The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

mikeh0303,

All of these things depend on the motherboard, memory and power supply. Brand doesn't matter as far as the MB and memory go. Maybe the power supply, depending on the quality. CPU cooler matters too, or whether you plan to water cool or just use air. You wind ip with a lot of choices and a lot of decisions to make.

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

this is the cooler:
Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler

this is the mb
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012998&cid=MB.157

this is the RAM
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013918&cid=RAM.835

this is this PSU
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=011024&cid=PS.808

thanks for your help

 

sorry double

 

mikeh0303,

I think I would go with a little heftier power supply, although that would depend on the video card and whether you are going SLI. Even for a single 8800 you would need more power. If you even think you might go SLI, then a 750 Thermaltake Toughpower might be a good choice. Don't forget, the power demands go up as you overclock and have to raise voltages.

From what I've read, the 6420 is the better chip because of it's 8x multiplier. You can get the maximum it will give with a slower fsb. As it is they seem to hit about 2.96 at stock voltages. I would figure about 3.2-3.3 on air at reasonable voltages. I'm not saying that's the limit because some of the overclocking forums are reporting as high as 3.6GHz, but it takes 1.6v to do it! Not recommended at all, at least not by anyone in any of the forums I belong to. Safe limit is about 1.40v It's not likely to idle below 40 though! 45C would be more like it unless you spring for a really good cooler like a Thermalrite Ultra-120 or Ultra-120 Extreme, and have very good case ventilation. What ever cooler you buy, make sure it will fit in your case. Good luck with whatever you build!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

i am doing this for a few friends, their systems are built, I am just adding the new zalman cooler and overclocking it for them, they dont have the best graphics cards (nVidia7300) so that wont take too much power

 

I agree with Russ on the PSU, it isn't powerful enough. As for Patriot memory, I don't know what it's capable of.

 

the system only has 1 hard drive, 2 dvd/cd drives and 4 fans (including cpu, PSU)

 

Even so, it's not powerful enough to deal with overclocking. Overclocking a processor adds substantially to the power it uses. My E4300 once drew 65W, and now uses about 140. Add to that the efficiency of the voltage regulators on the motherboard, and just by overclocking your CPU, you've changed the requirement from a 350W PSU to a 500W PSU.

 

Sammoris

How long has yoru cpu been overclocked? And how long is it gunna last like that?

 

sammorris,

Add to that we don't know his choice in video card or cards if he's going SLI. Some video cards draw lots of power. That's why I chose the 7600GT! No molex or PCIe plug required! LOL!! I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 500 watt PS, and nothing less than 70% efficiency!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

Since early spring, and I expect it to last a good few years.

 

Cool stuff... then ima still get me a E4300

 

Definitely, well worth the money now.

 

LastMastr,

I love my E4300. It was clocked as high as 3.396GHz. I've been playing around with the buss speeds and it seems to work best all around at 3.2GHz with a memory multi of 2.50. I though of replacing it with an E4400 for it 10x multiplier, but I haven't heard too may good things about how well they overclock! I think right now the best buys are the E4300 and the E6420, which has an 8x multiplier and also overclocks very well.

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

I dl'ed the new copy and compared MD5's yet they were they same. I'm just going to re-install Windows. And can anyone recommend a good PSU. Is 500W enough? I'm not going to be overclocking anymore. Unless a good PSU were to help me in my situation.

 

Depends which 500W it is. I'd say a good 500W PSU is about what's needed to overclock an E4300 these days.

 

sammorris,

Very true! some PSUs that claim 500 watts are barely over 250 watts in the real world. It delivers 500 watts, but unfortunately, not when you need it. I know that Cool Max I repaired is about 65-70% right now because I put higher amperage VRMs in it. Still I wouldn't use it for very long as all the other components are very suspect and the heat sink isn't very big or heavy. It weighs less than half what the Thermaltake weighs. You know the old saying, Cheap in Smoke out! LOL!! And yes, Power supplies do catch fire from time to time. Get enough sparks going and they will light up all the epoxy and resin they use to hold things in place starts burning! The one that caught the drapes on fire where I used to live didn't even shut down the computer. It was still running when I pulled the plug! LOL!!

Check your e-mail and see if OCCT came if it didn't I send it with sendthisfile or Megaupload. I may just do that to be sure you get it!

Clock On,
theone

 

Yes it did finally arrive. I'll run it's 10 minute burn at low speed and mid speed tonight at some point. The high speed didnt really seem to have an effect, so you see why I bought lower speed fans!

 

sam,

Run the whole 30 minute auto with both CPU and RAM (default) and it will really tell you more than just a 10 minute run. That's what I did with what I sent to Soph! I left the fans alone because I thought it was a good a time as any to put my money where my mouth is and see how well those Silverstones could do the job without being cranked above what I normally run them at. Both of them and the PS fan did a magnificent job. Even the CPU fan didn't run at max and only went above 2400 for a short period of time. I could put my hand by both fan vents and feel the warm air coming out of the case. Not hot but noticeably warm for all 3, side, rear and PS.

BTW, I installed the latest version of Fourceware for the video card and it wouldn't even let it run at stock speeds. I switched back to the previous version and am back to 650/1600. If you click on the test for optimal the core goes to 728 from 570 and the memory goes all the way to 1738 from 1450, and passes the test, so I'm well below optimal now! I would say I got an extremely good card with very well binned components

Clock On,
theone :>}
!

 

I'll look into one with good efficiency and report which one I think "looks and sounds" good. I also noticed I get the MCE error everytime my mobo is fairly cool;Usually below 35.

Oh and just to add to the Video card discussion, I just use modified firmware and I get up to 10fps higher on all my games and graphical utilities. I'm using Xtreme-G Forceware 94.20 for my 6600GT.