The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

I just "rented" (by which I really mean rented) a 7950GT AGP and damn is it fast!! Games that were struggling with low settings now play with no effort at full settings! I can only keep it for 1 week but I'll be playing around with it quite a bit. I'm unfortunately not allowed to OC it as it isn't officially mine... yet! Though I get 85C at full use and 59C at idle. Quite a jump in my eyes.

 

haha, how'd you rent it?

 

Considering that my X1900XT PCI express got temperatures slightly above those with the standard cooler on it, those temps are nothing to worry about.

 

Man these cards are hot. Mine is not as powerful, so it makes less heat but I only get 60C tops.

 

Yeah that's about right for a 7600GT, they run much cooler than the high end cards.

 

abuzar1

Answer: YES, HERE'S MY FINDINGS, NO, followed by YES.

Yes, I use it for the most part as long as it tests stable at high and low idle. I forget what CPU you were in mention of. (E6750 hm?) or if the one in your sig (great OC'r n right mobo). I found on many OC's of the E6x00's that EIST enabled was fine up to a point (FSB 400 was a snap). But as you went higher, and yes those E6400 and E6300's hit over FSB500 but also need some more juice. And thus the v drop in EIST mode loweded it way too much on some models, so it was very unstable at times. It may have had more to do w/ the built in controller to adjust the vdrop raios. So thats why most disable it. As for these new breads of E6x50's, wel they must have answered our ??'s cause it works a lot better even up to 500FSB (I forgot to test on !975x/!P965). Although, the E6300 did great right from the get go to 500FSB on the P35 but again forgot to test for EIST. I just remembered I never worked that high before.
No, if BIOS has EIST off, then OS cant run it. But by all means, If you can enable it stable at mild OC, then use it and yes, it does keep the volts down thus less heat, and longer life. Used together w/ C1 or 2 thermal modes enabled, help with the volts under loads from idle to heavy.

Again, just some of my experiences with this.

 

abuzar1,

Turn off Speedstep and turn on C1E. This will have you idling at about 2.2GHz or so and instantly come up to full speed at the programs demand. Unlike Speedstep, there is no in between. It's either 2.2 or 3.3!

Don't set the fan to the Intel, set it to PWM Control! It will perform much better as the Intel only changes the voltage, the PWM is regulated by pulse count. Trust me, even though I have v1.33 and yours is v3.3, it's the same MB as yours! Yours has better sound and a couple of minor differences but functionally, they are identical!

Best Regards,
theone :>}

If you run Sandra benchmarks with speedstep enabled it lowers the performance. C1E Doesn't!

 

That's interesting, I'll recommend that to people.

 

Thanks I'll go try that. Russ BTW do you have your northbridge fan blowing air towards or away from it.

 

abuzar1,

Towards it! I used a Silenex 6 cfm 40mm for the job!

Best Regards,
Russ :>}

 

I tried the C1e and it works great. I think the temps are better than using speedstep. I have my fans set to no control so they all run at full speed. Is that bad?

 

Anybody here using a ASUS P5KC (the DDR2/DDR3 mobo)? And if so with what CPU, and coling? Or What about the Abit IP35-E or Pro?

 

abuzar1,

That depends on the cfm rating of the fans you are using and if you have a way to control them. I do know that with the Freezer 7 Pro and the fans I am using, it works best under PWM control. I have the "Fan Speed Control Method" set to auto and the "Fan Speed Control Mode" set to PWM. I'm moving over 100cfm of air through my case and my Power Supply is capable of up to 98 cfm via temperature control, which allows the Freezer 7's fan to run at a reduced speed. Typically at about 1000 rpm! That's why I like the Silverstones so much. I can get over 70 cfm at 1400 rpm with the rear 120mm, and 30 cfm at the minimum setting of 1300 rpm with the side 80mm.

This all didn't happen overnight as I've tried 4 different 120mm fans and 3 80mm ones, in various combinations. The stock Cooler Master 120mm that came with the case was the poorest performer, A generic 120mm was almost as bad! I tried a Thermaltake Thunderblade, and it worked as well as the rear Silverstone does now, but made a lot more noise as it had to spin at 2400 rpm to put out 70 cfm vs the Silverstone's 1400 rpm. The side fan I originally installed was old and failed shortly after the build was complete. I tried a Thermaltake 23 cfm in it's place but it wasn't quite strong enough for the job and was replaced by the 80mm Silverstone. As you know, I have the side fan blowing out! It works best that way for me with my case. With a 27 cfm stock Cooler Master 80mm fan in front and over 100 cfm blowing out from the 2 Silverstones in the rear and side, it insures very good airflow through the lower air vent on the case cover, which keeps the video and sound cards cooler and doesn't interfere with the natural front to rear airflow through the case or the airflow through the CPU cooler. If I turn the 80mm so it blows in, my temperatures go up and the airflow through the side air vent drops considerably!

