HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - Guide v1.6.1 - Page 6

Howdy'all great post Cryptics and GREAT thread graysky - well written and comprehensive enough for even a hack like myself to overclock successfully.

I just finished building my new system, my FIRST Intel-based. I've been an AMD fan for years but after seeing the numbers on the Phenom I've given up on it being their great white hope and moved on I was very well acquainted with the bios on AMD-based boards but once I hit delete and got into the setup on this rig I was pretty much lost.

Here's what I have:

- Q6600 G0
- Asus Maximus Formula
- 2gb Corsair Twin2x-8500C5 (SPD 5-5-5-15 2t)
- Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme w/ Noctua P12
- 2 x Asus HD 3870's in CrossFire
- 4 x 500gb WD Caviar 16
- Thermaltake ToughPower 750w PSU
- Silverstone TJ-04
- BIOS revision 0907

Great rig and super quiet with the Noctua and 3870's

Using graysky's guide and the posts from others on here, so far I've managed:

- FSB: 400fsb x 4 = 1600 rated fsb (ratio = 3:4)
- CPU: 400fsb x 9 - 3600mhz @ 1.4v
- DRAM 533.3mhz (1066) @ 2.2v (5-5-5-12 2t timings)

Temps are anywhere from high 30's to mid 40's depending background processes (Google Desktop is a serious resource hog - it takes up 50% of the CPU lately and it says its done indexing?!?!?)

Here's a sreen:



I forgot to get screens of Prime95 but I ran for ~12 hours without a hitch. I'm really happy with performance - this is one HELL of a smokin system!!! I'm going run like this for a week or so and make sure its rock stable before either going on to 4000mhz or adding another 2gb of Corsair Twin2x-8500C5. So far I haven't messed wit NB or SB so that should be a learning experience.

Thanks again for the great info - !!

Ranger can you send me a link for that update? I would love to install it.

Hi,
I must be pretty lucky so far, but I managed (with a P5K Pro - really a stand in board till I get my EVGA 680I back from RMA, though this board is so "stuff it in & it work's, I might well give the 680i a miss & get a refund from OC's UK), I have got my Q6600 running at 3.30GHZ on stock voltage, maybe due to ASUS 8Phase Vdrop(less) design?
I have bought OCZ Vista 2x2GB matched DDR2 800, and that probably is the weakpoint of my O/C ambition's, but it's holding up so far, want to go to 3.4 and stop there, If I had bought Crucial Ballistix, I feel I could have gone further.



Not sure about the benefit's of clocking my 8800GTX OEM (Also from O/C's UK). Its at the stock speed at the moment, my CPU temp is hard monitored at 28.0c Idle (with the humongous Thermalright 120 Extreme cooler - had to buy a new case just to fit the beast in), and a 120mm fan (I went for an Akasa, Cheap & cheerfull, but it works), as opposed to a scythe infinity, and at stressed temp , CPU is at 32.5 (51 core1 48,2 to core 4).
My GPU tem is 59.0C (nothing unusual for a GTX i'm told), and my Northie (wish Intel wouldn't use ICH9r) is at 39.0C (I read that ASUS mounted the Northbridge P5K Hardware temp moniter near the RAM slot's so it gives a slightly erroneous reading anyhow).
I'm well happy with this board, even though it's a budget one, difference's between EVGA 680i & P35 ASUS , obviously no SLI (but I think thats overblown anyway, having used SLI on my last setup with 2 x 6600GT's), goes into standby mode whereas 680I just BSOD's (in Vista & XP), Raid Read /Write failure's caused by (if you believe EVGA's forum's) Nvidia's badly implemented Southbridge, and Nvidia's sollution to this problem, Buy a 780i & spend yet more money,
You can unlink the Mem / FSB on the 680i,(not on the P35), but I still managed to get more "oommpphh" out of the little ASUS board with less hassle (didn't have to change the Mosfet cooler's like on the EVGA - running on the 680i at 78.0c even at idle, not good).
EVGA eventually refused to post, and took an old friend with it (my ancient but reliable ANTEC Truepower 480W), so I've now gone for an OCZ 600 Xgamer silent PSU.
Sorry to whinge at Nvidia, in my opinion, they make damn great GFX card's but have a lot to learn about Mainboard chipset's (with the exception of their Nforce2 with splendid 5.1 surround sound & Nforce4), Wish they'd allow Intel to integrate SLI, they'd make a great combo with the X38!
Baron210...[cpp]

