Overclocking An E8400 With A Psu That Has 4 X 12v Rails

[Nephilumos]

I'm a noob to the whole OC business, so here's what my system looks like:

 

CPU: C2D E8400

 

MB: EVGA Nvidia nForce 750i SLI FTW(Seriously, that's the name "for the win")

 

FSB:1333MHz(can be expanded)

 

GPU: 2x GeForce 8800GT's in SLI

 

Cooling: 3 x80mm fans, 1 x120mm fan, Stock Intel heatsink (planning on getting another 120mm intake fan)

 

RAM: 6Gb Dual channel DDR2 6400 800MHz OCZ memory

 

PSU: Brand OCZ

Model OCZ700GXSSLI

Series GameXStream

Spec

Type ATX12V

Maximum Power 700W

Fans 120mm fan x 1

PFC Active

Main Connector 20+4Pin

+12V Rails 4

PCI-E Connectors 2 x 6Pin

CrossFire Ready

SLI Certified

Modular No

Over Voltage Protection Yes

Input Voltage 100 - 240 V

Input Frequency Range 50/60 Hz

Input Current 10A @ 115V, 5A @ 230V

Output [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],+ [email protected],[email protected],[email protected]

Features

Connectors 1 x 20+4-pin ATX

1 x 4-pin/8-pin CPU

2 x PCI-Express

6 x 4-pin peripheral

2 x 4-pin floppy

6 x SATA

 

 

My psu is my main concern. I know that 4 12v rails is going to complicate things a bit, so I wanted to know if anyone was willing to give me some extra help as how to get a stable OC on my processor, and quite possibly my memory.

 

Also, here's the software I have for the OC process(I looked at the guides extensively):

Prime95

CPU-Z

HWMonitor(64-bit)

Realtemp

 

Any help at all would be appreciated ^.^

Edited September 21, 2008 by nitem4re

[paulktreg]

nitem4re

 

What worries do you have about the power supply?

 

You have a quality power supply there that is Nvidia certified for 2 x 8800GT in SLI so there shouldn't be a problem. Make sure you balance the load (12V1->Motherboard | 12V2->Fans, HDD, Rom Drives, etc. | 12V3->8800GT | 12V4->8800GT) to the power supply and everything will be fine.

 

What make/size sticks make up the 6GB of memory?

 

Regards

 

Paul

[damian]

also...what kind of overclock are we talking here? the stock heatsink wont take you to far despite the number of fans you have, you need a good cooler *specifically* for the cpu not just fans blowing air around it (it will help but not as much as an aftermarket heatsink)

Edited September 21, 2008 by damian

[Nephilumos]

The only thing that really worried me about the power supply is that a few of my "Geek Squad" friends(I work at Best Buy) that actually run gaming machines of their own said that it's going to be a bit more complicated finding the right voltages for my CPU seeing as how I have 4 rails. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything particularly special I had to look out for.

 

Here's the actual memory specs:

 

2 x1Gb:

Brand OCZ

Series Gold

Model OCZ2G8002GK

Type 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM

Tech Spec

Capacity 2GB (2 x 1GB)

Speed DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Cas Latency 5

Timing 5-5-5-15

Voltage 1.8V

Heat Spreader Yes

Features 1.9V EVP

Gold Layered XTC Heatspreader

 

2 x2Gb:

Brand OCZ

Series Gold

Model OCZ2G8004GK

Type 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM

Tech Spec

Capacity 4GB (2 x 2GB)

Speed DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Cas Latency 5

Timing 5-5-5-18

Voltage 2.0V

Heat Spreader Yes

Features Gold XTC Heatspreader

2.1V EVP

 

And with the OC, it's stock at 3.0 GHz, but I've also read reviews(On this site, and others) that this chip is an OC beast with the stock heatsink. I think this site took it up to 4.2 GHz with the stock heat sink. So I'm going to try and shoot for 4.0GHz if I can keep the CPU under 60 C under load. I am going to invest in an aftermarket sink for the CPU when I have money again however, along with the extra intake fan.

