alexondrums

I’ve just put together my new build – I’m still on bare bones windows with a few drivers, so not really got to use it properly yet, however I’ve been mulling this over for a few days…

Should I try overclocking with the standard Intel CPU cooler?

Firstly let me point out, that I never intended to overclock – I haven’t been interested in it for years – however now that I happen to have a motherboard and CPU that are easily overclockable, can I squeeze out a little more performance just by giving the BIOS a tweak?

I don’t want to go all out with a wind farm filled case, and a refrigerator in there, but just curious if this todays CPU’s are easier to get free Mhz from than years ago, the last time I did it?

Spec:

Coolermaster eXtreme Power 550W PSU
Coolermaster Centurion 5 Case
80mm Intake case fan
120mm Exhaust case fan

Asus P5K-E-Wifi-AP
Intel Core2 Quad Q6700 2.66Ghz (G0) with standard Intel heatsink/fan

Underclocker

Stock cooler shouldn't be a problem if you're CPU isn't overheating. Core 2 chips are definitely much more easier to OC than others; I'd say it would be pretty easy to stably hit 3GHz. Do note that you need to get a more powerful PSU if you're planning to get a beast of a GPU.

nickster_uk

You should be able to hit 3GHz on stock voltage with the stock cooler without a problem.

If you really want to push things, you can get a decent heatsink for about £40 (Themalright Ultra 120 plus a decent 120mm fan) and that will make a huge difference to your overclocking capabilities.

Bear in mind that quads run a bit hotter than dual core cpus so keep an eye on your temps and test with Prime95.

Also, you may want to think about using a different BIOS revision if you have problems finding stability. 0602 is the favoured version for quads for 3.6ghz and upwards, although if you push things that far, you may want to think about alternative cooling as that will require quite a bit of cpu voltage. Try to avoid using AUTO settings for the other voltages (cpu pll, nb, sb etc) as this tends to give more than needed. It will take quite a bit of time to find a stable overclock so don't expect a quick fix.

Finally, you may also want to think about lowering your multiplier to 8, that way you can run a 1:1 ratio of 400x8 (3.2GHz) : 800MHz RAM so you can benefit from running your ram at its rated speed. Be sure to set the timings to manual which depending on your particular sticks will either be 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-15 (I think).....also, set your DRAM voltage to it's rated voltage which should be printed on the side of the sticks or in the packaging somewhere.

Hope that helps

Kalim

Watch your heat. The 65nm quads run very hot on air cooling unless you get near the best air cooling. Stock cooling should take it over 55°C by default.

Load test with Prime 95 v25.6 or something similar at every setting and have it stable and within good temperatures before you move on or later on you end up with many confusing problems.

The voltages needed for above 3.4GHz on 65nm quads usually are really not worth it unless you need it for a critical task or love overclocking. Usually it takes 1.39v to 1.55v to get it stable at such speeds and that means only expensive watercooling can keep the heat down. Power is also very high at such voltages and total system temperature will also be high.

I would work my way up and start for 3.0 GHz first and settle near 3.2 GHz to 3.3 GHz with as low voltage as possible.