Question: E6400 - worth overclocking?

[Shadeh]

Hey guys! So i've really been wanting to overclock my processor, sometimes i have the feeling that my processor doesn't give me the full experience with my 260 gtx.

So i've just been wondering recently, this rig is now currently 3~4 years old, do you think an attempt to overclock could possibly drastically shorten its life time since it's already quite old? With drastically i mean that i could put it in it's coffin within the following 2~3 months after overclocking? As long as it lasts me one more year i'm good to go.

My goal would definitely be to try to push it to around 3ghz. Does this seem realistic?

Another thing that's crossed my mind is that i would need to buy a cooler to begin with.. I will link you to this website, please, please , please do not think this is in any way an advertisement, they do not ship world wide, probably only within Austria: http://peluga.at/index.php?action=57&kakat=KUHL (KUHL = cooling)

... what would you guys recommend? It doesn't have to be the most silent, but it shouldn't sound like a washing machine either. I'm willing to spend anywhere between 20~40 euros, preferably 30~35. But you name it :-)

Thank you guys in advance.

p.s: i was thinking about a Scythe Mugen 3 Cooler, or is there something cheaper on that site that brings about as good performance for lower cost?

Once again, thank you all!

EDIT: Just in-case my PC-Specs are asked about:

E6400 2.13ghz
Asus p5b
260 GTX
Win 7 64-bit edition
4GB ram
Uhh, anything else? Ask me :-)

[python134r]

Welcome to EOCF
Have a look at the stickeys in the forums about OCing and any other subject that you might like.
What Power supply do you have and type of ram?
You should be able to reach 3.6ghz or so [at least 3.2ghz] providing you have the right hardware.
The Mugen 3 should be fine for your needs. The big shuriken will do for less $$$ if it will fit.

see http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=261409

[bravotsx]

Firstly, welcome to EOCF! Secondly, you can tell your mechatronix friend to stuff it.

3.2GHz should be a piece of cake. All you need to do is set the FSB to 400MHz. You might need a small bump in vCore ~ you should be able to hit it well below 1.4V ; maybe even 1.35V. The theoretical performance boost would be 50% better than your stock setting. (maximum memory bandwidth would be increased from 8.5GB/s to 12.8GB/s) which is perfect for some dual-channel DDR2-800 or even DDR2-1066 but that would be a bit overkill. what kind of memory do you have?

Don't worry about killing your CPU ~ it will be fine as long as you keep the voltages and temperatures in check. If we're not increasing the vcore much then the temp won't rise that dramatically.

I think the 3R System iCEAGE Prima 120 is your best bet. There's no need for the Mugen since that CPU isn't particularly hot.

[Shadeh]

Originally Posted by python134r

Welcome to EOCF
Have a look at the stickeys in the forums about OCing and any other subject that you might like.
What Power supply do you have and type of ram?
You should be able to reach 3.6ghz or so [at least 3.2ghz] providing you have the right hardware.
The Mugen 3 should be fine for your needs. The big shuriken will do for less $$$ if it will fit.

see http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=261409

Is there any way to check my psu without opening the box? One thing i do recall is that i do have a good psu, lashed out around 150 euros for this back then. And it's one of the newer components compared to everything else in my rig around 2 years. The type of ram i have are corsairs, this link for more information: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145201
Any good? :-)

edit: I checked, i have a Modu82+ by enermax, i remember needing a new psu since my old one was too weak, so in exchange i thought i'd buy a good psu.. and i hope it's a good psu as well: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article806-page1.html

PSU fine? And uhh, i have a asus-p5b mainboard.

Originally Posted by bravotsx

Firstly, welcome to EOCF! Secondly, you can tell your mechatronix friend to stuff it.

3.2GHz should be a piece of cake. All you need to do is set the FSB to 400MHz. You might need a small bump in vCore ~ you should be able to hit it well below 1.4V ; maybe even 1.35V. The theoretical performance boost would be 50% better than your stock setting. (maximum memory bandwidth would be increased from 8.5GB/s to 12.8GB/s) which is perfect for some dual-channel DDR2-800 or even DDR2-1066 but that would be a bit overkill. what kind of memory do you have?

Don't worry about killing your CPU ~ it will be fine as long as you keep the voltages and temperatures in check. If we're not increasing the vcore much then the temp won't rise that dramatically.

I think the 3R System iCEAGE Prima 120 is your best bet. There's no need for the Mugen since that CPU isn't particularly hot.

Thank you, i'm happy to see that a 20 euro cooler will do the trick.

[Sneevly]

That power supply will be fine.

In my opinion it's a decent idea to get a great heatsink for a little more money, assuming it's transferable when you'd like to upgrade. Here's my recommendation. Apparently you can also get a free mounting kit for the LGA2011 if you ask cooler master, or you can purchase one. I don't know how this works out with your location though. I use 4 of these on a 4 processor board running 100% 24/7, and they do a fantastic job. Very efficient design.
EDIT: It's also extremely quiet at full speeds.

[Shadeh]

Originally Posted by Sneevly

That power supply will be fine.

In my opinion it's a decent idea to get a great heatsink for a little more money, assuming it's transferable when you'd like to upgrade. Here's my recommendation. Apparently you can also get a free mounting kit for the LGA2011 if you ask cooler master, or you can purchase one. I don't know how this works out with your location though. I use 4 of these on a 4 processor board running 100% 24/7, and they do a fantastic job. Very efficient design.
EDIT: It's also extremely quiet at full speeds.

