The Definitive, Unbiased Core 2 Duo Overclocking Guide.

[The-Noid]

Lopri?

 

[Erydin]

I believe the system I ordered falls in the performance gamer section. The pertinent differences are DDR 800 ram 4-4-4-12 (two 1GB sticks) and a P5N32-SLI (premium). The fan you listed does not fit on this mobo unless you use, apparently, a grinder to take off that pesky fourth pin... no thanks. Another suggestion for a heatsink? I am also going to be throwing the whole shabang in this case - NZXT Case. If I am going for those OC speeds listed should I bother with a different heatsink other than what comes with the E6600 due to the amount of fans and air movement from the case?


Erydin

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
I have the Gigabyte 945-S3 and have my E6300@3.5 I think that one deserves mention for ~$123 shipped. My memory is Gskill PC8000 DDR2-1000 and is running@1:1

WTF?

You got an E6300 @ 3.5 using a 945 based board?

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: dexvx

Originally posted by: Markfw900
I have the Gigabyte 945-S3 and have my E6300@3.5 I think that one deserves mention for ~$123 shipped. My memory is Gskill PC8000 DDR2-1000 and is running@1:1

WTF?

You got an E6300 @ 3.5 using a 945 based board?

Sorry, 965p-S3, I hate typos.....

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
ASUS P5B-E FTW!

i agree that the P5B-E is the new bad boy in town....

BTW, great post and vote for sticky

 

[DrMrLordX]

yeah, a sticky would be nice here.

 

[The-Noid]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185027 The Scyth Infinity is a very great heatsink. If that fits on your motherboard I would get it. P5B-E may be put in this week its just hard to find in stock right now. Hopefully the P5B-E+ will make its way accross the pond so we can order that here.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
Lopri that is with the 1.80 mch version of the board or the 1.65?

It's with a 1.65Vmch version. 4:5 @400FSB has only been possible with BIOS 1407, though.

 

[The-Noid]

Hrm yours seems to fair much better than mine did. Got rid of it in favor of the P5WDG2-PRO. I am to impatient to wait for new bios updates though so I guess it is ok. The 1.80 mch version of the board may really be a great performer than. I would expect it to be equal to P5WDG2-PRO even though I can set 1.85 with the 0005 bios.

 

[BoboKatt]

It's funny how I am getting way better info from this post than anything else thus far. Thanks! I am still concerned though as the only P5B-E I can get here is the original 1.01G rev. I wonder how my Team PC6400 DDR2 RAM will do this since I am stuck at 2.1V. I might just get the e66000 to not need an untra high FSB at this point.

 

[The-Noid]

Well thanks for the compliment. The Team Xtreem 800 mhz only needs 2.0 volts though. It is the DDR-667 @ 3-3-3-8 that needs 2.2. Setting lower CAS takes higher volts than getting a medium to high mhz fsb . You should be able to hit 450 with 2.1, but at that point I would expect you would need better cooling on the northbridge of the P5B-E as it gets pretty hot with the stock heatsink.

Cheers.

 

[lopri]

Is there any difference between P5W64 and P5WDG2, other than the obvious? (PCI-E/PCI-X configuration) In other words, if one were to ignore the layout and other I/O connectivity difference, the performance and the BIOS characteristics are same? (i.e. same options in the BIOS, same strap'ing, etc.)

 

[The-Noid]

EXactly the same. For a while the Bios were shared between the 2 . I think now they have seperate bios, but the beta Bios 0004 and 0005 can be used on either board.

Cheers.

 

[nycdude]

nice writeup.

 

[pkme2]

Looking forward to Section IV on Monday .

 

[angryman]

Hey yoxxy great post man very helpful. Just have a few uneducated questions before i delve into your methods. Based on the components i have which plan should i follow . Would it still be the Mainstream Overclocked Gamer or would you suggest another plan of attack. Secondly would you recommend bothering with replacing the stock CPU cooler with the Gigabyte fan or leaving it seeing as i have a 120mm fan behind it and a 200mm fan above it connected by default to the case. And lastly do you think i could probably push this one a bit harder with the memory thats in there.

Thanks in advance. And HI to all the guys and gals here it seems like a very informative site. Feel free to chime in with any opinions you may have on my particular system, bearing in mind I have no experience whatsoever at OCing .

Ahh yeah it goes without saying that i only just read this post otherwise i might have bought a closer machine to yoxxy's specs.