Current system:

Asus Formula Maximus
e6850
4 GB Kingston HyperX 1066mhz @5-5-5-5-15
Zalman 9700LED
3870x2 - stock
Seagate 500 GB
(2) WD Raptor 74 GB
Silverstone 750 watt P.S.

I'm attempting to reach 4.0 GHZ. I started slow and decided to leave voltages on auto. I've disabled the spread spectrum for PCIE and CPU, PCIE is @100, no PCI setting avail. With the multiplier @9, I notice a decrease in voltage as reported by both speedfan and CPUZ when I increase the FSB. Am I insane? I haven't been able to get it to a 400 mhz FSB @ core voltages up to 1.375 with all other on auto. Memory was left @1:1 with above timings.
I'm testing now @9x366 with all auto voltages, and I'm seeing 1.29 volts (1.26 while Prime95 is running) and system is fine.

@400mhz FSB system posts but no Vista.

i'm quite pleased, yet perplexed at the same time..... i tried the vdroop mod, mentioned earlier in this fantastic guide. i was running my ddr2 ballistix 800 at stock everything. cpu has done fine up till now at 333x9 (q6600 G0, btw) at stock voltage, VID 1.275. i had a few crashes in games recently tho, so i decided i would play around a little with tweaking and testing, and ended up here.....

ok, on to the point i was making. i used a 6B pencil, since i had one laying around. i know the usual recommended pencil is a 3 or 4B, but hey, i had it. in short, wow.

does it ever stabilize voltages. in fact, i HAD to lower the voltage to stay stable in OCCT. at stock, it would poof immediately using the "CPU" testing option. curiously enough, if i lowered it to 1.2675, no sweat. made one standard half hour pass perfectly. tonite, i decided to try it again, this time at 1.2625. idle voltage is 1.248.

here is the really strange part. yes, it passed one half hour test perfectly. but the LOAD voltage stayed exactly 1.256, not budging. after the test was finished, the voltage returned to 1.248.

ok, i realize that 1) this is no where near what you can say as perfectly stable, one pass of OCCT. more lengthy testing will ensue of course. 2) most ppl use prime95, which again, in time i will as well 3) there may be implications of using the pencil i did, which of course i will find out one way or another in time.

but, for now, truly shocking. i might add, that during these tests so far, i've taken graysky's advice and kept my ram 1:1 at the above mentioned fsb.

i'll try yet another drop tomorrow night, and keep it up until i get a poof. then i'll know what my bottom voltage is, for more lengthy testing. i don't happen to have six hour stretches of available time to try each drop. and i'd prefer to be CLOSE during such.

once i settle on a stable voltage, then it's time to play with say, 366x9, which btw, i've not yet been able to even POST using. i have not however, been raising my voltage when attempting that tho, since i've read several posts of ppl reaching that AT stock voltage.

so, perhaps it was my severe vdroop (.07325 usually), and/or my ram, which truly has given me fits since i've had it, but that is another long story.

ok, sorry for such a long post, and if anyone has any input, just say it. i won't take offense. i also try to check here often, but may not be able to every day.

graysky, you rule!

For P35-DS3L OWNERS:




The above picture of the BIOS explain the settings for Over clocking the CPU.


The CPU on that motherboard is a E2180. The CPU has been stress tested with Prime95.


Here is a bigger picture:



More info here

Shadow7037 93

Can you till me any thing about the RAM speed. what shall i set it to?
1:1 is too slow and is slowing the whole system. i tried to set it to 1066Mhz but it wont pass memtest2.00. The V.RAM is at max 2.1 and if i over do it, it will void the warranty (all parts are only 2 monthes old

I think the FREEZER PRO7 is ok for OCing only to 3Ghz. My temps are:
Idle: 23-37.37.35.35
Load: 39-55.55.51.51 (after 2hrs. of prim95)
but how dose it affect the CPU power consumption?

thanks for your help.

