New to OCing

[JLL_Med]

Hey everyone, first post, thanks in advance for the welcomes =) I just recently purchased a gaming computer through Dell (try not to hate me for it, its a good company and i already had a sizable account with them =). Im not sure the specifics of my motherboard or ram (probably Dell brand, if such a thing exists), but i was thinking that you all could help me with a safe OC for the ram, the proc and the GPU. The GPU comes with a really easy to use OCing interface, so all i need are safe numbers and ill follow your lead.

GPU - nVidia GeForce GTX 280 1024MB
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2.66Ghz 1333FSB
Ram - 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz

Those of you who have the GTX 280 probably know about the easy to use interface, so didn't think that i needed to put a screen shot. And one final thing, I have no clue what cooling...thingy my proc uses. So ill save you a "what cooling system you are using" question by saying that lol. As for the specific speeds, i just want stability and safety, cuz if something goes really wrong that i might have to go into Bios or something, i would be lost. Basically im looking for a 0-5% chance of crazy krap happening lol. Thanks again everyone =)

 

[dark strike1]

Well first off that "cooling thingy" is called a heatsink, can you tell us what mobo your using? Also is the heatsink your using a stock one from intel, or a third party one? After that I can help you overclock But I will add that the q9450 is a little picky with volts and heat so it may be a long and grueling process.

 

[JLL_Med]

I was actually on the phone with a Dell dude for another problem all together when i read your reply. I asked about the heat sink and mobo. He said that the mobo is a nVidia 650 and that he wasn't sure about the heat sink. So, for now lets assume that its the stock sink to be on the safe side =) Btw, where do you think i should post a question about visual issues with my monitor? I was on the phone with the Dell dude for over an hour and we just ended up replacing my monitor (but i so highly doubt that is the issue). Im not sure if its the resolution settings, a hardware issue, etc. etc. but maybe one of you wise-ones can tell me where to start (or should i just wait for the new one)

 

[dark strike1]

So wait, its a dell?

 

[JLL_Med]

Yessir, said it in original post not to bash me so much for it!!! hehe

 

[dark strike1]

Sorry bro you cannot overclock a Dell, they have locked BIOS, the only way to be able to overclock is to go custom...

 

[JLL_Med]

Huh? But my graphics card comes with a whole little program-like thing that lets me change all the values for voltage and crap. The Dell dude told me "you can use this to overclock, but we dont support it if something goes wrong". The way i see it, if i do something safe then they can stick their support up their...

 

[dark strike1]

Never change voltages through a program, its not safe you can harm your hardware that way. You CAN overclock your graphics card using ntune from nvidia, which may be the only component that can be overclocked. Can you go to your systems BIOS real fast and tell me if there are options for voltages, clocks, etc.

 

[JLL_Med]

That program im talking about allows changes in virtually everything i think you would need to overclock. FSB Clock, Cooling, Voltages for the CPU, and loads of crap for the GPU/RAM/MoBo. The only thing that seems that cant be changed from this program is CPU Frequency and Multiplier. And on that note, i was under the impression that the multiplier for this CPU was 8x,not 6x (which is what it is stuck at now). Can i change THAT through BIOS? Cuz the program is basically telling me NONE OF THAT! lol.

 

[dark strike1]

Yes I know, its the Nvidia Performance Application. But like I said NEVER overclock using a program like that unless its for a video card; in which case you would use ATItool to overclock the video card. Can you tell me if your BIOS has options for voltages, clocks, fan speed?

So what I am trying to say is if you want to overclock your video card I can help you do that with ATItool, but if your BIOS doesn't have voltage, and clocks etc, then you risk damaging your other hardware by changing it through the nvidia performance application.