Overclocking My Rig

[ImADot]

So, I built my system about 3 years ago (or was it two)...anyway I finally decided to mess around with overclocking to squeeze some performance for AH2, the Film Viewer and Fraps.

Antec 1200 Case
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Mobo
Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo @ 3.00 GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 CPU cooler
1Gb x 4 Corsair DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz 5-5-5-18
EVGA GeForce GTX260 SC 896Mb GPU
PC Power & Cooling 750W PS
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit (don't laugh)

So, after some research and checking of BIOS settings, I come to find out my mobo defaults were only letting the CPU run around 2.5-2.8GHz this whole time and the RAM was running 400Mhz. 

I bumped the FSB to 9x 445MHz and voltage to 1.4v on the CPU and got it up to 4.0GHz and after a quick stress test was still way under the max temp; but the RAM was at 870Mhz or so and was unstable. I backed it down to 9x 400MHz and 1.3v. The CPU is 3.6GHz and RAM 800MHz - all is rock solid and steady. Ran Prime95 in Blend for 4 hours and only maxxed temp at around 51c.

Now for the question:
Would changing the voltage and timings on the RAM squeeze anything else from it, or should I (like I told the wife) go get some DDR2-1066 RAM to replace what I currently have? And if so, are there any names I should stay away from? I see my local MicroCenter has Kingston HyperX blu 4GB DDR2-1066 (PC2-8500) for $60.

I'd really like to run as fast as I can within the stable limits of my system.

PS
I also overclocked my vid card to 704 core/1515 shader/1300 mem without messing with voltages and now get to turn on local water reflections, shadow on others and own shadow to 2048Mb. I'm still pegged at 60FPS with occasionaly dips to 45-50. GPU temp/load/mem still under max. 

[guncrasher]

most cpu's will only run at full speed if the have to.  you dont want a cpu to be at 4.0 when it's at idle, so it runs slower to conserve energy by default.  I could never get my cpu to 4.0 the most I got was 3.9 but every cpu is different.  mine was stable 24/7 at 3.8.  I had the same cpu/mobo but 4 gigs ram at 1066.

I think the question you should ask yourself is are you happy with the eye candy that you have.  if everything is maxed with shadows at 2048 and I mean every single box, then you wont see an improvement.  except when switching back from full screen in the film viewer when you see about a 5 to 10 second delay.

that mobo was "picky" about about some ram.  i got the ocz ram back when it was available 2x4 and never had any problems.  look up the mobo and see which ram they recommend.


semp

[BaldEagl]

If your CPU and RAM were in sync you'd need your RAM running at 800 mhz.  At 445 (1780 FSB) it would have to run at 890 Mhz.  You might be able to get that out of your 800 but it will be a lot of work.  You could get faster RAM but the difference will be negligable.  Anything faster than 890 would be out of sync in the opposite direction with your FSB at 1780.

The real problem is the delicate balance between speed and timings.  Generally the faster the RAM the looser the timings have to be.  As you sped up your RAM you needed to loosen (slow down) the timings and raise the voltage.  Stock RAM reflects this as faster RAM generally has slower timings.

If you do decide to buy new RAM I'd look for DDR 1000 and possibly slow it down and tighten the timings but that, again, will be a lot of work.  I'm running Kingston HyperX (4x1 Gb DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 @ 2.0V) and it's been flawless.  Kingston also allows a margin of over-volting without voiding the lifetime warranty in the HyperX series.

Good luck.

[ImADot]

Thanks. I guess I'll mess around with RAM timings to try to stabilize things when it's running at 890Mhz to match the 445x9 FSB when I decide to bump the CPU back up to 4.0GHz.

[BaldEagl]

Make sure to record your OC settings prior to working with the RAM.  If you end in a situation where you can't POST you'll have to pull the battery to reset the CMOS and default BIOS settings and knowing what you've already done will save you some energy and frustration.

[FLS]

You will find that OC makes no noticeable difference in AH. You might see a slight increase in fps but actual in game performance will look the same. Run your PC at 3.0 and 800. If you want to OC use  a multiplier that lets you run your memory at 800. Buying faster memory would be a waste of money, you wouldn't see any benefit.

I run a 2.67 at 3.5 and it's completely unnecessary.  

[Chalenge]

That memory will run stable at up to 866 but I dont think 890 is going to work well. Just being linked and synced you should be able to hit 3.6 on the CPU and 800 on the RAM which it sounds like you did. The problem you are going to run into is that you are now pushing an overclock on a system that has already begun to experience age degradation on its electronic components. Just be prepared to replace everything before proceeding. Usually instead of a total system meltdown what you will find is that the MB just cant hold overclock at all anymore. But if your PSU is having CAP age issues (no matter how good the PSU is it eventually will) all bets are off.