^No. The CoreTemp VID is what is the normal voltage at stock and not the current voltage that it is set to.

@svesam: Start a new thread in"Overclocking" you will get better help. Not many people check this thread after Page 1 (since this is a sticky).

yes Shadow, that is what i meant. sorry if it came out wrong.

PC Weenie: I'm running the same board with the same memory and I have it set to 2t-5-5-5-15 and all other settings on auto. I have voltage at 2.2 running as 1066 rate. My CPU is @400fsb with the strap @400. The system runs so nice at these settings.

Explanation of BIOS Options & Recommended Overclocking Settings :

Note: These settings are very smiler/ same on all Gigabyte Motherboards. This could apply to other motherboards too.

R.G.B.: Helps to enhance the performance of the GPU and
VRAM. "Auto" allow the BIOS to automatically set the R.G.B. mode based on system configurations. This Option must be set to "Auto" for successful overclock.


CPU Clock Ratio: This is the CPU Multiplier. The lowest it can reach is [I] 6x [/I] and the highest is dependent on the CPU. I recommend that you set this to the highest possible due to the fact that it puts fewer limits on the FSB (i.e. Less likely to hit an FSB wall etc.). But, there are cases in which it should or could be lowered.

CPU Host Clock Control: This option is "Disabled" by default. You MUST change this to "Enabled" in order to overclock the CPU.

CPU Host Frequency (Mhz): This is the FSB. Increase this value by 50-70Mhz over your Stock FSB during your first attempt.

For an 800 MHz FSB this is set to 200 MHz.
For a 1066 MHz FSB this is set to 266 MHz.
For a 1333 MHz FSB this is set to 333 MHz.
You can also enter any other value like 300 (1300FSB).

Change this item to reach the desired speed. This multiplied by the CPU multiplier gives the clock speed. I recommend that you change this by 50-100Mhz during the first few test phases to narrow down the stable overclock. Then after you reach the Maximum Clock speed (the point at which Prime95 fail in less than 5 hours) decrease the FSB by 20-50Mhz or increase the CPU core voltage .

CPU Frequency: This is the speed after any changes in the FSB and/or Multiplier.
This is equal to:

PCI Express Frequency (Mhz): This is the PCIe frequency for the PCIe slots. Keep this at 100Mhz or "Auto" .

C.I.A.2: CPU Intelligent Accelerator 2 (C.I.A.2) is a system designed to automatically adjust the CPU Clock speed by a given percentage. This option is "Disabled" by default. It must be set to "Disabled" in order to successfully overclock the CPU .

Performance Enhance : Must be set to "Disabled" for a successful overclock.




System Memory Multiplier (SPD): This is the RAM SPD. Change this item so that the "Memory Frequency" shown below the SPD is not exceeded. It is OK to be under the "Memory Frequency" shown.


Memory Frequency (Mhz): The first RAM value listed (I will call this the "Rated RAM Speed" to make life easier) (to the left ) is the normal speed of the RAM being used; the second (to the right) is the memory frequency that is automatically adjusted according to the "CPU Host Frequency (Mhz)" and "System Memory Multiplier" settings. I would strongly suggest you decrease the SPD to stay at or below the "Rated RAM Speed". If your RAM is overclockable (i.e. RAM like the Crucial Ballastix) you should still set the SPD to the "Rated RAM Speed" as it would be one less variable in a CPU overclocking failure until you find the best stable overclock. I recommend that you DO NOT overclock the RAM until you reach a stable CPU speed.