 

Thanks for the replies BTW ^.^

[Queenz]

Yea the E8400's run cool but once you start upping those volts needed for the OC it will start getting hot as hell. It's okay temporarily to use the stock heatsink but keep an eye on those temps. And keep the volts below 1.45 cause wolfdale's tend to not like very high volts. Good luck with your OC :thumbs-up:

[Nephilumos]

Well, I'm just gonna have to go grab me a heat sink from work then ^.^. But, I've also read up a lot on the E8400(45nm chips in general) and their 1.4v limit so, I'm not gonna push it anywhere close to that. But, thanks for the extra heads up :thumbs-up:

[damian]

The only thing that really worried me about the power supply is that a few of my "Geek Squad" friends(I work at Best Buy) that actually run gaming machines of their own said that it's going to be a bit more complicated finding the right voltages for my CPU seeing as how I have 4 rails. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything particularly special I had to look out for.

 

And with the OC, it's stock at 3.0 GHz, but I've also read reviews(On this site, and others) that this chip is an OC beast with the stock heatsink. I think this site took it up to 4.2 GHz with the stock heat sink. So I'm going to try and shoot for 4.0GHz if I can keep the CPU under 60 C under load. I am going to invest in an aftermarket sink for the CPU when I have money again however, along with the extra intake fan.

 

1. do not listen to Geek squad when it comes to computers, ironic huh

2. 4GHz on stock cooling...60C under load?? that's not happening.

 

Sure the E8400 is an overclock beast but it usually ends there. To get to 4GHz you would need to raise the voltages to about 1.36 or 1.4V which stock cooling probably will not be able to handle. If you saw a site that had those results on stock it doesn't mean every single E8400 will be able to reach that. Not all hardware is made equal.

 

Like i said before, plenty of case fans is a plus, but what is more important is a cooler specifically for the cpu.

Edited September 22, 2008 by damian

[Nephilumos]

Yeah, I just know nothing about power supplies, so, I was kinda shooting in the dark, but now I think I've got a good idea on what's going on with all the extra rail business ^.^

[crazy8s846]

One of the things your not thinking of when you say someone overclocked there E8400 to 4.2 on stock cooling is how long did he have it there, was it stable, is the only thing he did was take a screen shot because it booted in to windows. I have a E8500 at 4012 stable 24/7 and had to put water cooling for that, so my temps were under control. I can overclock it to 4500, is it stable no could i get it stable maybe, but would need to much voltage, maybe for a bench mark, but not for 24/7 use.

[Nephilumos]

Yeah, you are definitely right. That is a very valid point that I wasn't thinking about, ^_^ . But, I got a suggestion to get the Thermalright TRUE Black Ultra-120 eXtreme CPU Cooler, and everywhere I looked it's said it's probably one of the best heat sinks out there. So, I think I'm going to invest in one when I get the money ^_^ . That and some ArcticSilver Ceramique. So, After all of this info, I guess I'm just gonna hold off on the OC until I can get a better heat sink, so probably not for another month or so. I guess I'll be able to break my cpu in till then Thanks for all the great advice guys.

Edited September 22, 2008 by nitem4re

[bg8780]

Man i dunno if your gonna find a good heatsink at work? I also work at Best Buy at we dont carry anything that will outperform the stock heatsink at my store. Yours might be a different story so i dunno.

 

And lets take it easy damian lets not make this a GS bashing thread lol theres plenty of those. I dunno about the precinct at the best buy by you but I'm fortunate to have very gifted techs where i work. and if the GS at your local best buy are tools than thank god you dont need them lol

[Nephilumos]

Nah, iIm not getting the heat sink at work. I decided against getting anything at work, lol. If you read my previous reply, it shows you what I'm going to get instead ^_^. My Geek squad has maybe, One competent person in it. He's the one who said to watch out for the 4 12v rails in the first place. So, maybe he isn't as competent as I thought lol.