E6420 Overclock Thread

michaLcoughliN said:
for the extra money. Ide still recommend the E6600.. Like come on..
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Yeah, I agree 100%, I have 2x E6600's tooling along folding 24/7 OC'ed to a mere 3.2 GHz (vcore for both ATM 1.40v, actual), but if you're cutting corners on your budget I still think a E6420 is a good price/performace idea. My E6420 folds 24/7 OC'ed to 3.0 GHz with 1.35 vcore (ATM) without problems
 
One thing people seem to forget about the E6600 being "just" $40 more is that the E6420 is only $186, $40 more is a 21.5% increase in price. Considering most E6600 top out around 3.6Ghz and 3.7Ghz stable, and most E6420 top out between 3.4Ghz and 3.5Ghz, you're only getting about 2.8% - 8.8% higher clock speed on a chip that is over 20% more expensive. Of course, spending more will get you higher speeds, but the E6420 has the "best bang per buck" of the two.

Stats based on median stable overclocks posted on http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1138241
Price comparison based on $186 for E6420 and $226 for E6600
 
herc said:
Now I can only push 425x8=3.40 Ghz. with vcore of 1.48v. I'm not impress with this processor cause I was hoping for at least 3.5Ghz. I'm going to RMA this processor and see if I can get lucky with another processor.

:mad: :(
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60% overclock and you're complaining?!! :mad:
F that, it's people like you who screw up the RMA process for everyone else.
 
b-rich said:
60% overclock and you're complaining?!! :mad:
F that, it's people like you who screw up the RMA process for everyone else.
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I second that!
Besides, what do you plan on doing with a whole extra 100Mhz? In real life computing, that'll drop your times for 100% cpu use down about 3%, tops. So... instead of encoding that DVD in 5 hours, it'll take 5 hours and 9 minutes. That rar file will take a minute and 31 seconds instead of a minute and 29 seconds. Oh no! What I'm trying to say is, in real, actual use, you'll NEVER notice a difference other than seeing 3400Mhz instead of 3504Mhz in your bios. Is it really worth the trouble for everyone involved? I mean, seriously, it's a flippin !!60%!! overclock! Be happy with it, just because others have managed slightly higher speeds doesn't make your chip slow in any sense of the word.
 
herc said:
Got my E6430 about 2 weeks already. L646G523. I've been able to hit 400x8= 3.2Ghz on default vcore easily. The highest I've been able to push this puppy was 431x8=3.44 Ghz but that was the first week. I can't seem to hit that anymore. Now I can only push 425x8=3.40 Ghz. with vcore of 1.48v. I'm not impress with this processor cause I was hoping for at least 3.5Ghz. I'm going to RMA this processor and see if I can get lucky with another processor.

:mad: :(
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Boo fucking hoo your not guaranteed anything other than stock speeds. And like said before its people like you scamming retailers that the RMA process has evolved into a PITA.

:rolleyes: Your $180 processor does 3.4GHZ and your complaining just put that into perspective and think on it
 
hey terc, just a heads up.. I found my problem with ocing and right now I am running back at 1.4125volts with 3.4ghz .... Here is a pic for yah:

 
Terc said:
One thing people seem to forget about the E6600 being "just" $40 more is that the E6420 is only $186, $40 more is a 21.5% increase in price. Considering most E6600 top out around 3.6Ghz and 3.7Ghz stable, and most E6420 top out between 3.4Ghz and 3.5Ghz, you're only getting about 2.8% - 8.8% higher clock speed on a chip that is over 20% more expensive. Of course, spending more will get you higher speeds, but the E6420 has the "best bang per buck" of the two.

Stats based on median stable overclocks posted on http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1138241
Price comparison based on $186 for E6420 and $226 for E6600
Click to expand...

Never thought of it this way...great point! Ill start looking at the e6420 as an alternative in my next upgrade...
 
Terc said:
One thing people seem to forget about the E6600 being "just" $40 more is that the E6420 is only $186, $40 more is a 21.5% increase in price.
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Wouldent the extra $40 be worth the price of admision for the 9x multi instead of the 6420's 8x?
 
WhiteZero said:
Wouldent the extra $40 be worth the price of admision for the 9x multi instead of the 6420's 8x?
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I suppose it depends on the ram you're using. If your ram can handle between 800 and 900Mhz, why would you want the higher multiplier? Remember, that multiplier still only gets you to the same 3.6-3.7Ghz which we already established is not necessarily worth the price increase. I'm a fan of a 1:1 ratio, and I'm running at 3.5Ghz, which only needs 876Mhz RAM.

