E8400 @ 3.9ghz @ 1.34v - is it safe?

[MaxAwesome]

Hey there!

I finally decided to OC my e8400, i'm still taking baby steps in OCing, but i think i'm getting the hang of it.

Right now I have it @ 1,36v in BIOS, 1.34v in CPU-Z.

Northbridge is @ 1.34v in BIOS

My temps are, according to HWmonitor: 38-40C @ idle; ~65C @ load on a Zalman CNPS7500.

I thinking of going a bit further, but I have to upgrade my RAM to DDR2 1066mhz, as my 800mhz Kingston craps out if I try to go for 4ghz+.

But for now, do you think I'm good? Temps and voltages, are they within safe limits? This a 24/7 OC, so if there's smoething i'm doing wrong, please tell me.

 

[novacheck]

If you look at my sig, I have been running mine for 3 months at 500 x 8 = 4.0, @ 1.28v on an Asus P5N-D. My cooling is a Xigmatek HDT-S1283, and I usually run around 35c idle, and I have maxed at 62c. Never had any stability issues. Good luck.

 

[grunt_408]

As long as you keep within Voltage specs you should be fine temps look a little on the high side under load I reckon that chip would do that clock speed with lower voltage like 1.300 volts and maybe lower.

 

[JC316]

Your temps are good. I wouldn't push it any further for 24/7, but if you want a benchmark run, keep the temps below 70*C. It's currently safe.

 

[SkyKast]

damn i wish I knew how to OC lol I have this chip and i wish i could pump 4.0 out of it 24/7

 

[LagunaX]

You're fine.
Intel rates upper limit of cpu vcore 1.3625v for 45nm.
Keep load temps under 70c preferably 65c or lower.

 

[grunt_408]

@ Skycast you are pretty smart wif Photoshop I reckon you would figure out how to O/C

 

[SkyKast]

ha thanks, your prolly right though i just need to find a good guide that im not ganna get bored half way thru, or someone who could show me

 

[grunt_408]

Getting of topic but.... The first time I overclocked I had no idea. It was an old socket A and all I thought was that you turn up the voltage to make the cpu go faster. So I did just that I turned the voltage up as far as it could go in the bios saved settings and re-booted. The Pc was like 1 day old the very first pc I had ever built, The wife wasnt impressed when I told her that the pc we had just spent heaps of money on building was toast and I wanted to build another ROFL. Thats pretty much how I learn. THE HARD WAY!!!
EDIT: It was not untill I found this site was until I started to learn how to do it properly, there are lots of people here that want to help out and anytime I need to know anything this is where I come.

 

[Hayder_Master]

one of the most great overclock intel give warnings about voltage and temp which is
1.3625v max voltage (like my friend legunax say)
65C max temp of 45nm cpu's
so you pass it all with high core speed nice

 

[SkyKast]

haha nice one craig (im assuming thats your name?) but we are getting off topic here lol

 

[MaxAwesome]

Thanx for all the replies people, but I can't seem to make it Prime95 or OCCT stable... I'm a bit disappointed, 1.34v @ 3.9ghz should be more than enough, right? Either that, or my RAM is crapping out on me. But still, I have 800mhz DDR @ 870mhz right now (= 434mhz FSB)... I'm not even pushing them that far... :S

I just might forget about this whole OC thing... I expected a bit more out of my trusty e8400. Well, it's a great OC nevertheless, but you know... you just gotta break the 4ghz barrier. It's a kind of psychological thing

Other voltages are:

NB @ 1.36v
RAM @ 2.10v
CPU PLL @ 1.78v (I'm not really sure what this does)
FSB termination Voltage @ 1.32v (again, not very sure about this one).

PS: There's also CPU GTL Reference voltage (which I keep @ 0.63x)... Again, what does this thing do? Does it matter? Because in BIOS it tells me I can fry the CPU if I push this setting to high? It's a weird setting because it works with multis instead of direct voltage values... wtf :S

Can anyone help me stabilize this bitch? I was looking forward to get some 1066mhz DDR2 and try to push it past 4ghz+ (most of them do it easily)... but if my CPU fails prime95 @ 3.9ghz @ 1.34v, i don't know if faster RAM is gonna help.

Ideas?

 

[SkyKast]

There's also CPU GTL Reference voltage (which I keep @ 0.63x)... Again, what does this thing do?

ive never heard of that before sorry cant help yah bro

 

[MaxAwesome]

UPDATE: Just finished a 1 hour run of prime95 (small FFTs) with one error. It didn't reboot though, as it usually did. I'm getting confused lol.

However, if I try to run the blend test or the large FFT test, it fails within minutes. These are the two tests that, according to description, test "some" and "lots" of RAM, respectively. So, i'm guessing, RAM might be the cause of this OC's instability.

And during the small FFT prime95 test, temps didn't go above 60ºC.

Now, on to OCCT, it fails either CPU test (the OCCT and the Linpack tests) and temps usually hit 70ºC.

