New mobo, oc my 6400, expertise needed

[Irishrebel34]

Hi guys,
I am getting a new mobo(MSI P6N SLI-FI, nForce-650i SLI, Socket-775, ATX, DDR2) and I am also getting a ninja cooler, along with my E6400, I was just wondering how far should I be able to oc stable to?
* I use 2gb 667mhz Kingston ram
* Remember I am beginner!
* I will be using asaka thermal compound

Thanks lads!

[Irishrebel34]

Any takers?!

[PanteraGSTK]

There really isn't an answer to your question. There is no telling how high you will be able to oc. Your chip may be fsb limited to 333mhz or possibly lower. Or it could reach 520mhz fsb and be a crazy fast chip. It could need lots of voltage or it could require very little voltage. There is no way to tell until you put it together and try.

[Irishrebel34]

I wasn't really looking for a specific answer but an average...
Should I be able to hit 3.2ghz?
I will be using a Scythe Ninja Plus and will have four case fans
so what would be safe temps to stay around?

[inkfx]

If you recently purchased that E6400 then it will be the Allendale core. Which is fine, but they seem to require a bit more voltage vs the Conroe. Your chip should definitely be capable of 3.2Ghz. Your memory may be the limiting factor here but since you are going with an nForce chipset you should have the option to run your FSB higher then your memory. However, your memory may even do the 400mhz.

[batboy]

Any idea how well your RAM will O/C? Like Ink said, RAM will be your limiting factor followed by the fact that motherboard typically don't like high FSB speeds. Most DDR2-667 RAM will do at least 350 FSB using the 1:1 memory ratio. That's 2.8 gig, so I'd say it will do at least that ok. The CPU itself is definitely capable of 3.2 gig.

[Irishrebel34]

Cheers guys

My ram is Kingston DDR2 667mhz.
Pics of my ram specs and default timings

http://thumb10.webshots.net/t/59/459/2/42/42/2288242420100534130vGVJbW_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2288242420100534130vGVJbW)


http://thumb10.webshots.net/t/59/659/2/32/43/2362232430100534130nDRxnF_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2362232430100534130nDRxnF)

Hmmm how does it look lads!?

Thanks for all help, greatly appreciated!

[Jas]

I have the same chip, and same Board.

You may hit the same problem I have had, and that is the Mobo seems to have a "hole" between the 3gz and 3.2 ghz mark (the hole is somwhere between 375 and 410 clock speeds on an 8x multiplier). Voltage, or backing the ram down doesn't seem to have any affect, the machine just won't post.

That being said, I run at 3gz rock solid and stable, with the following settings

Set the FSB to 1500 (this is a 375 clock speed for the CPU), multiplier at 8X,

and start with a CPU voltage increase of + .375 and raise it until you get stable. (i run at +.5)

Set the NB to 1.35.

As for your Ram, try letting the Mobo define the settings itself. That seems to work fine with ram at 667.

You may have a little worse, or a little better luck than me depnding on just how nice your CPU wants to play, but this shoudl give you a general ball park to at least start from. If you can't get stable at these settings back them down a bit till you do, and if you get stable, try ramping them up.

This Mobo also has a REALLY nice feature in that you just have to hit the clear CMOS button, no jumpers! Makes for quicker OCing!

[Irishrebel34]

Jas that was the exact reply I was looking for! Thanks man-
Informative and to the point!
Thanks to everyone for the help!

[Jas]

NP, Glad I could help.