Looking for preset values to OC my CPU

[Nightwatch]

Hey Guys, a question: does anyone of you OC gurus has some pre-set values (I mean, possibly, already you've tested/used, etc) to OC my Intel Quad 2.5 to , hmm, maybe possible around 2.8?
I know it's a lazy-man's question, sorry, but despite the fact that I started to feel mayb eI sould OC my CPU, I realy do not have time (or stamina ) to go though the increment tests, so I wonder if anyone has before OC'd this particular CPU to around 2.8-ish stably, so that I can more or less copy-paste the values, as best as possible.

Before giving the satts of my CPU and others, I should say that:
I only want to OC my CPU, and this process should not extend to the Video card as I use an already extremely (factory) OC'ed EVGA GTX 260 SSC

--My RAMs are CORSAIR Dominators , specs as (from Corsair) :

Tested at EPP SPD settings (5-5-5-15-2T) at 2.1V at 1066MHz
 SPD programmed at:
 JEDEC standard 5-5-5-18 values at 800MHz
 EPP standard 5-5-5-15-2T, 2.1V values

Their Frequency are currently set to Auto on my ASUS mobo P5Q, . CPUZ currently shows that they are running at 534.3 MHz (which constitutes 1068.6) however when I set them direct to 1066 on BIOS I got BSOD in the next few hours, so reset them to auto and keeping them that way. Not sure if the BSOD was a Dominator RAM problem.

--Mobo FSB: 1333 MHz

---CPU:

Intel Quad Q8300 @ 2.50 GHz

L2 Cache: 4 MB

Intel CPU Utility verifies that all cores running at at 1333 MHz and reporting 2.50 GHz

==================

System is on "High Performance mode" on ASUS AI Booster & E-6 engine, which reports CPU Frequency is 333.00 (so confirming 1333 FSB)

-----------------------

So is there any previously known applied values that would take this CPU to around 2.8?

[Cooling is no problem. Even I put the system to Turbo mode on ASUS AI Booster, CPU temp does not go above 50 (tested on Crysis and Fallout 3 on Max everything) and I have enough 12 v current on my PSU in order to cater any OC'ing.)

Thanks for reading and considering the question at least.

[audioave10]

KET can maybe help you better on your system. You may simply be able to change the multiplier. My default runs the RAM at 800Mhz but its 1000Mhz RAM. This allows me to simply jack up the FSB to 400Mhz x 9.5 (multi) thus getting 3800Mhz speed. My 3.16 chip has run at 3.8Ghz for a year.

[Nightwatch]

Thanks audiave10. Yeah, I use ASUS AI Tweaker for a quick on-the-go OC, currently running at 333-334 MHz, posting 1335.8 FSB (CPU). Q8300 multiplier is 7.5 factory default. RAMs running appx 1068.6, that's on BIOS Auto mode. I'm looking for a combi of some balanced voltage values/multiplier/RAM, etc, for all that matter to take it around 2.8. Let's see if Ket has any sets remaining in his old paperwork.

[ket]

Alright, hold on tight as youre taken on a whirlwind OC crash course!

1. Forget about the Windows Asus AI Tweaker, its a big hot steaming pile of crap. What we are going to be doing is OCing from the BIOS directly.

2. Enter youre BIOS. (Press the DEL key at POST)

3. Go to youre OCing tab, which if I remember correctly Asus label AI Tweaker.

4. On this page you will find a plethora of OCing options. From top to bottom here is a list of settings to change:

AI Overclock Tuner: Manual
CPU Ratio Setting: 7.5
FSB Strap to Northbridge (aka BSEL strap): 333 or 266. It will depend which strap gives you the closest match to your memory speed.
DRAM Timing Control: Manual. Set timings to 5-5-5-15
DRAM Static Read Control: Disabled
DRAM Static Read Training: Disabled
MEM OC Charger: Enabled
AI Clock Twister: Moderate
AI Transaction Booster: Manual. Set level 8 or 9.
CPU Voltage: 1.4v
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.55v
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.4v
NB Voltage: 1.4v
SB Voltage: 1.25v
Load Line Calibration (aka LLC): Enabled
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCI-E Spread spectrum: Disabled

Now to start cranking up your FSB. I doubt you will be able to get past 450FSB or so, so acting on that assumption youre top speed will be 3.375GHz, and boy will you see a speed increase, especially in gaming it'll be like lightning. Don't go above the voltages I've specified (with one excption, I'll get to this in a moment) as youre cooling won't be up to the job. A safe FSB you can put in right off the bat with those settings is 400.

To tackle a few points I deliberately missed in that list to cover them in more detail is youre DRAM ratio and voltage. Ideally you want to run a 1:1 ratio, but this isn't strictly necessary. The best thing to do is to input what I put down in the above list, then switch to a BSEL of 266, cycle through youre DRAM ratio options and select the one closest to 1066MHz. If on the 266 strap the options are too far off or too far over, switch to the 333 strap. Try and run your RAM with 2v, but if it needs 2.1v then thats ok. As a last note to get youre new FSB frequency stable you may need to increase youre FSB Termination Voltage. Don't be shy with this you got a little wiggle room so you can take it as far as 1.45v.

