44 replies to this topic

[Mul.]

CPU Overclocking Guide

Index

- What is Overclocking
- What do I need to overclock?
- Jargon for Pentium 4/Celeron/Athlon XP/Sempron (socket A) overclocking
- Jargon for Athlon 64 and Sempron S754 Overclocking
- Essential Software for overclocking
- Overclocking for Athlon 64 and Sempron/Sempron 64
- Intel Core 2 Duo Overclocking
- AMD Phenom II Overclocking [NEW]
- Building the Ideal Overclocking Machine
- What do I do if my Overclock turns Sour?
- Choosing the right Cooling Solution
- The FS2004.com Members' Overclocking Database!
- Overclock your HP/Dell


-----

Disclaimer- I will not be held responsible for any damage done to your system. Overclocking should be done at your own system's risk.

This guide has been created by myself without the use of anyone else's material. This guide is for use on fs2004.com only and should not be posted or manipulated elsewhere without my own permission. This guide was made to help as many people as possible and has been the best of months and months of work. Give me and my guide some respect and not modify and steal.


Okay lets start.

What is overclocking?

Overclocking is to increase the CPU's clockspeed beyond the ratings that the manufacturer had rated the CPU at. For example, to increase the speed of a Pentium 4 rated at 3.00GHz to 3.50GHz.

Overclocking of the CPU involves tweaking the FSB speed, multi, Vcore etc to acheive a faster core speed yet maintaining stability.

In short, it is increasing the CPU's clock speed beyond the original speed rated by the manufacturer. It is free performance in it's purest form

what do I need to overclock?

For a successful overclock you need a motherboard with a range of options in the BIOS for overclocking and a reasonable cooling solution for your cpu. It is also recommended that you have a reasonably powered PSU (400W+ PSU) with stable volt rails. You can find this out by opening the side of your case and looking at the sticker on the side. I'd consider these as a reasonable set of volt rails.

+3.3V 25A
+5V 35A
+12V 22A or (+12V1-15A/+12V2-14A)

Of course for you Small Form Factor users don't worry about the high powered PSU issue as the PSU's in your systems are very efficient.
Finally, above all you need a bit of common sense.

Jargon for Core 2 Duo / Pentium 4/D Overclocking

Core Speed- Your Processor's clock speed. Derived from multiplying FSB and CPU Multiplier.

FSB (Front Side Bus)- Also known as Internal Clock Frequency or CPU Bus Frequency in BIOS. This is your effective FSB divided by 4. (So 1066FSB is 266 and 1333FSB is 333)
e.g.- 133,166,200,266,333

Multiplier- This multiplies your FSB to get your cpu's clock speed.

So. For my Core 2 Duo test subject, Core 2 Duo E6300 with a 1066FSB (266) and a multiplier of 7x...

266*7= 1860MHz = 1.86GHz

Vcore- The core voltage going to your CPU. You increase this when you reach an overclock which is unstable. Increase it in increments of 0.0125/0.0250V

Memory Divider- This is a ratio which determines the speed of your ram in comparison to your CPU's FSB. Generally what you'll find on existing Core 2 based systems, the lowest memory divider will be 1:1. Which means when your CPU's FSB is 400, your memory is 400 (remember that is excluding DDR rules, which effectively makes it 800). Whatever it is, lower your divider to the lowest available while overclocking.

Memory Timings- These involve the latency of your memory. Tightening your timings decreases latency but doesn't allow you to hit higher speeds with your memory. General rule of thumb is that for higher memory speeds you need to loosen the timings. For more info on memory timings see Warren's memory guide.

PCI/AGP or PCI/PCI-E Frequency Locks- Most motherboards are equipped with this feature (bar dell, HP motherboards and budget motherboards). Basically when you increase the FSB speed the PCI and AGP (PCI-E if you have it) frequencies increase in turn with it. Default frequencies are
PCI- 33mhz
PCI-E- 100mhz
When these values increase it can cause instability or damage to the expansion cards using those slots. Most motherboards are equipped with this and are locked by standard.
Also if these aren't locked it can cause instability on SATA Hard Disk Drives and cause data corruption.

Jargon for Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2 and Sempron S754/AM2 Overclocking

For AMD Athlon 64 users the information about Vcore, Memory Dividers, CPU Multi's apply to you as well except for FSB. Also there a few more things to know.

HTT- Instead of FSB there is HTT. Just think of it as FSB or it may confuse you.

HTT Multi- may also be labeled as LDT Multi in BIOS.
E.g.- 200*5=1000mhz
This is not the multi which gives you your core speed. It is related to the A64 Hyper Transport. You lower this when overclocking to keep the speed below 1000mhz (800mhz for AMD Semprons).

