How do I overclock my Intel Pentium processor E5400?

[ai3wnz]

I just recently purchased a new computer - Asus - Essentio Desktop with Intel Pentium Processor (Model: CM5571-BR003). Somebody told me I should overclock it, but I am now sure how to do that. Here are the 'specs' of my new cpu:

Processor Brand: Intel
Processor: Intel Pentium Processor
Speed: 2.7GHz
System Bus: 800MHz
Cache Memory: 2MB on die Level 2
System Memory (RAM): 6GB
System Memory (RAM): Expandable To 16GB
Type of Memory (RAM): DDR3
Hard Drive Type: SATA (7200 rpm)
Hard Drive Size: 750GB
Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500
Video Memory: Up to 1759MB shared
Audio: High-definition support with 8-channel (7.1) capability
Network Card: Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbps Fast Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Windows Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

However, I bought "XFX - ATI RADEON HD 4650 1GB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card" and I had a "Anteq 500W ATx12V v2.01 (Basiq) Power Supply".

Not sure what other information you might need...I do not know much about this stuff.

 

[wingman99]

First i would read this HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - A Guide v1.1 LINK: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=515316 Then after giving it a go, then I would ask some questions.

 

[Coreyoliseffect]

+1 To that thread suggestion.

Give it a couple of reads over. It gets a little complicated at the end with the numbers. Don't let that worry you.

I have my setup posted in my sig. That usually helps everyone out. Speaking of my sig if you want to see some of the issues that I had and how I got over them check the Q9400 link that I have. I started a thread much like this when I started working on my OC.

A few suggestions, if I may, on software that you may want to go ahead and grab:

RealTemp - Temperature monitoring sofware for your CPU and GPU
CPUz - Stats about your CPU, MB, and RAM. A screen shot of this helps a lot of these guy out.
CPUID - Almost the same as CPUz. Show max, min, and average. I use it to compare the two. CPUz and CPUID
LinX - Quick stress test that will give you pretty good test for high temps. I usually run 5 passes of this then 10 to see if the system is stable.
Prime95 - I run this after I feel that the system is stable. I would suggest letting it run for about 6+ hours.

It seems like you may have purchased a retail system. They might have the BIOS settings locked so that you can not get at them. That being the case you are about to step into a world that I know nothing about. My biggest suggestion would be to play around in your BIOS and become familiar with the settings. Read up on them on Google. Don't do like I did and start fumbling through. It will cause much more headache than it is worth. If you change something that makes it so that your system doesn't POST you can always reset it. Be sure to know what you are changing first though!

Remember that everyone has their version of stable. Mine is after I play a game for a couple of hours and listen to music while doing so. Then I run P95 to be sure. Cheers! and to the OC Forums!

 

[ai3wnz]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely read up on the topic first before I mess around with any settings. I will keep you guys posted if I have any further questions.