Memset Pic+Fear Test Pic (From Overclock.net). Don't know if this is good or bad but it plays well.

http://www.overclock.net/intel-general/...ain-another-conroe-build-done-but.html

 

[rfadream]

hello i decided to upgrade to c2d.

so far i've decided on these parts

Asus P5B Deluxe (non wifi)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Scythe NINJA PLUS Rev.B (SCNJ-1100P)
G.SKILL 2 GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-15

basically the only difference from your "mainstream overclocked gamer" rig is the memory and the heatsink.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098
is this gskill the same exact thing? becides the color and the lower price?

will the scythe ninja + revb work as well or better than the thermaltake big typhoon?

also i was thinking of upgrading my windows boot drive from my current
80GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 SATA to the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB

is the new perpendicular recording 7200.10 worth it? its pretty cheap for 320gb at $95

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: rfadream
hello i decided to upgrade to c2d.

so far i've decided on these parts

Asus P5B Deluxe (non wifi)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Scythe NINJA PLUS Rev.B (SCNJ-1100P)
G.SKILL 2 GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-15

basically the only difference from your "mainstream overclocked gamer" rig is the memory and the heatsink.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098
is this gskill the same exact thing? becides the color and the lower price?

will the scythe ninja + revb work as well or better than the thermaltake big typhoon?

also i was thinking of upgrading my windows boot drive from my current
80GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 SATA to the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB

is the new perpendicular recording 7200.10 worth it? its pretty cheap for 320gb at $95

If I may, I'll add my 2 cents. *tips hat*

Nice choice on componants for one. My system is almost like yours and I've been to 3.5GHz Orthos stable. The differences are, P5B is the WiFi version (wont change your OC though), RAM is Team Group 2GB DDR2-800 and my cooler is Scythe Infinity.

You should easily hit 3.2GHz or better. Will the Ninja cool better than a BT? I wouldn't know. Whats your budget for HSF?

I would defininately get the seagate 320GB. Is it worth it? I wouldn't know from personal experience, but I've heard good things. Besides, the extra space is a plus in and of itself

 

[rfadream]

sounds great. the main thing i wanted was to hit 3.2 stable with this rig.
i've never done any overclocking before so i wanted to make sure i wouldn't be held back by anything on the list, espescially the Gskill memory.

i considered the infinity but it looks too big. i've read that it does fit on the p5b deluxe but its a very tight fit.
also a review i read noted their was no gain in cooling between the ninja and the infinity.

if anyone has experience with both the infinity and the ninja and thinks i should go with the infinity instead please let me know.
they are both going for the same price atm @ $55.

also my budget for the heatsink+fan is max $55

 

[The-Noid]

That G.Skill Ram uses Elipida Chips. Elpida chips are basically the value ram of the sector. Having had a couple of sets of those, out of 4 sticks only two were memtest/orthos stable at 400 mhz (DDR2-800). I RMAed the other two and they worked. Get the Team Xtreem DDR2-667 3-3-3-8 over at tankguys.biz it will clock much higher than that memory just by loosening the timings.

For the money right now I would go with the Thermaltake Big Typhoon. It is still only $40 over at newegg. I do not think you can beat the performance for the money especially if you add another fan. Tuniq Tower and Ninja are maybe a couple of degrees cooler but you really won't notice that in the end.

Again the only thing I would recommend is not to buy that ram.

Cheers.

 

[rfadream]

hey thx for the reply yoxxy

i might take your advice and pick up the big typhoon instead of the ninja and save $15.

but the ram you suggested is too pricey for me at $287 http://www.tankguys.biz/ddr2-3338-p-167...sCsid=fb6321f2b0dd8d67342680f69f1b6bbf

the highest i can go for the memory is $240.

can you point me to another pair of memory within my budget?

i really want to make sure i can hit 3.0 minumum and preferably 3.2. but i cant spend 287 on the mem.

is there a big difference between the asus p5b deluxe and the p5b e?

if i dropped down to the p5b e i might be able to swing a $290 memory sticks.

 

[rfadream]

also is the difference between these 2 g skills really worth $33?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231084

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: rfadream
hey thx for the reply yoxxy

i might take your advice and pick up the big typhoon instead of the ninja and save $15.

but the ram you suggested is too pricey for me at $287 http://www.tankguys.biz/ddr2-3338-p-167...sCsid=fb6321f2b0dd8d67342680f69f1b6bbf

the highest i can go for the memory is $240.

can you point me to another pair of memory within my budget?

i really want to make sure i can hit 3.0 minumum and preferably 3.2. but i cant spend 287 on the mem.

is there a big difference between the asus p5b deluxe and the p5b e?

if i dropped down to the p5b e i might be able to swing a $290 memory sticks.

In order to hit 3.2GHz your RAM should be able to clock up to 800MHz. Getting the G.Skill that is rated at 800MHz will be plenty. As long as it runs at advertised speeds, you shouldnt have any problems.

As for the Scythe Infinity, it is a b!tch to get on. Install that with the mobo out of the case. That's the easiest way. But you would be fine with what Yoxxy stated as well.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: rfadream
also is the difference between these 2 g skills really worth $33?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231084

I would get the first set. If all you want is 3.2GHz out of it, those will do the job

 

[rfadream]

thanks pcsurgeon thats what i had thougth. i guess i will stick with my original gskills.

i have another question for eveyrone

i've been debating whether to drop down from asus p5b deluxe + e6400 to asus p5b e + e6300.

i can afford both but the savings would be about $75. should i stick with the deluxe and 6400? or should i drop down and spend the extra money to get better memory?