Overclock E8400 ( Total Newb! )

[guzzidom]

how can u guys get ur cpu up soooo high?? mine one is at stock and most i did was 3.8ghz and i thought that was like high... now i wanna try 4ghz.....

3.6-3.8ghz is more than respectable on air cooling, though I'm surprised you needed to go to 1.38v to get it.

[Turophiliac]

3.6-3.8ghz is more than respectable on air cooling, though I'm surprised you needed to go to 1.38v to get it.

I'm not at all surprised, mine took 1.4v to get it 4+ hrs prime stable @3.8GHz.

[guzzidom]

I'm not at all surprised, mine took 1.4v to get it 4+ hrs prime stable @3.8GHz.

 

I guess there's some variance between the chips, apart from anything else mine's an EO stepping. it tends to be happy with stock voltage all the way to 3.7 and then only needs 1.32 to get to 4.2 (at which point it's all getting a bit toasty for my tastes).

I'm considering going W/C for the CPU and Northbridge to see what I can push this thing to without having 65 degrees under load (@ 4.2ghz + 1.32v), I'm only using a cheapo Arctic Cooling 7 Pro. The biggest problem is that my rig lives inside a computer desk which means the temps get a bit too much. Even now at stock volts and 3.62 ghz it idles at 39 and Prime95 loads at 58, I'd like to see about 7-8 degrees less TBH.

Worst I've seen is 1.38v/ 4.5ghz at which point it's idling at 48 degrees and loading at 69 (and gradually rising a degree or so every half hour) too hot so I backed it all off.

[Timmy94]

Not to highjack the thread, but I oc'ed my 8400 to 3.33, it boots good, stable.

but when i put in 3.6(9x400) i save to cmos, exit, it turns off, boots up again and is on for 3 secs, then reboots again with last known good settings when i check the M.I.T.

I am running all stock voltages, i have changed nothing but the cpu clock, does it fail to get to 3.6 as a result of the voltages, or the heat(stock cooler) if there is any or something else???

Edited December 7, 2008 by Timmy94

[Rickz]

Not to highjack the thread, but I oc'ed my 8400 to 3.33, it boots good, stable.

but when i put in 3.6(9x400) i save to cmos, exit, it turns off, boots up again and is on for 3 secs, then reboots again with last known good settings when i check the M.I.T.

I am running all stock voltages, i have changed nothing but the cpu clock, does it fail to get to 3.6 as a result of the voltages, or the heat(stock cooler) if there is any or something else???

 

 

Well I just got mine to 4.07ghz. I have water cooling but like you Timmy94, I too had problems... I noticed that for some reason my RAM voltage was set at 1.6V and my E8400 was at 1.016 sometimes 1.008.. So I Checked on my ram and on the side of the DIMM it says 2.1V so I then changed my RAM voltage to 2.0 in BIOS and set my E8400 to 1.25V. Get a program ( if you haven't already done so) to monitor your tems. once you have the voltages sorted I'm sure you will get ur's at least 3.6GHZ on just air. Mine is now running at 19C wile i'm typing this and my MB temp is at 40C. My RAM is blody hot tho lol! so i will have to get RAM cooler or something cause I want 4.3GHZ or more

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Rich

[Rickz]

I'm not at all surprised, mine took 1.4v to get it 4+ hrs prime stable @3.8GHz.

 

1.4V for your CPU? omg lol isn't that a little high? you must have some wicked cooling lol!

[Timmy94]

Ok, my ram is rated at 2.1v, so take it off auto and put it on 2.1v, then put my cpu vcore to 1.25v???

Edited December 7, 2008 by Timmy94

[guzzidom]

Ok, my ram is rated at 2.1v, so take it off auto and put it on 2.1v, then put my cpu vcore to 1.25v???

 

That'll do for starters, you might want to loosen the ram timings a bit if it is set at 5-5-5-15, set it to 6-6-6-17 or similar, put the CPU to 1.3 (std is 1.26 on mine) and start bumping the fsb, if it becomes unstable set your CPU to 1.35 and set your ram to 2.1, finally if you are struggling past 4ghz try setting your northbridge voltage up a notch from std (I haven't needed to touch it until 4.4ghz).

Stress test every 5mhz fsb after 3.6ghz and it's all at your own risk.

[Timmy94]

every 5mhz, that'll be a while

Edited December 7, 2008 by Timmy94

[Timmy94]

Just a quick query, is the zalman 9700led an adequate air cooler, or is an ice age 120 better.

[guzzidom]

every 5mhz, that'll be a while

 

 

Only 5 minutes of Prime95 per 20mhz or so of CPU speed until you get to 3.8 ish then it's worth giving it half hour or so, then once you've got to 4ghz give it a good couple of hours.

It's worth taking your time IMO, you could just crack it up to 450mhz and then work your way down the settings to get it to boot but that's even more tedious and a lot more alarming.

[guzzidom]

Just a quick query, is the zalman 9700led an adequate air cooler, or is an ice age 120 better.

The Zalman should be fine up to 3.8- 4ghz, after that I would personally think about water., test it yourself, if you are getting any more than about 68 degrees after a couple of hours of P95 then it's probably worth backing off or thinking about water.

The 45Nm's aren't happy really above 1.4v or 75 degrees (not a criticism of the chip mind, they are normally chucking out 4.6ghz by the time you get those sort of settings/readings)