C2D Overclocking Guide for Beginners

[Clunk]

That was 94c in TAT. coretemp didnt give a reading at that voltage and probe read well over 100c.

[Defenestration]

NOTE: All my temps are TAT temps.

Not sure about the Desktop C2D's, but I'm pretty sure the Merom's throttle at 80C.

75C is considered (at least from my research - reading rather than practical) to be the top end of the temps you should be running your C2D at. However, 60C-65C is considered a good maximum limit to aim for when running 24/7.

[hian]

Thanks Clunk for the OC guide, this is the kind of step by step guide I have been searching around. I couldn't get my E4300 to go pass 238fsb before this, and now I have it running at 300 bus speed. Will try to make it go further once I receive my Arctic cooler.

One thing which I couldn't figure out is, my CPU idle temp read at around 45-47c before OC'd, but now, running at 300fsb it still reads the same. Any idea? Thanks.

[Clunk]

If the cpu voltage hasnt increased, the temps will stay pretty much the same regardless of the fsb, so dont worry

[Areku]

I wouldnt have thought 63c would be enought to make it unstable.

Did you take the NB heatsink off and check if its contacting? Did you update to the latest bios?

You need to do these things forst before going any further, or you are pissing in the wind

I havent taken the NB heatsink off yet. It looked ok but I guess it is one thing I will need to look at. The only im a bit worried is how to get the thing off?

BIOS is the latest, has been since I started the OC'ing.

Im waiting for some AS5 to come in and then Ill take stuff apart. When I do find out how to take the NB off should I put some AS5 on that too?

[Clunk]

You said the bios was 904 or something didnt you?

Mother board out, flip it over, get some needle nose pliers, pinch the push pins on the back of the board and pull gently from the front and they will come out.

Carefully clean off the old thermal stuff that asus use and reapply a small amount of AS5 to the NB itself (not the heatsink) before you refit it. You can just reuse the thermal pad that is on the heatsink near the mosfets.

When you take off the the NB heatsink, have a look at the old thermal material and you will be able to see if the heatsink was sat flush, if not, you can try and bend the heatpipe a bit until you get it sitting flat.

[Areku]

Nope, when I got the system up and running I flashed it with a pendrive to 1004.

Ok well Ill wait for the AS5 then go ahead and look at it, otherwise no point in taking it out twice.

Can the NB really affect the temps of the CPU though?

[Clunk]

Nope, when I got the system up and running I flashed it with a pendrive to 1004.

Bios 1104.

[Areku]

Ok so do you mean BIOS 1101? As there is no 1104.

I didnt see that a few weeks ago so im assuming that has only just been released?

I have BIOS 1004, so should I update to 1101?

[Clunk]

1101 sorry yes, was a typo

[Harkin]

Clunk, lets say I can only get 350 FSb, meaning I wud only be gettin 700 with my Ram. The Ram is pc6400(800), so how wud I compensate for this, otherwise I wud be loosing out with the Ram

[Clunk]

Is your pc stable at 350fsb? And are you happy with the temps?

If yes, you can either...

Try upping the fsb a bit more and testing again, you can try right up to 400fsb if you feel confident enough.

Alternatively, you can choose a divider. Some dividers are stable at certain FSBs and some arent, so its just a case of finding a happy medium (not Derek Akora).

[Harkin]

I like Derek Acorah, anyhoo

No I wa just asking, I get how to OC my cpu now but was just checking what to do if u cudnt reach 400fsb. Waitin on some bits till I try

[hian]

Clunk,
I followed your guide and have it run at 300fsb successfully. However, it doesn't like to go over 315, although I have set the VCore to 1.43-1.45 (310FSB with 1.38 at the moment).

My mobo is Abit AW9D, running with DDR2-667 RAM at 4-4-4-12 at the moment after set it to 1:1 for FSB: DRAM.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

[Clunk]

Do you have all the cpu settings disabled...all other settings as they are in the pics?

Ram voltage set properly?

Latest bios, chipset drivers etc.

I'm havent used that board, so Im not sure what it can do as far as FSB is concerned, but I would have thought that 330 should be doable.

You can try increasing the NB voltage a touch.

You havent said what temos you have?

[hian]

Yup, I've set those settings according to the pics. Ram is set to 1.90v, NB is at 1.50V, bios and chipset drivers are all up to date, cooling is still stock, 45-47c idle...too hot?

N/B Strap is set to 1066 in order to get the 1:1 for cpu:dram but I get blue screen once in a while when I switch on my PC. However, If I set this to "By CPU", then my memory clock will be running beyond 667MHz before my CPU hits 250FSB...and it crash before getting into Windows.