Anybody OC their PC?

[ncacoates 104]

Im big into overclocking too. simple problem is my 790i is dead right now so im stuck with my poor 680i system with a e6600 @ 3.6 1800fsb, mem 1000mhz, and i have no luck over clocking my 8800gts in sli they overheat like a mofo. oh and this is all done on water cooling =]

[shizzzon 461]

Hey Chrismcdonald12, you may need to read this immediately!

I was doin some quick research and got ahold of a guy online who also has your chip OC'ed to 4.2ghz daily and 4.7ghz for quick benches.

He was tellin me that there is NO way that your core temps are that low.

I had figured that, you really need to get the appropriate program to monitor your chip because if you don't, you could be harming it and not even know it!

For a dual core temp, you will have 3 separate temp sensors to monitor, for a quad, there are 5.

If your processor is 45nm which u say it is, you will need to download RealTemp as this software, unlike Coretemp is the only software out there that can properly calculate TJMax. TJMax for 65nm and higher are all the same so virtually any software could tell you the temp but these new 45nm chips need RealTemp to monitor as the TJMax spec is 95, not 100.

Everest, the newest version also doesn't repost temps correctly either, over and over again have people stressed RealTemp is the only one suggested for temp monitoring for 45nm chips.

Now, for dual core-

You will have 3 temps-

Core 1

Core 2

CPU.

The CPU temp is the temp of the outer shell of the chip itself... that's irrelevant.

This guy was tellin me that unless your room temperature stays at -36F would that be possible.

He has his watercooled and at 4.2ghz benched, cores rise in the 50s Celcius.

I'd suggest going to Intel's site and reading the document about that chip and finding out what it's max thermal rating is per core. My Quad is at 71.3C

See, my Quad idles in the high 30s on the core but the CPU idles around 22C. During benches, 1 of my cores breaks 60C while the other remain in the high 50s. My CPU temp maxes at 38C.

WAY Different than the core. The CORe is what needs to be monitored.

If you used to monitor chips back when single core was big, using the same software will NOT work for multi core chips, especially 45nm.

So, get that program and rebench and see what your cores get up too. You will have 2 temp readings, not 1 when monitoring dual core core temps.

Make sure it isn't relatively close to it's maximum thermal rating or you could be causing premature failure.

[chrismcdonald12 0]

asus probe, stock voltage hes volting. God people all assume every chip is built equal. Stepping and luck play a big role.

[shizzzon 461]

Asus Probe does NOT monitor core temp, just Shell temp, Asus Probe II does the same thing.

You need to download RealTemp for 45nm chips and CoreTemp if you have a 65nm chip.

IT's common sense by now after spilling out all this info, there are 3 separate temp sensors on a dual core chip... if your monitoring prog only shows one for the "cpu"... it's only monitoring the shell which is WAY off from what u need.

here is PROOF -

Notice I am using Asus Probe II

CPU - 23C

But my CORE TEMPS are a LOT higher because that is how Intel rates their thermal limits on their chips.

If you go by the shell temp, then you gotta use this ridiculous formula that incorporates what the room temp is by all this other info you must know.

Again, get RealTemp as Asus Probe I and II is not properly designed to monitor multiple cores yet.

[chrismcdonald12 0]

Apperently mines readin an average of the two cores so maybe you shouldnt keep assuming. My temps hit a max of 41C on either core according to your program i downloaded. What you dont realise is that the heat spreader might be located a little closer on my revision then the average too. Im not as un-informed as you may think as well... Studied computer engineering at Guelph U in ontario

Im not trying to be a pompous ass, so please dont take it that way. If anyone here needs help or insight towards problems their having or help with OC'ing or whatnot feel free to ask. May be young but ive been doing this sort of thing since my 386 days.

[shizzzon 461]

hehe, i was waiting for you to come back with some energy.

I'm just makin sure you got that software.

The thing that will get the cores running real hot with a "normal operation" is playing games with it.

If you encode video or any type of consistent video rendering, it will get real hot.

Asus Probe monitors the cpu shell, you know the part that the thermal grease is applied to.

I'm just makin sure that you got that software because i didnt want to know that you may be in danger and i didnt say anything to ya to prevent it.

[chrismcdonald12 0]

The shell you refer to is called a heat spreader. Intel uses them to prevent their cores from being crushed whereas older AMD chips are exposed. Temps were checked after playing TF2 for a little while.

[shizzzon 461]

yea, u'r right there. I've installed both systems before and i'e actually, just as you say, destroyed 1 AMD XP chip a few yrs ago because the heatsink was trying to be latched onto the socket and the next 2 thigns i hear are back to back crunch sounds...

I took the heatsink off to find the corner of the core broke off! That was the first time it ever happened to me as i've installed several AMD chips before that and never had a problem.

Of course the easiest would be my celeron d chip, it's pinless. Just drop it in and done.

[Jmac 24]

yea, i've been goin over all my other pcs i've built but notice that their mobos i chose are very restrictive on what settings can be changed.

Like this one mobo i have, only thing i can change on it is the RAM timings... that isn't overclocking at all really, hehe.