A lot has been said about the noise levels of the Silverstone fans, and it's quite true. Both can be very loud at maximum speed. 41.2 dBA for the FM-121 and 39.5 dBA for the 80mm FM-83. Fortunately you would never need to run them anywhere's near maximum speed as their 9 blade design moves lots of air at much lower speeds, so noise isn't a problem. The way everything is set on mine with the rear 120 set at 1400 rpm and the side 80 set at 1300 rpm, with the CPU cooler and the PS under temperature control, and the other 3 fans at maximum speed! It all seems to work very well!

Best Regards,
theone :>}

 

Apart from the fact that the Thunderblades were 2000rpm not 2400, the rest's all true. Provided you're not mounting to anything vibration-prone, the silverstones' airflow to noise ratio is well above average, indeed better than the Thermaltake Thunderblade. if you're attaching to an aluminium case panel, plastic case side window, or as I tried on a desk to cool yourself, the vibration noise will be terrible. However, it all depends on how much airflow you need. I can run my PC with all the fans at under 1000rpm, for which 'silent' category case fans like Nexus or Scythe S-Flex work best. Fans like those drop off in efficiency above 1200rpm or so (I'd believe the Silverstone pushes more at 1600 than the equivalent S-Flex) but at lower speeds, they have good ratios. The Nexus fans make 22dB of noise (inaudible from 2 feet away) at a reasonable 50CFM.

 

sammorris,

Damn dyslexic fingers! LOL!! I remember telling you about them and how quiet they were supposed to be, 21dBA! Ha!!! 29 or 30 dBA is more like it! Damn thing moves lots of air but it sure ain't quiet doing it!

No problems mounting the 80mm Silverstone on plastic though! I have one installed in the window of the D-940 at the same 1300 rpm with no vibration or noise problems. As cheap as that case was, it's surprisingly vibration free, and it's jammed into the corner of Russell's computer desk. I think it's made of "metalized Kleenex"! The only thing thinner than that would be a Yugo fender! LOL!! We cut the particle board so the fan and the PS could exhaust out the back of the desk! You can't put a computer on the floor here, as the dust would clog it up very quickly!

As far as the Nexus fans go, not enough airflow for me. I can set my rear to 50 cfm, but my temps go up about 8-10 degrees C! It would be a little bit quieter but in my book, cool comes before quiet! When it comes to electronics and microprocessors, heat kills! I even tried raising the side fan speed, but it just wasn't satisfactory. I guess I'm just spoiled! LOL!! Speaking of heat! Did you ever get your temps down nearer to mine?

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

I vote 36, on the SPCR scale anyway, mine was about as loud as the Freezer 7 Pro on full speed.

To be honest, a 1300rpm 80mm fan isn't going to make much noise anyway, that's a much more reasonable level so the vibrations won't be that high. At full speed I bet it sounds a bit plastic-y.

What sort of temps am I after? I basically wanted to get temperatures that were lower than the stock coolers and leave it at that. I run my CPU fan at 1500rpm pretty much all the time now, the CPU gets to maybe 53C in games. GPU gets to about 75C with the case fans at 500rpm, a full 15C less than the stock cooler.

 

You guy's are really picky about noise. I run all my fans at full speed and I don't really notice. Damn, it must be all the metal ruining my ears lol.

EDIT: Oh btw with Dynamic Lighting my card runs STALKER at about 1 fps, is this normal? Runs at over a hundred(I believe, I'll g check again) with that disabled and on High settings.

 

You bet we're pick. When I build, I build for balance of quiet to performance. So of corse for those at lower OC or stock, the stuff I use would be ultra quiet. For insance, a E6750 at only 400x8 EIST enable ran w/o a fan on ThermalRight with acceptible temps (just for test on bench). My hearing is too good so I tem to notice the slightest hiss or pitch but permit some as it is normal. But if I cool a case, I go for quies as the fan noise interferes with my music editing in the same room. 7+ yrs bk I had to run my A/V server in the next room wo keep the noise of the old Seagate Baracudas SCSI RAID as they, with PSU's and fans wee so loud for my taste. Most people with lesser hearing tel me they cant even tell my current boxes are on, but I can totolly hear them, even in the daytime.

The noise drives me Nuckin Futs!

 

1fps sounds a little extreme, but it does make the game run badly, I'd guess I get maybe 15fps at 1680x1050 max, far less at 2560x1600.

 

NuckNFuts,
Just reading your sig and noticed your AMD A64 X2 4400+ (89w) OCd to 2.85GHz/1170HT (285x10)rig.I'm wondering how you got HTT 1170mhz?
If your LDT/FSB multi is set a 4x it should be 1140HTT.

Regards,Crowy.