E.g.- if you increase HTT to 210, HT speed is 1050mhz. Chances are that this will cause instability. Dropping LDT multi to 4 allows you to increase HTT further.

Edited by Mul., 14 April 2009 - 10:06 AM.

[Mul.]

Essential Software when Overclocking

CPU-Z 1.50 – Essential for showing your current overclock, cpu voltage and memory speeds. It also helps when you are initially finding out more about your cpu. This version fully supports all CPU's including the Core 2 Duo/Quad and AMD Phenom range.

OCCT- Again a good stability testing software.

SuperPI- More of a novelty app these days. For stability testing it isn't all that useful. I'd highly recommend running Prime95/OCCT for 5-10 Minutes between frequency changes instead of this.  

HWMonitor- Another good Voltage and Temperature monitor. One of just a few apps that will pick up the correct temperature on Intel Core 2 Duo 1333FSB and Core 2 Quad cpu's.

Prime95- **QUAD CORE OVERCLOCKERS ESPECIALLY**- Use this for stability testing

Speedfan- A good temperature monitoring software

Memtest 86- Will diagnose any instability caused by ram. It is an ISO. It requires to go on CD which you can boot from on startup.

AMD Overdrive - All in one tool for AMD Phenom processors. I recommend this for temperature monitoring and it's AUTO OVERCLOCK utility.

Edited by Mul., 14 April 2009 - 09:58 AM.

[Mul.]

Reserved Space

Edited by Mul., 27 December 2007 - 04:18 PM.

[Mul.]

AMD Athlon 64/A64 x2/Opteron and Sempron (S754) Overclocking

For A64 overclocking, the technique is slightly different. There are some things to keep in mind.

-You can run memory dividers without the penalty of performance loss.
-The HTT Bus speed must never exceed 1000 MHz. It leads to instability. To amend this problem drop the HTT Multi.

Step1.
Restart your computer and tap delete to get into BIOS. Go to the frequency control options. The first step is to find out how far you can push your CPU. This means putting your ram on a divider so it doesn't restrict the CPU's overclock. Set the lowest divider possible, which generally is 100 (1:2), but it maybe 133 (2:3).
Step 2.
Lower your HTT Multi. The name of this differs in most bios'. Generally is called LDT Multi. If you have a Socket 754 system drop it down to 3, if you have a Socket 939 system drop it down to 4.

Step 3.
Increase the HTT (FSB). This maybe called FSB, Internal clock frequency or CPU Bus frequency in BIOS. Rise this to 210. Press ESC then save and exit.

Step 4.
Has your system successfully booted into windows? If so go back to bios and repeat step 3. Carry on like so, keeping in mind the HTT Bus Frequency shouldn't go over 800 (S754) or 1000 (S939).

i.e. - on a socket 754 system you have hit 270 FSB on a 3x HTT/LDT Multi. Your HTT Bus Frequency is now 810 MHz and is over the stable limit. Drop the HTT/LDT Multi to 2x.

I.e.2- on a socket 939 system you have hit 250 FSB on a 4x HTT/LDT Multi. You have hit 1000 MHz bus frequency. Drop the multi to 3x.

Carry on like so till you notice instability in windows.

Step 5.
Okay, windows is unstable. Go back into BIOS, and increase the Vcore by 0.025V. Press ESC and save and exit. Does it feel more stable? If so run SuperPI 8M test. If you get any errors or lockups it is still unstable. If it still is unstable increase the voltage by another 0.025V and try again.

Do note that increasing voltage on the CPU can reduce the lifespan of it, and overvolting it to a certain degree will kill it. Here are the general limits for each A64 core.

Newcastle- 1.65V Air Cooling max/1.75V watercooling/1.8V Phase Change
Clawhammer- 1.65V Air Cooling max/1.75V watercooling/1.8V Phase Change
Winchester- 1.6V Air Cooling max/1.7V Watercooling/1.75V Phase Change
Venice- 1.6V Air Cooling max/1.7V Watercooling/1.75V Phase Change
SanDiego- 1.6V Air Cooling max/1.7V Watercooling/1.75V Phase Change

Like I said in the beginning I will not take responsibility for any damage done to your CPU. There are the odd weak chips around that may not take very high volts.

Also when you increase voltage keep a watch on temperatures. More Volts=Higher Temps.

Step 6.
So you have reached the point where your system is overclocked to the extent that it is unstable regardless of voltage. Go back into the BIOS and drop the HTT (FSB) by about 10 and save settings.

E.g. - A Hypothetical AMD Athlon 64 3000 Venice is unstable at 290*9 (2610 MHz) at 1.6V. I go into BIOS and drop HTT/FSB to 280 and try again.

Is it stable? Run OCCT for 30 minutes. Keep a watch on your temperatures during the test. I would suggest you see that temperatures are below 60*c fully loaded for socket 754 systems and 55*c for Socket 939 systems.
Is it failing OCCT? If so drop the HTT by 10 again and try once more.

