The Overclocker's Thread

47

TD Admin, Chicken Licker, Top Shelf Sleeper
You can get much better clocks on CPU

thats the thing, not MUCH better on CPU. from 4 to 4.2 is 5% gain. gpu on the other hand, u touch the settings, fans go Boeing on u, need water :D they should make closed loops for the gpu, like the h70 ones.

14slhdf.jpg
 

OG buckshot jr

TD Admin
So Halfbaked, can I assume you're looking for some tips, tricks and general knowledge and maybe a how-to?
If so, I'll have you know that overclocking has changed dramatically in terms of method, due to new chipsets. For example, the old days (Socket 775, like Qxxx chips, C2D's etc.) would overclock (being very simple here) by upping the FSB (Front-Side-Bus) while maintaining (through testing) the lowest possible vCore (voltage supplied to the CPU) to keep heat in check.

Now, things have changed. Very seldom can you even touch the FSB (i.e. going from 100 to 105 is a big leap even on advanced/good boards). With the new chipsets like LGA 1156 (the others I can't remember, but anything 2nd generation like i5-2500K type shit), you modify by upping the multiplier, not the FSB, while doing almost the same thing with the cVore/testing/etc.

Let us know of your exact components (chipset, cpu-type, ram and ram speed (i.e. 1600mhz @ 9-9-9-24) etc.), and perhaps some of us here can give you some sort of walk-throughs and even link you to some sites that explain a lot of shit that we may not want to re-type/other people have it explained it already in a much more accurate/better way.

Cheers!
 

DrUgZ

TD Admin
47 I had an ultra 120 extreme with push/pull that took up half my case, and when i went liquid I didn't see much of a drop with a triple rad in push/pull in a loop with my 6970 GPU, BUT i was able to raise the Vcore quite a bit higher and kept stability letting me get more clocks.
 

halfbakedchef

TD Admin
Okay, so i am finally ready to start my OC project.

PC Specs
MOBO: Intel DP55WG
CPU: i3 540 (clarkdale)
MEM: Corsair Vengence 1600 - 9.9.9.24
currently at 1333mhz
CPU Cooler: Themaltake Frio http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150

the multiplier is locked on my cpu @ 23
clock speeds set to 133mhz

my target bclck is 166, not looking for anything to extreme. this would give me 3.8ghz.

i have been reading this article. http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

just looking to see if anyone has relevant information on my OC. what should my voltage should be set at for this bclck, frequencies, ect...
 

excalibur

DARKLY Regular
working on over clocking my CPU as well
cpu - i7 950
board - MSI x58a-gd45

currently have it stable at 3.8 ghz (160 bus speed x 24) without messing with the voltage
 

TurboTaco

TD Admin
I got a cpu cooler last week when my stock intel hsf bit the dust.

Got myself the Cooler Master 212 for $25 and installed it. Before the new CPU cooler + HSF, my stock Q6600 (2.4ghz) CPU idle temps were 45C and would hit just over 60C after a few hours of playing BF3.

Since I installed the CM212 HSF, my temps dropped to 28C idle and tops 52C on one of four cores.

After I saw the huge drop in temps, I decided to OC my Q6600. I increased my stock speed from 2.4ghz to 3.6ghz with a minor increase in vcore to 1.4125 for complete prime95 stability.

Wicked what an aftermarket HSF can do for a 3.5yr old CPU.

My specs:

Q6600 3.6ghz OC @ 1.4125 - 9x400mhz FSB
Asus GTX 570 DiCu2
Asus P5Q Deluxe Mobo
8GB RAM @ 1066mhz 5-5-5-10
320GB WD SATA
750W Corsair PSU
 

halfbakedchef

TD Admin
yeah, i'm kind of excited to explore this new territory. i don't necessarily have the best cpu for the job, but at $100 a pop, who care if i burn it up. hopefully that will not happen, but it gives me an excuse to upgrade, hehe. Like i said i'm only looking to hit 3.8 or so. thats only if my memory will run at 1600, thats the whole reason why i want to do this in the first place. i have seen that to get a stable system with high cpu freq you have to slow the memory. i want to OC my cpu to the point where i can get the most out of the memory and not slow it down.
 

OG buckshot jr

TD Admin
@ Chef - don't worry about the RAM. If you'll notice, a lot of us guys run the ram at lower speeds, but with tighter timings (lower # the better). The RAM can always be manipulated to run at or around the stock speed (just under stock speed is always more stable than just above stock speed, I think).

In terms of your goal of 3.8Ghz, here's what I'd do.

1 ) Download and install CPU-Z (please double-check the version you're getting so it reads i-series architecture accurately). This will get your stock voltage for your chip running at stock speed (otherwise known as your VID - the minimum amount of voltage your specific chip requires to run @ stock).
2 ) Write that voltage down. Now, boot into your BIOS and set the vcore (or cpu voltage, some BIOS' phrase it differently) to that number. You might not be able to get it exact, but get it as close as you can.
3 ) Now, start messing with your speed - with your i-series chip, the only way is increasing the bclck (base clock). I would turn it up by small increments to start. Save your settings, reboot. If all is well, repeat this process - WITHOUT changing your VCore. The goal here is to see how fast your chip can go without manipulating it's voltage.
4 ) Once you finally blue screen: this is the sign that the chip can go no further without increasing the vcore. Now you can increase that vcore 2 wee notches, and hit more speed (same wee notches you've been taking in step 3).
5 ) Incrementally repeat 3-4 and you'll be on your way to overclocking your chip. Sure, there's a fuck-ton of other settings you can mess with, but that's more so the fine-tuning of hitting a hard number to hit for a given chip. Take the basics first, I'd recommend.
6 ) During this entire process I would monitor temperatures fairly closely, at least once you start raising the vcore. I always use (and tend to recommend) CoreTemp, as I've noticed it's fairly accurate. Free download via Google.

