Overclocking my new rig.

[Toryn]

So I've finally got everything sorted, my first build and I've been at it for about 7hrs

Thats installing everything twice (forgot the thermalright ultra 120 mounting bit needs to go under the mobo *first*) and installing, patching sorting out sound and myriad drivers.

And now, I want to OC

Unfortunately I've never done it before, and I tried earlier but got worried that I'd done something wrong and reset it to defaults .

Basically can anyone help me with everything I need to know to overclock my Q6600 (on a gigabyte P35C DS3R if that helps) and my 8800GTS 512MB. From what programmes needed to what I need to turn off in the bios.

A lot I know, but I wanna make sure I dont do something monumentally stupid, again.

Thanks in advance, and if I'm slow in replying its because I walking around in an oblivion gate gawping.

 

[b1gapl]

You want to first, disable the C1E and EIST function in the Advanced BIOS features. This disables the power saving features, from lowering your CPU's speed, when idling.

You should also disable any devices on the motherboard, that won't be in use. Such as the floppy drive, serial, and/or parallel ports. You can disable the floppy in the Standard CMOS Features. And you can disable the serial and parallel ports in the Integrated Peripherals menu.

Then go to the M.I.T. Set the System Memory Multiplier to 2.00. This will set the memory and the FSB to run at the same speed for a 1:1 ratio, just to make this overclocking easy and basic.

Enable the CPU Host Clock Control, to change the CPU Host frequency. This is the FSB. So you increase it by 10+. Usually increases the CPU's speed by 100MHz or so.

As for the voltages, set the DDR2 Overvoltage to manufacturer's spec. The standard voltage that the DS3R sets to, is 1.8v. And the BIOS gives options for +0.1, +0.2, +0.3, etc...So for example, if the manufacturer's spec for your RAM is 2.2v, you set the DDR2 Overvoltage to +0.4v (1.8 + 0.4 = 2.2).

Then you can just leave the other voltages alone, until you need to increase them. This is where the stability test comes in. For testing the stability on quad cores, I would recommend you stress with Prime95, or be a good techie, and fold for our folding team, using the SMP client.

A good indication of the overclock being stable, is around the 8 hour mark. So it would be best if you can stress overnight, while you sleep, or when you're at work or school during the day. Once it proves stable, increase the FSB or CPU Host frequency by 10+.

During the stress test, if the program or the computer, were to freeze or restart....this is when you should increase the voltages. Specifically the CPU voltage. Increase this by one notch, or until the CPU proves stable. Once you get past the 3GHz mark, I would suggest increasing both the MCH Chipset voltage, and the FSB voltage to +0.1v, for added stability.

You should also set the Performance to standard instead of turbo, to help with stability.


Some might say, to skip the baby stepping of increasing little by little each time. That's fine. But this is the way I overclock, or if I was guiding someone new at this.

Anymore questions, feel free to ask.

For some reason, I feel like I've told you this guide before.

 

[Toryn]

I've probably asked before, but as long as neither of us really remember, it's fine right?

I just like to make sure everything is set out in my mind, especially when I can't login and ask someone while I'm looking at the bios.

But thanks (again?) and I'll be sure to run SMP to make up for it, might aswell do something with it when I'm asleep anyway as its always on ^^.

*edit* with everything at stock, I hit 12004 in 3dmark06. Not bad I'd say.