This board i have, Asus P5Q Pro, i've got someone else online that just purchased it because it has literally every possible setting for OC-ing and this, for price reasons, is Asus's budget board, but man does it come with a LOT of features. You can get it for around $130-140.

It def. beats their other boards that range all the way up to $400 for the price.

Some motherboard manufacturers choose to hide the settings that can destroy your hardware, but can be unlocked with certain key combinations.

For example, if it is a Gigabyte board, pressing CTRL+F1 will unlock those hidden settings.

[Jmac 24]

Stock voltage on my cpu is just a tad under 1.2v so thats the diff. The e8400 is the most temperature efficient core intel has atm because of its new 45nm process.

My 06 result at only 3.6 ile test higher later

The E8600 is more efficient

[Jmac 24]

Hey Chrismcdonald12, you may need to read this immediately!

I was doin some quick research and got ahold of a guy online who also has your chip OC'ed to 4.2ghz daily and 4.7ghz for quick benches.

He was tellin me that there is NO way that your core temps are that low.

I had figured that, you really need to get the appropriate program to monitor your chip because if you don't, you could be harming it and not even know it!

For a dual core temp, you will have 3 separate temp sensors to monitor, for a quad, there are 5.

If your processor is 45nm which u say it is, you will need to download RealTemp as this software, unlike Coretemp is the only software out there that can properly calculate TJMax. TJMax for 65nm and higher are all the same so virtually any software could tell you the temp but these new 45nm chips need RealTemp to monitor as the TJMax spec is 95, not 100.

Everest, the newest version also doesn't repost temps correctly either, over and over again have people stressed RealTemp is the only one suggested for temp monitoring for 45nm chips.

Now, for dual core-

You will have 3 temps-

Core 1

Core 2

CPU.

The CPU temp is the temp of the outer shell of the chip itself... that's irrelevant.

This guy was tellin me that unless your room temperature stays at -36F would that be possible.

He has his watercooled and at 4.2ghz benched, cores rise in the 50s Celcius.

I'd suggest going to Intel's site and reading the document about that chip and finding out what it's max thermal rating is per core. My Quad is at 71.3C

See, my Quad idles in the high 30s on the core but the CPU idles around 22C. During benches, 1 of my cores breaks 60C while the other remain in the high 50s. My CPU temp maxes at 38C.

WAY Different than the core. The CORe is what needs to be monitored.

If you used to monitor chips back when single core was big, using the same software will NOT work for multi core chips, especially 45nm.

So, get that program and rebench and see what your cores get up too. You will have 2 temp readings, not 1 when monitoring dual core core temps.

Make sure it isn't relatively close to it's maximum thermal rating or you could be causing premature failure.

Every software monitor available for the current C2Ds is inaccurate because Intel still hasn't released the necessary information to calculate it properly.

The 45nm Dual Cores run cold as ice, though.

[Jmac 24]

except for video editing.

When it comes to cpu speeds, video editing is really the only thing that really makes a difference when it comes to processor speeds.

ALL of my video editing software except for one program has options to enable multi-threaded\multi-core support which allows me to encode video at such a high rate.

Anything else i do on this pc, the FSB and the memory have to control the rest of the normal operations in terms of speed.

In a few months, unless something else comes out that fits the bill by then, i'm gettin 2 4870s in crossfire. I seen multiple benchmarks where 2 4870s were faster than a single 4870x2, pulled less power, and were a little cheaper so i cant go wrong there.

I do understand though, most games may only be written for 1 or 2 cpus at teh most so single core speeds rule over multi lower speeds. I understand what u are sayin.

Single HD 4870X2 is faster ...

[shizzzon 461]

one of you guys gotta check out quad cores, they run a lot hotter apparently than dual cores, hence more cores.

I'm resting at 3.45 per at the moment. Funny thing is when i went to 3.5 i had problems.

Maybe when i'm bored i'll tinker with it some more but last time i tried 3.5, my peak temp was 65C and that's ridiculous because at 3.45, it's only 60C right now.

I havent read it in a while but the guy who created RealTemp got real in depth with it.

I know what u are referring to, Intel hasn't released the TJMax spec for 45NM chips and if i remember right, they may not ever...

[Jmac 24]

I've mainly been using Phenoms lately.

[shizzzon 461]

16GB? What are you doin over there? playin 15 games at once? lol

That sounds like a nice system, except if u really do plan on doin some pretty major OC'ing, a lot of times using all 4 memory slots can cause problems when trying to OC the voltage to the memory but isn't like it's 100% impossible, that brick wall will just come sooner than if u only had 1 pair.

[yobro 0]

ya i got a p5q pro also shizz.

i got my q6600 quad. to like 3.4. i could probly go to like 3.8 easy.but 61 load? or 61 just playing a game or somethin?

and i just got a core 216 gfx card. thing is a beast.lol

[yobro 0]

I've mainly been using Phenoms lately.

[shizzzon 461]

when i state temps, i state them for when i am encoding video.

If running Prime95, the highest temp core reaches 1C higher.

So, if i can encode video at quad 3.45 @60C as it's max rise, then i Prime95, it will get it as high as 61C.