Anything on the site i linked that you could probably suggest instead? Since i'm planning to go there tomorrow and make my purchase.. according to reviews (despite the fact that i won't be able to take along the cooler for the next upgrade, it seems like the above suggested iceage prima 120 would indeed be my best bet).

One thing has got me a bit concerned though, is the ASUS-P5b (i have the standard version -no deluxe whatsoever) does it qualify for overclocking?

[travy25]

You should have no problem hitting 3.2+ on that board with an updated bios and proper cooling. The board will do 400 FSB or better. You will likely be limited by the board, the cpu will have more in the tank.

[Shadeh]

Originally Posted by travy25

You should have no problem hitting 3.2+ on that board with an updated bios and proper cooling. The board will do 400 FSB or better. You will likely be limited by the board, the cpu will have more in the tank.

Alright! Well, i'm sorry if my questions come accross as noobish and yeah.. i'm a beginner i guess, a beginner (sure done a lot of reading when it comes to overclocking, that doesn't seem to be my main worry though)

i've got a major question, and this is my mainboard:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...specifications

I entered bios today just to check for the fsb and have a look at the settings to get used to the BIOS before i start oc'in tomorrow. I realized that (despite looking all over the bios) i couldn't adjust FSB, there are no cpu frequencies to increase. Is this because i haven't upgraded my bios so far? I'll surely be upgrading my bios tomorrow.

p.s: can i use any USB stick when flashing a newer bios in asus's ez flasher 2 or does it have to be a specific usb flash drive? USB flash drive and USB Stick are the same thing, right? (and i hope i really don't come off as dumb now)

Thank you guys, and sorry if i've drifted off slightly from the original topic, i believe this is one of my last questions. Thank you for your kind support here, greatly appreciated, guys!

I'll be back on tomorrow :-)

[bravotsx]

regarding the USB stick question, it really comes down the file system ~ the flasher probably won't work with NTFS or HFS, etc. formatted drives. it's designed with FAT in mind, which is the default on most flash drives, so that they can be read on both Mac and PC.

you machine is custom, and not an OEM box from an HP, Dell, Acer, etc, right? Because if it's from an OEM then they tend to lock down the BIOS.

Otherwise, on ASUS boards, they don't call it FSB. It's something like Jumper-Free and the settings are under there. You need to set that to manual, since the auto mode hides the good stuff~

[Shadeh]

Originally Posted by bravotsx

regarding the USB stick question, it really comes down the file system ~ the flasher probably won't work with NTFS or HFS, etc. formatted drives. it's designed with FAT in mind, which is the default on most flash drives, so that they can be read on both Mac and PC.

you machine is custom, and not an OEM box from an HP, Dell, Acer, etc, right? Because if it's from an OEM then they tend to lock down the BIOS.

Otherwise, on ASUS boards, they don't call it FSB. It's something like Jumper-Free and the settings are under there. You need to set that to manual, since the auto mode hides the good stuff~

Argh! Well no it's definitely no oem :-). Anyways, i just flashed bios.. scared me ****less, it updated and then failed to reboot with a weird "beep" sound coming out of my computer. Thought i'd restart and unplug all usb ports and it booted. Calmed down again :-)

So i'm glad to see i'm on the latest bios version, i never really liked updating bios, just always had the feeling it'll go wrong.

And bravots,you are right! i just remember something along the lines "jumpfree" and i had to change the auto tuning to manual to get the rest of the settings to play with.

I don't understand why my computer busted in flames when i turned the cpu frequency to 800 with a multiplier of 7. Joke aside

Glad to have learned new things today, hope to learn even more when i start overclocking ;-)

[Sparkey247]

asking if you should or should not overclock something is like asking if you should pee or not after drinking a couple of 40's

couple things you should understand about your board your cpu's native fsb is 266 (1066) anything over that is considered overclocking on you mother boards behalf as well as the cpu. if you were to put something with a 200 (800) fsb in there like a p4 then you can safely get your cpu to 1066 and teh mobo will be right at home.

cpu that have unlocked multipliers give you greater flexibility (extreme editions) they let you overclock the cpu via multiplier and not effect the rest of the system.

when you overclock via the FSB your pushing the system as a whole cpu, mobo, and ram.

couple of things to remember is
lock down the mhz of your gpu to 100mhz

manually inputting you ram timings will help you get farther lets say for instance you ram timings are 5-5-5-18 with is common of p965 chipsets you want to manually input them in the bios instead of leaving them on auto
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_timings

shutting off Eist and speed step will keep your cpu from down clocking it self when not under load

at a certain point when you reach a high enough FSB she might not want to boot and you may even have to reset the cmos, this is usually caused by ram being pushed too far in which case its needs to be down clocked to let the fsb go further.

also turning off cpu spread spectrum will left you go further as well.

sooner or later you will have to push more voltage into it (cpu and or ram) this is where you can actually cause damage to components quickly. but you should be able to get a good oc even if leaving the voltage on auto.

for instance @ work im running a A q6600 ES chip at 3.0 ghz durring the summer voltage is on auto and temps can get to about 45c on cold day i can get 3.2ghz still leaving the voltage on auto. how ever im on liquid at work, which brings me to my next thing.

above all else watch your temps cannot stress that enough