# Newb OC



## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

I'm looking to OC my rig. I'm pretty newb to the OC scene, I've tinkered here and there, but never anything major. I've done a lot of research and have a pretty good general understanding about the whole thing.

I'm pretty sure the rig I've got is pretty decent, with high OC capabilities.
I've attached an Everest report txt file to this post with full hardware details.

My case has 2 4inch fans, one in the front blowing air from outside onto my 3 hard drives (seems to have fixed some BSODs I was getting), the other is bringing air from the rear onto my cpu. I also have a large 9 inch fan on the left side main panel.

CPU Cooler;Cooler Master Hyper N520
Mobo; XFX 750i SLI Extreme
CPU; e8500 Wolfdale
PSU; PCP&C 750watt single rail
RAM; OCZ Nvid SLI ready PC2-6400 2gb X 4
Vid Cards; EVGA GT OC 9600

If you need any other info including temps etc. check out the .txt file attached below.

I'd like to clock my cpu to 4gigs+ and have a stable rig for 1-2 years.


Now.. here is where my incomplete knowledge of overclocking begins.
The multiplier on my e8500 is capped at 9.5. my RAM runs at 800mhz, which means my max fsb should be 400, which would mean my max cpu speed with my ram clocked the way it is would be 3.8ghz?

My mobo says "Up to 1800 MHz Front Side Bus Speed in Overclocking Mode"
To get 1800Mhz fsb, I would have to clock my ram to 900 mhz?

I tried clocking the ram up to 900 mhz, and left the voltage at the manufacturer's recommended max of 2.2v, set the fsb to 1800, multiplier to 6, and timings on auto. It posted to bios, but not to windows, so I toyed with the timings a bit (5-5-5-15), and got it to boot to win, then ran some memtests, which it failed miserably.

I went ahead and reset my bios to optimum defaults and started this post, because I feel like if I tinker any further I'll cause some sort of irrecoverable damage to my hardware and data.

I'm downloading a boot cd with free cpu/ram testing utilities so I can safely stress test after making any changes you recommend to me.


Awaiting your great advice and infinite wisdom, ray:
~Twistdshade


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

Mobo link fixed.. this one is in english.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

I took some pictures of my rig, and recorded a short vid of my bios menu to give you a better idea of my setup. You can view them here; http://thegoodfellasguild.com/tsf

Right now the fan behind my cpu blows air in, and the cpu fan blows air up from the bottom.

I was thinking of turning the case fan around to where it blows air out instead of in, and turning the cpu fan to where the air is blown from the front to the back, and exhausted out the rear. This would theoretically reduce case temps and lower cpu temps as well.

What do you guys think?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Rule of thumb for case fans-Front fan blows in-Rear fan blows out-CPU fan blows to rear. 
Side and top fans can actually disrupt proper airflow so experimentation is required.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

Yeah, I've heard side fans can cause hot spots, but I think mine is large enough to create an even airflow. I'll definitely turn the rear fan around and direct the cpu to the back. I'll have to order some new thermal compound though, thinking of getting some Arctic Silver 5..

So do you have any pointers on the overclock?

I've read around in the forums, and from what I understand, it's generally better to increase fsb 10-20 at a time, and increasing voltage as the system grows unstable.

But I've already gotten it to run stable at 1600fsb 3.8 ghz.

I want to break 4gigs, but I can't do that with the ram at the stock frequency.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

Bumping this.. hope nobody minds.

Still looking for some info on upping my ram's frequency to increase maximum fsb to increase max cpu clock.

Info on voltages, timings, testing would be greatly appreciated.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

Got the mem running @900, timings set to auto and fsb increased slightly, just enough to get the adjusted memory freqency to match @900

Seems to be running stable, but I know my voltages are set higher than necessary. Got em set this high because I was trying to OC to 4.0 ghz, dropped my fsb down till it would run stable at these voltages 100 mhz at a time

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1079641/Report2.txt


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

I know people have had this CPU running at 4.5 on air, all I'm asking for is 4.0


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

this is how you do it.

Disable C1E and Intel speedstep (you can enable them when you are overclocked if you want later)

Up the FSB 10MHz save and reboot. if you get into windows go back and do it again.
once you have raised by 60MHz then you need to stress test with OCCT for 1 hour whilst monitoring the temps you do not want to go past 60 degrees c at full load.
Once you have done that and everything is fine repeat the above.

