beginner OC E8500 past 3.8ghz aircooled Options

[apslao]

I had OC successfully my E8500 to 3.8ghz via raising the fsb to 400mhz X 9.5multiplier. It was very stable (about 20+hrs on Prime 95, no errors.) with stock voltage, and relatively low heat with highest temp/load at about 60 degrees Celsius.
My gear is listed as follows:

E8500,MSI P45 Platinum MOBO, Antec Nine hundred Case, 4gb Corsair 800mhz 5-5-5-18 timing, 750watt PC power/cooling PS, MSI 4850, Vista 64bit

My question is, can I OC further to 4.0gh+ with my current gear, or do I have to upgrade my ram?
Reason why I ask about the ram is because in my Bios, my ram/fsb is in a 1:1 ratio setting, and of course if I raise the fsb to 400mhz, my DRAM freq goes up to 800mhz.

-Can I OC the fsb further?
-Or do I need like 1033mhz ram to go higher cause I'm hitting the DRAM frequency limit?
-Also weird, is that I can't seem to alter voltage!?! In my Bios for the MSI P45 platinum, it is greyed out, and only for viewing. The software provided allows me to increase it, but I found it weird that the bios wouldn't.

Normally I would love to either just post a pic of my bios/setup, but I recently relocated, and the pc lost it's current clock. It's back to stock now =(. Of course I'm gonna OC it again, but wanted to know if I could take it any further. Reason for taking it further is playing games of course, and I'm just looking to see how far I can go with my current hardware, or if I need a small investment for more OC headroom. I appreciate in advance to any that reply with help.

PS. I have read almost all of the stickies here (GREAT INFO) but either Im confused, or they don't quite answer my questions.

[Bob16314]

Sure, you can OC it untill temp/stability become issues..But you'll need to change the FSB/DRAM ratio in the BIOS so ya don't OC your RAM beyond it's capabilities..Or get higher frequency RAM, one of the two..DON'T use software to OC things, not recommended.

[OCFreak]

As the above poster stated anything is possible with the right tools and cooling, to ensure stability there are a few things you want to consider though.

Raising your FSB, as you pointed out, will increase the RAM frequency as well. Change the RAM multiplier so that the end result (multiplier x FSB) is as close to stock as possible. Your memory timings are already fairly loose, and Corsair is decent memory, but it is hard to say what kind of OC you will get on them. I would not expect to get more than 100MHz over stock from anything without extra cooling. But that is memory dependent. For example I have 4-4-4-12 DDR2 800MHz modules running over 900MHz but I had to loosen the timings a bit.

Proper cooling is the key, watch your temps constantly while testing to ensure you stay under the recommended limit for the CPU. Raise the FSB until it is no longer stable, then adjust your voltage by small increments until you become stable.

[apslao]

As the above poster stated anything is possible with the right tools and cooling, to ensure stability there are a few things you want to consider though.

Raising your FSB, as you pointed out, will increase the RAM frequency as well. Change the RAM multiplier so that the end result (multiplier x FSB) is as close to stock as possible. Your memory timings are already fairly loose, and Corsair is decent memory, but it is hard to say what kind of OC you will get on them. I would not expect to get more than 100MHz over stock from anything without extra cooling. But that is memory dependent. For example I have 4-4-4-12 DDR2 800MHz modules running over 900MHz but I had to loosen the timings a bit.

Proper cooling is the key, watch your temps constantly while testing to ensure you stay under the recommended limit for the CPU. Raise the FSB until it is no longer stable, then adjust your voltage by small increments until you become stable.

Ok, from what I've gathered so far, I CAN OC the memory, just gotta watch temps/stability of course. What I 'm NOT sure about is loosening the timing. I didn't know that you could loosen the timing to OC it.

-By what increments would you loosen the timing?
-shall I use speedfan or similar programs to monitor ram temps?
-I've already got really decent cooling going on with the Kingwin aircooler, similar design to this
http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/pro...6_rt/ravc-1.jpg
-should I consider a ram cooler if I'm OC the 800mhz ram? Sounds like I should just drop money on some 1033's, or 1066's. Hell will THOSE need a ram cooler? Not looking to go crazy like 4.5ghz or something ya know, just at least 4.0, and any change leftover ya know what I mean =).

[RJR]

Ok, from what I've gathered so far, I CAN OC the memory, just gotta watch temps/stability of course. What I 'm NOT sure about is loosening the timing. I didn't know that you could loosen the timing to OC it.

Just lower your multiplier and up the FSB to see what your Ram is capable of running at. You should be able to push it to 842 MHz so you can run at 4.0 GHz, if not try 6-5-5-18 or 6-6-6-18 timings and you can also bump up the voltage if need be. If you case has decent cooling you shouldn't have to worry about extra fans on the Ram at that speed.

[apslao]

Just lower your multiplier and up the FSB to see what your Ram is capable of running at. You should be able to push it to 842 MHz so you can run at 4.0 GHz, if not try 6-5-5-18 or 6-6-6-18 timings and you can also bump up the voltage if need be. If you case has decent cooling you shouldn't have to worry about extra fans on the Ram at that speed.

Sounds good, for some reason I didn't think of lowering the multiplier. Oh btw, I see your E8400 clocked over 4.1ghz, that's basically what I'm looking into =). Thanks for the info guys, I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[apslao]

Sounds good, for some reason I didn't think of lowering the multiplier. Oh btw, I see your E8400 clocked over 4.1ghz, that's basically what I'm looking into =). Thanks for the info guys, I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Hmm, kinda having some small issues. First, I can't seem to lower my multiplier! Intel EIST, C state techh, DOT Control, and Spread Spectrum are disabled. The 9.5X is highlighted, but wont change, bahhh. Am I missing something else to disable?
-also, I can't seem to find a place to increase voltage if needed in the future. The only setting I see is ClockGen Tuner = CPU amplitude Control, PCI Express Amplitude Control, CPU CLK Skew, MCH CLK skew. They further break down to: auto,700mv, 800mv, 900mv, 1000mv.
-finally, theirs a setting that I've googled and can't find info on. NB Config = config1, config2, 3, 4, or disabled. Help item just mentions that it helps with memory OC etc, but don't know what the configs do.

So far it's stable at 3.8ghz, but I knew it shouldn't have a problem with that since I've had it running that clock for about a year. Testing the 9.5 x 420mhz now. Thanks for the help again guys, sorry for the questions/bugging, but I assure you that I've googled/searched for the answers before I've asked =).