Can't even get to 1600fsb, what's holding me back?

N

neubspeed

Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2005
Messages
518
I've run my voltage up to 1.25v, I've loosened my timings to 5-5-5-15 although my ram is rated for 800 anyways, and I stuck on a Scythe Ninja Mini.

I'm running an E8400 on an Asus P5K-E Wifi. I just want it at 3.6ghz and it doesn't seem likely.

So its either:

A) My incompetence in overclocking
B) My power supply is insufficient
C) My cooling is insufficient
D) There's a problem with my RAM (2x2GB OCZ Reaper - DDR2-800 4-4-4-15)

Help would be greatly appreciated, I'm new to all this. Someone told me my 9800GX2 might be sucking all the power I need for an overclock as well.
 
A) My incompetence in overclocking
-This is the right place to learn. Also read the stickies for overclocking C2Ds

B) My power supply is insufficient
-What PSU do you have?

C) My cooling is insufficient
-Current temps?

D) There's a problem with my RAM (2x2GB OCZ Reaper - DDR2-800 4-4-4-15)
-Its definitely not this. Make sure you set the BIOS to run the RAM at 800MHz

More information on your setup would help. Also what is the highest overclock you have gotten so far?
 
Make sure the PCI-E bus speed is set to 100MHz so it doesnt clock up with the FSB.
 
I think you have to set your memory to run at 667, not 800. That way, after raising the fsb to 400, your mem will run exactly at 800 MHz. I don't know how much your memory will overclock, so this will make determining your weak link easier.
 
Hey, thanks for the quick replies guys.

My power supply is a Corsair HX620W.

I always make sure to look the PCIe bus to 100mhz.

As of right now, my temperatures are about 30-35 degrees normally and get to about 39 degrees playing Crysis.

I haven't been able to get past much so far. I think I've got it up to about 350mhz without a problem or crash.
 
neubspeed said:
Hey, thanks for the quick replies guys.

My power supply is a Corsair HX620W.

I always make sure to look the PCIe bus to 100mhz.

As of right now, my temperatures are about 30-35 degrees normally and get to about 39 degrees playing Crysis.

I haven't been able to get past much so far. I think I've got it up to about 350mhz without a problem or crash.
Click to expand...

Power supply is more than fine for this. Temps are fine, but seem too low. Try using Core Temp or Real Temp. What is your RAM at when you run 350 bus speed?
 
I just installed Core Temp and ran Crysis. While alt-tabbing, I found it got to about 42 degrees for core 0 and 43 degrees for core 1. While idle, core 0 is 30 degrees, core 1 is 33 degrees. Is that normal?
 
Thats very little voltage going to the cpu... I know the E8400 use less voltage but still try bumping it and seeing if that helps.

Also bump the northbridge voltage a tad.
 
i've been trying to do 1:1 ratio thus far. so i'm trying for 400mhz ram and hitting 3.6 overall.
 
I'm having problems keeping a stable OC with that ram too... even at 400Mhz. I think I'm going to replace them and get some decent ram. But it might be a problem with my mobo and handling 8GB of ram.
 
Zefram0911 said:
I'm having problems keeping a stable OC with that ram too... even at 400Mhz. I think I'm going to replace them and get some decent ram. But it might be a problem with my mobo and handling 8GB of ram.
Click to expand...

Eh, that does not make any sense, OCed at 1:1 400 is running the RAM at stock speed, so basically you are saying the RAM fails at stock speed.
 
Zefram0911 said:
I'm having problems keeping a stable OC with that ram too... even at 400Mhz. I think I'm going to replace them and get some decent ram. But it might be a problem with my mobo and handling 8GB of ram.
Click to expand...

I see.
Have you tried it with less ram to see if it is the extra ram causing the problem?
If you are using 4 sticks of ram, this can cause a motherboard to become temperamental.
 
Stick a small fan on the northbridge. Keeping the Northbridge cool does sometimes yield better overclocking performance.

And definitely keep upping the voltage till you get a stable OC. Don't go past 1.5V though.
 
Advice above is correct, you will also have to bump up the NB voltage as well.
 
All of the above is perfect info, looks like your temps are nice and cool.

Dont be afraid to push your CPU a little more as long as temps are safe and you may want to not go over the Intel spec on voltage. Which I believe is 1.35v?

I usually just throw everything at max spec with the ghz I am looking for and if its stable there, I back it down until its unstable, then take it to the last stable number.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top