Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hi, I want to learn how to overclock. I know a decent amount about computers so it shouldn't be too hard to explain.

Here is everything I know about my computer just in case it makes a difference.

I bought my computer the day when core 2 duos came out so it's very old right now, about 4 years.

Since then I have switched my e6600 for a q6600, updated the 7800gt for a 460gtx, and RMA'd my OCZ 520w for a 600w.

mobo: Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
proc: Intel Q6600
mem: OCZ pc6400 400mhz 4-5-4-15 2GB
gpu: Gigabyte 460 gtx
psu: OCZ 600w

According to cpu-z the memory was originally meant for 1.8v 5-5-5-15 timing but ocz said to run it at 2.1v 4-5-4-15 and thats what i've been running it at since day 1.

I changed my memory from 5:4 to 1:1 and run it at 350mhz * 9x = 3.15 ghz. If i would want to keep the memory at 5:4 divider it is also stable being run at the 437 mhz speed instead of 350 mhz. (If i wanted to stay at my current speed is the higher number memory faster or is it better to stay 1:1. I have no idea what difference it makes but both dividers are stable, I think that if I want to push for that 375+ I should probably keep it at 1:1)

But I would like to OC it further to be around 3.4 or 3.5ghz to run Donkey Kong Country returns. I need like 10extra fps at some parts.

Anything above a 350 mhz bus speed is not stable. I have the cpu voltage set on auto because it then downclocks itself and undervolts itself when the computer is idle. If I want to change the cpu voltage at all I would have to turn these autoclock/volt features off and then my idle temps go up but oh well, I need speed. Any way the auto voltage is 1.3v which is stable for my current overclock.

But anyway. I can boot up to 375mhz bus speed but at 375 I get a bsod. And anything 350+ is not intelburntest stable.

What do I need for more speed? More volts on cpu? Northbridge?

Temps are 35c idle, 60c load. 70c intel burn test, but it never gets even close to the 70c hot with all cores at 100% under normal.

I think it might be the motherboard since the e6600 also had a wall at 350*9=3.15 ghz at 1.3 volts.

What do i change from here on out to go higher?

(01-13-2011, 01:04 PM)-DLS- Wrote: [ -> ]Hi, I want to learn how to overclock. I know a decent amount about computers so it shouldn't be too hard to explain.

Here is everything I know about my computer just in case it makes a difference.

I bought my computer the day when core 2 duos came out so it's very old right now, about 4 years.

Since then I have switched my e6600 for a q6600, updated the 7800gt for a 460gtx, and RMA'd my OCZ 520w for a 600w.

mobo: Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
proc: Intel Q6600
mem: OCZ pc6400 400mhz 4-5-4-15 2GB
gpu: Gigabyte 460 gtx
psu: OCZ 600w

According to cpu-z the memory was originally meant for 1.8v 5-5-5-15 timing but ocz said to run it at 2.1v 4-5-4-15 and thats what i've been running it at since day 1.

I changed my memory from 5:4 to 1:1 and run it at 350mhz * 9x = 3.15 ghz. If i would want to keep the memory at 5:4 it is also stable with the memory being run at the 425 mhz speed instead of 350 mhz. (If i wanted to stay at this clock is the higher number memory faster or is it better to stay 1:1. I have no idea what difference it makes but both dividers are stable, I know if I want to push for that 375+ I should back it down to 1:1)

But i need it to be like 3.4 or 3.5ghz to run Donkey Kong Country returns. I need like 10extra fps at some parts.

Above 350 mhz bus speed it is not stable. I have the cpu voltage set on auto because it then downclocks itself and undervolts itself when the computer is idle. If I want to change the cpu voltage any higher unfortunately these features would have to be turned off and then my idle temps go up oh well. Any way auto voltage is 1.3v which is stable for my current overclock.

But anyway. I can boot up to 375mhz bus speed but at 375 I get a bsod. And anything 350+ is not intelburntest stable.

What do I need? More volts on cpu? Northbridge?

Temps are 35c idle, 60c load. 70c intel burn test, but it never gets 70c hot with all cores at 100% normally.

I think it might be the motherboard since the e6600 also had a wall at 350*9=3.15 ghz at 1.3 volts.

What do i change from here on out to go higher?

i dont know for intel but 60 c cpu load is to more when oc . oc make cpu a bit unstable you need to keeep it cold for my part never go up 50 c cpu if you reach more change cpu cooler and dont oc with stock cooler they are not for that

(01-13-2011, 07:28 PM)jontcold Wrote: [ -> ]i dont know for intel but 60 c cpu load is to more when oc . oc make cpu a bit unstable you need to keeep it cold for my part never go up 50 c cpu if you reach more change cpu cooler and dont oc with stock cooler they are not for that

It depends what program you use to get you temps. Do you use coretemp by any chance?