Continuing step 6 till it is OCCT stable you have now safely overclocked your CPU.

n.b- To ensure that your system is stable use prime95 and run the small FFP test for an hour followed by the blend test for another hour.

As a final touch validate and publish your overclock. An example of an overclocked A64 validation here.
http://valid.x86-sec...how_oc?id=36685

Right well I hope this was of any use to anyone. Any deadlinks, typos, or anything of the sort drop me a PM

Mul

Edited by Mul., 11 February 2008 - 09:05 AM.

[Mul.]

Overclocking for Dell's, HP's and Compaq's

At first I wasn't planning on doing this as I felt it was quite risky but since some people have asked I reckon I should. I must clear some things first.

Do not attempt this if your system has a Serial ATA Hard Disk Drive. They run of the PCI Bus and as you increase the FSB, PCI Frequencies increase in turn. This leads to data corruption and a reformat. Trust me, I learnt it from my own experience

If your system does not have a supported PLL chip do not attempt this. You will kill your motherboard.

I will stress again, that I will not take responsibility for damage done to your system as a cause of this guide.

Now that I'm done with that lets start.

First of all, open your computer case.

You are looking for a particular chip. It is called the PLL chip. This is what it looks like.


Make a note of the number.

Close your case and switch on your computer.

Go to http://www.cpufsb.de/

you will find a list of supported PLL's
here

See if yours is in the list.

If it is, you are in luck! Your Dell/HP/Compaq can be overclocked.

note- If you own a dimension 8300 or XPS Gen 1 or Gen 2, your PLL is listed as not available (ICS 952601). However use PLL ICS952603 or ICS952607 and it should still work

Download CPUFSB.

Select your PLL

choose to change FSB

increase it by 2mhz and press ok

Restart the computer and you will find via cpu-z that it is now overclocked.

Go back and increase by 2mhz again.

Once FSB has increased by 10mhz in total, run SuperPI 8M test.

If it passes carry on further. If not, drop the speeds back.

Some things to take into account:

I wouldn't recommend any more than a 10% overclock on the CPU. These systems have no viewable temperature sensors, and PCI/AGP frequencies are not locked in place. Not only may things be heating up but there could be instability in any sound cards in PCI slots or graphics cards in AGP slots.
First signs of instability I would put FSB back to stock speeds.


Any Questions please let me know

Edited by Mul., 27 December 2007 - 05:24 PM.

[Mul.]

Tutorial updated to include the following CPU's

AMD Opteron 939 Range
AMD Athlon 64 FX60 Toledo
Intel Pentium 4 Dual Core 8xx Series Smithfield Core
Intel Pentium 4 Dual Core 9xx Series Presler Core
Intel Pentium 4 6x1 0.065u Ceder Mill Core

Latest Version of CPU-Z Added

----------------------------------------

Edited by mul, 26 February 2006 - 12:28 PM.

[Mul.]

I'm adding a CPU Overclock database to this thread if it interests enough people. Thought it maybe a nice addition to the tutorial, to show what people have managed to do.

If anyone wishes to participate in this include:

- CPU and Motherboard Used
- CPU Cooler (e.g.- amd64 stock cooler, zalman cnps9500)
- Stable? Yes or no, if so what program did you use to prove stability
- Overclock Speed and Voltage Used

----------------------------------------------

Additions to the Tutorial

New version of CPU-Z

Mul

[Mul.]

Okay, lets start this off shall we



Mul

Edited by Mul., 17 April 2007 - 10:09 AM.

[Mul.]

Choosing the Right Cooling Solution

Think I should make something clear to start off with. High overclocks generally mean more heat, thus more noise. If you plan on overclocking heavily, you can forget having a near silent system. However, improving your cooling solutions will make things quieter.

So you've had a go at overclocking but want to squeeze a couple hundred more MHz. Or maybe you just want some silence or assurance that your system is being cooled effectively. This post will give you a bit of guidance on this matter.

Choosing the right CPU Cooler

When overclocking, there are a couple of types of cooling solutions to keep in mind:
- Air Cooling. The most typical cooling solution available. It yields a better performance to value ratio, since it is considerably cheap. They are made of aluminium or copper in the form of fins for increased surface area. It conducts the heat from the CPU where a fan then exhausts the heat. Decent Air coolers start from around $30/£20

- Water Cooling. Starting from around £45/$70. This is more complex than air cooling. The components of the kit are linked by pipes carrying the coolant. Cool water comes from the reservoir, a small tank holding the water. Water leads to a CPU waterblock which is conductive and in turn warms the water. The water flows from the force of the pump to a radiator which is cooled by fans, which in turn cools the water again. This is the cycle of watercooling.
Please beware. Cheap watercooling kits are, in short; lame. You are paying extra money for the "bling bling" factor of having water in your pc. They tend to come with small radiators, narrow tubing and weak pumps and ultimately don't cool any better than air coolers nor sound any quieter. About the only "ready to go" watercooling kit I can recommend is the Swiftech Apex Ultra H2O

- Phase Change. Around £500/$750. This is one of the most extreme cooling solutions available. It uses refridgerant such as R134a or R507, and a compressor. It's effectively sub zero cooling. It allows people to carry out insane overclocks but the price tag is just as insane.

