Overclocking Woes!!

[fishboy25uk]

I made a first attempt at overclocking my new rig last night and not having a great deal of success. My rig is:

E6400
Asus P5B (Not deluxe) with 0806 BIOS
Corsair XMS2 6400 (800) DDR 5-5-5-12
Freezer Pro 7
Akasa Zen case (with front and rear 120mm case fans)

I followed a guide I found on t'internet which said to set CPU voltage at 1.375v, memory voltage at 2.1v and then set a ratio of 1:1 with the memory, and then set the FSB at 333 and work up from there. There were some other settings it told be to change, but I think these were just overclocking protection and PCI-E bus etc.

Before I fiddled my idle CPU temp was about 40C, but as soon as I did this by temps were about 50C idle and then as I increased and started doing Prime95 my load temps went up and up to about 60-65C. However, no errors.

I got all the way to 400 FSB (3.2GHz) and it was only then I realised I should be running two instances of Prime95. Did this and within about 3 seconds my CPU temp hit 70C and I got an error on one of the CPU cores.

Went down to about 380 FSB and repeated, but still similar temps and errors very quickly. I've since reset everything to default values (no overclock) and temp is back at 40C

So, in a nutshell, what is my problem here? Is it just that I need better cooling or is it my mobo or what? I don't know why I'm getting such massive temperature jumps.

Any advice?

[kalniel]

Simply put more voltage=more heat and more speed=more heat.

More voltage+more speed= lots more heat.

Try keeping voltages at stock and overclocking as far as you can with that. Only when you hit the limit there (with good cooling) should you consider raising voltages - it's a way around a block, not something you should just do for the sake of it or if you're not at that block

[fishboy25uk]

Fair enough. I was a little skeptical about raising the voltages before I'd even started but all seemed well until I really stressed it.

The CPU voltage is obviously on Auto at the moment but what is the stock voltage? Is it 1.2v?

[CrazyMonkey]

The E6400 should go nice and high on stock volts.

[kalniel]

1.3V I think.

[fishboy25uk]

And how about the RAM? Should I leave that at stock volts or should it be 2.1v?

[kalniel]

Ram is usually a bit safer to raise volts - because the manufactures give a voltage range that it can be used for. I don't know about your ram specifically, but as you're not even hitting the rated speeds of the ram I wouldn't go above rated voltages for it. 2.1V is probably within rated volts though.

edit: spec sheet (http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair...X1024-6400.pdf) seems to indicate it can run 800mhz at 1.9V, so I'd leave it at that for now. But when you hit a block, try upping this to 2.1V first, rather the CPU.

[fishboy25uk]

Cool, thanks kalniel. I'll try again tonight and post back if I have any further problems.

[fishboy25uk]

Solved it! Just needed to reapply my TIM and reset my cooler. Also put some new arctic silver 5 on the northbridge cooler and my radeon.

Up at 3.2GHz now (stable after 2 hours of stress testing) and temps are about 51C idle and about 63C load, which is not too bad but this is with full fans. Might invest in some quiet Sharkoon ones.

Anyway, 3.2GHz on stock volts - Well happy!!!

[Clunk]

Have you got the cpu voltage on auto? If you havent, then those temps are very high for stock volts, careful!

[fishboy25uk]

Yup, that's with both CPU and RAM volts set at Auto. I'm going to think about some more cooling though because 51 is quite high considering it's doing sod all.

I'm not panicking about the temperature but I'd like to get them down and get the beast quieter to boot.

p.s. I'm assuming the mobo has kept the volts the same and has not automatically increased them as I've raised the FSB? I might try setting the volts manually to stock volts and see what happens.

[excalibur2]

Yup, that's with both CPU and RAM volts set at Auto. I'm going to think about some more cooling though because 51 is quite high considering it's doing sod all.

I'm not panicking about the temperature but I'd like to get them down and get the beast quieter to boot.

Oh dear! I've already bought the arctic pro7 for my future upgrade, so it looks like you get what you pay for i.e. £15.

[fishboy25uk]

Oh dear! I've already bought the arctic pro7 for my future upgrade, so it looks like you get what you pay for i.e. £15.

You might be right. I had considered the Scythe Ninja but then thought I'd save a bit of cash. I'm going to put some ducting in and see where that gets me, but to be honest I'm not too worried - it'll only get that stressed in Orthos so I can't see it overheating any more just in games.

I still think the Freezer Pro 7 is great for the price, but I may need to change it eventually if/when I decide to push things a little further.

[Clunk]

Auto isnt stock volts mate. It automatically adjusts the voltage to what it thinks is needed. Quite often, you can drop the voltage quite a bit and still get it stable at the same fsb.

[excalibur2]

You might be right. I had considered the Scythe Ninja but then thought I'd save a bit of cash. I'm going to put some ducting in and see where that gets me, but to be honest I'm not too worried - it'll only get that stressed in Orthos so I can't see it overheating any more just in games.

I still think the Freezer Pro 7 is great for the price, but I may need to change it eventually if/when I decide to push things a little further.

..and plan for global warming temps in summer........

[fishboy25uk]

..and plan for global warming temps in summer........

I'd not considered that. Not good.

Auto isnt stock volts mate. It automatically adjusts the voltage to what it thinks is needed. Quite often, you can drop the voltage quite a bit and still get it stable at the same fsb.

I found this out myself, but thanks clunk. After constructing a crude and completely ineffective cardboard duct, I took the volts of Auto and experimented myself and discovered that the Auto had taken it to over 1.5v, as reported in speedfan! Now gone back to manual and got the CPU at 1.465v and RAM at 2.1v. Did 45 mins of stress testing and no errors but obviously have to test this further. However, got my temps down by about 4-5C.

However, I noticed the temps dropped dramatically when I took the side of the case off, so took out a drive bay cover this morning with the sides on and temps are down to 41-42C idle even with my fans at 50%. I had read that the front intake might be a little crappy on this case but had no idea! I considering getting rid and getting a P180 because by the time I've forked out for better cooling I will have spent nearly enough for a P180 anyway.

Anyway, lesson learnt: Don't expect perfect results if you cut corners on your build.