Some Overclocking & Tweaking Advice Needed

[HSK]

Hi guys, I've been reading through the OC'ing guide, on here and a couple of other sites...I've got a fair idea, and I tired a few values and so far things are still working (lol) but I want to ask about specific values and voltages if I can improve on, I'm not totally sure if I can push a little more or should hold back on some.

Hardware; Q6600, Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R, Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 DDR2

I don't want too high of a over clock, around 2.8 is fine for now, set things up in the bios as so:

CPU clock ratio: 7
SPD: 2.0
CPU host frequency: 400
PCI express frequency: 100 to 102?
also manually changed the ram timings to 4-4-4-12



all the voltages I've left on auto, but when i checked the health status in the bios, DDR volate was showing up as fail, and in everest was reading 2.24 (the ram is rated at 2.2v) - so I've set +0.3 now its 2.14v (can i get rid of that 0.04? so its 2.2v) but I've noticed when i stress the memory this 0.04 goes and the ram is around 2.10/11v

is it worth me upping the other voltages (PCI-E, FSB, MCH) by +0.1v? i read on another site it can help with stability. I try to over clock the GPU, but I can't go up by much I get crashes. wondering if upping the PCI voltage a value would help that.

not sure about how much voltage I should apply to the CPU for around the speed I want, or just leave it on auto) don't want too much heat.

sorry about the many questions, any help is much appreciated, as I'm new to this!

[matty-hodgson]

well on there you're putting a lot of strain on a P35 mobo with the 1600MHz FSB (400 x 4) you could probably lower the FSB but put the clock multiplier up.. and then turn on C1E / EIST.. (better energy saving and heat prevention)

also.. don't worry about that tiny little bit of extra voltage on the RAM, it'll be fine.

so long as it's stable at those speeds then that's fine..

is it 100% stable like that?
if it is, don't touch the voltages.. everything should be fine.

[HSK]

how about I lower the FSB to 333 and keep the multiplier at 9 (i think) was giving me around 2.9 Ghz

*edit tried it, fsb is around 1328mhz core speed 2988.0Mhz - the speeds are kind of fluctuating though, around those marks

well, it seems stable...no crashes or anything yet - but i haven't put it through a lengthy stress test. except for when i was messing around with the GPU.

[Blitzen]

how about I lower the FSB to 333 and keep the multiplier at 9 (i think) was giving me around 2.9 Ghz

*edit tried it, fsb is around 1328mhz core speed 2988.0Mhz - the speeds are kind of fluctuating though, around those marks

well, it seems stable...no crashes or anything yet - but i haven't put it through a lengthy stress test. except for when i was messing around with the GPU.

Thats what i would do/have done already.

I run @ 9x334.
Just gives me 3.0ghz to use day to day. If the temps are OK though, depending on what you use, it should certainly go to 3.2ghz without an voltage increase.
REMEMBER...only bugger about with voltage if you REALLY think you need to. If its stable then just leave them alone.

[HSK]

Sweet, it's been set around 3004mhz by setting it at 9x334, temps are fine idle/load. I've left the voltages at auto.

I've been setting the PCI frequency at 102 instead of 100, i read on a another guide that it adds stability but it wasn't so clear on it - is it worth changing it? i think my GPU (8800GTS 512) overclocks a lil better now...any tips for that? wouldn't mind overclocking it a lil more if possible.

[Blitzen]

If its stable anyway, then leave the PCI frequency alone.

[matty-hodgson]

Sweet, it's been set around 3004mhz by setting it at 9x334, temps are fine idle/load. I've left the voltages at auto.

I've been setting the PCI frequency at 102 instead of 100, i read on a another guide that it adds stability but it wasn't so clear on it - is it worth changing it? i think my GPU (8800GTS 512) overclocks a lil better now...any tips for that? wouldn't mind overclocking it a lil more if possible.

adjusting PCI-E frequency is a tricky business.. my card becomes unstable at anything above 104MHz, so i just left it at the defulat 100..
the best way to get a little better OC from your card is by cooling it better, more case fans, better aftermarket cooler..
upto you really.
but the 512 GTS is a very good card to begin with, and unless your gaming at huge resolutions (which your Pring Screen up there shows you are) then upping the memory speed will probably give good gains, if you can get a decent OC from it..


edit: does anyone know the best test to run on ORTHOS to stress it the most?

[-iceblade^]

i would leave that PCIe voltage at 100 - i love my graphics card more than my processor, lol...

Use Rivatuner to overclock it, and if you're prim/orthos stable then leave your voltages well alone...

[HSK]

^ i used rivatuner today, waay useful then the nvidia control, the settings would only stick until reset using that. set it a lil higher around 710/1775/1090 mhz

i've left the pci frequency back at 100

[matty-hodgson]

^ i used rivatuner today, waay useful then the nvidia control, the settings would only stick until reset using that. set it a lil higher around 710/1775/1090 mhz

i've left the pci frequency back at 100

that's a very good OC!
what are your temps like?
have you stressed it yet?

[HSK]

ahh, it's good? i've just been thinking i can get more, because the option to go alot further is there, but it always crashes... its stable tho at that setting, and the heat is ok (need to check exact temps) - i've got the fan up at around 80%

still need to do a proper stress test using orthos? only tried a short one one everest

how long u reckon is a decent time to keep a stress test going?

[matty-hodgson]

ahh, it's good? i've just been thinking i can get more, because the option to go alot further is there, but it always crashes... its stable tho at that setting, and the heat is ok (need to check exact temps) - i've got the fan up at around 80%

still need to do a proper stress test using orthos? only tried a short one one everest

how long u reckon is a decent time to keep a stress test going?

to stress the GFX card or a CPU?
running ORTHOS won't stress the GFX card at all..

run something like ATI Tool to stress the GFX card.

[HSK]

opps, both i guess - cpu & gpu. imma try out ati tool

[Blitzen]

On a 22" monitor your GPU will fly through everything at stock anyway.

[matty-hodgson]

On a 22" monitor your GPU will fly through everything at stock anyway.

as long as you don't play Crysis..
but yeah, your card should fly through everything.

[HSK]

lol yea, everything flies apart from crysis. but even thats running & looking nice now, with some tweaking .cfg files.