lets over clock my pentum dual

[f12f12]

ill give you some specs cheap mother board - wana test to see what i can do (link (http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000366))

size of cooler wont be a problem (getting thermal take element s) if i even need to change from stock?

its a pentium dual core 2.0 ghz upped fsb to get to 2.5ghz can i even get any more from it? no voltage added btw.

my rough understanding tells me that as the ram can only clock to 800mhz according to manual (currently at 833mhz) so i guess i need to drop the ratio of fsb to ram, and that should let the cpu to run higher clocks?

[IainK]

drop the multiplier so that the ram is running below stock speeds (so you know it's not the ram which is unstable) and up thew FSB to 300ish, this should be achievable on stock cooler with stock voltage, if it's unstable add a bit of volts, just keep increasing your FSB from there, increasing voltage when necessary, until you hit aout 5C under load, or a max of about 0.1V above stock (this is my 'safe limit' anything above that needs a bit more experience) I have that CPU and it ran at 3.6Ghz for me, but with 1.5V which is a bit high, with 1.4V it ran at about 3.3-3.4Ghz, so that should give you some sort of guidelines

Edit: increase the FSB by about 5-10Mhz each time (depending on your patience :P)
Stress test for about 10mins with Prime95, then once you're happy with your final speed+ voltages test it for a few hours then finetune (may need to lower the FSB a tad, or up the voltages)

Also make sure you turn off everything other than 'multicore processing' (or somethinglike that) under 'CPU Features'
And enable Vdroop control (if it's an option)

[IainK]

coolerwise you'd probably want to consider something like this:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Cooling/CPUCoolers/Coolermaster/HYPERTX3.html#
or

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Cooling/CPUCoolers/Xigmatek/XIG-S963.html#
or

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Cooling/CPUCoolers/ArcticCooling/AC-FRZ-7PR20.html

Any of those will be sufficient to OC you're CPU, i had my E2180@ 3.6 with 1.5V on an original arctic cooling freezer 7 pro

[system7]

As you overclock CPU, memory runs faster. You therefore need to adjust RAM timings to compensate:

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Memory tab tells you what is going on relative to safe SPD timing for a particular clock.

You may need to replace 4-4-4-15 with 5-5-5-18 at 400 MHz, for instance.

266MHz on E2180 (2.66 GHz) CPU should require no VCore adjustment.

[f12f12]

You may need to replace 4-4-4-15 with 5-5-5-18 at 400 MHz, for instance.

266MHz on E2180 (2.66 GHz) CPU should require no VCore adjustment.

thanks, but now it looks confusing i understand what you've said but is it not OK for me to just reduce the ratio of cpu to ram? or is that how to reduce it?

also yeah the 2180 is my cpu

[TheMadDutchDude]

Keep your RAM on a 1:1 ratio if you can. That'll make overclocks easier but you may have to use a 3:4 ratio if your motherboard doesn't have 1:1.

Get yourself a reasonable cooler and keep your RAM as close to stock speeds as possible whenever you can.

[system7]

I wouldn't have thought a better cooler would even be necessary here, eh Brendan? That stock Intel unit is good for E8400 at 3GHz.

If you've got a RAM divider to play with, all well and good, but you'll still need to get a feel for RAM clock, and set timings to keep it stable. Each motherboard is different, and mATX boards usually very limited. The SPD table tells you what is going to be stable.

[f12f12]

here i bring this back.

if i clock it too high it wont work. got that bit.
so when it doesn't work do i need to flash the Bios or can i go in to it at start?
also if i will need to flash the bios then can some one recoment me a program that can make a usb pen bootable or generally save my pc from doom?

you can guess i don't really know what I'm doing but doing is the best way to find out eh?

[IainK]

you don't need to flash teh bios, you need to reset it, you can do this using the Cmos jumper, or by simly turning off the power (using the switch at the back of the power supply/unplugging the cable) and then removing the flat battery on the motherboard for about 10 seconds, this should reset to default settings and allow you to restart (it's useful to remember what settings work, possibly write them down)

[f12f12]

right ive been playing around with it last few nights and if i work on the specs that intel give http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLA8Y# that lets me go up to 1.5v as long as i do not exceed 73 degrees.

im currently running 3ghz at 1.41v still on stock cooling.

