C2D Overclocking Guide For Beginners P5K Add-On

[ErikX]

Just to let you know. I solved the problem by doing a hard reset of the cmos. Phew...what a relief :-)

[ErikX]

Argh...today when I booted my system I got an error message saying "Overclock failed", and the problem where raising the FSB bus dos not raise the core clock is back (in black). Really frustrating. Why do I get an overclock failed message when I successfully ran Prime95 for hours without failure before my last boot? Oh well...I just hope a hard reset of the cmos once again will enable overclocking.

[zmonkey]

If I understand how the hard reset of the CMOS works (and by this I'm assuming you mean you turned off the power switch on the power supply, then turned it back on, then booted), when you boot after that reset, without going into the BIOS and tweaking your OC settings, then what you're actually booting with is a factory default setting. By this, I mean there is really no overclocking happening on your system after booting with a hard CMOS reset. So, when you turn off your system normally and then turn it back on, the OC settings you used before are restored, but because they are unstable, you get that overclock failed message.

So, my suggestion is to tweak your settings a bit more and try to find something stable that you're happy with. Hope that helps!

-z

[KEEBZ]

Just Want To Thank You For All You've Written About Overclocking With The Q6600 And P5k...just 1 Question For Now,what Is The Bios Version I Should Be Using Now? Thanks Keebz

[Marmot]

Huge thanks Clunk, for the guide.
Just have a few questions for new build.
I've only done minor overclocking before on AMD's.
Can't get my head round the 'divider' thing. ?
CPU-Z shows FSB 5:6 whether system at stock settings, or with BIOS FSB set to 360 & DRAM frequency showing 864Mhz
Is this RAM frequency ok?
Have run Orthos for 2+ hours in between increases, and all running fine.After 3 & half hours, SpeedFan showed CPU 51, Cores 41.
Left RAM at 5-5-5-12-Auto, set 1.9V. CPU voltage Auto.
Would like to make a last FSB increase to 375, as that will be enough.
Need to know if I have to alter RAM settings (or anything else) or can I leave them?
edit(Ok, have read Zmonkey's post. Thanks. Have reset FSB back up to 360, DRAM is now 720Mhz & CPU-Z shows 1:1.
Cheers,

Marmot

[DavePendo]

Clunk you are the dogs boll^&ks! Thanks so much for this guide. I was a complete nobo when it came to o/c. I’m now hooked on it and got my new system running pretty good

Q6600 GO with stock air cooler running at 3.0 GHz. 44 C at idle and 65 C stressed. Volts under stress (according to CPU-Z) 1.240v. First run with auto volts as suggested, then manual starting low and working up until no BSOD and Prime95 running for 6 hours. If you keep the volts to a minimum then your core temps are manageable

Next bit of kit to buy is a decent cooler. Should be able to squeeze a few more MHz out of it!

Full spec:-

Asus P5K motherboard
Q6600 Go 2.4 MHZ running @ 3.0 GHz (stock cooler)
2 Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800Mhz tightened up to 4.4.4.12 2T @ 2.1V
Inno 8800GT running @ core 700MHz, Shader 1.75GHz, Memory 1.0 GHz
Best 3dmark06 13385

Important note; You must run RivaTuner (or similar) when o/c a 8800GT. Setup a fan profile as the drivers currently do nothing with the 23% standard fan speed. Mine kicks in at 75% @ 65 C and holds it there

Once again, thanks for all the info.

Dave Pendo.

[eon_designs]

Excellent Guide

I am planning on building my first system and going straight to overclock:

These are the components:

Asus P5K Premium Wi/fi motherboard
Intel Quad Core Q6600 CPU
Ram OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz
Graphics card Asus 8800GT

Already have very good case and power supply and lots of sata drives.

My question is:

Is high speed RAM worth the money? for example: from reading the guide to overclock you basically have to increase the FSB as the multiplyer can not be changed. So I should get to 3ghz by changing my FSB to 333 and increasing the CPU voltage.

You also state that you have to lower the speed of the RAM - is it therefor worth getting high speed RAM (1066mhz) if you have to lower its speed? Will the RAM ever be able to run at its stock speed of 1066?

Thanks. eon

[DavePendo]

@ eon designs.

Something worth thinking about (I missed this when I built my rig) if you are going with an 8800GT is the PCI E connection. The 8800GT supports the newer PCI E 2.0 bus. A P5K board does not. It only supports PCI E 1.1.
I don’t think that the PCI E bus on the P5K throttles the 8800GT in anyway, as mine goes like **** of a shovel when o/c’ed. Also the GT is slower than an Ultra and the Ultra is not PCI E 2.0 (I think).

To be more future proof I would go with a MB that supports PCI E 2.0 as it handles a lot more data transfers than PCI E 1.1. As we all know graphics cards in say 1 year’s time will be twice as fast again and I guess these future monsters will be throttled by a PCI E 1.1 slot.