At present, these are my Air Cooling Recommendations:

Very High performance/High Noise Level- Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + Delta 120mm High CFM Fan
High performance/Low Noise Level- Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + 40CFM 120mm fan / Thermalright Ultima 90 + 40CFM 120mm fan
Best Value for Money- Arctic Freezer 64 Pro/ Freezer 7 Pro
Good performance/Silence- Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + 40CFM 120mm fan / Thermalright Ultima 90 + 40CFM 120mm fan / Enzotech Ultra-X

All of the above are compatible with Socket 478/754/939/775.

The Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme / Ultima 90 / Enzotech Ultra X are the best out of the lot. These are ideal for overclocking your CPU. Keep in mind that these two coolers won't necessarily fit in your case! Be sure to check dimensions before purchase.

--------------------------------------------
Case Cooling

Another way to increase your overclock is by increasing case airflow and lowering case temperatures. In my opinion to get optimal airflow you need one intake fan and one exhaust fan, minimum. In doing so you will have a mechanism where hot air is expelled from the case and a fresh supply of cool air is drawn in!

Cases support certain fan sizes. Generally cases support 80mm fans and more modern ones take 120mm fans. The larger the fan the more air it can push per rotation.

Picking fans..?

As you know, noise is measured in decibels. Noise levels double for every 10dbA.
In my eyes, a reasonable noise level for a system is between 28 and 40 decibels.
Another thing to look out for is how much air a fan pushes. This is measured in CFM.
A respectable amount of airflow should be between 35-50CFM.

My personal recommendations for fans are the Akasa Amber series, Sharkoons and Scythe S-Flex's

Edited by Mul., 03 February 2008 - 06:16 AM.

[Mul.]

How to Clear Your Overclock When things Turn Sour

I realised I should've included this with the original tutorial. My apologies.

Ok imagine this. You've just tried to up the speed of your processor but after saving changes your system refuses to boot. The fans spin up to full RPM, the hard drive spins up and the monitor is jammed on standby mode. You freak out, your skin goes increasingly pailer and your wrists continue to progressively lockup from RSI. It's the blight upon civilisation!!! Well...not quite. This can be fixed by a simple CMOS reset.

So how is this done?

Simplest way is via the battery located on your motherboard. This provides power to your motherboard to keep the clock going and the bios settings saved. In removing it, the BIOS settings go back to default.

There is generally a clip next to the battery keeping it in place. Pushing the clip outwords releases the battery. It is generally best to keep the battery out for around 15minutes. While some say 30seconds to a minute is fine, I always keep it out longer.



This is the CMOS battery and it's plastic housing. Do note the metal clip situated above the battery. This holds it in place. By pressing that outwards with a screwdriver, the battery usually pops out quite easily. Leave it out for 15minutes and pop it back in.

When you next switch your system on, you will need to go back in the BIOS and set the date and time again.

I hope this was useful. Please do PM me if any other mini tutorials like this would be helpful.

Mul

Edited by mul, 01 August 2006 - 12:59 PM.

[Mul.]

AMD Phenom II Overclocking Guide

Introduction

With a rise in AMD users with the release of the Phenom II series processors and also having had some hands on experience with AM2+/AM3, I felt that it's now time to publish an overclocking guide for FSW.

Jargon

CPU Frequency – The frequency that your CPU's core frequency is operating at.

CPU HTT – The base frequency of the CPU. This is one of the variables that you'll be manipulating to overclock. This is exactly like CPU FSB for Intel CPU's. For AMD's, this is always 200MHz by default.

CPU Multiplier (CPU FID) – This multiplies itself with the CPU HTT frequency to derive the CPU Frequency. AMD CPU's which are labeled “BLACK EDITION" have an unlocked CPU multiplier allowing you to overclock by CPU Multiplier alone.

So let's say for example that we're dealing with an AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz Processor, where the CPU Multiplier is 15x by default.

CPU HTT * CPU Multiplier = CPU Frequency

200MHz * 15 = 3000MHz.

