Overclocking advice

[ulm4lyf]

I have never overclocked before, but I have read a little and watched a few youtube videos on the subject. I have a Q6600 which is a 2.4 ghz processor that supposedly can OC to 3.0ghz very easily without any problems. If anyone could give me a sort of step by step walk through it would be much appreciated! :)

Here is my system specs:

Intel Q6600 2.4
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G motherboard
ATI X1950XT video card
2X2 gig Corsair XMS DDR2 ram

It runs pretty cool under load right now, so I don't think that I will have to add any more fans or go to water cooling.




Thanks again for any advice!

[=98=]

Re: Overclocking advice

Before you start, you shouldn't overclock on a stock/reference cooler. You will need an aftermarket cooler such as a Thermalright Ultra Extreme, Tuniq Tower or the cheaper OCZ Vendetta 2.

If you have an aftermarket cooler, you need to go into the BIOS and disable "Intel Speedstep" and "C1E Advanced Halt State"

Then, in the BIOS, change the PCI clock sych mode to "33.33mhz" and the PCI-E frequency to "100".

Exit and save

Then, enter the BIOS and manually change the Front Side Bus (FSB) speed to "334mhz". The default multiplier is 9, so 334 x 9 = 3.0ghz.

When you raise the multiplier, you'll notice the RAM speed changes to. Try and set the RAM speed as close to its rated speed (E.g. 800mhz, 1000mhz...). If the minimum RAM speed after raising the FSB is greater than that the RAM is rated to run at, you'll need to change the RAM voltage. To find a safe voltage, look on the side of each stick of RAM. There should be a small stick on it which states the maximum voltage. This will usually be between 1.9v - 2.2v but can vary. E.g. My RAM is DDR2 PC-6400 (800mhz) and rated to run at 2.1v. So, after overclocking, my RAM runs at 850mhz with 2.1v in it.

Save, then boot in windows. Download Orthos. Open the program twice. Press ctrl + alt + delete and open WIndows Task Manager. In "applications" find one instance of Orthos, right click and click "Go to process". Then, right click again and click "set affinity". Set one instance of Orthos to CPU0 and CPU1. Do the same to the second instance of orthos but set the affinity to CPU2 and CPU3.

Now, start both copies of Orthos and you should see all 4 CPU cores under load. Run for a minimum of 4 hours, 8 if you can. If Orthos stops with lots red and "Error!", it means the overclock is unstable. At this point, you need to alter the CPU voltage.

However, i want you to tell me what happens before i explain that. Follow instructions carefully.

[Hellsent 2.0]

Re: Overclocking advice

Good tips from Alex but regarding the RAM what i do is, i underclock it before OC'ing the CPU then when it goes up with my cpu's FSB it goes up to around its rated speed...

[Sam1990]

Re: Overclocking advice

Alex, is it alright to use Prime95? Also, if you were to set the FSB to 334, would setting the divider to 4:5 be good since it would make the RAM run at 835MHz (considering yours is supposed to run at 800MHz)?

I really don't understand why people say to use a 1:1 divider with a 334 FSB when that will cause the RAM to run at 668MHz, which pretty much sucks if you have 800MHz.

Is it also alright to leave Orthos or Prime95 running overnight or do you actually have to be there incase you do get an error?

[Hellsent 2.0]

Re: Overclocking advice

no you could run it over night...If an error happens it stops the stress testing...

[Warhawk]

Re: Overclocking advice

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Save, then boot in windows. Download Orthos. Open the program twice. Press ctrl + alt + delete and open WIndows Task Manager. In "applications" find one instance of Orthos, right click and click "Go to process". Then, right click again and click "set affinity". Set one instance of Orthos to CPU0 and CPU1. Do the same to the second instance of orthos but set the affinity to CPU2 and CPU3.

Now, start both copies of Orthos and you should see all 4 CPU cores under load. Run for a minimum of 4 hours, 8 if you can. If Orthos stops with lots red and "Error!", it means the overclock is unstable. At this point, you need to alter the CPU voltage.

I never used orthos but I would suggest prime95 to avoid running so many instances of the program with Prime95 all you gotta do is double click the .exe and pick the test for "maximum heat" and whala the program automatically detects if you have a dual or quad core and sets itself up properly.

[=98=]

Re: Overclocking advice

Oh, there must be a new version of Prime95, because when i did my OC'ing, Prime95 was still single core.

You can leave it overnight. If it error's, then it'll just stop and do nothing else. And, people say run a 1:1 ratio, but proof shows there is no difference when you do and when you don't.

[ulm4lyf]

Re: Overclocking advice

Thanks a lot guys!

[Sam1990]

Re: Overclocking advice

Let us know how your overclock goes. Include your settings, idle, and load temps. Can't wait to get my Q6600 this week, been waiting forever to get one and overclock it.