Newbie Looking to overclock

[Jquawn]

Hi im looking to overclock my cpu but have no clue on how to do it my system is
Gigabyte EP45 DS4P Mother board
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
8 Gigs of G Skill DDR2
powercolor 4870

I have tryed a few things but couldn't get it stable
If anyone has specs with pics on one that is already overclocked would be great

 

[mzs_biteme]

Welcome to the forums...
First, maybe you can tell us exactly what you try to do when attempted overclocking your CPU? Also, what speed is your RAM rated at? PC5300, 6400, 8500? Your mobo is one of the best for overclocking, but your success in it will depend on the RAM more than anything else...

 

[Jquawn]

My ram is G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit

I just used the easy tune program that the mobo came with it already had preset settings so I just used them.

 

[mzs_biteme]

I just used the easy tune program that the mobo came with it already had preset settings so I just used them.

As good as some software OC utillities may be, they almso never find the best and most stable frequency by "themselves"...

BIOS settings are where it's at....

Your CPU has a locked multiplier of 7 and FSB of 333MHz to achieve the final (rated) 2.33GHz. Just get into BIOS, go to MB INtelligent Tweaker M.I.T, lock your PCI Express Frequency to 100MHz (dont leave Auto), and change CPU Host Clock Control from Disabled to Enabled. Then try moving up the FSB by 10~20Mhz at a time. You should be able to get to 366~380MHz without upping the CPU Voltage. If pushed more, you may have to go up to 1.4V on Vcore, or more... Thats where a whole lot more heat is generated, so I hope you're not using stock Intel heatsink. Also, each time you increase FSB, test it with Prime95, especially once you get past 400MHz fsb, give it at least a couple of hours of Prime to make sure it's stable, and keep on pushing. Q8200's are not great overclockers, and I've seen people having to increase Vcore all the way up to 1.5V to get past 450MHz FSB... This definitelly requires GOOD aftermarket cooling.

 

[Jquawn]

Awsome thx for helping me out I'll give it a shot and let u know how it goes

 

[Jquawn]

So if i want to go past 400MHz do just set the voltage right to 1.4V? also i do have a bigger heatsink its a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA775 LGA1156 120MM

 

[mzs_biteme]

Most likely, but each CPU is different and yours may not need as much Vcore as others. What you can do, is set the Vcore to lets say 1.4V at 429MHz FSB, for a nice, round 3Ghz, and start testing with Prime. After, lets say, 1hr of Prime, it's pretty stable (all cores), try going up in small (5MHz) increments on the FSB. See how far you can go at 1.4V. I personally never liked going over 1.4V on my [email protected], but some more seasoned folks here will most likely say that 1.6v is still OK, as long as you have great cooling.
But if you're happy with 3Ghz at 1.4Vcore, what you can do is try to drop Vcore down bit by bit, testing for stability along the way. See how low you can go...

 

[Jquawn]

Aright so i got it running at 434 at 1.4 volts its running fine right now going to try and play with the voltage now and drop it down abit how much should i drop down at a time?

 

[SamSaveMax]

With your board and stated rams, I'm sure that you could push it up to around 470~480fsb without any problem......with around 1.32 vcore.

 

[wingman99]

Aright so i got it running at 434 at 1.4 volts its running fine right now going to try and play with the voltage now and drop it down abit how much should i drop down at a time?

What you can do is drop it to 1.3 volts and see if it boots. then if it does not boot go up with voltage till it boots and when it boots test prime 95.