OC!

WSIMike

So I decided to take the leap and give overclocking my system a try.

For reference, I'm running on an Intel Core2 Duo 8200 2.6GHz processor, with 4GBs of PC3200 / DDR400 RAM.

Doing some reading, I got the gist of overclocking down - at least between the CPU and FSB - and started with that.

I've now got my system running at a comfortable 3.2GHz. I achieved this solely through increasing the FSB, as the CPU multiplier is still sitting at 8x, which is stock... (or was it 6x... hmm)

Anyway...

I have the FSB/RAM ratio at 1:1, FSB at 1600 (1333 stock), and RAM at 800, so that's "optimal".

I have the voltage set at 1.25, and the temperature is about 44-49C Idle, and tops out at 60C at full load (100% load on either Core).

And the system is stable, so it's all win there.

So here's the thing...

I've read an article somewhere (that I can't find now, of course), where someone took the same CPU up to 3.9GHz, still running at a voltage of 1.25, and I'm wondering how.

I'm not looking to get the speed that high... but I would like to maybe push it to 3.4GHz.. I've gotten the speed in BIOS to get up to 3.4GHz - and even up to 3.6GHz - but it seems to be stuck at 3.2GHz and won't go any higher once I get it into Windows.

I thought maybe it's a voltage thing, as I remember reading that the voltage can hold back a speed increase. So I tried setting it to "Auto", then "1.30" and "1.35". Those made no difference. The speed stays at 3.2GHz, and the only difference is the CPU runs hotter.

So I'm curious what I might be able to do to squeeze another 200Mhz out of it? I mean, if it's going to cap at 3.2GHz, believe me, that's fine. I'm not going to sneeze at an extra 600MHz of free speed (well.. 540, technically... :-p). Would just like to know if there's something I could try to see if I can break that 3.2 limit...

 

Thanks!

Mehve

Well, the first thing that jumps out at me is the "PC3200", which actually corresponds to a memory frequency of 400MHz. Since with a FSB of 400MHz and a 1:1 ratio, your memory should be clocking at 800MHz (aka PC6400). So either the motherboard is using a different measurement stick for it's ratios, or you're clocking the unholy shit out of that DDR On a related note, do you know what the primary memory timings on the sticks are?

Have you tried with a FSB of 401MHz? More than a few motherboards have FSB holes starting there, but may open up later on (i.e. around 450-ish). Another option is to give the FSB voltage a small bump (although make sure you monitor your northbridge temperatures). Also, what motherboard are you using?

It's also worth noting that there are golden CPU's out there and junk. And some people who will lie to boost their forum epeen. Be careful not to take comparisons between your stuff and other posts stuff too seriously.

WSIMike

Originally posted by Mehve

Well, the first thing that jumps out at me is the "PC3200", which actually corresponds to a memory frequency of 400MHz. Since with a FSB of 400MHz and a 1:1 ratio, your memory should be clocking at 800MHz (aka PC6400). So either the motherboard is using a different measurement stick for it's ratios, or you're clocking the unholy shit out of that DDR On a related note, do you know what the primary memory timings on the sticks are?

Have you tried with a FSB of 401MHz? More than a few motherboards have FSB holes starting there, but may open up later on (i.e. around 450-ish). Another option is to give the FSB voltage a small bump (although make sure you monitor your northbridge temperatures). Also, what motherboard are you using?

It's also worth noting that there are golden CPU's out there and junk. And some people who will lie to boost their forum epeen. Be careful not to take comparisons between your stuff and other posts stuff too seriously.

 

Well, my RAM timings are:

5 CL, 5 tRCD, 5 tRP, 18 tRAS, 22 tRC and 2T CR (I really don't understand those numbers, I just know the lower the better). Those timings are set at the factory defaults.  I haven't tweaked them at all.

I haven't overclocked the RAM at all. The DRAM frequency in CPU-Z shows as 400 Mhz (so, 800 with DDR). I unlinked the FSB speed and the RAM speed, since I'd read that increasing BUS speed can drive the RAM speed way up to unoperable levels... so yeah, that's disabled.

Haven't tried tweaking anything else beyond what it is now. I suppose I could try and, frankly, it's not even that big a deal. Like I said, I'm happy with 3.2GHz out of a 2.6GHz CPU. Was just thinking it'd be cool to get a little more bump out of it if it was something relatively simple.

Oh yeah, and yes, my FSB is 1600 and the RAM is set at 800.

Mehve

Originally posted by WSIMike

Well, my RAM timings are:

5 CL, 5 tRCD, 5 tRP, 18 tRAS, 22 tRC and 2T CR (I really don't understand those numbers, I just know the lower the better). Those timings are set at the factory defaults.  I haven't tweaked them at all.

