HOWTO: Overclock C2D Quads and C2D Duals - A Guide v1.0

[Nabob]

Nice guide. I've been pouring over many forums to find info to help tweak my set up, this is one of the best. I'm new to over clocking, but this makes climbing that learning curve much easier.

Thanks again, Bump^^

[lonew01f]

awesome guide

[kingsface]

Im new to oc'ing. It's a great guide I must say. What I couldn't find here though was what is the ideal fsb:dram ratio that you would want ?

Here are my settings:
E7300 @3.0 GHZ (Stock 2.66GHZ):
FSB = 400
Multiplier= 7.5 (Any higher and I get p95 fatal error saying round off value 0.5, expected less than 0.4)
Dram Frequency=DDR2-800Mhz (cpuz then shows ratio 1:1)
Vcore=1.20
Ram, NB, SB, ICH, voltage=Auto
Ram latencies=4-4-4-12
Spread spectrum, c1e, speedstep= disabled





At these settings I can run it p95 stable for about 30min (couldn't wait for more). Like I mentioned I would want to go higher but I get that fatal round off error right at the beginning, any help ?

Thanks

[Decane]

Hi, I'm going to attempt to OC my Q6600 to 3GHz, but before I do, I have a few questions:

(1) If I do not OC my RAM from its current 800MHz and I set the FSB to 333MHz, do I need to mess with the RAM timings at all? My timings currently: 5-5-5-18-22 according to CPU-Z. I have 2x2048MB Corsair TwinX modules; the exact model is CM2X2048-6400CM5. The JEDEC #1 specification has better timings but it's only 270MHz.

(2) Do I set DRAM Performance Enhance to "Standard" in bios? The default setting is "Turbo", but bios tells me that setting it to standard can improve system stability after an OC. Does it even matter if I don't touch the RAM?

(3) If I don't OC my RAM or change timings, do I need to mess with the north-/south-bridge voltages? If I understood the OP correctly, these may need to be raised merely due to the FSB:DRAM divider.. My OC divider would be 0.8325 (or 2.4B as it is called in bios) (2.4 x 333 ~ 800) which is very different from its current 0.6666... (2:3).

(4) My VID is 1.325 according to CoreTemp, so is that the VCore I should use with my 3GHz OC (initially)? In the OP it says leave it on Auto initially, but I'm afraid my board may over-volt the chip if I don't set it to a specific value manually.

I'm really sorry for appearing so... helpless. You'd think "Ancient Guru" meant I actually knew a thing or two about hardware tweaking but overclocking the CPU is completely new to me. BTW below is a piccy from CPU-Z with all the relevant sections on display. Stock clocks for now; I'm not touching anything until I can be relatively confident that I'm not fiddling with the wrong things.

[Tat3]

Originally Posted by Decane

Hi, I'm going to attempt to OC my Q6600 to 3GHz, but before I do, I have a few questions:

(1) If I do not OC my RAM from its current 800MHz and I set the FSB to 333MHz, do I need to mess with the RAM timings at all? My timings currently: 5-5-5-18-22 according to CPU-Z. I have 2x2048MB Corsair TwinX modules; the exact model is CM2X2048-6400CM5. The JEDEC #1 specification has better timings but it's only 270MHz.

With current settings it would give you ram speed 1000MHz. May not work. Different FSBRAM might be the best solution.

(2) Do I set DRAM Performance Enhance to "Standard" in bios? The default setting is "Turbo", but bios tells me that setting it to standard can improve system stability after an OC. Does it even matter if I don't touch the RAM?

Set it to "Standard" to be sure that it doesnt cause instability in your OC. After you have tested and found your system stable, set it back to "Turbo" to see if it's still stable.

(3) If I don't OC my RAM or change timings, do I need to mess with the north-/south-bridge voltages? If I understood the OP correctly, these may need to be raised merely due to the FSB:DRAM divider.. My OC divider would be 0.8325 (or 2.4B as it is called in bios) (2.4 x 333 ~ 800) which is very different from its current 0.6666... (2:3).

