My old E6420 2.13G was pretty good (OC 3.0G for 2 years stable). I have heard the Quads do not do as well...opinions? (The Quad was a "gift", so I just HAD to put it in!) Should I let the new CPU settle a while before tampering with FSB? RealTemp reads 29, 29, 34, 34...are these good idle temps for this cpu?
hmm... it's depend on u. we got the same temp 30-34c. but when i'd o'c my q8400 to 3.2ghz, the temp up to 45-48c in idle state. i only o'c when playing ps2 emulator lol
As for letting is "settle" before hammering it, I have never done that and my CPU's last for 3-6 years or whenever I upgrade to a new computer. Just go easy on the voltage so you can keep it from frying itself or get a better cooler. You got a quad core as a gift? That is nice. Feel like giving someone an old E6420?
Kind of a "gift"...a guy I know switched out his mobo and I did the "build" for him. I NEVER use the stock cooler! Right now I use Thermalright Ultra 90...
Good, I was hoping you weren't on stock. Just keep in mind that the E6420 was 65nm and your new Q8400 is 45nm. As far as I know, the 45nm CPU's don't like vcore increases as much as the 65nm's did and they also don't react as well to the increases. Keep in mind this is just what I've come to know and not the rule. No generalization can make up for lots of time and TLC while building an overclock for you specific parts and setup. What are your plans for the E6420 if you don't mind me asking?
Whether or not it will OC well depends a lot on the motherboard used. In your case, you're lucky the system even booted as the 900 series chipsets don't actually support any quad core processors...or any processor beyond the Allendale and Conroe processors(Core 2 Duo E4x00 and E6x00 series processors).
The GA-965P-DS3 rev. 3.3 with F14 BIOS supports the Q8400...there site says "non official support". Whatever that means!
According to Intel....who makes the chipset and processor, the 900 series chipsets do not support any Kentsfield, Wolfdale or Yorkfield processors. "Non-Official Support" means that the manufacturer never intended for the products to function together...and that no support exists if they don't function together.
Arctic Silver 5 has "broke in"! OC to 3.2 gig idle temp 33c. Used OCCT to "stress it" for 1 hour highest temp recorded was 54c...I think these are acceptable temps. I know this is a "moderate" overclock (20%) but, it is all I desire. Any more opinions appreciated!
OC that thing to 3.4-3.5ghz! It can handle it easily! I had q8300(7.5x333) and i OCed it to 3.675 ghz,stable.My limiting factor was low quality RAM(800mhz...) Still,try not to go over 470 on FSB......