CPU Multiplier Divider (CPU DID) – Lately, AMD CPU's have appeared with half multipliers. I.e.- a multiplier which is 15.5x for example rather than a whole number (integer). CPU DID allows you to use smaller fractions of multiplier. For example, a DID of 2 offers multi's ending with 0.5, 4 with 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 etc. You won't really need to use this so I suppose this is more of an FYI

CPU HTT/LDT Multi (Hypertransport Multi) – This is brought forward from AMD K8 Athlon 64 overclocking. This is a multiplying factor. The product of CPU HTT and this derives the overall Hypertransport Frequency.

e.g.- 200MHz * 8 = 1600MHz

Northbridge Multiplier – This is a multi that's unique to AMD K10. This will allow you to change the frequency of the Northbridge, which is actually results in a fair performance increase. Again, the product of this and CPU HTT derives the overall Hypertransport Frequency.

CPU VID – The Default Voltage of the CPU. You can adjust this usually in  0.00625V, 0.0125V or 0.025V increments.

DRAM Voltage – The Voltage of your RAM. Default is 1.8V for DDR2 and 1.5V for DDR3.

ACC (Advanced Clock Callibration) – In short, it is a new function incorporated into all AMD motherboards with the SB750 southbridge. This helps users attain higher overclocks with older Phenom Processors but AMD Phenom II's have this incorporated into the CPU already, making it somewhat redundant. If you have a Phenom II X3 processor or a Phenom II X4 8xx series processor, setting this to [AUTO] in BIOS may unlock a fourth core (in the case of the X3 CPU) or unlock the extra 2mb L2 cache (in the case of the X4 8xx CPU). This may stop your computer from booting but you can remedy the issue by clearing CMOS. See here[/b]

Edited by Mul., 14 April 2009 - 10:01 AM.

[Mul.]

Utilities

Check out the utilities list higher up in the page.

AMD Overdrive is an excellent application to use for temperature monitoring. I also found overclocking with this tool to be fairly reliable but I would highly recommend using the BIOS instead.

Expected overclocks and temperature/voltage limits

I would use the following as a rule of thumb:
Do not Exceed ~60c with any Phenom II CPU
Do not Exceed ~1.55V with any Phenom II CPU on Air Cooling.

Usually you can expect overclocks from around 3500-4000MHz with these CPU's and your mileage may vary. If you can see that you're raising voltages significantly for small gains in frequency and/or stability then do realise that this is roughly the time to stop overclocking.

Getting Started.

So, in order to get started you will need to access BIOS. This can be done by restarting your computer and tapping DELETE from the point that the system begins to start up again.

You will then need to find your way to the location of all the variables I listed in Jargon. From this point, I'm going to branch the guide off for three separate audiences

I have a Phenom II (Not Black Edition) Processor

Your overclock is going to be highly dependant on how high a CPU HTT your motherboard is willing to take. This will vary greatly from motherboard to motherboard, particularly depending on the chipset that it sports. Typically a 790GX/790FX based motherboard should be able to hit high HTT's with Phenom II's so you should be alright.

For now, it is advised to not touch the CPU HTT/LDT multi, Northbridge Multi or CPU Multi. We're simply going to lower the memory frequency by locating DRAM Frequency or DRAM Multi/Ratio/Divider and setting it to DDR2-400 or 1:1, and then start ramping up the CPU HTT Frequency from 200MHz in 5 to 10MHz increments. I.e.- 205, 210, 215 or 210, 220, 230. Save settings and exit BIOS. Upon booting into Windows, run Prime95 or OCCT for around 5 minutes then repeat the process, while closely monitoring CPU Temperatures in Coretemp or AMD Overdrive.

If and when you get to a point where the system locks up/restarts, start raising the CPU Voltage in small increments and see if the issue is remedied. Failing that try raising HTT/LDT Voltage or Chipset Voltage.

From here on it's trial and error until you get to a point where you can't really get any more out of your system be it due to voltages being uncomfortably high or temperatures being too high. Lower your overclock until you can pass those 5 minutes of Prime95 or OCCT. Finally, to confirm stability run Prime95 or OCCT for 6 to 8 hours, once again adjusting voltages or lowering the overclock until this can be achieved.

Now, we need to raise your memory frequency back to what it should be. If you're not sure what the frequency of your CPU is now, go to CPU-Z and click on the Memory tab. Take the memory frequency and multiply it by 2. That's your memory's frequency.

Let's say for example that we're dealing with a Phenom II 920 2.8GHz and we hit the limit of the CPU at 3500mhZ (250*14). If you assigned a memory frequency of DDR2-400 at stock speeds (200*14), then at 3500MHz (250*14), it should be 250*2, which is DDR2-500. Next, you'll want to have a look in BIOS and see what other frequencies you can choose.

And finally for some fine tuning, you may want to try and raise the Northbridge Frequency by incrementing the Northbridge Multiplier. This can result in a small performance increase but be aware that you will need to go through the long process of stability testing once again.