Average temp on hottest core while encoding video is about 54C with a spike to 60C. During gameplay, it's in the high 40s to low 50s all the time.

My idle temps on Cores 2,3 and 4 are all under 40C and Core 1 hovers around 42C.

I also have C1E enabled so i can keep the heat and power draw to a minimum since i dont encode video 24\7. I leave the PC on 24\7 is the main reason why i have this setting turned on.

Yea man, go ahead and try to break 3.5 or just hit 3.5 and keep it stable for a whole day!

when i was at 3.5, i couldnt keep it stable during benchmarks and quick testing for more than 1-2 hrs at the most.

I'm curious what ur settings would be if u can get it stable that high.

I had thought about lowering the multiplier and raising the FSB but that would cause more stress to the board rather than the cpu and i had a LOT more stability problems doin that anyway.

My current FSB is - 1840MHz

My current DRAM is - 1104MHz certified OC for 1066, voltage is currently set at 2.1v

[Jmac 24]

16GB? What are you doin over there? playin 15 games at once? lol

That sounds like a nice system, except if u really do plan on doin some pretty major OC'ing, a lot of times using all 4 memory slots can cause problems when trying to OC the voltage to the memory but isn't like it's 100% impossible, that brick wall will just come sooner than if u only had 1 pair.

The Phenom Black Edition CPUs have unlocked multipliers.

[shizzzon 461]

What i am referring to is when i was researching OCing and doin it myself, i came across a LOT of threads about comparing 2x2gb sticks vs 4x1gb sticks and which is better. The main point people were bringing up is you do not want to fill all 4 slots if you plan to do major OCing because the DRAM voltage will have a larger drop using all 4 slots then just 2 but i believe it's more than that though, cant remember because i wouldnt do it anyway. The bad thing about this is if u have to set the voltage too high to keep stable because of large voltage drop, too high a voltage on idle will crash the pc as well, hence the brick wall.

[Jmac 24]

Yes ...

[shizzzon 461]

Well, OCing the memory just a little makes a visual difference.

As long as one can change the memory divider in the BIOS, it doesnt matter what the multiplier is set at.

If one can not change the memory divider... well, hehe, then that's a big problem with OC'ing. You'd pretty much have to get 1066 just to be on the safe side.

I had wanted to get Corsair's DDR2-1142 Sticks but they arent compatible with my board so i just got their Dominator 1066. I've ran it as high as 1119 without problem but i dont have the time to start tinkerin with it again. at least for a long while.

[KoolDrew 0]

My Sempron 2800+ from a stock 1.6GHz up to 2.75GHz. I'm in need of a serious upgrade though.

[shizzzon 461]

sounds like me before i upgraded, I was running a mobile sempron chip in my desktop because the vcore is lower by default... so better OC capability.

I upped to a Q9300\4GB RAM 1840FSB and lovin it, it's night to day with this machine.

You can get the whole build, ASUS P5Q PRO\Q9300(or Q6600 if you tryin to save money), 4GB Corsair Dominator(the ONLY QVL passed 4gb memory dual channel install for this board that also supports using same sticks for all 4 slots), for under $500.

I am also using Thermaltake's V1 Cooler as it's suppose to be the best air cooled HSF packaged combo out there. It destroyed the $90 Zalman they comparedit to in some review i read before i purchased it.

It's freakin large so if u were to use it, make sure the inside of your case has at LEAST 5.75" from mobo mounting plate to opposite side panel door.

[KoolDrew 0]

sounds like me before i upgraded, I was running a mobile sempron chip in my desktop because the vcore is lower by default... so better OC capability.

I upped to a Q9300\4GB RAM 1840FSB and lovin it, it's night to day with this machine.

You can get the whole build, ASUS P5Q PRO\Q9300(or Q6600 if you tryin to save money), 4GB Corsair Dominator(the ONLY QVL passed 4gb memory dual channel install for this board that also supports using same sticks for all 4 slots), for under $500.

I am also using Thermaltake's V1 Cooler as it's suppose to be the best air cooled HSF packaged combo out there. It destroyed the $90 Zalman they comparedit to in some review i read before i purchased it.

It's freakin large so if u were to use it, make sure the inside of your case has at LEAST 5.75" from mobo mounting plate to opposite side panel door.

I definitely plan on upgrading sometime within the coming months. Then again, I also want to buy a new SSA Icon and Sundown Audio amp. I don't know which one I'm going to buy first. When I do upgrade the PC I plan on getting an E8400, Asus P5Q Pro, 4GB of RAM (DDR2 1066), and a HD4850.

Another thing I didn't mention in my first post is that I have a 7900GS volt modded. Stock is for the core is 1.2V and with a little bit of conductive ink I brought it up to 1.5v. Which allowed me to bring the core up to 685MHz. I also volt modded the memory just by shading one of the resistors, but it didn't end up having an effect at all on my memory overclock.

Here's a guide on it:

http://endeavorquest.net:8880/7900GT_VM/index.htm

I also got pretty lucky on the RAM I bought. I just bought cheap Corsair Value RAM and it ended up having UCCC chips and overclocked pretty well.

Edited December 1, 2008 by KoolDrew