I don't know what to think: it is apparently stable (i did get one error though) on prime95 small FFT, and it fails everything else... on either prime95 and OCCT; but I heard OCCT really pushes the CPU beyond anything else, including any "real-life" app. So maybe this OC is stable for gaming (which is my goal, actually)... I feel i'm getting confused and confusing everyone else... sorry

 

[WhiteNoise]

what speed are you running your ram at? Unless you are overclocking the memory its not you problem I'm sure. You can rule the memory out by running memtest. I would just lock your memory at its correct speed and run asynch for now. When you buy better memory you can synch it all up.

Most likely you are just not giving something the right amount of voltage.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Your cpu PLL is too high. I wouldn't go over 1.5v. You can pump more into yout MCH voltage (NB) but what kind of cooling do you have on it? You might want to try your NB at 1.4v and if that doesn't help then maybe up your cpu volt some more. I'd keep your cpu gtl ref at auto.

 

[n-ster]

It's stable for gaming Just run memtest to see if you Ram OC is stable...you don't need 100% stability for gaming AT ALL... prime 95 is already on hell of a stability test, and not passing it doesn't mean you aren't stable enough for gaming

 

[a_ump]

but not stable enough for prime 95 means not always stable, i wouldn't pass prime 95 or OCCT at 3.2ghz but i could game all day on it. however there was the occasional freezing with my pc so i backed down to 3ghz. it's my mobo though :/

 

[LagunaX]

Some games like Crysis you pretty much need to be at or close to prime stability or you'll lock up or crash...

 

[n-ster]

but he passed prime so he's way fine

 

[erocker]

Thanx for all the replies people, but I can't seem to make it Prime95 or OCCT stable... I'm a bit disappointed, 1.34v @ 3.9ghz should be more than enough, right? Either that, or my RAM is crapping out on me. But still, I have 800mhz DDR @ 870mhz right now (= 434mhz FSB)... I'm not even pushing them that far... :S

I just might forget about this whole OC thing... I expected a bit more out of my trusty e8400. Well, it's a great OC nevertheless, but you know... you just gotta break the 4ghz barrier. It's a kind of psychological thing

Other voltages are:

NB @ 1.36v
RAM @ 2.10v
CPU PLL @ 1.78v (I'm not really sure what this does)
FSB termination Voltage @ 1.32v (again, not very sure about this one).

PS: There's also CPU GTL Reference voltage (which I keep @ 0.63x)... Again, what does this thing do? Does it matter? Because in BIOS it tells me I can fry the CPU if I push this setting to high? It's a weird setting because it works with multis instead of direct voltage values... wtf :S

Can anyone help me stabilize this bitch? I was looking forward to get some 1066mhz DDR2 and try to push it past 4ghz+ (most of them do it easily)... but if my CPU fails prime95 @ 3.9ghz @ 1.34v, i don't know if faster RAM is gonna help.

Ideas?

Make your RAM slow, take it out of the equation for now. Loosen the timings and set it under 800mhz if you have to. You can go back and take care of the RAM after your CPU is stable.

CPU PLL is way too high. Set it to 1.55v or so...

NB to 1.4v

GTL Refferences are a strain to wrap your head around. Read this article: http://www.ocxtreme.org/main/?q=node/1

Then again, your chip just may not be very good which is starting to be more common with E8400's. The better chips are binned to E8500 and E8600's.

 

[erocker]

UPDATE: Just finished a 1 hour run of prime95 (small FFTs) with one error. It didn't reboot though, as it usually did. I'm getting confused lol.

However, if I try to run the blend test or the large FFT test, it fails within minutes. These are the two tests that, according to description, test "some" and "lots" of RAM, respectively. So, i'm guessing, RAM might be the cause of this OC's instability.

And during the small FFT prime95 test, temps didn't go above 60ºC.

Now, on to OCCT, it fails either CPU test (the OCCT and the Linpack tests) and temps usually hit 70ºC.

I don't know what to think: it is apparently stable (i did get one error though) on prime95 small FFT, and it fails everything else... on either prime95 and OCCT; but I heard OCCT really pushes the CPU beyond anything else, including any "real-life" app. So maybe this OC is stable for gaming (which is my goal, actually)... I feel i'm getting confused and confusing everyone else... sorry

Sounds like RAM stability to me. Run Memtest.

 

[WhiteNoise]

He's not prime stable when running the 'blend' test which is the only test i'd consider running to test stability.

I also use Intel Burn Test because its way harder on the CPU and if you pass that then yer good to go!

If my pc isn't stable then I don't use it till it is. period. I hate never knowing why I just locked up or crashed and if it had anything to do with my OC.

 

[n-ster]

CP doesn't even TRY prime I say, try the most demanding game you have and play on it as much as you can etc... stability is very subjective, and it is your choice...

do the tweaks that every else said (the voltages) and put your ram to stock... or try memtest first

Good luck!

 

[MaxAwesome]

I can't seem to make my RAM slower. In my p5q pro BIOS I have the option to set my RAM speed, but I can't seem to set it to anything lower than FSBx2: For example, right now I have my FSB @ 434mhz which at a 9x multi, equals my current 3.9ghz clock. So, this means my RAM is @ 434 x 2 = roughly 870mhz... I can only set it to FSB speeds and higher; not lower. This means I can't separate my RAM clock from my FSB... or am I missing something? I have the latest BIOS for P5Q Pro... the 2002 version.

Help anyone?