help OC'ing E8400 with ASUS Mobo

LukaszR · Apr 6, 2009

Ok here's the story. I have the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 running at 3.00Ghz. I would like to run it at 3.75Ghz stable...and be able to run it at 4.00Ghz stable for gaming purposes. I have read around the web of people being able to clock these chips to 4.00Gh with ease and some even have it going up at 4.40Ghz too.

So i am not very skilled when it comes to OC'ing, this will be my first OC. Could some help me out here. I don't know too much about voltages...and the other settings that go along side when OC'ing a cpu.

As of now, all i have it change the FSB to acheive 3.6Ghz and above (but unstable). Well any help would be great appreciated. My Rig specs are on my profile for those of you who need it.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Mobo: ASUS P5N-T Deluxe
RAM: OCz @ 800Mhz
PSU: 750W Corsair
VGA: 9800GTX+ (SLI)

Please keep it very simple for me, as i do not know the entire vocabulary when it comes to talking about OC. So simple instructions please

Thanks inadvance

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

First off you should google Overclocking and find as much about it as possible.

Right were ready to begin :D The e8400 has a 9X multiplier and a base FSB clock of 333. So 9 X 333 = 3GHZ with 4 X 333 = 1333MHZ FSB.

You want to acheive a 1:1 ratio between your cpu and ram. In your case your ram is 800mhz so a setting of 400 for the fsb is what you want.

RAM = FSB x 2

So 400 x 2 will give you 800mhz

If the E8400's FSB base clock is increased to 400 you get an OC of 3.6GHZ (400 X 9) with a FSB of 1600MHZ (4 X 400).

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

Go to your bios and reset to default values then boot and restart and go back into bios.

To acheive RAM of 400 x 2 and cpu of 400 x 9 go into your bios. Disable speedstep for your cpu http://www.vistax64.com/overclocking-cooling/177111-speedstep-guide.html Then go to your tweaking tab and set the cpu, ram and AI overclocking values to manual. At this stage you can leave voltages at auto. The cpu value will be 333 you can try a setting of 343 which is a step up of 10 and ensure your ram is at 686mhz. Save changes and boot. If all went well go back into the bios and try 353 which means your ram will now be at 706. Continue this process until you reach 400 or until you hit a point it wont boot.

LukaszR · Apr 6, 2009

till the point it won't boot? that would mean its unstable...so then i would track back to the stable point before it didn't boot?
I will try this when I get home tonight. Thank you for the help, please check back here as i will probably have some more questions to ask later this evening.

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

If all went well youv achieved a fsb of 400 and its now time to tweak the voltages.

Go to the cpu voltage and see what it currently is by setting it to manual. Your cpu is rated for operation between 0.85V – 1.3625V but really you dont want it near 1.3625V. Take it down one setting at a time and save changes and boot. Once you reach a value that it doesnt boot properly, lets say 1.125 then set it two places higher than that as thats normally enough to ensure good performance.

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

Yeah if you reach a point it wont boot its unstable so go back to your last stable overclock and post here listing where it wont go past.

skunksmash · Apr 6, 2009

great info there stew2.....

whilst finding you highest ''stable'' FSB i would loosen the RAM timings right off to 6-6-6-18, this will remove the possibility of your RAM becoming unstable as you raise the FSB on a 1-1 ratio, so it basically allows you to just work on the CPU for now...

i'd leave all other voltages on ''Auto'' for now except ''VCORE & VDIMM''

raising the FSB in increments of 10mhz or 20mhz, keep going till it fails to post, then start adding in more VCORE, if it still fails to post no matter how much extra voltage you feed the CPU, add a little VDIMM (not too much, RAM frys very quickly), but this should allow you a few more increments...

if it stops posting no matter what settings the above voltages are on, this is when the other ''sub'' voltages will come into play....... unfortunately every rig is different so from this point on its a case of trial & error

now its impossible for you to fry the chip, the board has voltage fail safes to prevent damage.

once you've reached your highest FSB (hopefully 4ghz+) this is when you can start to mess around with RAM settings, bring the timings back in to 5-5-5-15, if your able to run CL4 thats even better..but unlikely if its CL5

another setting to look at is the ''command rate'' if your RAM is good stuff it may be able to run ''1T'' timings instead of ''2T'', this will further increase performance, but again only certain RAM can do this...

remember your RAM will be the first component to fail, so treat it with a little more love than anything else....lol

, be ready for at least 40-50 reboots to get it stable, but its all part of the fun...

