Asus/Core2 Build

[Kursah]

Just figure'd I'd post my OC results and build if somone wants an idea for a pretty damn good OC rig...props to Tigger69 for helping me with this project!

UPDATED 4-8-2007

CPU - Core2 Duo E6300
>Cooling - AC Freezer Pro 7 + Arctic Silver 5
MB - Asus P5B Deluxe
>Cooling - Stock Heatpipe/Heatsink Setup
Memory - G.Skill PC6400 phu2-2gbhz (Micron D9's) (1024MB x 2 DDR2 800)
>Cooling - Pre-installed heatsinks, $20 Corsair XMS Airflow Memory Cooler from Newegg (really works well, and quiet too!)
Video - Powercolor x1950pro 256Mb Extreme
>Cooling - Pre-installed AC Accelero X2 Cooler, set to 100% fan speed in Video Bios. Removed Slot cover from next slot to help vent heat that is blown towards PCI-E Slot due to design of cooler, this helped cool the card down another ~4c at idle and ~2c load.
Power - Antec Smart Power 2.0 500 Watt, 2x12v Rails
>Cooling - 2x80mm temp sens. fans, internal heatsinks.
Case - Aspire (Apeva) X-Cruiser (Red w/Blue Lights...Blue lightbar installed also)
>Cooling - 2x80mm Fans (Filtered) Intake, 1x120mm Fan Rear Exhaust, 1x80mm Fan Top Exhaust, Fan speeds set at ~50% in Bios, Filtered Cpu Vent, Vga Vent.
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9, 500GB, SATAII, 16Mb Buffer
>Cooling - Placed in lowest mount area to have front intake fans blow over the top of it for heat dissapation.

OC:
Stable at stock voltage at these speeds, will list voltage settings as I manually set them:
CPU - 1.86 @ 266FSB Original / 3.36 OC @ 480FSB - 1.32v (80% OC)
Memory - DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 @ 2.1v / DDR2 960 4-4-4-5 @ 2.25v
1:1 Ratio (set to 533 speeds before OC-ing CPU)
MB Settings:
vCore - 1.325v (reads 1.28 idle, 1.26 load)
FSB v - 1.2v
NB v - 1.25v
SB v - 1.5v
ICH v - 1.057v
PCI-e - 100Mhz
PCI - 33.3Mhz
FSB - 480Mhz

Video Card - (Seems due to Vista/Vista Vid Drivers I cannot reach higher stable OC's...could be hardware though)
Core - 600Mhz Stock / 621Mhz OC'd
Memory - 700Mhz (1400 Effective) Stock / 770Mhz (1540 Effective) OC'd
Performed using ATI Tool .27 b1, not using Fuzzycube as for some reason it causes an ati driver to reset...so I use 3DMark 05/06 and Aquamark, and 3d games of course!
Set PEG Performance to the Faster setting, seemed to improve by a few FPS and a couple hundred points in 3DMark 05.

CPU -
Disabled all but Disable Bit and TM. Set manual multiplier to 7x.

Memory settings are reached through NB Config..

I set them to:
4-4-4-5-5-35-10-10-10-10

Disabled Static Read.

My results are great. I posted my idle/load temps for most of my components in my System Spec's. I get good scores in benching, and it games wonderfully. Of course I came from a:

Abit AS8-v/P4 630 3.0 Oc'ed to 3.7 @ 1.38v (stock) w/Zalman 7700AlCu Cooler + AS5 (35idle, 55load),
2x512 Cheap Mosel DDR 400 3-4-4-8, would run 1:1 to 242fsb (3.6 CPU) (DDR 484) @ 2.9v. w/pre-installed heatsinks, no other cooling.
Same Power Supply (replaced my cheap 550W powersupply at that time)
ATI x850pro converted/unlocked to 16 pipes to x850 xt pe, AC cooler installed, oc'd from 500/500 to 540/590 (XT Pe) and then 562/630.
Same case/hdd/dvd burners, case fans, etc.

[tigger]

thanks mate,and no problem,glad to be of help.

[Matt18]

Which memory is that you purchased?
Is it this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

Just curious because thats the memory I just bought for my p5b

Asus didn't have G Skill listed as memory that will work w/ my board but I read that it would.

[Kursah]

Which memory is that you purchased?
Is it this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

Just curious because thats the memory I just bought for my p5b

Asus didn't have G Skill listed as memory that will work w/ my board but I read that it would.

It will work fine...I don't think Asus has been keeping up on that list as they're moving on to newer products...this business is fast moving for sure.

The memory I purchased was this stuff:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231065

I paid like $60 more than it's on sale for now..and I'm still happy with it. The stuff you got looks decent and should treat you well! If you need any help, let me know! Or Tigger69 cause he's the master at P5B's!!!

[Kursah]

If you plan on OC-ing though...you may want to exchange that memory and spend $50 more to get the stuff I have...I am at DDR2 960 with 4-4-4-5 timings at 2.25v!!! The memory you got won't OC too far.

[Matt18]

I have zero experience with overclocking, I doubt I will mess with the ram initially. unless it is unstable and I have to raise the voltage, which I have never done before.

I guess i'll see how the install goes. everything is arriving monday and I'm getting nervous. :)

[Kursah]

I have zero experience with overclocking, I doubt I will mess with the ram initially. unless it is unstable and I have to raise the voltage, which I have never done before.

I guess i'll see how the install goes. everything is arriving monday and I'm getting nervous. :)

OC-ing is easy, technical, and sometimes a pain in the ass, but I'm addicted to it! Voltage will be in your Bios, read your MB's Owner's Manual! If you got OEM, go to asustek's website and get the PDF version! That'll help you with the basics. Then when you get it, you can mess around with it. You may have to increase voltage to get the memory to run at advertised memory timings or be stable, and that is normal. And I believe you can return that item within 30 days of purchase and exchange for a different product...check w/newegg's return policy under RMA. If you spend 30 more bucks, you can get memory that'll OC very well with your setup. But you will still be able to OC some with the memory you got, and you may be plenty content with it. Like I said, I believe you have 30 days or so to think about it!

[tigger]

and DONT up the voltage to ram or cpu in big steps,always the smallest step unless you know the item is rated for it.

and make sure you have adequate cooling on your cpu if you are gonna oc.stock cpu coolers are generally not good enuff for oc'ing.

[Kursah]

and DONT up the voltage to ram or cpu in big steps,always the smallest step unless you know the item is rated for it.

and make sure you have adequate cooling on your cpu if you are gonna oc.stock cpu coolers are generally not good enuff for oc'ing.

Exaclty right....increasing voltage too much can be a very ugly situation and a very nasty burning smell followed by a lot of smoke billowing from your PC case. But that's why there's research, to get specs for components and others' experience with that component and what it does with different settings/situations.

Cooling and OC-ing go hand in hand, if you don't have good enough cooling, don't expect a good OC, or get high temps and well...that whole burning, smoke billowing deal. Overclocking is almost an art, and it's very addictive once you've successfully OC'd and enjoyed the benefits, and met a goal of course!