Post any questions along the way, I'll try to check often and reply back :D
 

$alvador

TD Member
I got a cpu cooler last week when my stock intel hsf bit the dust.

Got myself the Cooler Master 212 for $25 and installed it. Before the new CPU cooler + HSF, my stock Q6600 (2.4ghz) CPU idle temps were 45C and would hit just over 60C after a few hours of playing BF3.

Since I installed the CM212 HSF, my temps dropped to 28C idle and tops 52C on one of four cores.

After I saw the huge drop in temps, I decided to OC my Q6600. I increased my stock speed from 2.4ghz to 3.6ghz with a minor increase in vcore to 1.4125 for complete prime95 stability.

Wicked what an aftermarket HSF can do for a 3.5yr old CPU.

My specs:

Q6600 3.6ghz OC @ 1.4125 - 9x400mhz FSB
Asus GTX 570 DiCu2
Asus P5Q Deluxe Mobo
8GB RAM @ 1066mhz 5-5-5-10
320GB WD SATA
750W Corsair PSU

You can still boost your performance a LOT by increasing FSB to 440-466MHz and dropping the CPU multi to keep the same speed/heat. FSB manages the communication between CPU and RAM so the faster that runs, the more performance you'll have at the same CPU frequency.

TBH I think now would be the best time for you to upgrade the whole rig. That board is one of the most sought-after 775 boards and because of its rarity people are willing to pay almost as much money as it originally retailed for. C2Q chips still retail for prices comparable to 2500K and 2600K chips. The 775 has appreciated well but as soon as it becomes obsolete its value will drop like a stone.
 

halfbakedchef

TD Admin
So I installed my CPU cooler last night. Only has one fan pulling air out, couldn't do the push fan not enough room for my ram to fit in. With the cooler on low my CPU temp dropped 25 degrees underload. Plan to start ocN this weekend.
 

TurboTaco

TD Admin
Yea I just checked ebay and am surprised to find my board selling refurbished/used/new from $100-180...

Still, I prob will just end up giving this comp to my pops if I rebuild a new comp. No $ to build a new comp atm and the new GPU + OC CPU makes all my games run perfectly so I am happy for now.

If I drop the multiplier to 8 and fsb to 440-466 I don't really get much of a +/- mhz boost vs 9x400 but I will consider it. Again, atm I am happy things are stable n runnin cool
 

halfbakedchef

TD Admin
looking to see if i am right about this?

cpu freq. and mem freq should be the same for best preformance?

my original goal of 3.8GHz had a BCLK of 166MHz x 23(multiplier). my memory is only rated to 1600MHz so i would have to drop the memory multiplier ratio to 2:8 from 2:10. this would make my memory run at 664MHz, defeating the purpose of my OC.

NEW PLAN

BCLK 160MHz x 23(multiplier) = 3.68GHz, 2:10 memory @ 800MHz. Not to far off from my original thought of 3.8GHz and from my understanding this would be the best all around performance for my setup


is this good or am i full of shit?
 

OG buckshot jr

TD Admin
You should be able do one or two of these things to maintain your memory at or near it's original speed:
1 ) Lower/highten the memory multiplier found under the "Performance" header.
2 ) Adjust your memory multiplier/speed, also found under the "Performance" header.

This is according to a quick google of your board's bios screenies found here:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/intel-dp55wg_3.html

I know every BIOS is different, and without actually playing with it myself, I can't tell you what is/isn't adjustable, but either way you should be able to manipulate (to some extent) the memory speed/performance without hindering your overclock. I guess my goal would be to keep the ram near it's rated speed while OC'ing your cpu as best you can.
 

halfbakedchef

TD Admin
you should be able to manipulate (to some extent) the memory speed/performance without hindering your overclock. I guess my goal would be to keep the ram near it's rated speed while OC'ing your cpu as best you can.

exactly what i want, to me that's optimum performance.


is there a good fan control program compatible with my board, speedfan doesn't seem to work, and the Intel version is only for extreme boards. Also i have speed fan and real temp running at the same time right now. there is like a 15 degree difference in the temps on the two?
 

$alvador

TD Member
RealTemp > speedfan. What exactly do you mean by fan control program? Typically, fans that you can change the speed of on the fly have a 4th wire for pulse-width modulation. The only means of altering the speed of a 3-wire fan is to change the voltage.
 

OG buckshot jr

TD Admin
Exactly what Salvador said - you need a fan controller:

a la: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6044658&CatId=501 (my bro has it, it's fuckin sick).

With respect to speedfan and realtemp, from what I've read and think I understand it goes like this: Speedfan is supposed to control the speed (voltage) of your system's fans by modifying some .inf files on your computer. However, it has never worked - any revision of it. It's a complete piece of shit, with that respect. As far as reading temperature, it reads (or thinks it reads, who knows who coded it... ) the stock sensors on your board. There is a problem with this: The sensor's don't account for the processor's TJmax and TDmax (google it).

That's where RealTemp comes in: It not only has much better coding in it to access your hardware directly (thus excluding the software part of things, aka fuck-ups in readings) and accounts for TJmax and TDmax, thus giving you a much more precise reading.

I tend to agree with it after testing both with a heat-gun while overclocking my chip back in the day :)
 

Glocky

Drinking your tears
I use the temps from Aida64, so just for fun, I d/l'd RealTemp. They are the same. w00t.
 

47

TD Admin, Chicken Licker, Top Shelf Sleeper
i used coretemp . whats realtemp like ? i really like coretemp because its non-invasive.
 
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