Help Overclocking P5q Pro And E8400

[Harred]

On stock voltage I you can reach 3.6ghz, seems like a good place to aim. Anyway I have 2gb of corsair PC2-6400 and 2gb of Crucial 2gb (long story). So I turned off speed step, disabled ClE, turned off pci-e spectrum and the other on, and put my FSB at 400mhz and saved and exit. I am still at 3077mhz.

 

Could anyone help a noob and guide me exactly on what ram timings I set/change and anything else I have missed.

[Cannan]

On stock voltage I you can reach 3.6ghz, seems like a good place to aim. Anyway I have 2gb of corsair PC2-6400 and 2gb of Crucial 2gb (long story). So I turned off speed step, disabled ClE, turned off pci-e spectrum and the other on, and put my FSB at 400mhz and saved and exit. I am still at 3077mhz.

 

Could anyone help a noob and guide me exactly on what ram timings I set/change and anything else I have missed.

 

 

You might want to read the thread I created when I was starting to learn about OCing - I have a P5Q-E and 8400 chip:

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.p...howtopic=160791

 

The first thing to consider is your cooling - are you using your stock heatsink? If so, you really should consider installing an after-market heatsink - it is well worth it. At first I thought about OCing with my stock heatsink but I was advised (correctly!) against it here in this forum.

 

As far as voltages go, I'm not sure what you mean by stock voltage. What is it set to now?

 

Finally, for RAM timings I found it best to consult the manufacturers web site, particularly the forums. It will probably be a bit tricky to find the optimal settings given that you have two different brands of RAM, but you'll probably get fairly close.

 

Oh, and you should try to post some further details about your system - that will help people give you the best advice. For example, your power supply and case.

 

Good luck!

[ebarone]

You just went from stock to 3.6? Thats quite a jump. When overclocking for the first time, its best you forget everything you've heard about what your chip can do, because nobody has YOUR chip except you. Someone else might get their chip to run at 3.6 on stock voltages, but you cannot just assume yours will act the same.

 

Get an aftermarket cooler. Most any will do, but the most popular ones on this forum are the Thermaltake Ultra 120 Extreme, the Xigmatek HDT-S1283, and the Coolermaster V8 or V10. They cost anywhere from $30 to $80, and there isnt an overclocker alive who will say its not worth it.

 

When you start to clock up, go in smaller increments, dont just jump from 333 to 400 FSB and expect it to work. Increments of 20 are good at first.

 

Remember, your overclock will fail eventually. It just will, you cant escape it. It will fail due to any number of things: heat, improper RAM settings, inadequate voltages for any number of elements, or even just because the chip doesnt want to go faster. Before clocking, put as many settings as you can to a level where you know they wont be the cause of failure. For example, run your memory at loose timings (7-7-7-22 for example) with a multiplier of 2 so you know a failure will never be due to trying to run your memory too fast.

 

Set your vcore high at first, higher than you think you need, 1.35v for example. Then when you achieve the overclock you want, lower the voltage in steps and test all the way down. It will take some time, but you will eventually find whats the lowest voltage your CPU needs to run that particular clock speed. If you happen to get it to run 3.6GHz on stock level voltages, great! But dont ever assume you will.

 

Also set your other voltages, like your Northbridge Voltage or MCH voltage, higher than you think you'll need. Once you get your CPU where you want it, lower those voltages and find the minimum. Could be stock, could be higher.

 

After all that, then start mucking with your memory. Tighten the timings, increase the multiplier, do whatever. Run them at a safe voltage level, but mess with their settings until you get the fastest memory you can get.

 

THEN you're done with your overclocking.