So,
If you have cheap RAM that can't handle 800Mhz, you might want the higher multi so you can still run in 1:1, or you might just want some better RAM.


Personally, my Corsair RAM, which is getting replaced today has been overclocked from PC2-5300 (666Mhz) to 876Mhz with a healthy bump in voltage, your mileage may vary.
 
AthlonXP said:
hey terc, just a heads up.. I found my problem with ocing and right now I am running back at 1.4125volts with 3.4ghz .... Here is a pic for yah:

Click to expand...

Congrats on the OC! I'll see you on the Core 2 Overclocking Database.

We would love to know what was causing the stability problem.
 
the ram at 1063 with 2.15 volts... apparently the ocz ram needs about 2.3volts to do 1066 and i really dont want to put that much into it.
 
I haven't had the chance to play much with my system yet... but my old RAM was CLEARLY holding me back.

So far, I've managed to post at 3.95Ghz!!!

Windows at 3.8Ghz
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=196507

I'm thinking I'm stable at 3.6Ghz, about to start testing that right now.

Oh, and my latency dropped a lot too, nice little bonus.


Looks like there's a new top dawg in the stable E6420 OC, not added to the official thread front page yet, but gratz to breadman for his 3550Mhz overclock!
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1031030729&postcount=468
 
Well I finally got my system built, and I'm having trouble breaking even 3.2GHz. Obviously I'm new at this so I'm trying to go through the settings and see what I missed.

Asus P5B Deluxe (latest BIOS 1101)
E6420 (obviously)
2x 1GB G.Skill PC8000 4-4-4-5

Looks like it's going to be a long night...
 
Ok could use some advice. I'm not having much luck.

I can get it to boot with the following settings, but Orthos dies within seconds. I'm doing something wrong because I'm pumping 1.50V (BIOS) into the CPU (CPU-Z reports 1.472V, SpeedFan reports 1.47V) but I can't get even to 3.2GHz stable? I'm missing something

FSB: 405
memory 1:1 (810MHz)
PCI-E: 100MHz
PCI Clock Sync: 33.33MHz
Spread Spectrum: disabled
Memory: 2.25V
Vcore: 1.50V
FSB Term Volts: Auto
NB Vcore: Auto
SB Vcore: Auto
ICH Chipset Voltage: Auto
C1E: disabled
Memory timings: 4-4-4-5(-6-42-10-10-10-11-auto)
 
sremick said:
Ok could use some advice. I'm not having much luck.

I can get it to boot with the following settings, but Orthos dies within seconds. I'm doing something wrong because I'm pumping 1.50V (BIOS) into the CPU (CPU-Z reports 1.472V, SpeedFan reports 1.47V) but I can't get even to 3.2GHz stable? I'm missing something

FSB: 405
memory 1:1 (810MHz)
PCI-E: 100MHz
PCI Clock Sync: 33.33MHz
Spread Spectrum: disabled
Memory: 2.25V
Vcore: 1.50V
FSB Term Volts: Auto
NB Vcore: Auto
SB Vcore: Auto
ICH Chipset Voltage: Auto
C1E: disabled
Memory timings: 4-4-4-5(-6-42-10-10-10-11-auto)
Click to expand...

Try bumping your NB voltage up a little bit.
 
sremick said:
Ok could use some advice. I'm not having much luck.

I can get it to boot with the following settings, but Orthos dies within seconds. I'm doing something wrong because I'm pumping 1.50V (BIOS) into the CPU (CPU-Z reports 1.472V, SpeedFan reports 1.47V) but I can't get even to 3.2GHz stable? I'm missing something

FSB: 405
memory 1:1 (810MHz)
PCI-E: 100MHz
PCI Clock Sync: 33.33MHz
Spread Spectrum: disabled
Memory: 2.25V
Vcore: 1.50V
FSB Term Volts: Auto
NB Vcore: Auto
SB Vcore: Auto
ICH Chipset Voltage: Auto
C1E: disabled
Memory timings: 4-4-4-5(-6-42-10-10-10-11-auto)
Click to expand...

What kinda of ram are you using?

