Processor Overclocking

[Carnage]

Okay, I know how to OC video cards, those are easy. I need help with OCing my processor some though. I read a guide last night, and tested some shit out( <3 crash free bios), but I dunno how to push it for maximum performance. Would it be better to drop my multiplier and raise the bus speed, or just keep my multi at 16 and raise the bus as high as I can. If my full pc specs aren't in my sig, i'll post them shortly. mt dew + everclear comes first :]

[=EleMenT=]

to answer your question, the higher your bus speed the better performance you will have. The way it works is this: your FSB is how your processor communicates with your motherboard Northbridge, which is where your RAM and Graphics Card are located. Now, the faster the FSB is, the quicker memory will be processed, and thus the better performance you will have. So now, to explain why it is crashing. You have not supplied sufficient voltage to the processor to handle the new settings.
The more you overclock your processor, the more voltage you need to add. For a quick summary, you need to lower that multiplier to near the lowest it can go. Then, raise your FSB from its stock like 50MHz. Then save and quit the BIOS. If your computer starts again, redo the process. Now, if it crashes, you need to add more voltage. Depending on your Heatsink, you will get significant or insignificant heat increases as you increase your voltage. Now, after maybe 3 repetitions of the above, you should boot all the way into windows to see if it loads. If it doesn't. ADD MORE VOLTAGE! If it does, you should run a program called Prime95 and stress test the processor for maybe an hour or two. Many people will say to do an 8 hr/ overnight "burn", but I found that it is really unecessary, as if it is unstable, it will fail withing the first 30 min to 1 hr. If it is stable, you can overclock it some more! but watch out you don't go overboard! Stress test again, and keep an eye on your temps when you do this. Use a program like SpeedFan to monitor the temps. There are better programs like Everest Ultimate, but SpeedFan is an easy, free download.

So good luck! And just F.Y.I, some people will say the core clock is more important. To balance it out, you can lower the FSB once you have overclocked it to the max, and raise the multiplier by one or so!

[Carnage]

Okay, what is an acceptable max temperature for the cpus? And is it abnormal for 1 cpu to run 10 degrees hotter than the other one? O.o. I have it fairly stable now with my current cpu-z settings(see sig). temperatures are currently 37 and 46 degrees (cpu 0 and cpu 1) Under load, it's gone as high as 56, never over 60 degrees before. Is there any way to directly compare performance from say, 215 x 16 to 225 x 15 or so? It's time consuming to boot up, benchmark, rinse, repeat x 25 times . I'm considering buying 2 more fans for my case that will both blow directly on the gpu and cpu, but I'm really strapped for cash, so i can only afford dirt cheap, $4 fans.

[=EleMenT=]

On AMD's website, it says the Maximum temps for your processor are 55-63c. What kind of heatsink do you have ATM? Is it a stock one? Those temps are a bit high on load, tho your processor will not explode even if it reaches 63 degrees. And to answer your question about performance, to determine which would run better, you would really have to find some benchmarks on your particular processor. I run an Intel processor, so you might find some more AMD reliable information from our AMD users, but as far as I can tell you, the higher the FSB, the quicker your processor will be able to handle memory and graphics information. Right now, I have a Q6600 at 1850MHz rated FSB with a multiplier of 8x (four cores), giving me a core clock of 3.7 GHz. My multiplier can go as high as 9, but I chose to set it at 8 to allow for higher bus speeds at lower temperatures.

About that temperature difference between cores: I know that different cores will run at different temperatures on any processor, depending on the work load sent to each core, as different cores process different information.

[Carnage]

Ah, okay. Yea, it's stock on the cpu, but it's a pretty beastly lookin stock cooler.

I can't find one for the 6400, and im too lazy to take off my case, but I THINK, from looking at mine, mine is actually bigger than that one.
That's the stock heatsink, with fan on top. I thought that was a bit high, but to be honest it's not very low at idle either. It idles at 40-45, and load is between 50-55. I forgot to mention, these temperatures are with the current overclock, at about 3.48ghz/core. I don't think they ever went over 50 at load with the default, but I don't remember if I checked.
Barring different types of processor, would there be any point and pushing the FSB faster than the ram? And how exactly do I know what my ram speed is? It's ddr2-1066, but in cpu-z and AOD it is showing as running at 420mhz...seems odd.

[=EleMenT=]

In CPUz, it is showing your RAM speed as your CPU core clock divided by 8. Look at mine:

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=520534

The way the RAM speed is determined is this: When you want to overclock your FSB, you have to unlink it from the RAM. Now, if you do not leave it unlinked, you can set a ratio of FSB speed to RAM. Mine is 7:8, which I did not set manually, but CPUz is displaying. But to answer your question about RAM speed, it is that times 2, hence DDR2 (double data rate). And yea, those temps are high cause of the heavy OC already.

[Carnage]

Ah, :] I'm starting to understand better now, thanks . Soon as I beat this big ass spider in Lost planet i'll go back to bios and drop the multi and up the FSB and run another benchmark to see how it goes :]. If my ram speed is based on my cpu speed, does that mean i'd benefit more from having an overall high clock, as opposed to just a high fsb?

[Carnage]

Okay, for the record, and my own record since my memory sucks. 215 X 16 =11271 3dmarks
230 x 15 = 10247, which is lower than my stock-clocked score...wtf happened to my score? -.-

[=EleMenT=]

A 15 Mhz increase isn't that much to be honest. The idea of the lowered multi was to be able to increase it a lot more than that.

[Carnage]

Really? I tried that last night and it wouldn't even boot, with the increased voltage on that last run, it was peaking at ~64 degrees. I dont wanna fry it . You got aim or somethin to make this go faster? XD

[=EleMenT=]

I pm'ed you my AIM.