OverClock NOOB, 2008 Build, Help?

kasdoy

Active member
Ok, so I tried some over-clocking today in the BIOS. That went horribly wrong, after an hour of a dead pc sitting unplugged and all, I managed to get it back up and running. Which i was over the moon about because i thought id lost this pc, which has been with me for a very long time now.

So down to overclocking;

CPU;
Xeon X3350, 4Core 2.66GHz
- Currently at 2.71GHz
[ its the equiv of the Q9450 CPU.]
- Experienced OC's have got it Max 3.8-4.0GHz unstable,
- Through research, 3.4GHz is the highest and stablest speed to go,

MOBO;
Asus ROG Rampage Formula
[the first formula]

Ram;
8GB DDR2
[4x2GB]

When i went into the bios menu on this, i couldnt find any way to change the core voltage, i could only view it which puzzled me. I then came across a load of terms that went straight over my head. So i put it into the preset 'CPU LEVEL UP' which has done nothing, practically.

I did change the Core ratio from 0.6 to 0.8. However when i tried 0.9 it wouldnt allow it as it said the max value is 8 [0.8];
it is unlocked,
So i don't understand how i can increase that past 0.8.

its currently clocked to 2.671GHz by changing that value by 0.2

It is a really old build and so its extremely hard for me to find any tutorials on OC with this motherboard that i would somewhat be able to copy, so i would greatly appreciate any help you could give me.

In the research I have had, guys have max clocked it to 3.6-3.8GHz, even as high as 4.0GHz however its somewhat unstable.
the most stable yet high has been 3.4-3.6GHz, which i would love to clock up to.

If you can help me i will be ever thankful!
Cheers for you time community :)
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
I think you really need to go and familiarise yourself with the basics of overclocking a CPU, Google for some generic guides.

You don't need to be adjusting the voltage as a first step, you need to be adjusting the CPU ratio/multiplier. Then stress test it to check its stable then worry about adjusting the voltages to make it stable when you reach the end of multiplier adjustment road.
 

kasdoy

Active member
I think you really need to go and familiarise yourself with the basics of overclocking a CPU, Google for some generic guides.

You don't need to be adjusting the voltage as a first step, you need to be adjusting the CPU ratio/multiplier. Then stress test it to check its stable then worry about adjusting the voltages to make it stable when you reach the end of multiplier adjustment road.

Cheers for the reply, that's what i done.
like i stated above, I changed the ratio from 06.0 to 08.0 and then it wouldn't let me go any higher. I stress tested every notch i went up so for both 07.0 and 08.0, hence why i was asking how i would change the voltage when there doesn't seem to be an option avaliable.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Yeah but increasing the voltage doesn't make it go faster, it just makes it more stable at a given multiplier.

I'm not familiar with the xeon chips but for newer chips the multiplier is like 30 to 35 and the base clock is like 100 or multiplier of 25 and a base clock of 150. That kind of thing.

Looking at Google it seems like your chip has a bus speed of 333Mhz and a multiplier of 8. People seem to be modifying the bus speed rather than the multiplier, have a look on google. The info is out their, I don't want to point you in any specific direction and then brick your PC though...

I'd take a look at a few different guides.
 

Karnor00

Bright Spark
One other thing to bear in mind is that an overclocked CPU requires more cooling than a non-overclocked CPU. People getting the highest overclocks will certainly be using more than a standard cooler - probably watercooled at least, or possibly even more extreme cooling.
 

kasdoy

Active member
Yeah but increasing the voltage doesn't make it go faster, it just makes it more stable at a given multiplier.

I'm not familiar with the xeon chips but for newer chips the multiplier is like 30 to 35 and the base clock is like 100 or multiplier of 25 and a base clock of 150. That kind of thing.

Looking at Google it seems like your chip has a bus speed of 333Mhz and a multiplier of 8. People seem to be modifying the bus speed rather than the multiplier, have a look on google. The info is out their, I don't want to point you in any specific direction and then brick your PC though...

I'd take a look at a few different guides.

Thats correct with the multi and bus speed, but wouldnt i still need to change the voltage to compensate for the bus speed being increased to keep the cpu stable so it can boot? cheers for the info though and ive been googling like mad just parts confuse me is all :)
 

kasdoy

Active member
One other thing to bear in mind is that an overclocked CPU requires more cooling than a non-overclocked CPU. People getting the highest overclocks will certainly be using more than a standard cooler - probably watercooled at least, or possibly even more extreme cooling.

Hey, cheers for the heads up, i currently have a watercooler installed and my idle temps at 39C and when stress testing with the multiplyer up to 08.0 it hits 54C as oppose to default stress of 42C.
 

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Thats correct with the multi and bus speed, but wouldnt i still need to change the voltage to compensate for the bus speed being increased to keep the cpu stable so it can boot? cheers for the info though and ive been googling like mad just parts confuse me is all :)

The system should boot just fine regardless of the overclock you dial in (within reason obviously). if it doesn't then your taking much too large a step.

You should only increase the voltage when you get to a point in your stress testing that shows some problems. Once you get to a point where you have got as far as it can go on stock voltage you then up voltage a little. I got the impression you thought upping the voltage would somehow up the performance, that's not the case. You only up the voltage to increase stability under load. if that makes sense?
 

kasdoy

Active member
The system should boot just fine regardless of the overclock you dial in (within reason obviously). if it doesn't then your taking much too large a step.

You should only increase the voltage when you get to a point in your stress testing that shows some problems. Once you get to a point where you have got as far as it can go on stock voltage you then up voltage a little. I got the impression you thought upping the voltage would somehow up the performance, that's not the case. You only up the voltage to increase stability under load. if that makes sense?

I must have made too big a step then, but yeah i understand that voltage change needs to compensate to make the system more stable under stress testing and doesnt effect the performance you get out, which is what im getting at. I literally cannot change the voltage in the BIOS so is there no point me trying to overclock? there is no CPUCore Or VCore in the settings anywhere in order to compensate if needed. If i download Asus overclocking software it can be changed but i'd rather do it properly in the BIOS.

Cheers for clarifying for me!
 
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