How to overclock an Intel E8400 on an ABIT IP35Pro ?

Erich Seidenschmiedt

hello NG, I'm having a system with MoBo ABIT IP35Pro, running with the new
Intel Processor E8400 (3.00 GHz). So far, I did slight overclocking
according to the various settings suggested by the Abit uGuru, the CPU is
now running on 3116 MHz, with BusSpeed raised to 348 MHz. As far as I have
written in various test articles etc., this board can easily be overclocked
up to BusSpeed slightly below 490 MHz. Since I do not have water cooling, I
would definitely like to come close to this value, but would like to see how
is goes with something around 400 - 430 MHz.
Since I am not an expert on overclocking at all, I am looking for some
guidelines with regard to which values in the BIOS should be adjusted once
you start increasing the BusSpeed, etc.
Question: does someone have some references on hand, particularly with
regard to the combination of my MoBo and my CPU? Or can someone tell from
own experience which values work best?
Thanks in advance, Erich

Phil Weldon

'Erich' wrote:
> hello NG, I'm having a system with MoBo ABIT IP35Pro, running with the new
> Intel Processor E8400 (3.00 GHz). So far, I did slight overclocking
> according to the various settings suggested by the Abit uGuru, the CPU is
> now running on 3116 MHz, with BusSpeed raised to 348 MHz. As far as I
> have written in various test articles etc., this board can easily be
> overclocked up to BusSpeed slightly below 490 MHz. Since I do not have
> water cooling, I would definitely like to come close to this value, but
> would like to see how is goes with something around 400 - 430 MHz.
> Since I am not an expert on overclocking at all, I am looking for some
> guidelines with regard to which values in the BIOS should be adjusted once
> you start increasing the BusSpeed, etc.
> Question: does someone have some references on hand, particularly with
> regard to the combination of my MoBo and my CPU? Or can someone tell from
> own experience which values work best?
_____

I do not have the same CPU and motherboard that you have. But I do suggest
that you not use 'Abit uGuru' for overclocking. The 'automatic'
overclocking applications that come with motherboards do not usually work
well; and usually suggest VERY small overclocks.

You should be able to raise the FrontSide Bus Speed to more than 348 MHz
before any other BIOS settings need to be changed (other than perhaps the
'Memory Clock Ratio' so that your memory will not be overclocked. For
example, with a 350 MHz FrontSide Bus speed, running the DDR2 memory synchro
(2:1 or 1:2, depending on how the motherboard expresses it) would have the
DDR2 memory running at 700 MHz (slower than DDR2 800).

In general, when you have one of the fastest CPU models in a series you can
expect a higher absolute overclocked speed, but not as great a percentage
overclock. For example, my E4300, with a stock speed of only 1.8 GHz runs
quite happily at a 2.7 GHz, a 50% overclock with a 10% BELOW stock CPU core
voltage. You, with an E8400 might have to be satisfied, with only a 25%
overclock using air cooling, but that is still a very speedy 3.75 GHz.

Overclocking a CPU mainly depends on trading temperature operating margins
for higher clock speeds, and then perhaps trading voltage operating margins
for even higher clock speeds. Keep your CPU as cool as possible. Use a CPU
stress test (Orthos is good) and a accurate CPU core temperature monitor
applet (Intel TAT is good) to check if your overclocking speed is being
limited by temperature (60 C is a lot better than 70 C.) Raise the FSB
speed by small steps, say 50 MHz, then use the stress test and temperature
monitor to check for correct operation. Then repeat the cycle until errors
happen. Only then consider raising the CPU core voltage by a small amount,
say 1%. Be VERY careful when raising the CPU core voltage. Intel CPUs do
not really get damaged by heat, but can instantly be destroyed by a CPU core
voltage only 15% or so above the specified voltage. If you make sure your
memory is not overclocked, my guess is that you should not have to change
any BIOS settings other than the FSB speed until you approach 3.5 GHz or so.
At that point you can begin to experiment with the other 20 or more
parameter in the BIOS that MAY affect overclocking; one of the joys of
overclocking B^)

Phil Weldon


"Erich Seidenschmiedt" <> wrote in message
news:898ce$482efbfe$5471814c$. ..
> hello NG, I'm having a system with MoBo ABIT IP35Pro, running with the new
> Intel Processor E8400 (3.00 GHz). So far, I did slight overclocking
> according to the various settings suggested by the Abit uGuru, the CPU is
> now running on 3116 MHz, with BusSpeed raised to 348 MHz. As far as I
> have written in various test articles etc., this board can easily be
> overclocked up to BusSpeed slightly below 490 MHz. Since I do not have
> water cooling, I would definitely like to come close to this value, but
> would like to see how is goes with something around 400 - 430 MHz.
> Since I am not an expert on overclocking at all, I am looking for some
> guidelines with regard to which values in the BIOS should be adjusted once
> you start increasing the BusSpeed, etc.
> Question: does someone have some references on hand, particularly with
> regard to the combination of my MoBo and my CPU? Or can someone tell from
> own experience which values work best?
> Thanks in advance, Erich

