Originally posted by: fjsc3
Hi all,
I'm currently using a S754 Athlon, so it's been a while since my last upgrade.
My plan: to get an E6300+ stable&fairly overclockable Motherboard.
The P5B (non-deluxe) seems like a good candidate, so now that enough BIOS have been released, the dust seems to have settled, right?
Here are my questions (I know that some have been PARTIALLY answered elswere in this thread, so please don't flame me, just read on):
1- My plan is to get to about 40% overclock over stock. no need for extra PCI-E 16x, etc. Is there any real advantage in getting the Deluxe (in terms of stability I mean). Again, I don't want to go for extreme overclocking - reaching the equivalent of say 2.6GHz would be good enough for me. How about the P5B-Vm and P5B-E - has anyone overclocked them successfully?
2- When you overclock a C2D Motherboard, how does the power stepping work? Does it still work at all? I.e. let's say I'm running an overclocked E6300 at 2.6GHz, does it reduce the operating frequency when idle, just like it would if not overclocked? For instance, if you overclock an Athlon (at least the older models), Cooln'quiet no longer works, so the CPU doesn't throttle to about 1/3 when idle. Does the C2D reduce the clock speed when idle even when OClocked?
3- Can I use my Enermax PSU from back when with a new Motherboard - connectors still the same, etc? I'm NOT a gamer, so no SLI, XFire or anything requiring extra power connectors will be used - just basic X1300 card or equivalent.
4- When overclocking, naturally, the CPU temps are higher, but how much so in your case, can you share your experience? How about the other components, how much higher is the Motherboard temp for instance?
5- Coolers: For this type of overclocking, are there really any alternatives to the larger Scythes or Thermaltakes if you want virtual noiselessness (one of the main reasons for going C2D)? Can you run an AC Freezer 7 at 5v-7v (with a Zalman Fanmate) and still get good temps? If anyone has a similar setup, what temps are you getting?
6- I have a pair of OCZ PC2-5400 sticks - are there any known problems with the P5B? Anyone else using it?
7- If you want to upgrade memory in steps, being dual channel is it impossible to add a third stick - does it only work with 2 or 4?
8- In my case OClocking is only necessary when running fairly complex scientific computations which can run from 1hour to a couple of days (hence the need for stability), so every extra bit of speed helps. But most of the time stock speeds will do just fine. Is it possible to set up dinamic OC, or "OC on demand" from Windows for this Motherboard, or do you have to through the normal process of rebooting and loading the OC Bios settings?
Well, quite a large number of questions for one post. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
cheers
Ze
1.) I'm running at 2.96 GHz with my E6400 and P5B non-deluxe. It passes both SuperPi 32MB and Orthos stress tests. With better RAM I could easily hit 3.2 GHz. So far this motherboard has been rock solid stable for me.
2.) Intel's SpeedStep Technology works with overclocked CPUs. It reduces the multiplier. It can be turned off.
3.) A 20-pin ATX power connector will work fine, but I'd suggest getting a new PSU that supports 20+4-pin or 24-pin connector to keep your overclock stable.
4.) At 2.96 GHz my idle temps are between 45-50C depending on room temp. Case temps hover around 40C unless I crank up the RPM of my rear exhaust fan. I like it quiet so I keep the RPM set to low.
5.) I use an Artic Cooling 7 Freezer Pro. The ASUS P5B BIOS uses Q-Fan to control fan speeds. I run the fan on Optimal and it runs around 600-700 RPM. It's quiet and keeps the CPU cool. It only goes up higher when it senses more stress on the CPU. It will only turn up to full (about 3000 RPM) when running a stess test like Orthos or TAT.
6.) As long as those sticks are rated between 1.8-2.1v you shouldn't have any trouble with them.
7.) Yes. RAM sticks must be used in pairs for dual channel operation.
8.) You can use the AI Suite software. AI N.O.S. is supposed to allow for dynamic overclocking although I've never tried it.
I hope this helps.