My first delve into overclocking

[-Psy-]

So I got myself a new computer last month with the idea of overclocking it. I've got an Asus P5B and an Intel E6320. I also have an Antec 900 case which should provide sufficient cooling.

Please explain to me roughly on how overclocking is acheived and what kind of things that can happen to my PC when things go awry.

I trust you guys.

 

[Javert]

Did you read the sticky?

In all honesty, that's a mean machine you have there, and you don't really need to over-clock, yet.

 

[The Brick]

Basically you disable most features on your mainboard to make the load on the mainboard (northbridge) lower. Then you set the right memory timings and devider, then increase the northbridge voltage, increase the CPU voltage, perhaps increasing the memory voltage. After that you just increase the FSB.

Worst that can happen is an instable machine. Really worst would be a crash at the wrong moment, causing the OS to crash (thus needing reformat).

 

[-Psy-]

How much should I increase the Mhz each time and how long would it take to push it to 2.4 Ghz?

 

[The Brick]

Oh you can set it to 2.4 immediately after you set everything right. If you do it properly, it should get up to 3.2ghz with ease. Depends a lot on your memory too though. What memory do you have? (speed and timings)

I have the P5B Deluxe myself, so I can help you quite a bit over IM.

 

[-Psy-]

2 x 1GB 667 DDR2. They are both different brands (Elixir and Corsair) and they have no fancy heatsinks or anything.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Right from the top, you want to push up your FSB (front side bus) speed to make your CPU faster, I think your CPU runs with a 1066FSB (but it runs at a quarter of this speed) as the data is sent 4 times per clock cycle which is called quad pumping. Your CPU has a clock multiplier of 7 which you multiply by the FSB speed (266 in this case). So 266 x 7 = 1862mhz, or your 1.82ghz of your CPU as displayed. You want to start going up at like 30/40mhz. Your computer should boot fine, until you it starts crashing when you need more voltage.

Your mobo should give you small steps to go up with the voltage, a very small amount at a time! Don't do too much, or you'll kill it. e.g. 1.288V up to 1.3V. Keep increasing the FSB and the voltage in turn till you get a stable arrangement after stress testing and making sure it's temp isn't crazy.

Two other points. Make sure when you start increasing your FSB that you have the option for UNLINKING with the RAM on, you don't want to increase the Memory proportionally or all hell will break loose. And if you want 2.4Ghz you'll need to go about 340mhz on the FSB, but I'm not certain on how much overvolting you'll need to do / or cooling. Tis risky business indeed!

The Brick is a good one to listen to, he helped me with my build too and taught me much of what I know with CPU's and suchlike.

 

[The Brick]

Thing is hectic, there's no way to uncouple the FSB from the memory. The lowest devider is 1:1 on p965 boards. So at best you can up the FSB to 333 without overclocking the ram (cpu would be 7x333=2331mhz). Most ram can overclock a little (350mhz should be stable), and most of the time you can push it a little further by upping the memory timings (to 6-6-6-18 or something).

You ram will definately be the limiting factor in overclocking. If you want to buy new ram for overclocking, look for at least pc8000 ram or higher.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Indeed, I didn't see that RAM before posting that. It will most definitely hold you back somewhat. Also, as I'm sure is obvious, I'm not very familiar with that board, I have the Asus Striker Extreme and it does give me this option to unlink for major OCage. I'm not sure how common it is.

 

[The Brick]

Depends on the chipset. You're running the nvidia 680i chipset, which is able to unlink the ram. Intel chipsets can't. Don't really know why.

 

[Asus]

When you start needing to increase the Voltage a lot for it to become stable, that is when you stop OCing. Too much voltage and you could fry the CPU. And it sorta depends on each CPU how tough they really are. Same with how far you get with your OC.

Usually you run some very demanding programs in a loop (e.g. prime95 and 3dmark CPU benchmark) for a long time to make sure it is really stable. Otherwise you might not realize that it is only stable for a limited time before it crashes under load.

RAM and the memory controller seem to be the pickiest thing to OC. Both for how high it will go and for killing the hardware.

 

[-Psy-]

I'll try and clock it up to 2.3 Ghz then which means I would have to increase the FSB to 328 Mhz right?

 

[The Brick]

Yep. Though make sure you have set your memory to pc4200 before you do this.

 

[-Psy-]

What? D:

 

[Saturos]

I really don't understand the logic behind overclockers who have an above-average machine who are still unsatisfied with their system's performance. If someone has that kind of money to build a gaming machine in the first place, why not just shell out a couple hundred more bucks/pounds and buy better hardware instead of pushing a concept like overclocking that could possibly destabilize your games or even your system even further? Most modern game and physics engines like Havoc and Source are sensitive to overclocking anyways. Even when it is done in moderation. Futhermore, you risk doing alot of damage to your hardware, not to mention the longevity "wear-and-tear", which would totally defeat the purpose of over-clocking which is saving money from having to purchase more expensive hardware.
Overclocking is like drugs. People think they're feeling good, but aren't aware of the long-term negative side effects. Or they're rich and/or don't give a shit.

overclocking + newsystem = disappointment with a now brokensystem.

P.S.Just be careful what you do with you new system.

 

[The Brick]

It's not easy to break a cpu by overclocking if you have proper cooling.

In this case, he has bought one of the cheapest cpus available, which is overclockable to perform better than even the newest $1000 cpu. That's the point of overclocking. And wasting a lot of money on a small performance gain is not comparable to a FREE small performance gain. And in this case it's a free HUGE performance gain.

 

[Saturos]

It's not easy to break a cpu by overclocking if you have proper cooling.

In this case, he has bought one of the cheapest cpus available, which is overclockable to perform better than even the newest $1000 cpu. That's the point of overclocking. And wasting a lot of money on a small performance gain is not comparable to a FREE small performance gain. And in this case it's a free HUGE performance gain.

True, but I would get the piece of mind knowing my machine wouldn't be obsolete for awhile. Oh, and stability. You guys have got balls of steel, blowing tons of money on hew hardware then OCing like that. Overclocking is something you'd never catch me doing with my machine.

 

[The Brick]

The point of overclocking is to NOT spend tons of money on a pc and still get awesome performance. Stability is the biggest thing in overclocking. I got my e6300 running stably at 3304mhz (stock is 1862mhz). It might break sooner than it normally would, but it'd still last me about 10 years, which is long enough.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

You'll surely upgrade before then anyway. OCing can be scary business but you just need to be sensible and pay good money for cooling. The Brick discussed with me adequate cooling for an OCed Q6600 and we looked as far field as the Tuniq Tower. In the end, I've gone for water cooling to get that performance I really want. You really can't skimp on cooling if you want to OC, it's so important.

 

[Saturos]

You'll surely upgrade before then anyway. OCing can be scary business but you just need to be sensible and pay good money for cooling. The Brick discussed with me adequate cooling for an OCed Q6600 and we looked as far field as the Tuniq Tower. In the end, I've gone for water cooling to get that performance I really want. You really can't skimp on cooling if you want to OC, it's so important.

I'll buy that. But even with liquid cooling, I'd be too chicken to try it.