Will overclocking my CPU help??

[shazamy13]

I'm a Gamer, plane and simple.

my System:

Q6600 2.4GHz (Stock)

8800 GTS 640mb (my XFX GTX 260 Black Edition arrives on sunday )))

2 Gigs of Cosrair RAM at 800mhz

Asus P5N-E SLi 650i Chipset

800W NZXT PSU

so, obviously i am getting the new gtx 260 black edition to run games faster.

but i wanted to know if overclocking my CPU with give me any sizable change in frame rates. talking about games only not benchmarking.

and will upgrading my ram give me anything??

thanks in advance.

 

[SwaleSmith]

may help a little bit your cpu is such a awesome overclocker it would be mad not to, you running stock fan or upgrade???

plus you will notice general faster performance....all for free, In my opinion the only thing really worth overclocking is the CPU other things such as GFX cards make next to no noticable difference in my opinion, this is something I don't bother with.

overclock it its free performance !!!!!

 

[stevej696]

I agree with swale. Overclocking will make a very noticable difference, In my case im running a Gforce 7300LE 256mb graphics and a E1200 on my budget gaming system, Running it at stock 1.6GHz i was averaging 30Fps on race driver grid but when i clocked it to the maximum on my Mobo which is 2.8GHz its averaging 45+Fps and thats without overclocking the GPU. You mite find even better results tho, jus see what happens.

Definatly overclock it, its a sin not too!

stevej696

c3d:

 

[shazamy13]

ok, sounds awsome.

so i'm using the stock cooler right now, might be upgrading in amonth or so, but how high and what software should i use to overclock it??

 

[stevej696]

You dont use software to overclock pal. You can overclock your pc by going into your bios, usually by pressing either f12,f8 or escape key during the posting sreen, then its in the advanced bios features or in some cases the M.I.T feature on gigabyte motherboards for instance.

From then on see if you have got an option that usually called frequency which usually you can change by inserting a number, for instance on mine its 200 x 8 = 1600MHz standard. I got it to 2.80GHz by changing the number to 350 x 9 = 2.80GHz.

For temp info run a programme called core temp. I am running the stock cooler too at the moment too and my temps are running 48*c at 100% load.

This is my spec check it out when you get chance http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=25863

For more info see the overclocking guide http://www.overclock3d.net/articles...tel_core_2_duo_processors_on_an_intel_chipset

Hope this helps

Stevej696

 

[SwaleSmith]

yep BIOS only p.s sometimes its the DEL key(delete key) I have only ever seen bios on that key infact atleast for aslong as I can remeber....thought I'd add that LOL

 

[zak4994]

yep BIOS only p.s sometimes its the DEL key(delete key) I have only ever seen bios on that key infact atleast for aslong as I can remeber....thought I'd add that LOL

Same here.

 

[shazamy13]

ok thanks, i'll try it and report back.

 

[shazamy13]

ok, so i tried messing with the bios (which i entered by pressing delete btw).

but i could only change the cpu multiplier, not the actual frequency.

so i changed the multiplier from 9 to 10, but when i entered the os cpu-z tells me that it's still sitting on 9.

so what's the problem?

 

[SwaleSmith]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but you cannot change your multiplier unless you have a Intel extreme CPU.

What you need to do is start by upping the FSB (front side bus) Ithink the q6600 has a 1066 mhz FSB (stock setting) so try 1333fsb you may need to bump up the fsb voltages acouple of notches to cater for the extra FSB speed you will aslo need to bump up you CPU vcore a few notches try it and see if it posts, and then boots into windows ok. If ot refuses to post you may either have a fsb hole or require more voltage on the fsb cpu or both.

I must admit I am unfamilier with your m/board and have never tried a q6600 but all C2QD Share the same overclcoking princiables.

You basicaly needed to keep uping voltages and FSB speeds until you get a satisfactory clock speed that your happy with.

