bill48nj1

Hi.
Overclocking help needed.
Purchased motherboard/ram/CPU combo from Directron.com

MB - ASUS P5N73-AM w/NVIDIA GeForce 7050 / nForce610i chipset
CPU - Intel E8400
Ram - 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2800 (O.C.)

3 questions:

1) How much can I safely overclock using stock fan and heatsink?
2) Big question... How do I go about doing it?
3) What is the best program to benchmark CPU speed and temps for before and after overclocking comparisons?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
bill48nj2

linderman

Hello


I "assume" (i know; thats dangerous) you are using the onboard video because you didnt list a video card ?

if thats the case .................. you wont get any benefit from overclocking

Overclocking is mainly adopted by gamers who want to extract the full potential from high end video cards to be make sure the cpu is not making the video card wait for data processing

intergrated video is a poor choice for gamers and other graphic intensive applications ....... intergrated video cant possibly use what a stock E8400 has to offer; so increasing the capability of the E8400 will gain you nothing

B) on a good overclocking board ............ you might be able to get 3.4ghz out of the stock cooler ............. with an aftermarket cooler you can hit 4.0ghz .......... although I think you would be very hard pressed to ever see that with your current board ........ the budget boards with onboard video are deliberatly manufactured for less performance; otherwise how could Asus sell the $200.00 and $300.00 dollar boards if a $50.00 board can perform as well ?


sorry to pull the dark cloud over your head ............... but; it is, what it is


if you are not a gamer; then you wont care

if you are a gamer ................. then you will be looking for a dedicated video card soon

linderman

with an aftermarket cooler ................ you should be able to maintain a steady 3.6 or 3.8 ghz overclock



provided of course your ram sticks and power supply are up to the challenge ?????

greenbrucelee

I agree with linderman, I would never attempt to overclock with the original cooler they are only meant to cool at stock settings anyway so you will end upi revving the nuts of it and wearing it out.

I have the E8400 and it is easy to overclock but as said your not gonna see much difference if any if your not a gamer or do not have a graphics card.

bill48nj1

Thanks for the reply.
I have a video card on my old MB - NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512Mb.
I "assume" (there's that dangerous word again) that, even if I don't OC this would be better than the onboard video.
I'm not a gamer, but I do work with a lot of video, movies etc. What's your advice now that you have more info?
Even if I decide not to OC, what benchmark software should I use? I'v been using AIDA 32. What is your preference?
Thanks again,
bill48nj2

linderman

3D Mark is a very popular bench prog

I personally am not much into benchmarks ...............

the 8400 GS is a rather low grade card .................. not sure which would be better in that race ............... your onboard or 8400GS

decent card for around $80.00 = 9600GT

bill48nj1

Solved
That answers all my questions.
Thanks,
bill48nj2