If you get to point you can not get into windows then you up the VCORE to the next available one and try getting into windows again. If not raise again

Set the PCIe frequency to 100 even if it says 100 type it in manually.

Set your ram to the manufacturers stated voltage do not leave it on auto.
Manually enter the ram timmings i.e 4-4-4-12

Repeat the FSB increase and stress tests until you get to an overclock you are happy with once at a happy overclock stress test with prime 95 for 6+ hours whilst monitoring the temps.

4.5 is hard to get with your cpu 4GHz is no problem I have my E8400 running at 4GHz.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

My ram is rated at 800mhz 5-5-5-14 @2.2V

Will I be able to clock past 3.2 gigs at stock mem frequency?



If yes, then great. I'll start using your recommended method immediately.

If no, and I have to increase memory frequency. Where do I begin?

Currently running at 900mhz 5-5-5-15 @ 2.2V with the cpu clocked at 3.206

Is this a good start?.. or am I going off in the wrong direction entirely?


I know all motherboards are different and some boards offer different options than others.

I don't have the same options I've seen other people talking about in forums.

I recorded a vid of my bios options which you can view here;
http://thegoodfellasguild.com/tsf/DSCF1197.AVI


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you keep the memory at 800MHz do not touch this at all, when you change the FSB speed then the ram speed will also change.

having a 1:1 ratio i.e keeping that ram its full rated frequency is not always the best option when overclocking. What you want is the ram speed not to go above 800MHz and not below 667MHz you also want to keep the memory at its rate voltage and its timming at the default value but enter them manually you can tighten the memory timmings after you overclock.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

OK, so you're saying I can reach higher speeds without overclocking my RAM. Great news.

Looking back at your last post, I saw you mentioned "C1E" and "Speedstep" I can't find either option in my bios (I'm guessing you didn't watch my vid :/ )

I do see an option for EIST, which from the context menu, I'm guessing is some sort of software OC setting. I have this option disabled because I'm afraid of any OS overclocking getting in the way of my BIOS OC.

I also just noticed I had some NVidia software installed causing exactly what I was trying to avoid by disabling EIST.. but no worries now since the software has been removed.

I'll be moving forward with the step-by-step OC..

Thanks for all the info so far.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

I dont open files on here in case they might cause my computer problems

is your system one you built your self or one someone built for you or one that you just bought from a shop like a dell or compaq.

If its one you bought from a shop like dell or compaq then your BIOS will be limited and you wont be able to overclock very well.

The cpu and ram are linked to what is called the frontside bus or FSB increase the FSB affects both you never change just the ram then the cpu. YOu tweak the ram after the FSB increase.

You switch EIST off you can enable it after you have overclocked. EIST is the same as C1E and intel speedstep what it does is underclocks your cpu when it is not doing anything intensive to save power to get a succefful overclock and test it properly you need maximum power so this is why you turn it off.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

My PC is homebuilt.

I got the cpu to run at 3.38ghz before going to bed last night.

I'm up and back to work on it right now.

Edit:

I have a few options for voltages..

Vcore, FSB, NorthBridge, and Southbridge.. I'm pretty sure there are others, but I can't remember them right now.

Here's my current understanding for these 4 settings

Core: If I was increasing the multiplier and not the fsb, this would be the only voltage I would need to increase.

FSB: I should be increasing this with my core voltage.

NorthBridge: If I was increasing fsb while keeping 1:1 ram ratio, this would need to be increased as well.

Southbridge: Should only be changed if I was doing something with the low-voltage on board things, like sound, harddrives, etc..

Am I right so far? Or is there more I should know?

Should I be adjusting fsb voltage with my core voltage, increasing them both as I increase my clock speeds?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you dont strictly have to change any voltages you only change them if you are getting issues.

The vcore is the one you will change if you get a blue screen oof death whilst trying to boot into windows

after you overclock you set the NB and SB voltages to the lowest you can get them to, if you get a BSOD then increase or you can leave them at auto

you set the dram voltage to whatever the manufacturer states for the RAM i.e 2,1v or whatever it is then leave it alone you only increase the vcore if you are running into trouble.. I dont know what you mean by FSB voltage never seen it before and I have overclocked for years.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

it said VTT FSB

I looked into it, and I think voltage changes here can have varying results. But it doesn't need to be changed while overclocking. I think once I find a nice OC result, as I'm fine tuning things, I might adjust it a bit.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

I got the cpu's fsb up to 1513 and couldn't get it to pass the 1 hour test. It would lock down no more than 5 minutes in.