System Voltage Control: Determines whether to manually set the system voltages (i.e. CPU core voltage, RAM voltage, PCIe voltage, etc). "Auto" lets BIOS automatically set the system voltages as required. I recommend that you set this to "Auto" only if your overclock is small like 10-11%. Set this to "Disable" if your overclock is high (i.e. 400+Mhz CPU speed increase). Also set this to "Disable" if you need to change RAM voltages, this is specially true for most high performance RAM like the Crucial Ballastix and Corsair XMS2, etc. If your RAM is higher than 1.8v you must set this to "Disabled" .

DDR2 OverVoltage Control: This is the RAM voltage. Increase this by +0.1v increments to reach the voltage specified by the ram manufacture. The standard voltage is 1.8v. So if your voltage is rated as 2.2v increase this to +0.4v since 1.8 + 0.4 = 2.2.

PCI-E OverVoltage Control: Allows you to set PCIe voltage. There should be no need to change this value for 98% of the overclockers.

FSB OverVoltage Control: Allows you to increase the FSB voltage. Increase this to reach stability under high FSB (i.e. 310Mhz+).

(G)MCH OverVoltage Control: This is the Northbridge voltage. Most overclockers will not need to change this setting. Change this to increase stability under certain FSBs (i.e. 420Mhz+). Note that an increase in this setting WILL produce increase motherboard heat output. A Northbridge cooler is recommended for most P35/X38 motherboards even if you are not changing the MCH voltage. Gigabyte motherboards with out Ultra Cool should have a small Northbridge fan ( I noticed a 8C drop in my motherboard temperatures once I installed a 40mm fan on the heat sink on my P35-DS3L.).

CPU Voltage Control: Allows you to set the CPU voltage. Increase the voltage little by little until you reach stability at a given CPU speed*. Increasing this setting WILL cause an increase in CPU temperatures, so therefore a good CPU cooler is highly recommended. You should also monitor your temperatures through software like CoreTemp. DO NOT LET CPU TEMPERATURES EXCEED 65C. If your temperatures exceed 65C you are still safe but long term operation will not be advisable. You should NEVER let the CPU reach thermal threshold (Tjunction). This is the point where the CPU automatically decreases the Multiplier to 6x, even if SpeedStep is disabled.

* Some users have reported that decreasing the CPU voltage will allow an increase in the overclock/stability. This is due to the fact that less voltage means less heat therefore more stable overclock. This is mainly true for most of the E6xxx CPU (not the 6x50s, most of the time).

Normal CPU Vcore This is the standard CPU voltage at stock settings.

Note: Will include a picture of the BIOS settings soon.

Saw this on AnandTech I figured if Graysky took the time to make a revision some people might want to see it.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messag [...] id=2057083

[quotemsg=1748663,273,289156]I cannot find the following:

• Modify Ratio Support to disable it,
• PECI to enable it and
• and PCI Clock Sync to set it to 33.33Mhz[/q]

I don't understand you're asking..?

hi there ...

first of all, let me congrajulate u , on ur pretty useful topic ... Hope u continiue ...

Here my question is :

As I am arrounf of making a new rig , then , Which of the following CPUs are

easier to OC :

C2D 8400 with 45nm tech.

C2Q 6600 ?

and one another thing ...

I'v heard there is a problem in 680i ones and C2Qs in OC ! is that correct ?

@tduic - it's fixed, thanks for point it out.
@radian2008 - duals and quads are night and day dude... q6600 ~3.0-3.4 GHz on air. I dunno about the duals since I've only used quads.

where i read my ram voltage i have corsair 800MHZ 4-4-4-12 XMS2 ? (the volatge to start the oc and the max voltage)
and - i need to change the ram voltage iven i didnt raise the ram speed ?

Well, if this is true, then DDR (that is DDR1) memory would also have a 2x relationship to FSB, but it does not...

Hi All,

Today I OC my first PC, Im not sure what all this voltage things are about, it's sounds pretty confusing. All you have to do is raise the FSB, after I set this at 400 my PC was running at 3.6ghz. 1 setting and I was done. What the hec is so hard about this? My temps before the OC was 3c (im using a coolit eliminator @ 71 degrees ambient temp) with the new setting of the FSB my temps went to 18c at idle. To be honest the 3.6 is fast enough for me for now. I just downloaded all the necessary software according to THF to test it out.
I was reading some of the stickies and have been a fan of this site for the last year or so. Keep up the great work and advice.