And there you have it!

I have a Phenom II Black Edition Processor

Phenom II Black Edition users have it much easier.

You will not really need to muck around with anything other than the CPU Multiplier (CPU FID) and CPU Voltage for most of it.

Begin by raising the CPU Multiplier (CPU FID) in 0.5x increments and then running Prime95/OCCT for 5-10minutes while closely monitoring temperatures in Coretemp or AMD Overdrive. If it runs without error, repeat this process. If and when it errors or BSOD's/Restarts/Freezes, increase CPU Voltage (VID) by small amounts to see if it remedies the issue. Occasionally raising chipset Voltages may help too.

You'll get to a point where you can't feasibly overclock any further due to voltages being uncomfortably high or temperatures being too high at which point, I would reduce the overclock until you can pass Prime95/OCCT for 5-10mins. Once you've managed that, it's time to run either test for 6-8 hours, again adjusting voltages or frequencies if the test fails.

Once you've reached a point where your system is able to pass these stability tests, you've now found your max CPU frequency. However, unlike an overclock with a non Black Edition CPU, your Northbridge and Hypertransport Frequencies have remained the same as you haven't had to change your CPU HTT Frequency from 200MHz at all. There are further performance gains to be had by adjusting your Northbridge Multi and/or CPU HTT/LDT Multi. Once again you'll need to return to stability testing your computer again if you adjust any of these as changing either could make your overclock unstable. If you're feeling like really squeezing as much out of your system as possible you could follow the overclocking guide for non black edition CPUs and adjust your overclock with changes to CPU HTT frequency AND CPU Multi.

And there you have it!


I have a Phenom II CPU (Normal or Black) but sorry, what did you just say?!

You have two options here.

1)If you still want to try and learn how to overclock your Phenom II to it's optimal frequency then please feel free to post a thread in Tech Discussion requesting help! Overclocking the Phenom CPU can be a little bit fiddly, especially so if you don't have a Black Edition processor.

2)Thankfully user friendly AMD bundles an Auto Overclock function in it's AMD Overdrive software.

Run it and let the program do it's stuff. This may take up to a few hours.
I tried it myself with my AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black and while the overclock was somewhat conservative, compared to what I achieved through BIOS, it resulted in a stable overclock with zero effort involved.

Edited by Mul., 14 April 2009 - 10:04 AM.

[Mul.]

Core 2 Duo Overclocking

Be sure to read the following first.
Essential Software Involved with Overclocking
What to do if my Overclock turns Sour?

After reading up on Core 2 Duo, I felt I had enough knowledge to guide people on overclocking these CPU's.

It is pretty much the same as overclocking other CPU's. You just need to be aware of each CPU's specs and what is required from other hardware to get the CPU up to the desired speed.

Technical specs

Allendale Core (E4300, E6300 and E6400)
2mb Shared L2 Cache
9x, 7x, 8x multi respectively
200FSB/800FSB QDR (E4300) and 266FSB/1066FSB QDR (E6300 and E6400)
1.3V

Conroe Core (E6600, E6700, X6800)
4mb Shared L2 Cache
9x, 10x, 11x multi respectively (X6800 Is multiplier unlocked upwards and downwards)
266FSB/1066FSB QDR
1.3V

Requirements for Core 2 Duo overclocking

When it comes to core 2 duo overclocking, there are certain requirements.

1. Knowledge of the CPU- You need to know the basics of a CPU.

A CPU FSB: This is 266 for all Core 2 Duo's. Advertised as 1066 as it's quadpumped but for all overclocking purposes, it's 266.

A CPU Multi: From 7 to 11 depending on the Core 2 Duo you use. You won't be altering this to be honest.

Voltage: 1.3V by default. Provided temperatures aren't pushing over 60*c, consider 1.55V your limit.

2. A Good motherboard- This is truly essential with Core 2 Duo builds. These CPU's are already made with a high base frequency of 266MHz. The board must be capable of reaching higher speeds for even reasonable overclocks. You will need 333FSB on an E6600 for 3GHz and you'll need a staggering 430FSB on an E6300 for the same.

2. A minimum of DDR2-800- Even on the lower dividers, your ram's frequency may have to reach or reach in excess of DDR2-800 speeds. With 1333FSB CPU's popping up, DDR2-800 memory is essential.

3. A Heatpipe Air Cooler- See my Cooling suggestions on the other page. A heatpipe cooler from there will serve well. Even on Core 2 Duos, the heat output is silly high when you start upping voltages. Keep the chip cool with a nice CPU cooler.

Right. So lets get going.

Like other cpu's you have the following.

----------

Before starting, remember to download the essential software for stability testing.

