Home› Tech & Games

Overclocking Intel Q8400 2.66GHz

UnknownUnknown
edited February 2011 in Tech & Games
I've had a go at overclocking before but I didn't really understand it at all. Thirdrockfromthesun just convinced me to have another shot, so I just read a few overclocking guides and have successfully overclocked my CPU a teeny bit.

By a teeny bit, I mean that I increased it from 2.66GHz to... 2.72GHz :facepalm: Forgive me though, that was just to test I was doing shit correctly. I've just got the hang of working around the settings. I'm currently doing;
  • Booting into BIOS, increasing FSB gradually.
  • Booting into Windows, running CPU stress tests and keeping an eye on the heat levels. When I start clocking it into higher numbers, I might have to bump up the voltage which will increase heat levels. Thankfully, I have a buff-ass cooling system installed :D

I'm going to keep this thread updated, as I feel like it.

Discuss overclocking and shit in this thread! :D
Share on Twitter

Comments

  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited February 2011
    Overclock only if your system is stable. Avoid overclocking RAM unless it SUPPORTS higher frequency. A good PSU always helps.
    Share on Twitter
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited February 2011
    Alright, I'll take that into consideration. However, when I increase my FSB speed then the RAM frequency has to increase too, right? Or else the system becomes unstable?

    I bumped the FSB up to 1475 which was when I hit a wall. However, I increased my RAM speed up to 900MHz (it's only meant to be running at 800) and the system booted again.

    But you say that overclocking RAM like this is bad?

    To be honest, my 800MHz RAM isn't very good anyway :P

    Disregard that, still learning. :facepalm:
    Share on Twitter
  • HellishHellish Regular
    edited February 2011
    What chipset are you using and what memory? You may be able to drop the Cas latency and get a higher FSB overclock. How about telling the current settings.
    Share on Twitter
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited February 2011
    Nvidia nForce 750i SLI chipset, 4GB of DDR2 Kingston ValueRAM (fail, I know). 800MHz stock, but I underclocked it a little in order to get the FSB higher.

    What's Cas latency? *Gets Googling again*


    Here's what my current settings look like according to CPU-Z...

    z1.png

    And here is an overview of my temperatures. Min temps are at idle, max ones are under full load...

    4zz.png
    Share on Twitter
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited February 2011
    It seems as though I've hit another wall - this time I've got my FSB up to 1540MHz and my RAM brought down to 780. However, I get a Windows boot failure when I increase it above 1540, with a message regarding Hardware Failure.

    What does this call for? Higher voltage?
    Share on Twitter
  • HellishHellish Regular
    edited February 2011
    Try adding a little voltage to the NB, and see if you can boot.
    Share on Twitter
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited February 2011
    Bumped NB voltage up to 1.44 and I'm now able to run at 1500 FSB :D Thanks dude!

    I'm going to keep pushing it up, I know this CPU is capable of much more. Only problem is, won't my RAM be a huge bottleneck? It's only 800MHz RAM, so there will be a limit to how much I can OC, right?
    Share on Twitter
  • HellishHellish Regular
    edited February 2011
    I wouldn't worry about the ram. I would expect it to be able to go around 1000mhz if you mess with voltage and CAS latency.
    Share on Twitter
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited February 2011
    Everytime I changed the CAS Latency, it wouldn't boot. A lot of the time, it wouldn't even POST :( The times that it booted, it gave me a BSOD. I also had a scary POST where the PC just had one continuous beep and a black screen :D

    Ideas? Currently I have just settled for a fairly stable 3GHz Overclock.
    Share on Twitter
  • HellishHellish Regular
    edited February 2011
    Are you lowering the number or raising it?
    Share on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.