If you want to see the kind of benefits OCing will give youre rig download Everest and run its benchmarks, then compare youre stock results with youre after results. The difference will be big, very big. Its a shame you don't want to OC your graphics card too

[audioave10]

A great and complete OC post. Ket knows the Asus boards very well. I've been playing with Gigabyte's for a year now. Both Intel & AMD and its supprising how
different some of the terminology is.

[Nightwatch]

Thanks Ket, It worked like a charm! Decided at the end and applied the options as 333 strap, RAM 2.1v and FSB termination voltage 1.45v. Then I ran Fallout 3, from and old save in a hectic battlefield environment and the PC works like a new Tesla workstation! Like audioave said, it was "A great and complete OC post," and as he also said you sure know your way around ASUS boards very well. This guide has saved me from hours of increment testing and doing so hurting my head and possibly the PC as well.

On the card question,
Yes, I am currently preferring to keep the EVGA card like on present settings, as it's already super OC'd (as EVGA puts it) it's an SSC model GTX260 and performs better than many stock GTX290 cards. With fan appx 65% speed, temps do hit 65-70 (depends on the game; the worst heater is STALKER so far, jumps even over 70 time to time) , hard-hitter games like FO3 causes at most 65 and Crysis 70. (Though I know that GTX cards are said to handle temps up to 90, yet, I'm not so sure about Nvidia's assurances in this matter. Better safe than sorry, maybe ) But if the things in the near future necessitates so, I may consider topping it up by one or two click of OC'ing.

[ket]

What CPU speed FSB and RAM speed did you end up settling on? Do we get Everest pics? If you want to OC youre 260 I would suggest remounting youre cooler with some AS Ceramique and increasing fan speed to 75%.

[Nightwatch]

CPU frequency has jumped to 3 GHz, that's watched and confirmed. Thanks. (Actual real-time reading on the Asus E-6 Engine Monitor window goes up to 3.049 GHz) The real nice part is that the CPU steps down when the PC is in absolute idle situation to around 2.248 GHz, which is rather refreshing as it helps to cooling and its life, but as soon as any movement, like opening a program, even firing the browser, kicks the CPU between 2.85 -to- 3.04. That's a very good management.

Everest does not read everything I may need and not correctly names some parts, maybe partly due to the fact that I'm using a 64 bit Win 7. I also have Sandra Professional Business XII, that confirms all the relevant info as well, however, I refrained pulling a Benchmark as I have already OC'ed components and Sandra warned me (after confirming OC'ing as 20%) that it will stress the parts during benchmark and some may fail. So, didn't see any point to get a set of numbers to prove the thing I've already seen, which is the CPU is 3GHz.

My applied settings on the BIOS -as it allowed-, following your preset guide within the parameters you offered are:

FSB starp: 333
CPU FSB: 400

DRAM voltage: 2.1v
DRAM speed: 961 MHz (effectively running 1922 MHz)

FSB Termination voltage: 1.42v
CPU PLL : 1.56v
SB Voltage: 1.20v


----------------------------
(Sandra confirms mem bus as: 480)
system FSB is now 1600 MHz (up from 1333)
RAMs: 1992 MHz
DRAM/CPU FSB ratio: 12/10

System overclocked: 20%

-----------------------------

Temps at the moment:
(idle) CPU: 38, Mobo: 39, while CPU fan is Intelligent mode revving 1591 (out of possible 2280) and RAM cooler (on silent mode) revving 3590 (out of possible 5500+)

On load (like During game)
(CPU fan (free) 2280 and RAM cooler is still on silent mode, revving appx 2000)

CPU: 42C
Mobo: 43C

(I still dare to test it on STALKER, but I'm sure it'll up the temps by at least 5-7 degrees, as it has always been the case)

Thanks again.


(ps: I'll try to upload the screenshot of the CPU readings maybe during the weekend if I have some time to struggle with the servers. )

[ket]

Nice settings indeed. But, youre getting a little off the track with RAM frequency and quad pumped FSB definitions it seems like. The speed you see youre memory at is its overall speed counted on the rising and falling edges of the pins. 961MHz is youre overall RAM speed quad pumped FSB is simply whatever youre FSB is x4. So 400x4= ... you guessed it, 1600MHz I would recommend you take youre FSB to 425MHz. That way you will be getting good efficiency out of youre RAM, latencies will go down and system bandwidth will improve quite noticably.

[Nightwatch]

I think, as it seems, the system can handle (CPU) FSB 425 MHz. I'll set it so and see how it goes.

