GA-EP45-DS3L + E8400 OC Assistance

[Eskimio]

Hey everybody,

 

My rig specs are:

 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Wolfdale E8400 3.0 GHz

Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W

Memory: G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 MHz & Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 MHz

Graphics: EVGA nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 250 GB

Case: Rosewill Destroyer

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro w/ Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

 

Now, I've had this computer for nearly 2 years however my initial purchase was sans CPU cooler/case (used stock cooler and a hand-me-down case from a friend). I was quite the novice at the time and didn't realize until after I was out of funds that the case had no fans (very bad) and the stock cooler was crap (also very bad). Basically, my system (which I bought to be OC'd) was un OC-able. However, I was recently able to procure a respectable amount of cash with which I was able to purchase a bargain case and a highly-reviewed cpu cooler. With these in hand, I was able to OC my CPU to 4.0 GHz (445x9 | 1780 FSB @ 1.3v BIOS, 1.264v Idle, 1.248v Load | ~40-45 C @ Idle, 72 C @ Load) & dabble with the memory settings (400 MHz, 2.00D, 5-5-5-18 Timing @ 2.08v BIOS, 2.06v Idle, 2.06v Load) w/ CPU fan & both case fans on 100% (sound isn't an issue). GPU is OC'd from Core Clock: 600 MHz, Shader Clock: 1500 MHz, Memory Clock: 900 Mhz to Core Clock: 750 MHz, Shader Clock: 1875 MHz, Memory Clock: 1150 MHz. GPU sits at about 72 C @ Load.

 

Basically, I'd like for some of you advanced/power/enthusiast users to double-check what I've done & maybe help me push it further. I've been reading people can hit 4.2-4.5 GHz with the E8400, and people who are hitting 4.0 GHz are using more voltage than I am. My only concern is heat - Even with 2 120mm case fans @ 2000 RPM each, and a CPU fan @ 1800 RPM my CPU/GPU are sitting at just over 70 C which I'm not particularly comfortable with, but with all the threads I've read on heat... It doesn't seem to be THAT big an issue, I just need to keep an eye on it. (However, with my cooling setup I'm just wondering why it isn't lower...)

 

One last thing, I'm currently 1 hour into Prime95 stresstesting @ the first setting (forget what it is called...) without any errors or BSOD's. Which is better than I've been getting all day. Hopefully it'll last all night so I can have a stable baseline from which to work from.

 

Thanks to everyone who reads this in the future and helps me out.

[dihartnell]

I found this site invaluable when reaching my stable overclock (as per my sig). I also found that my board was harder to reach stability with high fsbs and low CPU.

 

temps with my prolimatech Megahalems are pretty low (low 30's idle, mid to high 50's full load).

[Eskimio]

I found this site invaluable when reaching my stable overclock (as per my sig). I also found that my board was harder to reach stability with high fsbs and low CPU.

 

temps with my prolimatech Megahalems are pretty low (low 30's idle, mid to high 50's full load).

 

Awesome! Thanks for the link, really. I'll be able to compare Grishka's settings to mine to see if there are any discrepancies which might make my rig more stable.