Overclocking my rig

[Pec0]

I have never over-clocked any of my machines before. I was just wonder if anyone would talk me out of over-clocking my rig and also give me a bit of help. I'm just looking to get as much juice out of it as possible however I am worried I fry it..

 

Here's my kit:

 

Antec 300

Antex 750w Truepower new

Asus P5Q3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP @n

Intel Core 2 duo E8500 (3.16ghz) socket 775 Wolfdale Stock HS

Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10666 XMS3 DHX Memory Kit

Sapphire Radeon 4870 HDMI Vapor-X 1GB DDR5

500Gb Sata II h/d

250Gb ide h/d

 

Apologies in advance if this is a bizarre request... I'm just look for any assistance and guidance possible.

 

1. 
    
   
2. First off, will it be worth my while with the above year old components to get a little more juice out my system?
   
3. What do you think my kit is capable of?
   
4. If the answer is yes, where should I start, increasing FSB or multiplyer and is so by how much?
   

Edited July 29, 2010 by Pec0

[IVIYTH0S]

You should be able to pull about 4.2ghz+ on that E8500, and the 4870 can assuredly overclock quite a bit.

Can you get a few pictures of your bios so I can help ya overclock (as it will differ from mine).

Since you never overclocked before I'd say go track down some socket core 2 overclocking guides just so you get to know some of the lingo before we continue too

[Pec0]

You should be able to pull about 4.2ghz+ on that E8500, and the 4870 can assuredly overclock quite a bit.

Can you get a few pictures of your bios so I can help ya overclock (as it will differ from mine).

Since you never overclocked before I'd say go track down some socket core 2 overclocking guides just so you get to know some of the lingo before we continue too

 

I've been reading and reading. I'm slowely getting to know the lingo, but as soon as I look in the Bios I panik.

 

Pics to follow..

Edited July 29, 2010 by Pec0

[Pec0]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said as soon as I'm in Bios I panik. I dunno what do change. Should it be the FSB and if so by how much or the multiplier, if so by how much? Should I be changing the CPU ratio setting??? Gulp.

 

Let me know mate.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Pec0

[CowKing]

move up the FSB Frequency by 10MHz increments and stress test and if you hit an error then up the vcore by .025 volts or so. that easy

[damian]

The first image doesn't seem to load properly. Anyways The main settings in your BIOS that you should work with are:

-CPU Ratio AKA Multiplier

-FSB Frequency

-CPU Voltage AKA CPU VID or something similar

 

And maybe the Northbridge voltage but this is usually left untouched until you start reaching high, unstable clock speeds

 

Raising the CPU ratio and FSB will result in a higher cpu speed. Both do the trick so you can stick with one or the other or you can tweak both for a finely tuned configuration.

The FSB is linked with the DRAM Frequency AKA Memory speed (Your memory's speeds - 666.5Mhz; note when running dual channel that number is doubled hence the labeled speeds are 1333MHz because 665.5X2=1333) so if you raise the FSB your dram freq will also go up. Your memory should be able to be overclocked a good bit before it reaches instability. This is why multipliers are helpful you can overclock with the multiplier instead of the FSB so you do not put too much strain on the memory. Although the E8500 has a locked multiplier so you are going to be limited.

 

If you don't know this its good to know.

 

CPU ratio - 9.5x

FSB - 333Mhz

 

Multiply the two and that's how you get your CPU speed. 9.5x333=3.1Ghz

 

 

Now to start overclocking. Instead of having your CPU ratio on auto set it to it's default setting of 9.5x

So with the multiplier at 9.5x. Raise your FSB by 5-10Mhz at a time. Save the settings. Boot up into windows and use a stress test program. I would download a program called OCCT (Free) because that can detect an error really fast and saves you a lot of time.

 

Do this until you reach your CPU speed goal. I'd aim for a setting of 9.5x379 for an overall clock speed of 3.6GHz. I cannot be 100% sure but my instincts tell me you don't need to mess with the voltages just yet. Anything higher than 3.7Ghz then yeah you probably will start to reach instability so raising the VCore (CPU Voltage) will help.