[IainK]

what's the voltage that it automatically sets to? i've run 1.5V through my chip but it's generally not advised to go past about 0.1/0.15V over stock unless you don't mind bricking it. 1.4V should be fine up to about 3.3-3.4Ghz dependent on chip and cooling, btw have you got an aftermarket cooler?

[f12f12]

erm... i don't remember what its auto set to but i'm only adding 0.075v right now so i think ive gone to my limit for voltage. on stock cooling but right now i need to test stability, and i need to watch how hot it's going to get.

i added a bit of voltage to my ram taking it to 1.95 but as its unbranded i'm not going to risk kicking it any more.

[IainK]

in general i limit RAM voltage at 2.0V (if using generic) and keep it under stock speeds, try putting the FSB up to 320 for a 3.2Ghz, i've found with my E2180 that the highest i could go was about 3.6Ghz and that was with 1.55V (ran bloomin' hot) and with 1.41V the highest i could go was 3.33Ghz

[f12f12]

in general i limit RAM voltage at 2.0V (if using generic) and keep it under stock speeds, try putting the FSB up to 320 for a 3.2Ghz, i've found with my E2180 that the highest i could go was about 3.6Ghz and that was with 1.55V (ran bloomin' hot) and with 1.41V the highest i could go was 3.33Ghz

ive got to get used to this motherboard currently the FSB is at 1200mhz giving my 3ghz on cpu. why do they make this so confusing.

[IainK]

lol, to make it more fun :D
iirc system7 used to say (when E2180 was the bees knees for budgeting overclockers) that it didn't really gain much gaming wise over 2.6ish due to the cache, so you should be please with anything above 2.6 as they should give good results :)

[f12f12]

lol, to make it more fun :D
iirc system7 used to say (when E2180 was the bees knees for budgeting overclockers) that it didn't really gain much gaming wise over 2.6ish due to the cache, so you should be please with anything above 2.6 as they should give good results :)

that has made me happy but the restarts make me sad, i guess its over heating as there is no hang just black sceen to boot.

[IainK]

yeah, sounds like it... i'd drop down to 2.66 for now and get an aftermarket cooler

[f12f12]

2.66 should be easy to do, i got 2.5 on stock volts.

as for a cooler i want to get a quality one for Christmas but as the way the cpu market is now it will need to be compatable with lga775, lga1156 and AM3 :D any suggestions?

[IainK]

what's the budget? if you're into the £40-60 range i'd look at the corsair H50 or TRUE black

*TRUE black is only compatable with LGA775 and AM2/3 but i think you can get kits to make it compatable with the others (i5+i7)

having said that oncce you've bought the HSF and an adapter kit and 1or2 half decent fans you may as well get this for the same price/less:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Cooling/Watercooling/Corsair/C-CWCH50-1.html which is compatable with everything

[f12f12]

i like the true black but your right about clips and fans, but then agine the corsair will have my turn my cooling set up upside down (as long as i am right in thinking it blows in the case) also that means i have to take out the 140mm fan on the back also it gives no chip set cooling.
also no thermal paste

[IainK]

erm, afaik the corsair unit can be installed however you want, so you can have it blowing air out of the back if you want, nothing stopping you from turning the fan around anyway ;)

[f12f12]

erm, afaik the corsair unit can be installed however you want, so you can have it blowing air out of the back if you want, nothing stopping you from turning the fan around anyway ;)

very true i am just thinking about chip set cooling, but obviously i5 doesn't have a chip set (that needs proper cooling) but hey i guess i can rig up the spare 140mm ill have aye.

[IainK]

get some wire and suspend it in the middle of the case from the roof of the case :D

[f12f12]

looking at prices I'm thinking of the Zalman CNPS10X QUIET Ultra-Quiet CPU Cooler (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Cooling/CPUCoolers/Zalman/CNPS10XQUIET.html) compatible with all socket and a good price

[IainK]

looks pretty good actually, check out some reviews