SK

LukaszR · Apr 6, 2009

thanks for the details guys. I will be playing with this tonight

. I will post back with results and screenshots

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

Cheers skunksmash

LukaszR remember this is what you have just now:

CPU 333 x 9 = 3 Ghz
FSB 333 x 4 = 1333 Mhz
RAM ??????
RATIO ??????

This what you are aiming for:

CPU 400 x 9 = 3.6 Ghz
FSB 400 x 4 = 1600 Mhz
RAM 400 x 2 = 800 Mhz @ 5-4-4-15
RATIO 1:1

LukaszR · Apr 6, 2009

heres the exact ram sticks i have. Btw, running 8GB

Canada Computers - Memory > Desktop Memory > DDR2 800 PC2-6400+ : OCZ (OCZ2P8004GK) DDR2 PC2-6400 Vista Performance Platinum 4GB (2x2048) Kit Dual Channel.

skunksmash · Apr 6, 2009

LukaszR said:
heres the exact ram sticks i have. Btw, running 8GB

Canada Computers - Memory > Desktop Memory > DDR2 800 PC2-6400+ : OCZ (OCZ2P8004GK) DDR2 PC2-6400 Vista Performance Platinum 4GB (2x2048) Kit Dual Channel.

this is the EXACT RAM i have (check sig, i have the GOLD but they're the same) in an 8gb config.... :cry:

, these sticks don't clock well AT ALL, they're currently holding my rig back from 4ghz, i can only manage to get them to 890mhz @ 6-6-6-18 :eek::eek: (for 8gb)

the most i can muster is about 3.6ghz, but i have an 8x multi so you'll be able to get closer than me but i don't think you'll reach 4ghz with those sticks...

, if you remove 4gb they will clock further but it defeats the object really... ive even tried bumping the NB voltage right up to help with the large amount of RAM, but it has no effect.

hope you get luckier with your RAM ICs than i did.

SK

LukaszR · Apr 6, 2009

well i am sure if i can't hit 4.00Ghz, i should be able to hit 3.75ghz with ease tho. So i will work towards that

skunksmash · Apr 6, 2009

LukaszR said:
well i am sure if i can't hit 4.00Ghz, i should be able to hit 3.75ghz with ease tho. So i will work towards that

3.8ghz should be easily attainable....

all sticks are different though, even matching ones can differ...

SK

moirae · Apr 6, 2009

Those chips offer so much bang for your buck.

3.6 to 3.8 should be achieveable. With good stability.

I managed to get an 8500 stable at 3.8. With 8G of very, very generic ram. It could go higher, but the machine wasnt worthy.

The 8 gig of ram does make things a little more difficult however. Gave me a lot of headaches.

I put an identical cpu in my brother in law's PC, with 4g of ram, on the SAME model mobo and it hit 4ghz straight off the bat. Stable, cool enough...nice.

But with tweaking to find your sweet spot, you should be fine. Just take your time, note down all your settings on each restart so you know exactly where you are at.

@ 3.6 and above, that 8400 is flying. Really good value.

Have fun.

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

Work towards getting the fsb to 400 and a ratio of 1:1. Once you manage that if you want to go higher youv two choices, either change the ratio or up the fsb.

I dont recommend either as changing ratio will lower system performance and overclocking ram i think is just a no no lol. If you want more performance id recommend tightening the ram timings if its possible.

But its up to you.

Everlong · Apr 6, 2009

1:1 ratio isn't always the best ratio. Best to test different ones and see which is best when benchmarking. I've seen a few people over on the SLI forums saying they get better performance in games with ones like 2:3.

LukaszR · Apr 6, 2009

@ 1532 fsb (quad pumped) and 766Mhz for ram....so far going so good

Question tho, i disabled all the energy saving things in the Bios but yet my multiplier in cpuz still fluctuates. Why?

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

Disable C1E and EIST and ensure AI overclocking is disabled in bios http://www.vistax64.com/overclocking-cooling/177111-speedstep-guide.html

1. Open the Control Panel. (Classic View)
2. Click on the Power Options icon.
3. Click on the Change plan settings link under your power plan.
4. Set to High Performance

LukaszR · Apr 6, 2009

@stew2
Alright i will double check yet again...

Update:
I am running @ an FSB of 1572 (3.54Ghz) and memory at 786Mhz....running prime95 right now.

When i hit an FSB of 1612 and memory 806Mhz, i would BSOD. So now my question is....what do i need to do to hit over the 3.54Ghz?

stew2 · Apr 6, 2009

You shouldnt be going past 400 yet as that is overclocking the ram and cpu at the same time and is harder to do. Have you tried an FSB of 394, 396, 398 and 400?.

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