How far dare I push the voltages?

[Lowe]

E6600 and a Quad GT mobo. Running 333mhz Corsair RAM.

At the moment I can push up to about 325x9 without any problems at all. For added stability I've raised the volts to:

Core - 1.40v
MCH1.25v - 1.30v
DDR2 - 2.0v

Everything else is default (I don't know what the rest of it does lol!)

I'm aiming for 333x9, but can't seem to crack it. Orthos fails after about 10 seconds at that speed with those voltages. So - what can I do to crack the magic 3ghz safely?

[herulach]

WHat kind of cooling do youhave? That will have a fair impact on how far you can safely push the voltages/

[daza]

, Just a stab in the dark but I would say your ram is/will hold you back as when you go past a 333fsb you'll be overclocking your ram.

On the other hand I dont know, my E6400 is at 1.36v, the mch is at 1.30 in the bios but 1.35 in windows, ddr2 is at 2.125v for me, or it could be a heat issue.

The next thing I would suggest is to make sure all the speedstep stuff is turned off like so.

[0iD]

I have Vcore @ 1.4225
MCH @ 1.35
CPUVTT @ 1.3
ICH @ 1.1
ICHIO @ 1.6

that allows me 9*400 = 3.6gHz and it's othos stable

[Lowe]

Cooling - chip has a Artic Freezer on it with Arctic Silver 5 paste, 2 case fans being thermally controlled by uGuru. Corsair PSU with a 120mm uber fan in it.

Typical case temps are 30c, chip idles at about 36/37.

As for the RAM holding me back, it's 333mhz RAM, and I can't run it at 333 lol! I hope it's not the RAM otherwise it's knackered hehe.

[daza]

Ok have you made sure everything is disabled like it should be, and if your using uGuru to monitor temps add 10c ontop of the reading it gives you and thats the real cpu temp

[Kumagoro]

On air with a ninja I have had my e4300 up to 1.5 V.
I had to stick it to 1.5125 V to get a 1.5 V reading in speedfan. Underload it drops about 200 mV
I was trying really hard to get to 3 GHz but orthos failed after an hour.

2.8 GHz was easy to get stable on just a nudge in voltage. I think 1.45 volts is an OK limit.

[Agent]

The RAM you have is 675mhz IIRC mate. If you can't get it to run at that, check your timings.
Remember that you may need to up the voltage to it the further you push your system (and also remember you have dividers - use them! )

In all honesty, there isnt a 'safe voltage' that fits all. Raise it a bit by bit until temps start to go a bit too high, then back off. Remember to put it underload at each level
Having said that, I find that on decent air cooling most chips fall somewhere in the 1.45 to 1.5 [MAX] range, but every chip is different.

[Lowe]

Timings are default at the moment, haven't worried about those Agent Dunno what you're on about with dividers either mate. Was gonna call you earlier, but like a plank I left my blummin phone at work.

What should I be disabling too?

Just tried a gaming session with 325x9, and Test Drive:Unlimited played like a dream for a few hours, so that's good enough for me. I just wish I could crack 3ghz lol! I'll have another look another day

[Agent]

Dividers allow you to run the speed of the memory different to the speed of the CPU
When they are the same, they are 1:1.
You can change these as needed to get a higher speed. It will allow you to keep the RAM closer (under or over by a little bit, hard to get it exact ) to its rated speed meaning its not holding you back

edit - read Clunks excellent Core 2 overclocking guide, it'll cover it all for you

[Clunk]

edit - read Clunks excellent Core 2 overclocking guide, it'll cover it all for you

Used notes alright again?

[[GSV]Trig]

wtf, my AB9Pro does 333FSB on default volts....
No real need for it tho as the machine is plenty fast enuf without oc'ing..

[Blitzen]

Ok have you made sure everything is disabled like it should be, and if your using uGuru to monitor temps add 10c ontop of the reading it gives you and thats the real cpu temp

Course ists not!
Its nothing to do with uGuru.....Its whether the bios is correct and update and if its had a re-calibration.

[daza]

Its nothing to do with uGuru.....Its whether the bios is correct and update and if its had a re-calibration.

Not quite right tbh, uGuru gives you the cpu temp which is now accurate now (just updated to bios 13) however it still does not give the individual core temps which is a shame.

[Lowe]

Hmm, well I've read up a bit on this divider stuff. I'm still not quite sure what I'm looking at though. I think it's set to 5:4 at the moment.

If it is, and it's running at 325x9 without any problems, what is the RAM actually doing then? (How do you work it out?)

[GSte]

vMCH sounds a bit low to me... this has affected stability of my OCs a lot in the past, but a bit odd as you haven't OCd the ram. Which exact ram is it, the corsair xms pc6400 cas4 needs 2.1v....