We are not talking about huge increses these, stock voltages might work on NB and SB too. I have never had q6600, only e6600 (cant remember much about it). Perhaps add NB voltage a bit. I dont know safe values for that mobo, but 0.1v increase should be easily in safe zone.

(4) My VID is 1.325 according to CoreTemp, so is that the VCore I should use with my 3GHz OC (initially)? In the OP it says leave it on Auto initially, but I'm afraid my board may over-volt the chip if I don't set it to a specific value manually.

I have seen q6600 d0 hit 3GHz with stock voltages. If it's not stable, then you can lower clocks if you are afraid to increase voltages.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=285302

I'm really sorry for appearing so... helpless. You'd think "Ancient Guru" meant I actually knew a thing or two about hardware tweaking but overclocking the CPU is completely new to me. BTW below is a piccy from CPU-Z with all the relevant sections on display. Stock clocks for now; I'm not touching anything until I can be relatively confident that I'm not fiddling with the wrong things.

No problem. I hope that this helps and good luck. And these should be settings which should let you got to bios (even if it doesnt boot to windows) without hard lock and bios reset.

[Decane]

Tat3, thanks for answering buddy. Your post gave me the encouragement to go ahead and try the OC so I went along with it and my PC booted into Windows just fine and I'm now running IBT with 'Maximum' set as my 'Stress Level' and '20' set as the number of times to run. So far it's completed 8 passes successfully (it's also taken core 0 to 67C successfully -- ouch!).

I made the following alterations in bios:

• FSB to 333MHz
• FSB:DRAM divider to 5:6
• PCI-E Frequency locked at 100MHz
• VCore 1.3250V
• Termination Voltage (or something like that) locked at default
• DRAM Voltage locked at default
• DRAM Terminate locked at default
• Northbridge/Southbridge voltages locked at defaults

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for answering my questions.

[Tat3]

No problem. I hope that it's stable

About your DRAM voltage, how high is it ? Not sure how high your RAM is rated, prolly 2.2v... There is sticker in RAM stick which tells how much is it, so if you are planning to tweak your ram settings, be sure that it's not downvolted.

67dec C is not bad, IBT gives temps no application in real world tests will give. Clean heatsink from dust and when you have found clock speed which you want to use, start lowering voltages little by little to lower temps and increase lifespan of that chip.

[Decane]

Originally Posted by Tat3

About your DRAM voltage, how high is it ?

My current voltage is 1.8 -- the same as what it's rated to be run at and the same as it was running at before I OC'd. Do you think I should tweak my RAM to get tighter timings if my PC proves stable? I really don't want to risk damage to my hardware (hell, this 25% OC is bad enough!) so if the gains from tweaking RAM are marginal I'll probably just leave things as they are.

Originally Posted by Tat3

Clean heatsink from dust

Hehe, I actually did that shortly after I discovered I had forgotten to plug in my HSF fan cable after re-seating my CPU cooler (thread).

PS: 12 passes successful so far.

[Tat3]

Originally Posted by Decane

My current voltage is 1.8 -- the same as what it's rated to be run at and the same as it was running at before I OC'd. Do you think I should tweak my RAM to get tighter timings if my PC proves stable? I really don't want to risk damage to my hardware (hell, this 25% OC is bad enough!) so if the gains from tweaking RAM are marginal I'll probably just leave things as they are.

Hehe, I actually did that shortly after I discovered I had forgotten to plug in my HSF fan cable after re-seating my CPU cooler (thread).

PS: 12 passes successful so far.

Perhaps it's not even marginal increase from tweaking the ram, but it's hobby for some people and some people even think that it's funny, haha

I had my e6600 (2.4GHz at stock) running at 3GHz for quite some time with stock voltages. Then at some point I ended up increasing voltages and went to 3.6GHz (needed to play around with voltages for some time to get it stable). I was quite happy with that 50% OC. Last summer got my i7 920 (2.66GHz), I think that I installed Windows with stock clocks and then went to OC ended up to 4GHz quite fast. Was happy for some time, then 4,3GHz... Atm running at 4,4GHz with water cooling. Just saying that it's quite addictive hobby and not one of those cheapest ones.

