Question Core 2 system overclocking help

[majorcassette]

Hello all,

Some time ago, my grandfather passed away and I was left his old computer. I have tinkered with the overclocking for the past 6ish years but my knowledge of the subject is quite limited, and the forums I combed through for information either end up on a cliffhanger or the final image solution link is broken. I'm aware this is an outdated system, however, I would like to set an overclock to 4.0 as well as time the ram correctly. I have run into a few notable issues where my own knowledge limits me, as this bios requires some fine tuning unlike some of the newer boards. Any help will be appreciated, and I'll link as much as I can.

For starters, the basic specs are as follows:

CPU: Intel Core2 Extreme 9650

Mother Board: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P (Rev 1.6)

Ram: Kingston KHX8500D2K2/4G (4 sticks 8 gigs total)
Memory Module Specifications KHX8500D2K2/4G https://www.kingston.com/datasheets/khx8500d2k2_4g.pdf

I have updated the bios to the most current available.

My first issue is the overclock. I've found a few different forums recommending a few different voltage settings, but I can never seem to get it quite stable, as I think I am missing a few puzzle pieces, primarily some settings that are set to "auto" because I don't know specifics unfortunately.

My second issue is timing the ram correctly, for the same reason I'm not quite sure how to clock the CPU correctly; missing a few pieces.

Listed below are my current settings, which I've sorta cobbled together from various older forums.

And yes, I'm aware some of these may look silly and to those of you who are knowledgeable, please bare with my lack in knowledge if something looks way off.

Robust Graphics Booster ...............: auto
CPU Clock Ratio .......................: 9
Fine CPU Clock Ratio ..................: 0.5
CPU Frequency .........................: 3.80 GHz (400x9.5)


--> Clock Chip Control <--

>>> Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control ................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 400
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) ...........: 100
C.I.A.2 ...............................: [Disabled]


>>> Advanced Clock Control
CPU Clock Drive .......................: 800
PCI Express Clock Drive ...............: 900
CPU Clock Skew (ps) ...................: 0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps) ...................: 0ps


--> DRAM Performance Control <--

Performance Enhance ...................: [STANDARD]
(G)MCH Frequency Latch ................: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier .......(SPD)..: [Auto]
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..........800...: 960
DRAM Timing Selectable .........(SPD)..: [Auto]

>>> Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time .................5....: 5
tRCD .............................5....: 5
tRP ..............................5....: 5
tRAS .............................18...: 18

>>> Advanced Timing Control
tRRD .............................3....: 3
tWTR .............................3....: 3
tWR ..............................6....: 6
tRFC .............................52...: 52
tRTP .............................3....: 3
Command Rate (CMD) ...............0....: 2

--> Channel A <--

>>> Timings Settings
Static tRead Value ...............8..: [auto]
tRD Phase0 Adjustment ............0....: [Auto]
tRD Phase1 Adjustment ............0....: [Auto]
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ............0....: [Auto]
tRD Phase3 Adjustment ............0....: [Auto]
Trd2rd(Different Rank) .............8...: [Auto]
Twr2wr(Different Rank) ............8...: [Auto]
Twr2rd(Different Rank) ............7....: [Auto]
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank) ...........9....: [Auto]
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control ..............: [Auto]
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control ..............: [Auto]

>>> Driving Settings
Driving Strength Profile...............: 1066

--> Channel B <---
(Same as channel A)


--> Motherboard Voltage Control <--

>>> CPU
Load-Line Calibration .................: [Disabled]
CPU Vcore ...............1.22500V......: 1.27500V
CPU Termination ........ 1.200V........: 1.24
60V
CPU PLL .................1.500V........: 1.5-1.500V
CPU Reference .............0.760V........: [Auto]

>>> MCH/ICH
MCH Core ................1.100V........: [auto]
MCH Reference ...........0.760V........: [Auto]
MCH/DRAM Ref ............0.900V........: [Auto]
ICH I/O .................1.500V........: [auto]
ICH Core ................1.100V........: [auto]

>>> DRAM
DRAM Voltage ............1.800V........: 2.200V
DRAM Termination ........0.900V........: 1.100V
Channel A Reference .....0.900V........: [Auto]
Channel B Reference .....0.900V........: [Auto]

Any and all help clocking this thing to 4.0 and timing the ram right would be much, much appreciated. I'm starting to lose hope.

 

[Shmee]

Hello, you have a good board for doing this with, possibly the best, and the RAM should be capable as well.

First thing is to know your limits, I suppose. You will be tweaking the CPU vcore as you increase frequency, I would not go over 1.35V. Obviously lower is better, so long as it is stable. Memory voltage should be set at 2.2V, which is what it is rated at for XMP. You will want to keep temps low on the cores during load, I would not want to exceed 85C, personally. Which brings us to what cooler do you have?