 

So just raise the FSB enough to get to 3.6 or 3.8GHz in increments of 10 (i go by 15 just because i can be lazy) stress test in between.

 

Overclocking can be very tedious and it requires patience but can be rewarding and fun once you get the hang of it. The E8500 is a very good overclocker and most of them can reach speeds upwards of 4.2Ghz. Every CPU chip is different and overclocks vary so no one can really tell you the limits of your CPU, thats for you to know AND to find out.

Edited July 29, 2010 by damian

[Pec0]

The first image doesn't seem to load properly. Anyways The main settings in your BIOS that you should work with are:

-CPU Ratio AKA Multiplier

-FSB Frequency

-CPU Voltage AKA CPU VID or something similar

 

And maybe the Northbridge voltage but this is usually left untouched until you start reaching high, unstable clock speeds

 

Raising the CPU ratio and FSB will result in a higher cpu speed. Both do the trick so you can stick with one or the other or you can tweak both for a finely tuned configuration.

The FSB is linked with the DRAM Frequency AKA Memory speed (Your memory's speeds - 666.5Mhz; note when running dual channel that number is doubled hence the labeled speeds are 1333MHz because 665.5X2=1333) so if you raise the FSB your dram freq will also go up. Your memory should be able to be overclocked a good bit before it reaches instability. This is why multipliers are helpful you can overclock with the multiplier instead of the FSB so you do not put too much strain on the memory. Although the E8500 has a locked multiplier so you are going to be limited.

 

If you don't know this its good to know.

 

CPU ratio - 9.5x

FSB - 333Mhz

 

Multiply the two and that's how you get your CPU speed. 9.5x333=3.1Ghz

 

 

Now to start overclocking. Instead of having your CPU ratio on auto set it to it's default setting of 9.5x

So with the multiplier at 9.5x. Raise your FSB by 5-10Mhz at a time. Save the settings. Boot up into windows and use a stress test program. I would download a program called OCCT (Free) because that can detect an error really fast and saves you a lot of time.

 

Do this until you reach your CPU speed goal. I'd aim for a setting of 9.5x379 for an overall clock speed of 3.6GHz. I cannot be 100% sure but my instincts tell me you don't need to mess with the voltages just yet. Anything higher than 3.7Ghz then yeah you probably will start to reach instability so raising the VCore (CPU Voltage) will help.

 

So just raise the FSB enough to get to 3.6 or 3.8GHz in increments of 10 (i go by 15 just because i can be lazy) stress test in between.

 

Overclocking can be very tedious and it requires patience but can be rewarding and fun once you get the hang of it. The E8500 is a very good overclocker and most of them can reach speeds upwards of 4.2Ghz. Every CPU chip is different and overclocks vary so no one can really tell you the limits of your CPU, thats for you to know AND to find out.

 

Fantastic and invaluable advice. Thank you very much for taking the time to post this.

 

*skips off to bios*

[Pec0]

Quick question. Should I turn off Speedstep that makes my CPU fluctuate down when idle?

Edited July 29, 2010 by Pec0

[damian]

Yeah that's what exactly what it does. It's up to you if you want to turn it off.

[Pec0]

Yeah that's what exactly what it does. It's up to you if you want to turn it off.

 

If it's not important I'll just leave it then.

 

I have just up'd by my first increment of 15 from 333 to 348 FSB . I have OCCT v3.1.0 running as I type. CPU temperature is sitting at 68oC, all seems stable, 20 mins to go before the next 15 increase.

[wevsspot]

Peco - one very important piece of information here - keep a close eye on your cpu temps - especially under load. Since you're still running the stock HS your cpu overclocking headroom is going to be limited by heat.

 

Probably one of the best investments you could make on your 1 year old rig is an upgraded cpu heatsink. Get a good one and you can really make that E8500 shine.

[Pec0]

Peco - one very important piece of information here - keep a close eye on your cpu temps - especially under load. Since you're still running the stock HS your cpu overclocking headroom is going to be limited by heat.

 

Probably one of the best investments you could make on your 1 year old rig is an upgraded cpu heatsink. Get a good one and you can really make that E8500 shine.

 

Will do mate. Can you recommend any Headsinks specifically?