Simviation Forums

by **Mike..** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:12 pm

I just got a Zalman fan for my Q6600 Core 2 Quad that currently runs at the stock 2.4. I wish to bump it up to 3.6. My Bios on my P5N32-E SLI board has a section called extreme. I found in there where to OC but it all looked greek and decided to hold off until I got a better idea as to how to do it without blowing my rig up. Suggestions?

Current Setup
Q6600 Core 2 Quad @ 2.4
8 Gigs DDR2 RAM
2 GeForce 8800 GTS SSC Editions w/640 DDR3 RAM each
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Mike

by **NickN** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:57 pm

8 gigs?

A waste as it will never be used for FSX even with a 64bit OS. You may approach or go over 4 a bit with a PMDG aircraft but otherwise no

and you just made overclocking and performance that much slower

8gigs will NEVER run the same speed as 4, ever and CPU clock will now be limited due to memory amount

8 gigs is a complete and total wase of money unless you are using the system for A/V editing or autocad... or 3D model work. Even with 4 gigs you sacrifice memory speed for memory amount not to mention the clock restrictions now placed on the system. 8 makes that sacrifice worse

Even when you use 4GB you ALWAYS buy 2x2GB and only populate 2 slots for best results. 4GB also reduces memory and CPU ability in a clock but the trade off is no where near a severe as 8 and worth it

overclocking requires skill experience and knowledge and I cant even begin to get into a how to about it because every system is different. There is memory overclocking and CPU overclocking and all the support settings to stabilize it, and, different motherboards have differet settings for such. Too much for a forum which is why you do not see any quides around here

I suggest you hit the overclock sites and start to study.. no one, and I mean no one is going to be able to give to numbers/settings to change and everything will be clocked right and stable

ain't going to happen

blowing up is part of the skill/experience... once you learn how to do it right you wont blow things up anymore

You would really have to try hard to damage todays CPU's. Just make sure it never goes over 80c and you will be fine

and by the way.. the poor monitor software that came with your motherboard probably does not read the CPU diode correctly and it can be 13-15 lower than the CPU really is.. You need special software such as CoreTemp or RealTemp to verify the CPU temps. Dont ever trust crap like Asus probe or Nvidia junk that comes with the motherboard

You have a lot to learn if you want to clock right

You can do simple FSB boosts but you must understand the STRAP/Divider math for the memory and make sure the memory speed/sub timing is correct

there is nothing I can post here that will help you if you have no experience.. hit the o/c sites and learn

by **Mike..** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:13 am

Rekon I'll start hunting for some good information on the matter to study. I didn't use anything the mother-board came with to include that probe. I am going to find a site to get one of those cpu temp readers you mentioned. Which one of the 2 you suggested is better? Core or Real? Perhapse a benchmarking tool to see where I am currently before OC?

I actually didn't build this computer with the idea that I could fly FSX any better than I have it now. I built it so I knew I wouldn't have to worry about keeping up with the newer games out now for at least another 2-3 years. Also when the time comes. If I do want to update to say another motherboard I can. I will never buy a stock desktop from Dell or any of them again. I don't think it gets any better than building one yourself. There are some nice ones out there but you can barrely do anything with them after awhile other than maybe the sound and video. I'm rambling. I have some tweaks to do that you suggested in my how do you know post. Thanks Nick.

Mike

by **raptorx** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:25 pm

Be encouraged that it doesn't take very long before you will begin to understand how all this works. You need to know what you're doing but if you read a little every day and digest the information, and experiment, you will reach your goals.

Importand things are:

1) Motherboard is critical. You must have good stable power regulation. That means no cheap ECS/Q6600 combo junk from frys. Get a good P35 or X48 chipset (my favorites are Asus and Gigabyte). And also you need a BIOS with lots of divider/strap settings and voltage control abilities.

2) Power supply. Buy the best you can afford. Make sure the output (in watts) is rated in continuous power, not peak. Don't get anything less than 750w. Also get a single rail design. Don't buy one with multiple rails. Multiple rail is for safety reasons only-more info on that on google. You can get an excellent PC Power & Cooling PSU for around $150 or less.

Those two things are the two most important foundations for a reliable, stable overclocked system in my opinion.

-Jim