Also, keep in mind that there isn't any guarantee that you'll get the same speeds as others. These ARE overclocks, anything over 2.13Ghz is a gift.
 
crashthenet44 said:
Try bumping your NB voltage up a little bit.
Click to expand...
Ok, but dumb question: what's normal/baseline NB voltage? Out of my options (1.25, 1.45, 1.55, 1.65) I don't know what's lower than "auto" and what's higher.

Terc said:
What kinda of ram are you using?
Click to expand...

2 1GB sticks of G.Skill PC-8000 4-4-4-5:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231077

Also, keep in mind that there isn't any guarantee that you'll get the same speeds as others. These ARE overclocks, anything over 2.13Ghz is a gift.
Click to expand...
I understand, but my numbers seem ssssoooo far below what is normal for most people attempting to overclock this specific chip on this motherboard that I have to assume that it's far more-likely that I'm doing something wrong or missing things (also considering that this is the first time I've done "modern" overclocking).
 
Finally got my 6420 plugged in yesterday and got to play with it for a few hours. So far I've hit a wall at 400x8. Anything above and it craps in orthos. It's running naked in a quadgt with 2gb ballistix tracers, stock cooler and a 120mm blowing the otes. lol.
vcore 1.47 droops to 1.43
nb 1.45
vtt 1.4
Cpu hits 54 in orthos, but only 47 while folding. NB is 30 and pwms ~45.......blowing the otes seems to keep things cool.

Going to try dropping multi to 7 and see if I can get the fsb any higher. Should be getting new hardware for my storm wb tomorrow so I can get this thing in the loop and throw a bit more volts at it. Kinda hoping I don't have a crippled 2nd core as its the one that always shits itself.
 
SpoogeMonkey said:
Finally got my 6420 plugged in yesterday and got to play with it for a few hours. So far I've hit a wall at 400x8. Anything above and it craps in orthos. It's running naked in a quadgt with 2gb ballistix tracers, stock cooler and a 120mm blowing the otes. lol.
Click to expand...

Off topic but how do you like those tracers?I want a pair and just might end up getting them especially since thier $145 after MIR on the egg for 2GB :eek:
 
Terc said:
Try sremick's suggestion, I'm not too sure on ideas other than that.
Click to expand...
Heh... who's suggestion? sremick is me! :D

Anyways, there's a extremely slight chance that my heatsink on the northbridge isn't making good contact. No idea if that could cause these problems but I'll try reseating it today. But I'll be extremely disappointed if I can't do at least 3.2Ghz-3.4Ghz with this system like 99% of other people seem to. I figured going above 3.4Ghz was the crapshoot, not 3GHz! :( Tried so hard to do everything right when buildng it too...
 
sremick said:
Heh... who's suggestion? sremick is me! :D

Anyways, there's a extremely slight chance that my heatsink on the northbridge isn't making good contact. No idea if that could cause these problems but I'll try reseating it today. But I'll be extremely disappointed if I can't do at least 3.2Ghz-3.4Ghz with this system like 99% of other people seem to. I figured going above 3.4Ghz was the crapshoot, not 3GHz! :( Tried so hard to do everything right when buildng it too...
Click to expand...

crashthenet44's suggestion. Sorry, I was apparently out of it.
 
Terc said:
crashthenet44's suggestion. Sorry, I was apparently out of it.
Click to expand...

Ah, the northbridge Vcore. Well I've tried that since, and it doesn't seem to be helping. Orthos dies in seconds with the following settings:

FSB: 401
DRAM: 802MHz (1:1)
PCI-E: 110MHz
PCI clock sync: 33.33MHz
Spread Spectrum: disabled
Memory: 2.25V
CPU Vcore: 1.50V
FSB Term: 1.40V
NB Vcore: 1.65V
SB Vcore: 1.60V
ICH Chipset: 1.215V

C1E: Disabled
Vanderpool: disabled
PECI: disabled
Speedstep: disabled

Memory timings: 4-4-4-5-6-42-10-10-10-10
Static Read Control: disabled
PEG Force X1: disabled
PEG Link Mode: Auto
ASUS CGI: disabled
 
Any results from people who've purchased their E6420 @ Newegg within the past week or so? I'm seriously considering jumping on getting one @ $189 ... or are there price cuts in the near future? I'm looking to build within the next week or so.
Suggestions/results are appreciated, TIA ... :D
 
Just got mine yesterday, runs BIOS setup all day long @ 3.5 GHz, 1.4v, aircooled using Enzotech Ultra-X. Haven't had time to install windows yet, will post stable clocks this weekend.

