Overclocking my E4300

[Phunky]

I just got my hands on a E4300, Abit AW9D Max and 2GB OCZ pc2-6400 with the plan of overclocking it.

After having a bit of trouble getting the thing to boot (i was shorting the mobo due to having missing spacers on my mobo plate!) i started to look at pushing the E4300 as far as i could on the stock cooler.

Sadly i have always had trouble figuring out my RAM settings when overclocking, am i right in thinking that i should quite easy hit 3ghz on this CPU without pushing this Ram???

FSB = 333

RAM = DDR533 (666mhz??)

I didnt change any volts which may have been the problem

 

[FarFarAway]

To start with I put the memory on the lowest divider and see how much I can crank the CPU.

Then I lower the ratio and test the RAM

Then see what compromise is the best.

 

[Phunky]

Yeah, that what i more or less did but it just didnt boot :/

Guess i best read up on these Intel boards and see what little nigglers stop you from pushing the CPU.

Im right in thinking that aslong as i get the Ram running at 1:1 then the speed will always be 2xFSB?

 

[pinkpig242]

yes m8 very easy just apply a ram divider via the bios

look something like this :

ok now you see the cpu:dram ratio well that what you have to change to get the right speed for your overclock

 

[Phunky]

Sorted, looks like i need to disable some of the CPU SpeedStep options in the bios.

Now got the chip running @ 3ghz with ease, could easy push this to 3.6 without stressing my RAM

 

[pinkpig242]

well done m8 post some pics of cpu-z so we can see what you get after some tweaking

 

[Ham]

Push it further

 

[Phunky]

Nah, not without another cooler - currently running on the stock intel fan and the temps sit around 35-40c idle.

Plus tbh, im getting great FPS in game even after bumpin 4xMSAA and 16xAF at 1280x1024.

Been getting the following;

CS Source 101fps (locked) constent on any map + HDR on!

Warsow 999fps constent LOL!

COD2 150-300fps in DX9 250-600fps in DX7!

Im so glad this upgrade has actually shown some performance increase, i've been through two graphic cards in the last 3 months (x1950 pro and 7950GX2) after moving from my x800xt pe AGP to PCIe and didnt see any improvment, infact things got WORSE!

 

[FarFarAway]

Good to hear mate, a Core2Duo is a great upgrade for a gaming machine

 

[Ham]

Tbh the stock c2d cooler is pretty good. My temps havn't really changed after switching back to my water.

 

[PV5150]

Tbh the stock c2d cooler is pretty good. My temps havn't really changed after switching back to my water.

They haven't what????

Nice one Phunky, it's great to see it happening for you.

 

[FarFarAway]

Tbh the stock c2d cooler is pretty good. My temps havn't really changed after switching back to my water.

That's not right mate

 

[pinkpig242]

m8 make sure that the block is making full contact with the cpu

have you taken the hfs of the cpu and put the water block on that - it could be making contact one side only

or

is the block connected propaly

you know the usaul stuff

 

[Ham]

Atch i think theres still a bubble in my rad. Ive just gotta run it out, rattling the case now n again.

 

[Phunky]

Hmmm all was good!

There seems to be a bug in the AW9D-Max board that will disable the second NIC if you disable the 2nd PCIe in the BIOS.

Sadly when you upgrade the bios from the shipped version (11 or 12) to the new one it removes the option to re-enable the 2nd PCIe

So i did some twiddling and reflashed the bios to the version 12, this brought the option to enable the 2nd PCIe again!

But since then i seem to have lost all the performance i had on wednesday i of course cleared my CMOS after each BIOS flash and then reapplied my overclock.

I'm a little bit flaky still on what will cause problems while overclocking this chip.

What volts should i be using on the CPU? I set it to 1.4 but when reading your review ont his board you state that you used 1.3. Could this be whats causing me a problem??

 

[Ham]

Every combo of parts is different. While kemp used 1.3, you use 1.4 somone else may need 1.6.

 

[Phunky]

Oh i know that, im just not getting why all of a sudden my performance has dropped by over 50%

I'm struggling to hit over 100fps in Source now :/ guess i'll format and reinstall again as something may have messed up during that.

 

[llwyd]

Did you remember to disable all thermal throttling and whatnot in the bios second time around?

 

[Phunky]

Well thats the thing alot of the options in the bios change with the bios update.

I think im going to just clear the CMOS when i get home tonight, reinstall windows then look at resetting all the bios settings again.

Bloody gutted as i had it running amazingly and now its just gone pap :/

 

[a1651]

best of luck to you