.

they only say DDR2 800 but they can run DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15 2T

Kazeko

DDR2 1066 (a.k.a. PC2-8500) is just factory overclocked DDR2 standard (800mhz/PC2-6400) overclocked and retuned to compensate for higher performance. - Typically higher voltage.



And upper end D9 IC's can likely do 4-4-4-12-2T @ 1066mhz without altering the voltage in the slightest. - I have yet to run into errors in P95 testing.

Read: The D9GMH in the Ballistix series.

(For future reference, Crucial Memory is Micron's own brand.)

kris23

exactly what he said, but you need to be pretty lucky to get 1066MHz 4-4-4-12 2T, theres pretty high chances you can do it but i dont recommend running it without testing the sticks at that speed first.

PangingJr

all Micron (D9) ICs vary in overclocking ability, but it all seems to me that the ones in the Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 modules are likely to be less hit and miss (than buying other memory kits).
i have to hand it to the Ballistix PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) DDR2 2GB (2x1GB) memory kit, for best overclocker memory kit in its class and its price, for today's buying price in the US. (too bad i can't buy one with low price like that), it's best bank for the buck DDR2 memory kit. the overclocking results with this memory kit is very very good.

kris23

$99 is the cheapest thing i seen ever man Crucial Ballistix 1066..... i remember 2 years ago, the same exact RAM was 1200 dollars. today we can 12 sets for that same price, probably better ICs too.

PangingJr

low CPU FSB, low CPU multiplier and high memory multiplier, all these might allow a certain memory to overclock further, and some memory reviewers out there likes to do this to show you.
but you will probably find that when you overclock your system FSB and CPU to at above certain amount some memory won't overclock well at all or any more, some just craps out on you at high CPU FSB.
so be careful when shopping for a memory kit for overclocking needs.

Dyre Straits

The highlighted statement is not necessarily true depending on the motherboard's BIOS features. Many of today's motherboards allow for Memory clocks to be Unlinked from the CPU FSB. So, if the CPU can be overclocked better than the RAM's ability, you can push the CPU to its limits and adjust the RAM accordingly.

However, if your overall goal is to maintain the 1:1 CPU:RAM ratio, this defeats the goal in most cases. A lot depends on the quality of the components being used.

The major goal should be overall increase in performance AND system stability.

(I hope I said all that properly. )

PangingJr

too bad, the option to unlink system memory from CPU FSB and overclock the memory seperately is still not an available option in today's Intel chipset motherboard.

smurfdude

Right ok I will swap the consair memory for 2 crucial sticks. May aswell for only an extra £12

I done a bit of searching on the motherboard manufacturers website and found they do their own program which lets you overclock in windows. So it would probably be worthwhile for me to use this rather than mess about in the bios?

kris23

no, windows clocking is not recommended at all, some have been known to set BIOS settings to the point that it damages system components.

kris23

lol Dyre the ONLY Intel board that i know can do that are the nForce 680i series boards..... he has a lower P5K no 680i man

his board will operate how i explained it depending on his ratio setting 1:1, 2:3, 1:2 etc. whatever his board allows.

smurfdude

I wouldn't mind getting it up around 3.0ghz. I've read that loads of people have easily got it much higher, but as i said i don't want to push it too far

Is there any beginner guides you can recommend which are newbie friendly and explain step by step on how to do this?

procupine14

I haven't found a brand new one for quad core chips but seeing as i haven't been looking for it that probably explains a lot

Dyre Straits

I was taking your comment as a 'general statement' as opposed to a specific statement to the particular motherboard. Taken on its surface, it could be misleading if he were to upgrade to a newer motherboard that does have Unlinking as a feature.

Also, by changing the ratio, it 'somewhat' results in the same thing although we know it's not as good of a solution.

And, yes, I've worked with the 680i and 650i chipsets. Nice, nice features. They do both have Unlink as a feature.

cozumel

Here is a guide. I haven't read it so I don't know if it is helpful or user-friendly...

PangingJr

i think, one main advantage that the nForce 680i's chipset-based memory controller has over the Intel chipset-based boards would be, the users are able to run the memory frequency at lower than the CPU FSB frequency. but are there any advantage in terms of performance improvements to running the system memory like that?

i always feel like there must be a whole lot of real advantage about the memory controller in nForce 680i's chipset-based boards, i guess i will never understand for sure untill i try one myself.

smurfdude

I've been reading some guides and I think i understand the main concept of it all. Basically increase the FSB slightly, then run a benchmark to test stability & temps, then increase a little more and repeat.

If the system becomes unstable increase the volts going to the CPU a tiny bit and try again

Still a bit confused with the cpu/memory ratio stuff

If my memory runs at 800mhz, then for a 1:1 ratio wouldn't that mean my fsb would need to run at that too? Which is way too high isnt it?

Dyre Straits

You might find this helpful:

Understanding PC Overclocking - The Computer Forums

ChaosMinionX

I must have missed it but what P5K do you have?

Anyways heres the options for OCing it....


I would suggest the following.

CPU Multiplier - 8x (3.2ghz) or 9x (3.6ghz)
FSB - 400mhz
CPU vCore - 1.4-1.45v
FSB voltage - 1.4v
NB (North Bridge) Voltage - 1.55v
CPU PLL - 1.5-1.6v
CPU REF Voltage - .63x
NB REF Voltage - .63/.67x

That should do you, of course disable CPU/PCIE Spread Spectrum>

Going to 400mhz leaves you the dividers open, as well as a balanced range of DRAM Speeds 800/1000/1200mhz etc

If you have any further questions post

EDIT: I would recommend buying a new cooler as well.... some that will do - Thermalright Ultra120Extreme, Tuniq Tower, Thermalright Ultra120, Thermalright Ultima90, Enzotech Extreme-X. Those are all light years better than the Arctic Freezer on quads, would also recommend picking up a tube of AC MX2 thermal paste.