FSB or Multiplier

[Badluck Inc]

I was looking at doing some over-clocking . I read the guide posted here The HardwareLogic Overclocking Guide . I also read around on the net and really didn't find what i was looking for . My question is , say i wanted to over-clock my Q6600 to 3.6 gig . Which would be better.

400 x 9 = 3.6 or 450 x 8 = 3.6 . Does it really matter at the clock level or is one better to go with.

[gvblake22]

CPU core clock speed is going to matter more than anything else; memory speed will be second. Assuming you're running the same RAM:CPU divider in both scenarios, the 450x8 would be better because the RAM is running faster than it would with 400x9. But if you have to put your RAM on a higher divider to get 450x8 and the effective RAM speed is actually slower than 400MHz, then it wouldn't be faster and the 400x9 would be the better choice. It's hard to explain, but does that make any sense?

[Capper]

400x9 is easier......go with that. you are already running 4x1GB of memory....trying to overclock that is gonna be a bitch.....stick with a simple OC of the processor.

[gvblake22]

Yeah, what RAM do you have? I'm running 400x8 right now myself with a 1:1 ratio on the RAM:CPU with my DDR2-800 and I'm very happy.

EDIT:
Just noticed you DO have a signature, it was just colored white (so I fixed it for you).

[Boy'nBlack]

While it IS easier to stick to the 400 (probably by far), there's better results in the higher memfreq even with an odd divider.

Going off that you have a quad, these things lust for bandwidth. Intel's have generally loved bandwidth, let alone 4 cores having the lust for a fat spoonfuls you can feed them.

As capper points out, it can...and more than likely will...be a pain to get those settings to stably stick. You have 1066/533Mhz memory so they're surely capable, so it's worth a shot. Having a name like BadLuck won't help though :p

I'm at 60% on a WU so hate to start rebooting right now. It should be done shortly and can give some examples. I have some common benches like Everest, Sandra, and SuperPi so any thing in particular you'd like to see to judge better or not? If not I'll just pick a couple, toss 'em up, and let you sort it out.

[Capper]

yeah, they are rated at 1066MHz (each kit), running two of them will probably mean they won't OC very well, without a dramatic push in voltage. On top of that I'd be willing to bet those are already at CAS5........so I'd shoot for 1066MHz CAS5, and try to squeeze as much performance out of the processor as possible.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Capper

yeah, they are rated at 1066MHz (each kit), running two of them will probably mean they won't OC very well, without a dramatic push in voltage. On top of that I'd be willing to bet those are already at CAS5........so I'd shoot for 1066MHz CAS5, and try to squeeze as much performance out of the processor as possible.

515x7 is possible (sort of a high FSB with a quadie) to keep a 1:1 ratio would be pretty good. Squeeze as much juice as possible out of the RAM, which like you said probably won't overclock all that much without serious volt. You run a bit under rated frequency, but you run 1:1 so I guess it makes up for it.

[Badluck Inc]

The ram i have now is the ddr2-800 that is just over-clocked to 1600 at 5-5-5-15 , not sure if this is the right setting but thats why the BIOS set it to with it on auto , am using the asus cpu level-up in the BIOS to run at 3gigs atm . CPU-Z is saying the FSB:DRAM 5:8

[gvblake22]

What do you mean the RAM is overclocked to 1600? Somehow I doubt you got it running twice as fast as its rated speed, you're probably misinterpreting that setting. It's not overclocked to 1600MHz, the 5:8 ratio is telling the RAM to run 1.6 times as fast as the FSB you set for the processor (because 8 divided by 5 is 1.6). So if you are running 450x8, then your RAM will be running at 720MHz (450 x 1.6 = 720). CPU-Z should tell you what speed your RAM is running at too.

And I'm not really sure what the Asus CPU level-up is, but don't try using any automatic overclocking features the board might have. It is always better to just change the specific settings to get the speed you want rather than tell the BIOS to do some wierd voodoo magic and overclock the FSB but underclock the RAM. You just never know exactly what is happening when those automatic overclocking settings are used.

[Badluck Inc]

Sorry was a typo its running at 1066 , CPU-Z say DRAM freq is at 533 . Should my FSB:DRAM be 1:1 like in the guide or does that really matter?