[Decane]

Originally Posted by Tat3

Just saying that it's quite addictive hobby and not one of those cheapest ones.

Yeah, I hear you.. But then, I'm not really doing this because it's "fun" (although it is) but because I could use a small boost in performance. Also, I've had this Q6600 for 1.5 years now so I think it's about time I get all of my money's worth out of it.

EDIT: Sh*t! IBT failed the last frikkin' pass! Good thing I made it run 20 and not 19..



Any advice on how to proceed? I guess I need to raise the VCore one notch first, and then if it fails again, it's probably not the VCore but something else, right? Argh, what a terrible way to end the day!

[Tat3]

It did almost pass so I dont think that it needs any huge increases anywhere. Try higher vcore, if it still not pass, increase vcore a bit more.

[Decane]

Hey, I just thought I'd write to say that I upped the voltage by exactly one increment (from 1.32500V to 1.33125V) and ran IBT with a full 100 passes () successfully.. I figured that there would be no point in running only 20 since my system almost passed that even with stock voltage. I think that 100 passes with the maximum stress level should indicate a stable OC, but I will of course run a few Prime95 tests anyway, just to be sure.

Anyways, thanks for your help, Tat3.

EDIT: One question: My OC seemed to raise my Windows Experience Index from 7.1 to 7.3 for my CPU, but also for my RAM! Why did this happen even though I locked in my RAM timings, voltage and speed at their defaults? I even disabled turbo!



EDIT (2): Ran the Prime95 Blend test for 11 hours -- no errors. Also ran the small FFTs test, and some SuperPI tests, and no errors there either. So I guess I can keep this OC.

[Tat3]

Sorry for late reply, did not notice that you edited your post.

That windows performance index is not very accurate, but I think this would be the answer for your question.

FSB : DRAM 2:3 -> 5:6

[Decane]

Originally Posted by Tat3

Sorry for late reply, did not notice that you edited your post.

That windows performance index is not very accurate, but I think this would be the answer for your question.

FSB : DRAM 2:3 -> 5:6

Hmm.. So does raising the FSB:DRAM provide more performance on its own? I'm confused now; I thought the ratio was only useful for adjusting the RAM speed to a specific, predetermined level with respect to an altered FSB. My ratio of 5:6 keeps the DRAM speed exactly the same as before the OC (also timings are the same). Surely, the only aspects affecting RAM performance are the speed and timings, and not the ratio between RAM speed and FSB..? Or could it be that the faster CPU speed drives data into the RAM faster and hence increases its performance as well?

[Tat3]

Originally Posted by Decane

Hmm.. So does raising the FSB:DRAM provide more performance on its own? I'm confused now; I thought the ratio was only useful for adjusting the RAM speed to a specific, predetermined level with respect to an altered FSB. My ratio of 5:6 keeps the DRAM speed exactly the same as before the OC (also timings are the same). Surely, the only aspects affecting RAM performance are the speed and timings, and not the ratio between RAM speed and FSB..? Or could it be that the faster CPU speed drives data into the RAM faster and hence increases its performance as well?

You can try using different ratio and test those with superpi or some other application to see how there is difference.

If you can get it to 1:1 it will run on sunc and provide the best performance, because there is not delay between cpu and ram.
5:6 means smaler delay than with 2:3. (something)

But still

Originally Posted by http://www.evga.com/forumsarchive/fb.asp?m=100978407

The ones who say that 1:1 is the best don't know what they are talking about. I've done the tests and many others have confirmed the same, using a divider which sets your memory as close as possible to it's rated speed gives more stablity and better bench marks in both Everest bandwidth tests and gaming benchmarks and usually will allow for a higher overclock of the FSB.

[Decane]

Originally Posted by Tat3

If you can get it to 1:1 it will run on sunc and provide the best performance, because there is not delay between cpu and ram.
5:6 means smaler delay than with 2:3. (something)

OK I see, thanks.

[USFORCES]

You know this guy stole your work and is claiming it's his also says he writes for guru.3D LMAO!

you'll have to fill in the blank in the link ****** without the spaces> e t e k n i x

http://www.*******.com/forum/cooling...-dummies-1744/