Augustus

>Keep your CPU as cool as possible. Use a CPU stress test (Orthos is good)
>and a accurate CPU core temperature monitor applet (Intel TAT is good) to
>check if your overclocking speed is being limited by temperature (60 C is a
>lot better than 70 C.)

Quick question for you if you don't mind....my new E8400 / Gigabyte
EP35-DSR3 board is chugging along flawlessly at 3.8Ghz with simply the FSB
at 422 and zero voltmods or memory tweaks. 100% stable in 24hr Orthos and
Prime95 runs. Temps max load peak at 57C - 60C depending on core. I've never
heard of the Intel TAT until you posted your reply to Erich...I d/l'd it and
installed, and on startup it gives an "Invalid Processor. Terminating Tool"
message. Ever run into this or heard of it with the Wolfdale line?

Phil Weldon

'Augustus' wrote:
> Quick question for you if you don't mind....my new E8400 / Gigabyte
> EP35-DSR3 board is chugging along flawlessly at 3.8Ghz with simply the FSB
> at 422 and zero voltmods or memory tweaks. 100% stable in 24hr Orthos and
> Prime95 runs. Temps max load peak at 57C - 60C depending on core. I've
> never heard of the Intel TAT until you posted your reply to Erich...I
> d/l'd it and installed, and on startup it gives an "Invalid Processor.
> Terminating Tool" message. Ever run into this or heard of it with the
> Wolfdale line?
_____

Now that your bring it up, it occurs to me that it should not work for the
45 nm process CPUs because TAT was designed specifically for the 65 nm CPUs
and their design power dissipation. So my suggestion to 'Erich' about TAT
was incorrect. I am sure that Intel has updated TAT, but Intel is not
really distributing any version of TAT - as far I can see it is not on the
Intel website.

Nice clean results with your E8400, congratulations.

Phil Weldon

"Augustus" <> wrote in message
news:qdFXj.2710$Yp.2224@edtnps92...
> >Keep your CPU as cool as possible. Use a CPU stress test (Orthos is
> >good) and a accurate CPU core temperature monitor applet (Intel TAT is
> >good) to check if your overclocking speed is being limited by temperature
> >(60 C is a lot better than 70 C.)
>
> Quick question for you if you don't mind....my new E8400 / Gigabyte
> EP35-DSR3 board is chugging along flawlessly at 3.8Ghz with simply the FSB
> at 422 and zero voltmods or memory tweaks. 100% stable in 24hr Orthos and
> Prime95 runs. Temps max load peak at 57C - 60C depending on core. I've
> never heard of the Intel TAT until you posted your reply to Erich...I
> d/l'd it and installed, and on startup it gives an "Invalid Processor.
> Terminating Tool" message. Ever run into this or heard of it with the
> Wolfdale line?
>

Erich Seidenschmiedt

> Quick question for you if you don't mind....my new E8400 / Gigabyte
> EP35-DSR3 board is chugging along flawlessly at 3.8Ghz with simply the FSB
> at 422 and zero voltmods or memory tweaks. 100% stable in 24hr Orthos and
> Prime95 runs. Temps max load peak at 57C - 60C depending on core. ...

I have now put everything to the same settings as described above, with
VCore slightly increased to 1.295. Seems to run quite well, no complaints
so far.
The only thought I have is the FSB at 422 - this of course is somewhat over
the original setting of 400. Could this eventually be a problem for the
RAMs? Or could I even try to increase more, without much danger for the
RAMs?
Best regards, Erich

Augustus

"Erich Seidenschmiedt" <> wrote in message
news:c9bf6$482ff4bb$5471814c$. ..
>> Quick question for you if you don't mind....my new E8400 / Gigabyte
>> EP35-DSR3 board is chugging along flawlessly at 3.8Ghz with simply the
>> FSB at 422 and zero voltmods or memory tweaks. 100% stable in 24hr Orthos
>> and Prime95 runs. Temps max load peak at 57C - 60C depending on core. ...
>
> I have now put everything to the same settings as described above, with
> VCore slightly increased to 1.295. Seems to run quite well, no complaints
> so far.
> The only thought I have is the FSB at 422 - this of course is somewhat
> over the original setting of 400. Could this eventually be a problem for
> the RAMs? Or could I even try to increase more, without much danger for
> the RAMs?
> Best regards, Erich