I tried upping the voltage 5 times without success.

I backed it down to 1500 and backed the voltage back down 4 times running stable.

I'm still only at 3.56ghz.. @1.272 vt & 48/45c at 100% load.

I'm pretty sure I was getting about the same temps at stock speeds, and my system is set to keep the temps at ~45c

I think maybe I'll let it run at this speed for a couple days.. I've heard of cpus being stubborn and not clocking as high as they should, and then after being run at slightly higher than stock speeds, they would 'break in' and OCers could clock them higher later on.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

sometimes CPUs take a while to being overclocked and you can clock them further later but that being said not all CPUs are the same I know people with the same cpu as me and get the 443 FSB and 4GHz that I have.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

My LCD was in the shop for awhile, I'm back at this project again.

I started up with stock clocks and started by disabling any unnecessary features in BIOS.

Then I set my RAM timings to the recommended 4-4-4-15 @ 2.2V

I noticed that I was able to get up to 1500 fsb with only a couple voltage bumps (0.800 from the stock setting of 0.000 I'm guessing this number is in relation to the core's stock voltage) by setting my RAM at a 1:1 ratio with actual FSB (750 mhz)

Seems this MOBO is highly sensitive to mem timings and voltage. Sometimes it fails to boot if these are set to auto.

There seems to be a speed block at this point because I can't get it to boot at anything higher than this, I'm at 0.1500V and the system can't even load my desktop icons without locking up. I've tried increasing the VTT FSB Voltage, no dice.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

I'm at 0.1750 now and stability seems to have increased. It's able to load up my sidebar gadgets before failing miserably.

The voltage increase is almost double what I had to use vs when I was clocking it up from 1333 to 1500. And I'm only trying to get it to go up by another 10.

Stability droped from being rock-solid to being like china in a bull shop.

There has to be something I'm overlooking.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

I found this post here;
http://www.evga.com/forumsarchive/printable.asp?m=583207&mpage=2

This guy was having the same issue as me, and a poster called "General Iroh" made this suggestion;
"If you want to hit 4.0GHz you have to apply some real voltage to your chip. I have a e7200, which at 1333 fsb i get a 3.16GHz clock like your e8500. To hit 4.0Ghz you would have to raise your FSB to 1685 and get your vcore up to around 1.475 - 1.5 and your vtt and nb voltage around 1.32 - 1.34. But make sure you have ample cooling before you try this. Voltages that high can fry your chip at load if not careful.

To post at 1500FSB try using 1.32 vtt and nb voltages and a vcore of 1.4 - 1.45. Use real temp or cpu-id to check the vid of your cpu, the higher the number the more voltage is required by the chip to boot."

The only thing in his suggestion I haven't tried is his comment about NB voltage.
I'm going to try this and see how it turns out.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

cpu voltage is set at 0.1500
I bumped FSB VTT twice, and NB VTT twice,

Started it up at 1550 fsb
the boot time seems to have decreased considerably, which I'm guessing is because CPU stability has gone up.

I'm running Windows Experience Index as a preliminary test as I'm tying this...

Previous results @ 1500 fsb
Processor 6.8
RAM 6.8
Graphics 7.0
Gaming Graphics 7.0
HD 5.2

....

Passed

CPU 6.9
RAM 6.9
Graphics 7.1
Gaming Graphics 7.1
HD still at 5.2

Moving on to my goal of 1600 so I can run my RAM at the recommended frequency of 800.

I think at this point I could probably decrease core voltage considerably. But I'm still pushing to get higher FSB for SLI gaming.


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## twistdshade (Feb 6, 2007)

I think I'm just gonna clock back down to 1550 fsb.

I topped out the CPU voltage setting to 0.3000 and it won't go any higher.
I'm afraid to increase the NB or FSB VTT any more than I already have since It's already into the red "Not Recommended" numbers and I haven't modded the NB cooler. The only extra cooling its getting is from the adjustable six inch fan on the side of the case. I don't think its enough to justify anything higher than 1.35.

The CPU is plenty cool. It's not going over 52 at maximum load. I'm sure if my MOBO allowed a higher voltage, then it wouldn't be a problem.

At this point, I think all I can do is tighten up my memory timings @ 775mhz. I don't think there's much point in running the chips at 800 when my FSB isn't at 1600


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you must remember that not all CPUs are equal. Like I said earlier some people cant get to the overclock I have even with the exact same setup. Sometimes you hit a limit and thats it you cant get no furtther.


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