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Overclocking my i3 540 with stock cooler?

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spittfire

Registered
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Hello,
i could use a little help since i'm pretty new to overclocking CPUs, i want to overclock my i3 540 3.07Ghz to as high as my cooler allows it, but the problem is i don't know how much my stock cooler can handle, and i don't want to lose my CPU.
I've read in some threads that i can get my i3 up to 4.07Ghz but for that the guy used a better cooler and right now i can't afford a new one.
My motherboard is ECS H55H-M.
Cooler is stock.
CPU i3 540 3.07Ghz.
Memory as shown in the picture:
Untitled.png

Thanks in advance.
 
I don't know where you got the information about somebody overclocking an i3 540 to 4ghz but as far as I know that would not be possible because the core speed multiplier is locked and also you would not be able to overclock more than just a tiny bit using the basic clock frequency since that processor has an integrated gpu and messing with the bclk frequency more than about 2-3 mhz usually makes the system unbootable or at least very unstable.
 
I don't know where you got the information about somebody overclocking an i3 540 to 4ghz but as far as I know that would not be possible because the core speed multiplier is locked and also you would not be able to overclock more than just a tiny bit using the basic clock frequency since that processor has an integrated gpu and messing with the bclk frequency more than about 2-3 mhz usually makes the system unbootable or at least very unstable.

Actually i just found an article about my processor and my mobo:
http://www.techspot.com/review/259-intel-h55-motherboard-shootout/page17.html
The guy got up to 3.74Ghz with it.
Is there any difference between his mobo/CPU and mine?
 
Well, he obviously used the bclk to overclock the CPU so the architecture must have been different back then. With the last several generations of i3 CPUs you could not raise bclk more than a tad as it would crash the PCI-e bus of the IGP. Back in those days I was totally an AMD man and wasn't messing with Intel stuff.

At any rate, you need to give us more details about your system. Look at my "Sig" and the info I've provided about my system. That's the kind of info we need to help you. Also, when you post pics of CPU-z, please include these three tabs: "CPU," "Memory" and "SPD". You only show the memory tab in your post.
 
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I hit 4.8ghz at 1.47v on a Zalman extreme cooler by blck and multiplier overclocking. I will pull up some screen shots when I get home later. It was my first gaming pc and entry into overclocking. I loved that cpu and honestly was the funniest thing to overclock besides my 2500k. Good times.
 
Does it have an IGP? And if so, how can you overclock it with the FSB when you cannot really do that with later i3s?
 
Back when they made the LGA 1156 intel did not have the motherboard manufactures lock down the BCLK with memory and PCI-E. With the LGA 1155 intel locked the BCLK down like it is now.

It had IGP.
 
These chips go up to ~250MHz bclk so don't really need unlocked multiplier. 4GHz on stock cooler is more than possible. On air can stabilize it at about 4.5GHz.
There is no locked pcie or anything like that. There are simply bclk/ram straps like now in unlocked haswells/skylakes you can pick x1.25, x1.33. x2.0 etc.

Here is my result on ss cooling and ITX motherboard:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2596255
 
pretty much to me is this... all chips do what they are, same as motherboards, (its what you get in the silicone lottery, because a motherboard is a silicone lottery as well) to me it doesnt mean you cant get this or that from 1 or the other, if the 2 happens to just like each other then the results can be good, if they dont then they dont, i really doubt to say it cant be done thru general perception, the so many conceptions of what is supposed to and expected to do went out with me long ago

and i should mention too with it, ram, psu, gpu, they all have the silicone chips, so you get what is given, unless youre special of course, then you get the best of all to play with
 
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If you can overclock a little with BCLK your stock cooler would hold up fine for 3.74GHz.

Ok i know how to change the BCLK and stuff but i have no idea what to do with voltage so i could use some help here so i don't screw up.
Do i need to change anything on V-Core? Do i need to change anything on cpu vtt? Do i need to change anything ram related?
How high can i put the BCLK at? Do i put the multiplier always at 23x?

Edit: In case you need it:
Untitled1.png Untitled2.png Untitled3.png

Some of my BIOS, what should i tweak?
Untitled4.png Untitled5.png Untitled6.png
 
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I don't know where you got the information about somebody overclocking an i3 540 to 4ghz but as far as I know that would not be possible because the core speed multiplier is locked and also you would not be able to overclock more than just a tiny bit using the basic clock frequency since that processor has an integrated gpu and messing with the bclk frequency more than about 2-3 mhz usually makes the system unbootable or at least very unstable.
I think you have your chips mixed up.

That is an Old dual core CPU

On modern chips, the iGPU really has nothing to do with it. The concern is with the busses that are attached to it (PCIe/SATA for example).



Anyway, I would start by reading the guide: http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/
 
Ok i know how to change the BCLK and stuff but i have no idea what to do with voltage so i could use some help here so i don't screw up.
Do i need to change anything on V-Core? Do i need to change anything on cpu vtt? Do i need to change anything ram related?
How high can i put the BCLK at? Do i put the multiplier always at 23x?
Try raising the CPU overclock frequency to 166MHz, also if it wont boot raise a little V core if you go further than 166MHz, I would not go any higher than 1.4v for v core. You don't have to touch anything else for a daily overclock.
 
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Try raising the CPU overclock frequency to 166MHz, also if it wont boot raise a little V core if you go further than 166MHz, I would not go any higher than 1.4v for v core. You don't have to touch anything else for a daily overclock.

I got up to 155Mhz bclk without messing with voltage.
Tried getting 166Mhz but it won't boot, even if i put V-core up to 1.4v, had to do a CMOS clear for it to boot again.
Don't i have to mess with Vtt for it to work or something?

Edit: This guy got 4.25Ghz with same mobo and cpu as me, what did he do differently? All i can get is 3.57Ghz :(
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2945/2
 
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IIRC the reason why you have an issue with not booting above 155mhz is due to the SPD multiplier for the ram. If you drop the SPD to 8x you should be able to do 166mhz without issue running 1600mhz ram. 8x166mhz =1328mhz for the ram. The cpu multiplier 23x 166mhz = 3818 MHz for the Cpu. The blck frequency is tied to the ram and its SPD multiplier which is causing you not to boot.

Go to option configure dram timing by SPD and change it to 8
 
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