Now there are two ways to OC an unlocked CPU, you can raise the core multiplier, or raise the FSB.To my knowledge, your Core 2 extreme should have an unlocked multiplier. Raising the FSB will also increase your DRAM speed, so if you use that method you will have to adjust timings and ratios accordingly. Does this make sense so far? Obviously, after changes you will want to CPU stress test for stability, and likely memtest as well.

One thing I will mention is that this should very much be seen as a project/hobby computer, and should be considered expendable. It is already quite old, and trying to OC will not make it run any longer. However, if you are in luck, and have the patience to test and tweak, 4GHz should be doable, at least in the short run.

 

[majorcassette]

Hello, you have a good board for doing this with, possibly the best, and the RAM should be capable as well.

First thing is to know your limits, I suppose. You will be tweaking the CPU vcore as you increase frequency, I would not go over 1.35V. Obviously lower is better, so long as it is stable. Memory voltage should be set at 2.2V, which is what it is rated at for XMP. You will want to keep temps low on the cores during load, I would not want to exceed 85C, personally. Which brings us to what cooler do you have?

Now there are two ways to OC an unlocked CPU, you can raise the core multiplier, or raise the FSB.To my knowledge, your Core 2 extreme should have an unlocked multiplier. Raising the FSB will also increase your DRAM speed, so if you use that method you will have to adjust timings and ratios accordingly. Does this make sense so far? Obviously, after changes you will want to CPU stress test for stability, and likely memtest as well.

One thing I will mention is that this should very much be seen as a project/hobby computer, and should be considered expendable. It is already quite old, and trying to OC will not make it run any longer. However, if you are in luck, and have the patience to test and tweak, 4GHz should be doable, at least in the short run.

Thank you so much for the reply. I was aware of the voltage limit and the ram voltage, however I am not sure where the FSB setting would be located or how to set the right ratio.

I have a cooler master ML240 liquid cooler (dual fan) It seems to do pretty well, I have another newer pc i have the same cooler on.

My grandfather actually died with a stockpile of these exact boards and cpus so I suppose I have some to play around with. He was messing with overclocking these himself long ago, but any knowledge of it passed with him. I just want to finish the project sorta. A stable 3.8 will do just fine as well. I'm not too picky.

 

[Shmee]

From what I can see of your settings, the FSB should be the CPU host frequency. But, before touching that, see if you can raise the core mulitplier for your CPU, if it is unlocked. That is labeled CPU clock ratio, currently set to 9, with the fine ratio at .5. See if maybe you can set that to 10, and the fine ratio to 0. This would give you 400x10=4GHz.

Also, as my buddy who had a board and CPU like this mentioned, check in CPUz if you can to see what stepping the CPU is. The older C steppings won't OC as well as the E0 stepping.

 

[mikeymikec]

One thing I will mention is that this should very much be seen as a project/hobby computer, and should be considered expendable. It is already quite old, and trying to OC will not make it run any longer. However, if you are in luck, and have the patience to test and tweak, 4GHz should be doable, at least in the short run.

In addition to this, I would expect literally every x86/x64 processor currently available (ie. new) to run rings around the OP CPU even if it is overclocked.

Another thing to consider is that this processor has perhaps already been overclocked and the previous owner dialled it back due to long term stability issues.

 

[majorcassette]

From what I can see of your settings, the FSB should be the CPU host frequency. But, before touching that, see if you can raise the core mulitplier for your CPU, if it is unlocked. That is labeled CPU clock ratio, currently set to 9, with the fine ratio at .5. See if maybe you can set that to 10, and the fine ratio to 0. This would give you 400x10=4GHz.

Also, as my buddy who had a board and CPU like this mentioned, check in CPUz if you can to see what stepping the CPU is. The older C steppings won't OC as well as the E0 stepping.

Thank you! I was able to set it to 400 and 10, which gave me 4ghz. Should be unlocked I suppose. I'll have to install windows tomorrow and download CPUz, it's a bit late, so I'm heading to bed shortly. I assume it's on their official website?

Also, If this isn't a E0, should I sift through the pile of the other 9650s and install em until i find an E0? I have about 12 of these, but it's possible my grandfather bulk bought them from Intel at the time so they might all be around the same date. If there aren't any, would you happen to know where I could purchase an E0?

 

[iamgenius]

Thank you! I was able to set it to 400 and 10, which gave me 4ghz. Should be unlocked I suppose. I'll have to install windows tomorrow and download CPUz, it's a bit late, so I'm heading to bed shortly. I assume it's on their official website?

Also, If this isn't a E0, should I sift through the pile of the other 9650s and install em until i find an E0? I have about 12 of these, but it's possible my grandfather bulk bought them from Intel at the time so they might all be around the same date. If there aren't any, would you happen to know where I could purchase an E0?

Maybe ebay? But I think that's a bit going too much. Just settle with what you have. It is not worth it in my opinion.