---------

Increasing the FSB

Right so lets get into BIOS. This is done by shutting down your pc, then start tapping delete immediately after pressing the ON button.

Before doing so, be sure to place your memory on a ratio to avoid instability. For now if you have DDR2-667, set it on a divider so it runs at DDR2-533. For DDR2-800 set it on a divider so it runs at DDR2-667.

As said above, your Core 2 Duo process runs at a FSB of 266mhz. This will be labelled as CPU Frequency, System bus or Internal CPU Clock depending on your BIOS. Increase the FSB in 10mhz incriments. However since you are starting with a rather odd number, head for 280mhz first, then 10mhz incriments onwards.

Ok, so you've set 280mhz. Save your BIOS settings and boot into windows. Run SuperPi 1M test. Stable? Go back to BIOS and try 290 and repeat. Then 300 and repeat. You get the idea.

Hitting an Overclock limit due to CPU Voltage

You will get to a point where you will receive an error during the SuperPi run or the system locks up. You've hit an obstacle. For example, a hypothetical Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 has been overclocked to an FSB of 300 and a default multiplier of 9, giving 2.7GHz. When running SuperPi the system freezes.
First thing to consider is CPU Voltage. Return to BIOS and increase it by 0.025V and see if it increases stability. If not try another 0.025V. If this resolves the instability, continue overclocking.

Hitting an Overclock limit due to Motherboard limitations

The hypothetical E6600 at 300FSB has been fed as much as 1.425V; an extra 0.125V from original voltage and it is still unstable. I decide to dabble with MCH Voltage. Increasing this to around 1.65V can increase overclocking yields. If the instability is resolved, the E6600 should be all set to head for higher FSB's.
However in the situation of the system still being unstable, then the motherboard is unsable to cope with 300FSB. Throttle back the FSB in 5mhz incriments till stability is attained again. You should keep in mind that not every motherboard will clock very well.

Typically Core 2 Duo boards with 945 chipsets or Via Chipsets will struggle around 300FSB. If your Intel 965 or 975 board is struggling, something is wrong. I advise flashing to the latest BIOS then trying again.

DDR2 Overclocking with Core 2 Duo

DDR2 RAM unlike DDR, seems to be able to clock rather high under the influence of added voltages.

General Rule of thumb for Value RAM

Stock voltage is normally around 1.8V. Pushing it to around 2.0V should yield a healthy overclock

General rule of thumb for High End RAM

Stock voltage is normally between 1.8 and 2.0V. Pushing it to around 2.2 can give great yields.


Finalising your overclock

So you've reached an overclock that you're satisfied with. To verify stability, run the SuperPi 32M test, the OCCT 30minute test. If all goes well, a Prime95/ORTHOS blend test for 5-8 hours should do the trick.

And there we have it.

Edited by Mul., 14 April 2009 - 10:07 AM.

[Mul.]

Building the Perfect Overclocker's Machine

This guide will cover building the perfect bang per buck systems, with plain overclocking in mind. This is ideal for those that have read into overclocking properly and are ready to do some real overclocking. I will include tips to aid your system, as well as contributions related to this matter from other members

What is Required?

- In the process of overclocking, something always becomes a limiting factor that hinders your overclock. If you are building a computer that is ideal for overclocking, you want to minimise the possibility of this. Here are the main factors

- Motherboard Quality. The motherboard is what allows you to carry out low level tweaks such as overclocking. Overclocking as you know involves the increase in the CPU's FSB. Not every motherboard is capable of managing high FSB's, for a number of reasons. The motherboard may not have the right bios options. It may not have good enough cooling. It may just not be designed for it.
Expect to pay a slight premium for a board that overclocks well. But it's definitely worth it

- CPU. Every cpu will react differently to overclocking. This is beyond our control. But we do know, which CPU's are known to clock well. Pick the right cpu and you'll increase your chances of a higher overclock.

- Memory. As you know, when overclocking through the CPU's FSB, memory speed increases too. This isn't a big issue since you can put memory on a divider to stop it from being the limiting factor, but it's always a good idea to buy memory of a higher rated frequency.

- Cooling. As you increase the speed of your cpu and increase it's voltage, you are also increasing heat output. Temperatures will become uncontrollable unless you apply the right cooling solution. You want a case that is constantly pushing out warm air from the rear and replacing that air with cold air from the front. Finally you'll want to look at aftermarket CPU Heatsinks. See my CPU Cooling suggestions here HERE
------------------------------------

Note, Prices are subject to change by retailers. This is a rough guide for machines ideal for FS and Overclocking. The systems I've specced should function fine, but nevertheless they are generic and not fit for everyone's needs.

