Noob Overclocking Advice.
 

Hello out there.

Can anyone answer some OC questions?

I'm building a new PC for myself and I'm thinking of doing some mild overclocking for the first time. I've built several of my own PCs in the past but this will be my first foray into overclocking.

First,here are the hardware specs on my new PC. Perhaps one of you,much smarter that me,overclockers could give me their opinion of my harware choices and how well they may work together.:D

processor.....................Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
motherboard.................ABIT IN9 32X-MAX
memory(4 gigs total)......CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
CPU fan.......................ZALMAN CNPS9700
hard drives(raid 0).........Seagate Barracuda ST3400620AS 400GB SATA 3.0Gb/s
graphics card...............EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB
power supply...............PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad


I've read that the E6700 proc is relativle easy to overclock.

Will I be able to do any overclocking with the CPU,power supply and CPU cooler that I'm using or will something more be needed?

If I can OC with this set up,then how do I do so? ( I have a pretty good understanding of what the multiplier,voltage settings,etc do as far as OCing)

Can someone point me in the direction of a good post/article outlining how this is done? (or perhaps some kind soul could hold my hand and walk me through it.:o )


I'm also a little unclear as to what I should set my memory timings. I've noticed that on the articles I've read on this site(a fine website it is btw!)about this processor and memory timings that they were set to 4-4-4-15.

The memory I have is rated for 5-5-5-12.

Do I use the factory specified timings or are the timings adjustable and can I set them to 4-4-4-15?

Thats all the questions I have for now. I'm sure I will have more.:)

Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,Greg

I have another question.....

I'm interested in getting an Acer 24IN 1000:1 1920X1200 VGA DVI-D 6MS (model #AL2416WD) monitor.

Is this a good match for my graphics card?

Whats the difference between maximum and native resolution?(I know what maximum means :-p )

This monitor is rated for 1920X1200 max resolution. Is that the same as its native resolution?

Is 1920X1200 what I should be setting my resolution to?

Thanks,Greg

Hey
 

From answers.com:

"In a flat panel display, the native resolution is the maximum resolution of the unit. Unlike CRT displays, the native resolution of a flat panel delivers the best quality. At lower resolutions, the quality varies considerably among different brands. However, increasingly, the quality is improving"

I have a 23" Apple Cinema Display with the same native HD resolution of 1920x1200 as that Acer. You would definitely want to run Windows (and thus 2D apps) at 1920x1200 for best image quality but, of course, you will not be able to play *all* games at that super high res with max settings ( even with the most powerful video card on the market at present which you own). So you'll just need to find the best balance of performance and image quality on a per-game basis. For example, I run Far Cry at 1920x1200 full settings (6x FSAA Temporal, 16X Antistropic and HDR) but play Oblivion at 1280x800 (or something like that; it's one of that game's "widescreen" resolution options)

I'll give you some further advice re. overclocking that rig when I get some time. Though as I am not familiar with the BIOS of your board you may just want to start by googling for reviews of your board. Many will include overclocking tips/experiences. Or use google to search a particular forum, for example:

site:xtremesystems.org "Abit IN9"

Well...
 

I should say you *probably" can't play all games at native res; that is one fairly hefty setup you got there. Especially once you overclock her...

1920x1200 with GTX you'll be running at low/no AA levels though in recent games, slightly older games will run very fine with max details.

for OC start with the rating of your mem (5-5-...) and increase the FSB slightly in steps of 10Mhz in the BIOS and do stability tests in Windows with 3DMark03/06 to see if everything keeps running without random reboots.

I see you mentioned 4gb total, does it mean you'll run 4 sticks? THis will limit your memory OC.

We're working on a Core 2 OC guide to publish on the site which will go in-depth with a noob friendly approach on how to OC the Core 2 platform

Nice...
 

Looking forward to the guide.

Thanks for your replies,guys!;-D



Yes....I'm using 4 sticks of 1 gig each. I will be using all four slots. Is that what you mean by limiting myself? I figured that 4 gigs should be plenty.

limited in how far you can push the memory (overclock beyond specs) because you are running 4 sticks, you'll be limited to the speed of the lowest OC'ing stick, if you OC with 1 stick you can get higher, with 4 of them you'll have a harder time getting them to run beyond spec because you're increasing the point of failures:)

Ah...I see.....


With 4 gigs would I even want to OC it?

you'll have some headroom for sure , I don't know if the 680i has a negative divider (run the memory asynchronous with the system FSB) this will allow you to run the CPU higher and keep memory speed within specs.