--------------
PS: on the Mem speed note, Sandra (and Everest as well) reports that Memory Bus is 480MHz; and reports that memory runs faster than CPU FSB and the ratio is: 12/10.
As I believe received (output) speed of memory (in DDR2 cases) is measured by multiplying the DDR2 initial value speed as it doubles the cycle (I guess some other various terminologies can describe it better) like (as DDR2) DDR2 266 RAM constitutes to a 533 MHz CPU/Motherboard FSB, --DDR2 400 MHz caters for 800 MHz Mobo/CPU FSB, --DDR2 533 caters for 1066 MHz FSB Mobo/CPU, and so on; so choosing 961 MHz base RAM speed in the BIOS should give in DDR2 cycle 1922 MHz, shouldn't it? Then it would confirm what Sandra is saying, that is RAM/CPU ratio is 12/10, 1922/1600 ...well, it seems in a slightly rounded up way

I'll take the PC to 425, now lets see what will be the next ceiling that I'm gonna hit now

[Nightwatch]

Yup, done, upped FSB to 425 MHz. System seemed to handle it as expected. There has been no problems in regard to any stability issues, but despite that I have a mammoth ASUS Lion Square cooler, CPU temps seemed to climb over 55C, so reverted back to previous setting for the time being. I'll check the cooler and see if any dust in it that my hinder its cooling ability a bit, and check the other fans, etc, then I may have another go again.

[audioave10]

Now that you are "pushing" it, you'll see some temps rise. Normal. I like keeping my E8500 3.16 at 3.8 Ghz with NO difference in temps from default even when
fully loaded with a modded Stalker game.

[Nightwatch]

E8500 is a great CPU by any means, Intel says it can go up to 74C, very high tolerance.

Currently, I'm operating at 3.0 GHz. A nice (and free) jump from stock value of 2.50 GHz. (thank again to Ket for well-detailed OC specs, so the whole OC'ing felt as if buying it off the shelf! )

I'm looking to keep it under 50C, so I'm at 400 FSB at the moment, but after checking the cooling in my case, I will probably push it again to 425.

[ket]

Higher temps are to be expected. As long as you can keep around 65c fully loaded CPU temp you will be fine. Sandra is misreporting RAM speed which is causing the confusion. Lok at the first POST screen as your system boots and look for your DRAM frequency, what your BIOS reports is the actual frequency. DDR2 uses the rising and falling edges of the clock. Maybe a better example is for DDR2 PC6400, its operating frequency is determined simply by 400x2 = 800MHz, this is how all DDR2 works. So PC8000 would be 500x2 for 1000MHz, PC8500 533MHz, which counted on the rising and falling edges of the pin is 1066MHz, and so on.

[Nightwatch]

OK, guys, an UPDATE:

I've increased the airflow inside the PC case and replaced the side clear window with its aluminum optional panel, so the temperature management got better. On this basis, (while all other settings remain the same) I've pushed the FSB to 420 in the BIOS, making it effectively 1680 MHz. (it even hits 1685 in practice when on load)
Keeping the FSB strap: 333, and I pushed DRAM to 1009 MHz.
So, now the CPU stands at: 3.15 GHz.

Temps are quite OK with CPU: 41C and Mobo: 41C both on normal work load, checking the temps while browsing the internet and writing this post, and Outlook of MS Office is open. When on load (like several programs are on, or a game is being played, temps rise to (in average) CPU: 49C-51C Mobo: 44C-48C. Not bad at all.

[rockingmtranch]

Those are great temps Are you going any further?

[Nightwatch]

Thanks Yeah, temps are quite ideal. I have a mammoth ASUS Lion Square CPU cooler, plus 4 high speed yet rather silent case fans and the case itself, though a bit older version, is a Lian Li case, so the whole package helps the result. Also, when the ambient temperature is higher than usual -like rare heatwaves here, lol- I can slide the side panel for a millimeter which allows an increased air flow into the case.

And, yes, I'm planning to increase the FSB tomorrow gradually first to 425, then to 430 and adjusting the DRAMs frequency accordingly; then we'll see. I may end up with a barbecue

I'll post the results later, if I won't be too busy with extinguishing the PC

[Nightwatch]

OK, now a new update:
Four days ago, while all other settings remained the same -detailed in previous posts- I pushed the FSB in the BIOS to 430 and and to the DRAMs frequency to a corresponding 1033 MHz, and the result is now a GPU functioning at 3.23 GHz.

Temps did not rise too much (though on ASUS AI Suit monitor window, the CPU hit the full red bars) however, while playing STALKER and testing the new mod patch, the CPU rose to 53C and the mobo stayed at around the previous load temp of 49C.

This originally 2.5 GHz Q8300 CPU (Yorkfield) has the max tolerance temp of 71.4C, so from 53 to 71 there's a long way.

It needs to said that I increased the RAM air cooling to 5630 rev/min. while it stays at "silent" mode of 3550 rev/min when not on load and the temps then remain still lower around the previous settings temps (42C/42C)

Things seem to be stable enough at the moment.