My First Overclock (E4400), Am I doing things right?

Ok so i just got my mates old e4400 to replace my strange e6300(doesnt boot all the time and runs hot with no overclocking). First things first i whacked it in and left it at standard. I used some contact cleaner, q tips and non lint cloth to clean the old stuff off the processor and heatsink(standard intel one). Then applied AS MX-2 to both spread veryy thin. At standard it runs about 29C idle and about 40-45C load. This seemed fairly cool so i decided to have a proper go at overclocking!

My System:
-Asus P5n-t deluxe
-4gb OCZ Vista Upgrade DDR2-667
-1gb Elixir DDR2-667
-Core 2 Duo E4400 800mhz rated fsb, 2mb l2, 2.0ghz
-Thermaltake Toughpower 1000W

I dont think any other components are relevant so i wont bother listing!

So at the moment i have left vcore voltage standard (1.325 bios, says 1.29 in cpu-z and speedfan :S) and have raised the memory voltage to 1.9v(i dont know if this was actually needed).

Memory timings are 5-5-5-15(standard) am thinking of lowering to 4-4-4-13, but i dont really know how this effects it(i know its faster, but does it need extra voltage and does it increase temps) or how is the best way to lower it.

Memory speed is 333.3mhz so is running at is factory amount at 1:1

CPU fsb 333.3mhz 1333mhz rated

CPU Multi 8 (can be as high as 10)

CPU at 2.66ghz

I know nothing about NB straps so they have not been changed

Runs 35-40C idle and 50-55C load (checked using Speedfan and Asus AISuite)
Currently Testing with Orthos was still stable when i left for college this morning(ran overnight) and was about 9hrs in.


I have had a fair read about overclocking and am hoping ive gone the right way about it, any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks!

I know i have a way better mobo and psu than the rest of my build lol was upgrading but ran out of money

Did you set your Vcore @ 1.325 or is it on Standard/Auto?

Why do you have the multi at 8 instead of 10?

I set the vcore to 1.325 not auto as i dont trust auto.

I figured if i raised the multiplier to ten it would want more volts and produce more heat and i am on a stock intel heatsink + fan. (thinking of getting a coolermaster hyper tx3 or arctic cooling freezer 7 pro)

1333fsb is the max my motherboard is rated to go natively also my ram is also at its max rated speed on 1:1 with the bus speed, should i push this further or just up the multiplier? or leave it until i get a new cooler?

Also got my memory timings down to 4-4-4-12 at 2.025v seems fine in orthos and everest stress tests

As far as i know i dont think setting a higher multiplier is going to cause more heat or require more volts.Having a lower multiplier is just going to put more stress on the NB due to higher FSB.

so should i lower the fsb and up the multiplier and slow down my memory? or bring the multi up and leave the fsb? I know if i go up to 9x i hit 3.0ghz but im unsure how stable this is. My Mobo can support 1333fsb natively so i think the NB should be fine.
Thanks again for the help, im pretty new to this but very willing to learn!

I would just set the multi at 10, SPD at 1:1 or 2.00 (for now), PCIe at 100mhz, Leave the vcore where its at, and up the FSB untill you hit or start getting close 3.0ghz.

Your FSB @ stock is 200mhz so try 250fsb and then see if it boots fully into windows w/out freezing or BSOD. If it boots fine then go back into bios and up the fsb to 275fsb and repeat. If you dont get a BSOD or if its doesnt freeze then try 300fsb.

IF it does freeze/BSOD i usually just hit the restart button on the comp and then get back into bios as soon as i see the post/splash screen. Then i would take the Vcore up 1 or 2 notches and then try that FSB setting again and see if you can boot fully into windows.

If you hit 3.0ghz then run Prime 95 on FFT for a few hours and see if it passes. If it doesnt pass then you might need to up your vcore or other voltages but see if you can post into windows first.

Your safe Vcore is between 0.85V – 1.5V so just be aware of that and post back up here once you have some results

will try this soon, what is the SPD? is that the mem/bus ratio? also i have left the VTT voltage and NB voltage etc as auto is this ok?
Thanks very much for the help

JeRmY192 said:

will try this soon, what is the SPD? is that the mem/bus ratio? also i have left the VTT voltage and NB voltage etc as auto is this ok?
Thanks very much for the help

Click to expand...

Yea SPD is the system memory multiplier which you can set to 1:1 or 2.00 but you might change this down the line if you want your ram to run faster then what its running at w/ a 2.00 divider. If your at at 300fsb X 2.00 divider = 600mhz ram speed. So later you might change this to a higher divider

I usually leave those voltages on auto until i get to the point where i need to change them.

Ok i had a go on the x10 multi got just past 3.10ghz then things start getting too hot for my liking, (67C core on maximum intel burn test). Ive left it at 3.00ghz 1.38v although i decided to go down to x9 to get a little more fsb up to my mobos max 1333mhz (supported natively so not stressing the NB) so my memory can run at 1:1. Im going to try lowering the voltage slowly then maybe start playing with my memory timings. Thanks for the advice managed to get that much further when i get a better heatsink i may think about pushing more

Yea it states that you need to keep the temps below 60c after searching google but usually intel burn test gets your temps way higher then normal use will get them. I know mine gets up to high 60's on IBT but only hits maybe 52c in games.

Nice overclock though.

Max. Tcase on the E4400 is either 61.4°C or 73.3°C depending on the stepping (L2=61.4°C and M0=73.3°C). And since Tunction is normally 5-10°C higher than Tcase while under 100% load, and irregardless of what Tj Max is for either stepping, keep the Distance to Tj Max at > 20-25°C while using either Real Temp or Core Temp to monitor the cores.

Sorry i was wrong so your actually still doing ok at 67c but i know that program still gets my temps higher then games or prime95.

If your using real temp i would run a game for 30min or so with that program running and see what your temps get up to.

What CPU heatsink are you using?

im using the standard intel heatsink

I have been using speed fan just used real temp and i hit about 71C full load is this abit much? or will it be ok seeing as my cpu wont get as high as that in games

Its not really recomended to overclock on the stock intel heatsink. I would look into an good overclocking heatsink to help keep your temp down