Entry Level Overclocking & Gaming Machine

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ $53
Biostar TF560 nForce 560 Motherboard $79
2GB Kingston PC2-5300 $37
Coolermaster RC330 ATX Case $39  
FSP Group 450W ATX2.0 PSU $55
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB Sata II HDD $57
nVidia GeForce 8600GT 256mb $75
Sony 18x DVD+/-RW Drive $30
Floppy Drive $5
Arctic Freezer 64 Pro $30
Windows Vista Home Premium

Total = $560 + Shipping.

A very respectable system at under $600. This setup should have no problem playing FS2004 with image quality ramped right up, should fare rather well in FSX and certainly won't be a slouch in other widely used games such as Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 4, F.E.A.R.
Average overclocks of the AMD Athlon 64 X2 range from 2.6GHz to 3.2GHz, making the CPU reasonable value for money. You'll also have scope to upgrade to 4GB RAM and a Phenom Quad Core processor with a BIOS Update.

------------------------------------

Mid Range Overclocking Machine

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz $220
Gigabyte P35 DS3L $89
2GB GeIL PC2-6400 $48
Coolermaster RC330 ATX Case $39  
FSP Group 450W ATX2.0 PSU $51
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB Sata II HDD $57
ATi Radeon HD 3850 512mb $179
Sony 18x DVD+/-RW Drive $30
Floppy Drive $5
Windows Vista Home Premium
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro $30

Total = $848 + Shipping.

$900 will get you a powerful FS2004 and FSX Machine. Out of the box it should play all modern day games very well. However the fun starts when you start overclocking the CPU, with average clocks of around 3.8 to 4.2GHz at present. This is ideal for highly CPU bound games such as FSX where every Megahertz counts.

-------------------------------------

High Performance Machine

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 $316
Asus P5E Maximus Formula $259
4GB PC2-6400 $96
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB SATA II HDD $57
nVidia GeForce 8800GTX $395
Antec Nine Hundred Case $119
Corsair HX 620W PSU $145
Sony 18x DVD+/-RW Drive $30
Floppy Drive $5
Tuniq Tower 120 $45
Windows Vista Home Premium

$1562 + Shipping

For around $1600, you are building a system that should take on every modern day game very well. The components selected gives you scope for further expansion and overclocking. All in all, if you have a budget of around $1600 and want a mix of high performance straight out of the box as well as the ability to get even more out of it, this is for you.

-------------------------------------

And there we have it! Three systems for three different price brackets. I can imagine these three systems to be good starting points for anyone planning on building themselves a new computer

Mul

Edited by Mul., 03 February 2008 - 07:40 AM.

[Mul.]

UPDATE 01/10/06- Core 2 Duo Overclocking Sub Tutorial Complete.

[Mul.]

Christmas Updates!

CPU Overclock Database Updated
More Work Done on "Choosing the Right Cooling Solution"
Development on "Building the Perfect Overclockers Machine" Continues
(28.12.06 - Building Perfect Overclockers Machine now complete)

The above 3 shall be complete by December 31st 2006, to draw this year to a close.

Mul

Edited by mul, 28 December 2006 - 05:36 PM.

[Mul.]

How Clock Speed and Voltages Affect CPU Temperatures

Well, we all know that overclocking generally means higher CPU temperatures as a result of increased clock speeds and increased voltage. This mini article will reveal average temperature of my Core 2 Duo E6300 under full load with 4 different clockspeed variables and 3 different voltage variables, and how temperatures rise accordingly. It shows which of the two makes temperatures rise more, and a basic idea of what kind of cooling you should drop on a Core 2 Duo type CPU with a given voltage.

Test Conditions

Test CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 "Conroe"
Cooling Setup: Scythe Ninja Plus "Rev. B" w/ 1200RPM fan, 1 x 120mm exhaust case fan, 1x 120mm intake case fan.
Full Load With: ORTHOS Small FFT's Test 30 Minutes
Clock Speeds: 1.86GHz, 2.10GHz, 2.33GHz, 2.80GHz
Voltages: 1.10V, 1.25V, 1.30V



As you can see, CPU Voltage makes a profound effect over temperatures. With this in mind, I must stress that you should not increase CPU Voltage when overclocking unless the system is clearly unstable. Additionally if you've already deduced that your overclock is stable, try and lower CPU Voltage. You might find you can drop it a little which can make all the difference in reducing temperatures and also reducing electromigration in turn increasing the CPU's lifespan.

Mul

Edited by Mul., 26 June 2007 - 11:06 AM.

[Mul.]

30/06/07 - How Clockspeed and Voltages Affect Temperatures

[Mul.]

03/02/08 - Building the perfect overclockers machine updated

Continue the Discussion Here

Edited by Mul., 03 February 2008 - 07:40 AM.

[Dennis.]

http://valid.x86-sec...c.php?id=330462

E2160 @ 3Ghz [375.03 * 8] 1.35V

ORTHOS 24hr stable.