My RAM is running less than 6% over it's rated speed. I am running an OCZ
Platinum PC6400 2 x 2Gb kit. This is high performance RAM rated at DDR800
speed. It's good for quite a bit more than that. I have a friend who's
running the same RAM at DDR1066 speeds with a small boost in RAM
voltage.Whether or not you run in to RAM issues depends on the RAM you are
using. If you are running budget PC5300 then pushing the RAM 89Mhz over
rated speed at stock settings could be an issue. That's a 27% increase.
Stability runs will tell.. I.
My advice to you is this....do a 24 hour stability run with Prime 95 and /or
Orthos. Any RAM issues will show up. Just because the system boots up and
appears to be running fine does not mean there's no stability issues. One
fellow I know did a fairly decent high overclock on an older AMD 4000+ setup
and since it seemed to run fine and never crashed in games or heavy load, he
figured there were no issues. Until his RAID array died and he had to
restore from the daily images he'd been taking since the day of the build
(which was also the day of the inintial overclock). Every single image was
corrupt. Once he got it working again after a complete reinstall at stock
settings he ran Orthos at his original overclock and it failed every time in
less than 2 minutes. So test for stability, it's worth it.

stockbridge123

Erich Seidenschmiedt;944701 Wrote:
> Quick question for you if you don't mind....my new E8400 / Gigabyte -
> EP35-DSR3 board is chugging along flawlessly at 3.8Ghz with simply the
> FSB
> at 422 and zero voltmods or memory tweaks. 100% stable in 24hr Orthos
> and
> Prime95 runs. Temps max load peak at 57C - 60C depending on core.
> ...-
>
> I have now put everything to the same settings as described above, with
>
> VCore slightly increased to 1.295. Seems to run quite well, no
> complaints
> so far.
> The only thought I have is the FSB at 422 - this of course is somewhat
> over
> the original setting of 400. Could this eventually be a problem for
> the
> RAMs? Or could I even try to increase more, without much danger for the
>
> RAMs?
> Best regards, Erich

hi guys, can anyone explain to me whats overclocked means?




--
stockbridge123

Augustus

> hi guys, can anyone explain to me whats overclocked means?

It's when you are increasing the normal operating frequency of, usually, a
CPU or GPU.

Phil Weldon

'stockbridge123' wrote:
> hi guys, can anyone explain to me whats overclocked means?
_____

Overclocking a CPU means increasing the CPU speed above the manufacturer's
rated speed. Video cards, random access memory (RAM), and motherboards can
also be overclocked.

The next step in an answer to your question should be for you to use
Wikipedia at and search for "overclocking". Or you
can just go directly to . This
will give you a very good explanation of overclocking. After you read the
article you can post additional questions here, but please start a new
thread rather than hooking up to a previous thread.

Phil Weldon

"stockbridge123" <> wrote in
message news:...
>
> Erich Seidenschmiedt;944701 Wrote:
>> Quick question for you if you don't mind....my new E8400 / Gigabyte -
>> EP35-DSR3 board is chugging along flawlessly at 3.8Ghz with simply the
>> FSB
>> at 422 and zero voltmods or memory tweaks. 100% stable in 24hr Orthos
>> and
>> Prime95 runs. Temps max load peak at 57C - 60C depending on core.
>> ...-
>>
>> I have now put everything to the same settings as described above, with
>>
>> VCore slightly increased to 1.295. Seems to run quite well, no
>> complaints
>> so far.
>> The only thought I have is the FSB at 422 - this of course is somewhat
>> over
>> the original setting of 400. Could this eventually be a problem for
>> the
>> RAMs? Or could I even try to increase more, without much danger for the
>>
>> RAMs?
>> Best regards, Erich
>
>
> hi guys, can anyone explain to me whats overclocked means?
>
>
> --
> stockbridge123

Erich Seidenschmiedt

hi Augustus, thanks for your hints. I have now tried to go even further,
but anything beyond 432MHz seems to cause memory problems. However, I have
so far not done any voltage changes except slightly raising the VCore to
1.295. Could any other voltage changes help to overcome the memory problem
to some extent? I don't want to fool around a lot with voltages, since I am
not sure whether I would ruin some of my hardware. So I'd appreciate very
much any hints from experienced people. BTW, my RAM is: Corsair DHX DDR2
2x2048MB PC2-800, CL5
Regards, Erich