GET IT.

I'm running it on eVGA 680i NF68 @ 437 x 8, with Crucial Ballistix synced @ DDR2-875 2.1V 4-4-3-12 1T
 
Xeth said:
Just got mine yesterday, runs BIOS setup all day long @ 3.5 GHz, 1.4v, aircooled using Enzotech Ultra-X. Haven't had time to install windows yet, will post stable clocks this weekend.

GET IT.
Click to expand...

Would you care to post a batch # please?
 
i think i will go for 3.6ghz... probably have to do around 1.45 volts. but that should be fine.. will be playing with that tonight. Honestly though I think i might have found a sweet spot as 1.4v with 3.4ghz looks like its doing well now.
 
I'm running an enzotech ultra-x at 3.2 ghz and it's rock solid and stays about 37c at idle.
 
So far, I"m up to 3.1ghz on stock cooling and voltage with x8 multiplier - and I haven't even reinstalled Windows yet -- just let it find the drivers. I should've switched to the Dark Side earlier :D
 
Yeah I'm chillin at 3 as well. If it wasn't so hot in my room I'd try to get the machine stable at 3.5. What's the max operating temperature for these Core 2s?
 
pfunkman said:
Off topic but how do you like those tracers?I want a pair and just might end up getting them especially since thier $145 after MIR on the egg for 2GB :eek:
Click to expand...

So far I'm really liking them. The blue led "under carriage" lights match the quadgt and my fans perfectly.

When I tried the setup at stock settings, the tracers were doing stock timings (400 @ 4-4-4-12) just fine with only 1.8v. Heat wise even at 2.2v they feel only slightly warm running full load for 34+ hours.
 
JaYp146 said:
Any results from people who've purchased their E6420 @ Newegg within the past week or so? I'm seriously considering jumping on getting one @ $189 ... or are there price cuts in the near future? I'm looking to build within the next week or so.
Suggestions/results are appreciated, TIA ... :D
Click to expand...

Ordered from egg on 5/3 got batch L649G592. So far I'm stuck at 3.2 but haven't got around to messing with lower multi and higher fsb to see what might be holding me back or if I indeed got one with a 2nd core that can't go higher than 3.2. Plus I haven't even put it in the wc loop yet.
 
Running my E6420 at 3.2Ghz, stock cooling and vcore. This is in a HTPC box so I am good to go at this speed.
 
Ok, follow up (finally)

Batch L644G461

3.5 GHz is not prime stable after a few hours :(

Currently running @ 425x8 = 3.4, Orthos stable up to 4 hours now.

VCore 1.48V / 1.4V FSB, 1.6V MCP

My temps are surprisingly low... 30 Idle and 52 sustained load in 24 room temp. Anyone know if the reading in TAT is off? Is there a more accurate temp reading tool? I'm running on a eVGA 680i mobo.

*Edit* CoreTemp reads 55, I guess thats reasonably high. Wait why am I complaining about low temps again? :D
 
Xeth said:
Ok, follow up (finally)

Batch L644G461

3.5 GHz is not prime stable after a few hours :(

Currently running @ 425x8 = 3.4, Orthos stable up to 4 hours now.

VCore 1.48V / 1.4V FSB, 1.6V MCP

My temps are surprisingly low... 30 Idle and 52 sustained load in 24 room temp. Anyone know if the reading in TAT is off? Is there a more accurate temp reading tool? I'm running on a eVGA 680i mobo.
Click to expand...

Depending on your bios version on that board and your cooling, that sounds in reason.
 
bought my e6420 from Frys. its a batch L707A643. anyone have this batch and results to discuss? thanks
 
I ordered my E6420 from NewEgg on 4/30. I received batch L644G451 (pack date 4/3/07). So far I have yet to break even 3GHz although it's working a tad better than when I started. I am hearing L644s are the worst for OCing though, so I got crap luck. The rate I have to bump voltage per FSB increase is way out of proportion to most people hitting 3.2-3.4GHz with ease. I'll probably never make it to even 3.2. Seriously considering doing an RMA with Intel and try another roll of the dice... NewEgg would be easier to RMA with but seems their bin sucks at the moment.
 
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