I haven't overclocked the RAM at all. The DRAM frequency in CPU-Z shows as 400 Mhz (so, 800 with DDR). I unlinked the FSP speed and the RAM speed, since I'd read that increasing BUS speed can drive the RAM speed way up to unoperable levels... so yeah, that's disabled.

Haven't tried tweaking anything else beyond what it is now. I suppose I could try and, frankly, it's not even that big a deal. Like I said, I'm happy with 3.2GHz out of a 2.6GHz CPU. Was just thinking it'd be cool to get a little more bump out of it if it was something relatively simple.

Oh yeah, and yes, my FSB is 1600 and the RAM is set at 800.

 

Yeah, it's your call. But I've seen more than a few boards that hit a wall at 400MHz FSB, either because of the chipset or the RAM, and getting past it tends to get more involved, experimental, and time-consuming. And for most gaming, a 3.2GHz dual-core really isn't going to be giving you problems.

swing848

Mehve gave you some good advice.  Note however that overclocking is a mixture of knowledge, proper hardware, and the luck of the draw.  CPUs from the center of a wafer are usually higher quality or "better" than CPUs made close to the outer edges of a wafer, and no one knows what they will get, so, luck is part of the overclocking equasion.

What motherboard do you have?  Some motherboards are not overclocker friendly, although you seem to be familiar with your hardware. 

I have not seen any E8000 series CPU that could not reach 3.9GHz and almost all of them will do 4GHz, most with ease.  Also, as temperatures increase a better than Intel supplied CPU cooler will be needed.  Because your E8200 has only a bus ratio of 8 http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=33909&processor=E8200&spec-codes=SLAPP your motherboard FSB would have to be set at 500MHz to permit the CPU to reach 4GHz, and many motherboards or other hardware will not go that far.

Because you have found that the only thing that changes by increasing voltage to the CPU is a hotter CPU suggests that voltages for RAM need to be increased as well, and some motherboards require .1 volt increase to the rest of the system components at a certain point, usually when approaching 4GHz or higher [depending the number of phases and quality of components].

Most Intel and some other motherboards DO NOT permit much in the way of voltage adjustments and that limits your ability to overclock.

If you have a motherboard that is unfriendly to overclocking you can increase the RAM latency [increase the numbers].  Before increasing latency, install and run 3DMark06 http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark06/download/ to get a base line number to compare against higher overclocks.

SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2010.SP2 Lite [Free] http://downloads.guru3d.com/Sandra-2010-SP2-v16.52-(freeware)-download-2056.html is a good program to benchmark components, however, 3DMark06 will give you a better picture of real world gaming improvements.

WSIMike

Originally posted by swing848

Mehve gave you some good advice.  Note however that overclocking is a mixture of knowledge, proper hardware, and the luck of the draw.  CPUs from the center of a wafer are usually higher quality or "better" than CPUs made close to the outer edges of a wafer, and no one knows what they will get, so, luck is part of the overclocking equasion.

What motherboard do you have?  Some motherboards are not overclocker friendly, although you seem to be familiar with your hardware. 

I have not seen any E8000 series CPU that could not reach 3.9GHz and almost all of them will do 4GHz, most with ease.  Also, as temperatures increase a better than Intel supplied CPU cooler will be needed.  Because your E8200 has only a bus ratio of 8 http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=33909&processor=E8200&spec-codes=SLAPP your motherboard FSB would have to be set at 500MHz to permit the CPU to reach 4GHz, and many motherboards or other hardware will not go that far.

Because you have found that the only thing that changes by increasing voltage to the CPU is a hotter CPU suggests that voltages for RAM need to be increased as well, and some motherboards require .1 volt increase to the rest of the system components at a certain point, usually when approaching 4GHz or higher [depending the number of phases and quality of components].

Most Intel and some other motherboards DO NOT permit much in the way of voltage adjustments and that limits your ability to overclock.

If you have a motherboard that is unfriendly to overclocking you can increase the RAM latency [increase the numbers].  Before increasing latency, install and run 3DMark06 http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark06/download/ to get a base line number to compare against higher overclocks.

SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2010.SP2 Lite [Free] http://downloads.guru3d.com/Sandra-2010-SP2-v16.52-(freeware)-download-2056.html is a good program to benchmark components, however, 3DMark06 will give you a better picture of real world gaming improvements.

 

Thanks for all the info!

Same goes for other replies in this thread.

I've decided that I'm going to stick with the 3.2GHz for now. I'm going to be upgrading in the not-too-distant future anyway (will be posting a thread with my tentative hardware choices after this post) so really it's not worth the effort to get a bit more speed out of something I'm going to be replacing anyway. I originally wasn't going to overclock my system at all... so I've already gotten more out of the system than I anticipated.

I will definitely be looking into OC'ing my new setup, though, so the information provided here will be helpful regardless.

 

Thanks again!