I assume your not using stock fan??

but a few very important things download the latest version of core temp to ensure your cpu does not overheat and you will need to download Prime 95 for stability testing (use this when you feel your clock settings are roghly stable) and run torture test small FFT's for 15/20 mis rough stabilty test and when your completely set and found you ideal clock rate run for a few hours.

just remeber go steady make small changes take your time and you can do no harm, if your unsure post your questions on here, in all honesty it seems a lot but onc you know how it's easy enough to get a good overclock with the right CPU such as yours.

one more tip sometimes It's best to right down what volts and settings you have tried as you my find the Bios will not post if this happens I think on your board you will need to clrctc (reset cmos) this usualy done by moving a jumper pin and on higher end OC boards a reset switch take a look at your manual and familarize yourself with this.

Hope this helps...and I make sense

 

[shazamy13]

well, that was quite an explanation there Swale, thanks.

but i don't feel like i'm ready to be messing around with voltages yet, and don't wanna take the risk of damaging my cpu. plus i don't have any idea what a CMOS is (i only heard of it) and i am actually using stock fan, so i don't suppose i can go that high.

i don't suppose you can maybe give me some settings that you know will work good (voltages and frequencies)?

btw, i tried overclocking with nvidia control panel (the cpu, not gpu) upped the frequency to about 2.7ghz and managed to squeeze 3 more frames (from 36-39 average) on far cry 2 benchmark, but i don't suppose that i can just relay on nvidia for overclocking my cpu.

 

[SwaleSmith]

no wouldn't use any application for overclocking.

not sure on what settings you will need, but I can tell you this much you will not harm your cpu by upping the vcore unless you went mad and added insane volts like 1.6 or something plust those q6600 I beleive are 65 nm so are a little harder than my 45nm's Im familier with. but guessing soemthing around 1.38/1.4vcore would be well within limits try 1333FSB and 1.38vcore and see what happens you can't hurt it.

get your manual out or go to asus website and downlaod it will tell you exactly how to reset cmos if you incase you do put in a bad overclock, this will revert the settings to stock again.

You won't harm your pc don't worry have a fiddle, you will soon pick it up.

 

[shazamy13]

ok, so this is what i see in my bios under Advanced options:



please let me know if this is ok, and if i can overclock from here.

maybe i need a bios update, but i heard if everything is working, i shouldn't update my bios because it's tricky somewhat, but i'm gonna try and read the manual to get an idea on how to update it properly.

 

[meh]

Nope, wrong tab for overclocking.

Try looking for a tab with FSB Frequency, Memory Voltage, VTT FSB Voltage, CPU Voltage etc.

EDIT: I think the tab is Advanced ; JumperFree Configuration

 

[SwaleSmith]

yes and disable execute bit and virtulization technology

p.d don't worry so much about memory voltages just adjust FSB and CPU volts until you get more expereinced

 

[shazamy13]

ok, so i tried overclocking the settings to 1333 fsb and 1.38.... voltsages on the vcores.

but when i restarted the system just "Hangs", waiting for something to happen, can't go into bios or nothing.

there is supposed to be a feature to help out in these kind of situations, ob the mobo itself, but it doesn't seem to be working.

i'm guessing i need to clear my cmos to get things up and running again, but i don't know how.

help please!!

 

[Molotov]

Yeah you'll need to clear cmos. There will be 2 pins on the motherboard, usually near the battery, that you have to bridge with a jumper.

 

[SwaleSmith]

thats correct usualy this means removing the power lead and moving the jumper across the pins one step then turning on the PC some boards reset as soon as you turn the power back on with the jumper in that clear cmos position some require you to go into bios and just load defaults manualy usualy by pressing f5 on asus boards.

once reset give it another go try either more volts on the fsb/or CPU or it could be possible that you may run into whats known as a FSB hole were it will simply refuse to post at that fsb speed although I would imagine this is unlikely at 1333fsb so try adding a little more volts to the FSB and CPU and see if it will post if you still add more volts and you feel your coming towards the limit and it still refuses to post try a different FSB speed maybe lower as it may have an FSB hole, but again I'd say this is unlikely as 1333fsb is fairly modest and you should reach more!!!