Peace

P.S. - my system is a q6600 G0 stepping (ebay 211.00 with shipping) Silverstone 1200w PS (ebay 136.00 with shipping) 4x1mb Ballastic PC-8500 (ebay 170.00 w/shipping) Thermaltake Kandalf LCS VD4000BWS Water Cooling Case (ebay 144.00 w/ship) Asus Maximus Extreme watercooled MB (ebay 227.00 w/shipping) 3 x WD Raptor WD1500ADFD raid0 (ebay 450.00 w/ship) ATI 3870HD 512mb GDDR4 (249.00 buy.com free shipping) WinTV-HVR 1800 Dual TV Tuner (ebay 73.00 w/ship) Coolit Freezone (ebay 110.00 with shipping) 2 x Samsung SH-S202N (Ebay 65.00 with ship) Thermaltake Aquabay (ebay 31.00 w/ship) and misc thermaltake gadgets and lights. All Parts brand new and bought between July 07 and Dec 07, Today is the Birthday of my First OC'd PC and was born in at 2.4 ghz and has grown to 3.6ghz in less than 10 minutes

Hi Graysky,

I knew I would look like that as we all in the beginiing do...including you know who. Im also here to learn and get some guidance and maybe I'll look much better...so for now I have to look like
Anyway, I will do a prime95 test today and see what happens, I figured if I left everything on auto it will just adjust correctly. According to your statement, I guess I'm wrong and I'll find out running the prime95. If it crashes...do you have any suggestion? What would you have done differently?

Thanks
vette98guy
P.S. - my vcore is at 1.28v according to my pcprobe

@vette98guy - yeah, it's not so easy with p95. You may have to increase your NB, VTT, or Vcc to achieve stability. It'll take some time to figure out. Read my guide for a process.

You got an Asus ROG motherboard

They are pretty awesome, as their auto-settings can do a really good job of overclocking a processor...

The thing is, as graysky alluded to, is that the auto-settings will leave your voltages higher than necessary... this is basically to cover their own @sses - better to have the PC waste power than to have it crash!

You could almost certainly get a higher overclock by tinkering.... depends on whether it's worth it to you.

I just built a q9450 system on an Asus x48 Rapage formula MB... I'm currently attampting to get it to run 8x500 FSB = 4ghz... it's not so simple with 8gb of ram (running Vista 64), but I hope to have it stable and ready for the weekend.

Once it's stable, I'll post the timings/voltages I got

hi everyone, i need some help, got a kv8 max3 M/B and and 3200+ 2.2ghz athlon, with a geforce 5950 fx ultra GPU, i want to play need for speed pro street properly, ive been told there is a way for me to play this properly, but the processor will be ok to play it on but i mite have a problem with my GPU?? is my GPU any good, i have seen plenty of my GPUs by it looks nothing like my one. its a gigabite model and its got like a heatsink thing on it, made of metal which goes round both side of the GPU. i can play doom 3 on it with ultra quality even tho it says its not recommended.

is this strage about my GPU or is there some GPUs made with same model numbers which run differently??? i play need for speed underground 2 which is just some amazing quality compared to PS2 i mean it doubles it easy. i need to know how i can overclock my system without blowing anything!!!!! any suggestions????

tried this
Intel E8400 3.81Ghz
DFI LanParty DK X48 T2R-S
KVR800 CL5 Ram
500GB HDD
Power Supply CoolerMaster 650 Watt
ATi 3870
***Stock Voltage***
*******Adjusting voltage may damage CPU!!!********

wait, how can I get a 1:1 ratio with fsb of 333 and some 800 ram?

need some help with overclocking my pc
i'm new at this so if anybody has the time to guide me i would be very grateful

my rig

Quad Q6600
EVGA 790i ULTRA SLI
4 GB DDR3, PC-10666, 1333 MHz, PATRIOT

i tried to overclock on my own but it crashes every time
i am desperate for some answers

thanx