Overclocking C2D 4500

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Modey, Jan 24, 2008.

  1. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    Hey guys,

    To follow on from an old thread http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread18043.html where I chatted about overclocking my AMD X2 3800+ ...

    I managed to get the 3800+ up to 2.4Ghz (400Mhz overclock) which was nice and stable. It would take any more than that without being crash happy. though.

    Anyway, I decided to do another upgrade, first I swapped my 8800GTS 320MB for the new 8800GT 512MB. It was barely any faster in the above setup than the GTS. I expected this and the day after my other upgrade parts arrived. Namely an Asus P5B mobo, some OCZ DDR2-800 Ram (2 x 1GB) and an Intel Core2Duo E4500 running at 2.2Ghz.

    The 8800GT in my new C2D E4500 running on stock settings (2.2Ghz) was hitting 9500ish in 3DMark06. Which is about 1000 faster than the best I could get from the old system with the same card.

    So with a bit of overclock tinkering on the mobo, I now have the chip running at 3.0Ghz which required a minor vcore bump to run stably. 3DMark06 jumped up to 11k ish (don't remember the exact score. With a mild overclock on the 8800 it' now just made it into the 12,000's.

    Very pleased with that as it's a significant increase from the last setup. I realise 3dmark is a synthetic benchmark and the increase in actual games won't be as significant, but I am very pleased non the less.

    For anyone considering the Asus P5B, be aware that it is very fussy when it comes to ram. I had to bump the ram voltage up by 0.2 in order to get the system to even consider completing the XP setup process.
     
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  2. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    Sounds good mate :)

    I have an Asus P5NE-Sli its supposed to be a good board for overclocking but I have never tried it, I wouldn't know where to start and would beld be scard in case I blew my comp.
     
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  3. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    Best bet is to to a google search for your board model and chip. There are bound to be people who have done it already and have put up guide's to what settings they used. That's what I did and I have learned a great deal about overclocking in the process.
     
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    WIP: Nada
  4. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    I've got a P5B running with a C2D E6300 and some Corsair memory. Runs like an absolute champ. Haven't tried overclocking it, but I hear it o/cs quite well!
     
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  5. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    To quote the Demoman from Team Fortress 2 - "KabOOOOOOOOOM" :)

    I attempted to update the BIOS on my P5B this evening and it would appear to have killed the motherboard. Downloaded the latest BIOS from the ASUS website, and picked the correct BIOS for the board (as there are quite a few varients of the P5B). Used the Asus update utility in windows and pointed it at the bios file. It all went perfectly, no errors, checked ok etc... It asked for a reboot, then after the reboot it didn't post.

    So I went through the normal steps of initially powering the system down completely (which you need to do after an overclock fail, then it will come back on no problems). That didn't work. So I took the side off, set the cmos clear jumper to clear, took out the battery and left it for a minute. Set it back up and still no post.

    This particular mobo has a 'crash free bios' (tm) and this can't happen (well according to Asus anyway :) ).

    I have tried some of the suggestions of recovering from a failed bios update as suggested in the manual, non of which work. They all seem to rely on the board posting then initiating the bios recovery process.

    Ah well, mucho hassle. I have started the RMA process with the supplier I bought it from and requested a refund. I have asked for a refund because I have already ordered a new mobo (Asus P5K) based on the P35 chipset. A more expensive board than the last one, but also a better one by the sounds of it (supports the new 45nm CPU's and the 1333FSB). So better from an upgrading point of view for processors.

    Hopefully I won't get too much hassle swapping the broken board, well any more hassle than I have already gone through. First motherboard I have ever lost to a BIOS upgrade. I guess there is a first time for everything. :) If they only offer to swap the board for a working replacement, I'll accept it and sell the board on. Shouldn't be too difficult to shift. Time will tell.
     
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  6. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    What BIOS did you upgrade it to? I've got a P5B, and I don't want to potentially encounter the same problem with turning it into a brick. :)

    According to ASUS' website, the P5B supports the 1333MHz FSB procs with a BIOS update (not sure about the 45nm ones)... just checked today after GBL got me curious about upgrading.
     
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  7. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    I was the 1803 bios dated the 30th Nov 2007. It would appear that I'm not the only one this has happened too from checking their forums.
     
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  8. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Yikes. Thanks for the timely warning! :) Rep given.
     
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  9. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    In the absence of a working motherboard, rep will have to do. Thanks. :)
     
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    WIP: Nada
  10. Modey

    Modey Terabyte Poster

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    It's working again now, looks like a night disconnected from everything did the trick. Luckily I know someone I can sell the board too so my hasty action in buying another one isn't a problem. :)
     
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    WIP: Nada

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