C2D Overclocking Guide for Beginners

[chuckskull]

Originally Posted by jtso

humm whats a good northbridge voltage for my motherboard? Right now my ram voltage is set to 2.085.

I use the second option (1.393 I think). Thats pretty cool and good for 3.0ghz+

[jtso]

Btw, right now my Vcore is set to auto. should i make manually fix it @ 1.44375? Also, I saw some post from chuckskull that his Vcore is alot lower than mine when he is 3000MHz (1.35).

[Clunk]

Its a case of experimenting and seeing what works. Some CPUs require no extra volts, some require a lot.

[jonny440]

wow...... I've never oc'd before, figuring it was one step of geekery too far but this guide is just amazing.

Just bought an E6600 (with an Arctic Cool Freezer7Pro), an Asus P5B standard, 2x1Gb of 6400 Corsair TwinX ram and a 500w Coolermaster iGreen psu

So far I have the ram set to 4-4-4-12 at 1.9v and the cpu to 3000MHz (333x9) running 1:1 with the ram, and it's not even broken in to a sweat Im getting 45 degrees under full load running Orthos.

Am thinking for the next step I may try 400 fsb and drop the multiplier to 8, to give me 3200. Would that work (not tried changing the multiplier yet)?

Great guide and much appreciated

[C2Dan]

Originally Posted by Clunk

What was the last 100% stable overclock? And what volts/settings etc?

Hi thanks for replying clunk.

My last 100% stable overclock was at 2.8Ghz (350x8).

My current set up which is quoted below is running fine also. Orthos ran without any probs for 2hours, after that I closed it down.

These are my current settings:
CPU Frequency: 375MHz
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-750MHz (this changes as I up the CPU Freq.)
PCI-Express Frequency: Auto
PCI Clock Sync Mode: 33.33Mhz
Spread Spectrum: Disabled
Memory Voltage: 1.9V
CPU VCore Voltage: 1.3250V
FSB Termination Voltage: Auto
NB Voltage: Auto
SB Vcore: Auto
ICH Voltage: Auto

The problem is when I set the CPU Freq. to 400Mhz Windows fails to boot up as the PC resets itself at the Windows boot screen. However it passes POST fine. Once I lower the CPU Freq. back down to 375Mhz then it boots into Windows fine.

[Clunk]

Originally Posted by C2Dan

Hi thanks for replying clunk.

My last 100% stable overclock was at 2.8Ghz (350x8).

My current set up which is quoted below is running fine also. Orthos ran without any probs for 2hours, after that I closed it down.


The problem is when I set the CPU Freq. to 400Mhz Windows fails to boot up as the PC resets itself at the Windows boot screen. However it passes POST fine. Once I lower the CPU Freq. back down to 375Mhz then it boots into Windows fine.

A couple of things...

2 hours of orthos doesnt mean it is stable. I have had orthos fail after more than 12 hours, but for me, 8-12 hours is good enough. Do that at the settings you did 2 hours with and come back

In the guide, it tells you to put the vcore to auto, you have it set to 1.325, so its no real wonder that it wont boot at 3.6ghz.

3.6ghz is hard work for most C2Ds, theres the odd few that dont flinch at that speed, but for most people, they will need some extra voltage.

You need to read the guide through and make sure you have everything set right

[Clunk]

Originally Posted by jonny440

So far I have the ram set to 4-4-4-12 at 1.9v and the cpu to 3000MHz (333x9) running 1:1 with the ram, and it's not even broken in to a sweat Im getting 45 degrees under full load running Orthos.

Am thinking for the next step I may try 400 fsb and drop the multiplier to 8, to give me 3200. Would that work (not tried changing the multiplier yet)?

Great guide and much appreciated

Is that ram supposed to run at 1.9v?

Try 3200 with the 9x multi first, it should keep things simple.

[jonny440]

Originally Posted by Clunk

Is that ram supposed to run at 1.9v?

Try 3200 with the 9x multi first, it should keep things simple.

To be honest I don't know.

Before I started doing anything, the ram voltage was set in the bios to 1.8v. The first thing I did was to try and get the memory from the safe settings of something like 5-5-5-16 to the rated settings of 4-4-4-12, but could only get it to 5-4-4-12 and be stable. I then upped the voltage to 1.85v and it would run at 4-4-4-12 fine. I then figured , possibly wrongly, that if 1.85v was boarderline then maybe it would be wise to set it to 1.9v (since you said that some performance ram runs at up to 2.5v I thought this wouldn't hurt)

I'll try the 3200 with 9x and get back.

[Clunk]

Take one of the sticks of ram out and there will be a sticker with the voltage on, set it manually to that voltage and leave it.

[jonny440]

Ok, the lable said 2.1v so I've set it to that.

I tried 3200 at 9x355 and I was getting an error in Orthos after 20 seconds or so.

"FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.4990234375, expected less than 0.4"

Set it back to 3000 at 333x9 and everything was good again.

Next I tried 3200 at 8x400. I've had Orthos runing for 30 minutes no problems, but will let it run for 8-12 hours and report back

One slight annomaly,CPU-Z and TAT both say the cpu is at 3200, while Core Temp and Orthos say 3600?!? But it's definately set to 8x400 in the bios.

[Clunk]

Yes, they will read it wrong, dont worry about that.

Have you got the cou voltage at auto?

[jonny440]

Yes, cpu voltage is set to auto.

Had Orthos runing for 6 hours now with the cpu at 3200 (8x400). The temperatures are 32 degrees idle and 57 maximum while runing Orthos.

What sort of temperature is it safe to go up to? Do I dare try 9x400?

[Clunk]

Those temps are very good, what are they measured with?

Im surprised you cant do 9x 340 or close to it.

[jonny440]

The temps are measured with Core Temp, and 57 is the max, it varies between 54-57 under full load.

Temps are also measured with TAT, but that shows a degree or 2 lower.

The fsb speeds I've tried with the 9x multiplier are 333, which worked fine, then 355 which failed. I expect I could get 9x340. Would that be faster than 8x400?

[Clunk]

Sorry, I meant to write 9x360 or thereabouts

3200mhz tends to be the point at which a lot of people find themselves adding a lot more voltage, so keep that in mind. It might be that you have a good chip and it doesnt need much more.

[tinners]

Great guide BTW !

Quick question, I read in another guide that smart fan control should be turned off in the bios. Is this right?
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...ol#post8325352
Is this just for better temps ?

Originally Posted by Mobo Manual

Smart FAN Control Method (Note)
Auto......BIOS sets the optimal fan speed automatically. (Default value)
Intel(R) QST ...... Control the fan speed with Intel® QST (Intel® Quiet System Technology).
Legacy ........ CPU fan runs at different speed depending on CPU temperature.
Disable ....... CPU fan runs at full speed.

Smart FAN Control Mode
Auto...... BIOS autodetects the type of CPU fan you installed and sets the optimal fan
speed control mode for it. (Default value)
Voltage........ Set to Voltage when you use a CPU fan with a 3-pin fan power cable.
PWM........ Set to PWM when you use a CPU fan with a 4-pin fan power cable.
Note: In fact, the Voltage option can be used for CPU fans with 3-pin or 4-pin power cables.
However, some 4-pin CPU fan power cables are not designed following Intel 4-Wire fans PWM
control specifications. With such CPU fans, selecting PWM will not effectively reduce the fan
speed.
(Note) Before setting this item to Intel(R) QST, make sure at least DDRII1 or DDRII2 socket in Channel
0 is populated. A small portion of system memory will be shared when Intel® QST is enabled.