Just my thoughts.

[Mad-Max]

P5k Deluxe Bios 0603.

Has any one tried it yet ?

[mrgrizzly]

THANK YOU!!!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your hard work here. I have a p5k and Q6600 and I am not running it at 333 x 9 and my temps on cores 0 & 1 fluctuate between 63C and 65C, Core 2 58C and Core 3 60C.

I was seeing these temps on the stock setting so before I started playing with OCing I took my Zalman CNPS9500A off, cleaned it and added Artic Silver 5. That dropped my stock temps right away so I felt comfortable giving it a shot.

I didn't mess with OCing the ram but it's nice to get that extra 20% out of my CPU. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!


ONE QUICK QUESTION: When idling my Vcore is 1.35 and at full load it's 1.25 Should I manually set the vcore to 1.3?
(at stock settings the vcore was 1.25 idle and 1.15 at full load)

NEVER MIND, read further in the thread and found the "leave it to auto" comment. Thanks again...this is a great tutorial!

[daPgu]

Thank you very much Clunk.

This is the best OC guide I'v ever seen, Sovled all the problems i had before.
I'm quite happy with the results,I have Q6600 OC'd to 3.0ghz stable.

Details: CPU 333X9=3.0GHZ, RAM 4-5-4-8 ,834MHZ
Right now i have FSBRAM 4:5

The question is that do i need to set FSB:RAM 1:1 ratio? If i try to set 1:1 ratio ,i have to either lower DRAM or higher FSB right ?
but I dont want my cpu to be pushed that far, 3.0Ghz is not that bad i think.Will 1:1 ratio give me a better improvement than 4:5 ratio ? noticeable ?

Sorry I cant post any URL's .

[BaldyMAN]

Hello , new to the forum and I am very intersted in your guide it looks brilliant .

I have never OC a machine before so am looking forward to some rewarding times along with probably frustarting ones as well.

Ok rigg as follows

Asus P5K Premium Balck Pearl, just flashed to Bios 0404
E6600 C2D with a Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler
4 x 1gb of OCZ PC2-9200C5 1150MHz Reaper HPC Edition Dual Channel DDR2
Vista 64 Bit Home Premium
8800GTX

Ok i have follwed the first part of this guide in great detail but i have 2 questions , rememebr i am a noob here ok so please be gentle .

1. I have no option for disabling Intel Speed Step , either i cant find it or it dissapeard under the bios update ?

2.FSB / Dram ratio

I notice in your screenshot that you have a 1:1 ratio where mine shows this :






Ok i did say i was an OC noob and im sure i have set something wrong iin the bios , your help is appreciated thx

[mroz]

She looks fine to me. Sorry, did you have a question?

[rippo]

Hello all,

I am having the following problems:

- after a fresh windows install (XP) with the latest chipset,lan, etc installed most of the times my PC resets just before entering windows
- I am getting a "overclocking failure error" even if I did not touch any OC features.

I have done the followings without any help:

-updated the bios to the latest versio (updated,clear cmos, same problems)
-cleared the cmos (removed all the cables, removed the battery, put the pin in 2&3 slot for over 10min, load bios defaults, same problmes with restarting before entering the windows)
- disabled the LAN from bios, did not help, somethins it gets into windows sometimes not
-disable the onboard sound, same problems
- I have put to AI overclocking to manual, set FSB to 333mhz, multiplicator auto, ram 4-4-4-12, voltage 2.1V...EVERYthing else to auto.....and I still get resets and overclock faild
-sometimes after I pull out the powercord and close the PSU when I want to start the PC it will start for 1sec CLOSE and then start again

My pc specs: E6750
P5KC
Audigy4 bulk
2gb 800mhz geil ultra set to (yellow or black slots)
500gb WD
8800GTS

I am running out of options

Can someone please tell me if there is somethis that I can do?

PS: I would like to appologize if I posted in the wrong thread

[daPgu]

where is everyone ??

[Hunain]

Hello there everybody, im new here and want some help please..hope someone can come up...I had an intel system, e6300, and DG965 board, I upgraded it just 1 day back to Asus p5k-VM and bought an ASUS silent knight as well, now I have some problems, if everything is set to auto in the Bios and FSB is not increased, my idle temp is 60C!...vcore is 1.27, shown by system probe from Asus....i changed settings manually then...raised FSB to 350, with the RAM running at 700Mhz, relaxed its timings a bit as it is value ram 667Mhz, I fixed the vcore at 1.15V and Vdram to 1.8V, then my temps were 44C idle and 63C in load, the processor running at 2.45Ghz...now i want to know if these temps are normal? I have a generic casing, ATX with one fan at the backpanel thats it, i know exhaust is bad but still with the silent knight is this the best i can get? Plus i Just got it fixed yesterday, does the thermal paste of the silent knight need time? Please advise as I am worried about my upgrade....