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Noob overclocking, what are safe voltages

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howitzer

Registered
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Hey there,

While I have been building computers for many years I really was new to overclocking and water cooling... then I stumbled on this forum and all was lost.

I have a P5WD2 (bios 606), Pentium 4D 830, OCZ Modstream 500W power supply, OCZ 533 Memory.

What are safe are reliable voltages for:

CPU Vcore
FSB Termination
MCH
ICH

I am able to hit 3.8+ and it is stable but I would like to hit 4. I wasn't sure how high I can go with the voltages before damage.

Thanks!
Marty
 
stang8118 said:
What type of cooling are you running?

Liquid cooling at the momemt. I am making some modifications but currently when I had it overclocked to 3.8 my temps are 43C at rest and 48-50's under load.
 
CPU Vcore - what ever you can keep cool. Maybe 1.5v
FSB Termination- Auto
MCH- Auto
ICH- Auto.

Auto works well on those other settings. If the mobo needs more, it will adjust them up.
 
BigStan said:
CPU Vcore - what ever you can keep cool. Maybe 1.5v
FSB Termination- Auto
MCH- Auto
ICH- Auto.

Auto works well on those other settings. If the mobo needs more, it will adjust them up.

Thanks! That was kinda what I wanted to know. Hey is that your 3DMark05 numbers that are leading the Pentium D processors?
 
I just looked at the ORB. I guess that is me. Honestly I had never looked at the 3DMark05 ORB for Pentium Ds. There are so many ppl out there with great scores it never dawned on me that I would be anywhere near the top. It's been awhile since I looked at the PCMark05 ORB, but I used to be in the top 10 on that one.
 
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BigStan said:
I just looked at the ORD. I guess that is me. Honestly I had never looked at the 3DMark05 ORB for Pentium Ds. There are so many ppl out there with great scores it never dawned on me that I would be anywhere near the top. It's been awhile since I looked at the PCMark05 ORB, but I used to be in the top 10 on that one.

That's how I always break it down. I figure comparing myself to people with the same chip best.

I had the Vcore set to 1.41 I think, but it was unstable above 3.9. I will try raising it to 1.5 as you suggested.

One more question for you, do you think my memory OCZ Gold 533 is going to be good enough to break 4 Ghz. OCZ claims I can run it at 2.1 Volts.

Also how are you cooling your 7800 GTX? Mine is running too hot I think.
 
Donno about your mem. It's going to be close. Might need loosen your timings slightly. They prolly can handle a little more voltage then 2.1. I've bought lots of mem over the years, and a lot of it was OCZ, but I only had good luck with one set of OCZ mem. Most all of the OCZ mem I bought didn't work very well on Intel rigs. So I'm really not sure how well they will do.

My vid card is at all stock settings. I am using the stock HSF. If you haven't tried them yet, the newer 81.xx drivers utilize the dual core capabilities better then previous driver version. I got a very nice performance boost when I switched to them. With no increase in heat.
 
BigStan said:
Donno about your mem. It's going to be close. Might need loosen your timings slightly. They prolly can handle a little more voltage then 2.1. I've bought lots of mem over the years, and a lot of it was OCZ, but I only had good luck with one set of OCZ mem. Most all of the OCZ mem I bought didn't work very well on Intel rigs. So I'm really not sure how well they will do.

My vid card is at all stock settings. I am using the stock HSF. If you haven't tried them yet, the newer 81.xx drivers utilize the dual core capabilities better then previous driver version. I got a very nice performance boost when I switched to them. With no increase in heat.

Once again thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. Where do I adjust the memory timings? I am not positive of what my timings are but I beleive they are CL 3-3-3-8
 
In the BIOS in the Advance tab. "Configure DRAM Timing by SPD". Yours is prolly set to Enable. Change that to Manual and the choices for the timings will appear. Timings are always important, but what is more important with this mobo is getting the fsb as high as possible. This mobo and DDR2 love bandwidth.
 
BigStan said:
In the BIOS in the Advance tab. "Configure DRAM Timing by SPD". Yours is prolly set to Enable. Change that to Manual and the choices for the timings will appear. Timings are always important, but what is more important with this mobo is getting the fsb as high as possible. This mobo and DDR2 love bandwidth.

Thanks I will try making those changes tonight when I get home and get back to you know success or failure.
 
BigStan said:
In the BIOS in the Advance tab. "Configure DRAM Timing by SPD". Yours is prolly set to Enable. Change that to Manual and the choices for the timings will appear. Timings are always important, but what is more important with this mobo is getting the fsb as high as possible. This mobo and DDR2 love bandwidth.

Thanks for the advice. I loosened the timing up and was able to break 4GHz Pretty well. I have lowered it back down for the moment till some more parts for my water cooling system arrive (another radiator).

 
BigStan said:
Looking Good! The intel Proc identifier is ok, but a utility like CPUz gives you a little more information

http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php

Yeah I have used that one a couple of times. I think my memory might be holding me back from hitting a 300Mhz fsb, it's just not stable for long above 250.
 
Might be your mem. If it is, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen OCZ mem not being able to run at it's rated speed. Might be your PSU. If I remember right, that Modstream breaks the 12v into 2 rails. That's splits up the amp for each rail. There have been ppl that had trouble when the 12v rail is split. A single high amp 12v rail seeems to work best in these high demand systems.

I don't think it is your proc. With the right tuning and cooling I'd be willing to bet it will hold 4.1 and maybe to 4.2.

Here is a thread on PSUs

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=422000
 
BigStan said:
Might be your mem. If it is, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen OCZ mem not being able to run at it's rated speed. Might be your PSU. If I remember right, that Modstream breaks the 12v into 2 rails. That's splits up the amp for each rail. There have been ppl that had trouble when the 12v rail is split. A single high amp 12v rail seeems to work best in these high demand systems.

I don't think it is your proc. With the right tuning and cooling I'd be willing to bet it will hold 4.1 and maybe to 4.2.

Here is a thread on PSUs

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=422000

I am adding an additional radiator soon, actually I hope it has been delivered. What kind of temps are you getting when you overclock? Both CPU and Motherboard.
 
howitzer said:
I am adding an additional radiator soon, actually I hope it has been delivered. What kind of temps are you getting when you overclock? Both CPU and Motherboard.
I used to run 60c at 2xPrime. But I put a new rad in recently. I thought it would be better but it's not. With this rad I am hitting 65c running Prime. I have another one ordered. Maybe it will be better.
 
BigStan said:
I used to run 60c at 2xPrime. But I put a new rad in recently. I thought it would be better but it's not. With this rad I am hitting 65c running Prime. I have another one ordered. Maybe it will be better.

okay... well that is kinda good to know... because my temps are high when overclocking. I am at about 62C at rest. But I am also waiting on a new radiator as well. The Thermaltake Rocket is really quiet and works great if you are not overclocking, but just can not handle the temps kicked out when overclocking, at least not this much.

My plan is to run through an external Radiator, then to the Thermaltake rocket. Hopefully that will disapate enough heat. I am also considering adding a Tec cooler. Not directly to the CPU but inline to cool the fluid before heading back into the CPU.

I appreciate all your input. It helps me know where I am at and what I can expect.
 
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