Other programs like speedfan and even your motherboard sensor give artificially low numbers for intel processors since they calculate the thermal junction wrong. (They are off by 10c)

If you don't believe me check it out yourself on your computer or check out my screenshot.




I have an aftermarket cooler. It's a Scythe Ninja, its huge and I use artic silver 5 thermal paste.



Dolphin using 3 cores 100% gives me max real temps of 57c, 50c, 49c, 47c.

What size processor do you have? New processors are 45nm or even 30nm. Mine is 65nm which is bigger so it is going to run hotter.

So we can't really compare temp to temp. Also intel set the thermal junction to 100c. Which means the processor will start to throttle itself or turn off at 100c. I am way under danger temp. It almost gets up to 50c outside on a really hot summer day. I'm sure silicon could handle more.

I dont know the bios from heart but your ram should be set to (ddr2-800mhz) Dont mess with ram except you are sure what to do. You need cpu for dolphin anyway.

Disable all "useless" cpu features. (max cpuid .., execute disable.., enhanced c1, internal termal control....)

Set fixed voltages where you can.

Use 9x Multi. Set voltage Manually. Higher is if you get bsod.

You may have so called "fsb hole" you can google that for your board our just try skipping 100 to 200 mhz above your last working speed.


This will take some time testing when you have no experience, and even with experience it can be a duty to find the best working combination.


If you are about to give up try 8x Cpu multi and do the same again. I wouldnt go for 7 because lower multi results in needing faster fsb clock.


Oh and btw dolphin should be using 2 cores.

I am doubtful you will be able to keep it cool (under 70C while running prime95 for at least an hour) since only the top 5-10 LGA775 air coolers of all time were able to do this but:

FSB (depending on your bios it may report real bus speed or effective, this is effective I'm showing, real bus speed x 4 = effective bus speed): 1600
Core multiplier: 9x
Core Clock: 3600 MHz
Core voltage: 1.5v (if you're lucky you might be able to achieve prime95 stable with just 1.45v or 1.475v but this is rare)
FSB voltage (sometimes called bus voltage): 1.4v
NB voltage: stock unless it's unstable, then raise it a tiny bit (0.1 at the most)

Mem ratio: Unlinked
Mem Clock: 800 MHz (mem clock must be at least half the FSB in dual channel)
Latency: 5-5-5-15-2T (lower memory speeds will allow you to achieve a higher FSB speed on LGA775)
Mem Voltage: 1.8v

If you have the B1/B2/B3 steppings you probably won't be able to get higher than 3.3GHz no matter what you do (like me). But if your cpu is from the newer G0 stepping you should be able to pull this off as long as you have a high end mobo, enough power, sufficient cooling, and fast enough memory. After you do this your cpu will be consuming double the power consumption that it was at stock and producing twice as much heat energy per second. If your voltage isn't high enough your system will become unstable. Do not raise the voltage past 1.5v unless you want to nuke your cpus lifespan. You definitely have memory and power supply well covered, the only questions are

1. Is your cooling sufficient (use coretemp to monitor and make sure it's under 70C even after a 1 hour prime95 test)?
2. Is your mobo sufficient (not many mobo can tolerate a 1600MHz FSB with a q6600)?
3. Is your cpu sufficient (it is rare to see a B3 stepping that can tolerate this without unacceptable voltage bumps, hopefully yours is from the newer G0 stepping)?

Take this as advice from someone who did a lot of research before OCing their Q6600 (me). Overclocking is tricky because you have to figure out what the "bottleneck" is. And I use that term loosely, not talking about performance here. Their are many possible limitations (NB, memory, FSB voltage, core voltage, temperature, power consumption, memory) and so your real job is to figure out which of those limitations is what's holding you back, which is tricky and requires constant fiddling with values in the bios setup and testing.

I give up with this thing. I overvolted the piss out of everything,

1.45v proc, 1.60 v northbridge, 1.4 fsb termination and I got a whole 5 extra clicks on the bus speed. Not worth the extra heat and the disabling of EIST and Speedstep.

I can boot up past bios and to the to the start of the windows loading bar when I put it at 400x9 but then bsod. (That 3600mhz looked nice at bios screen, dolphin would love it)

Wtf is causing my system to be unstable past 350?

(01-14-2011, 04:41 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]If you have the B1/B2/B3 steppings you probably won't be able to get higher than 3.3GHz no matter what you do (like me).

You just shattered my plans of OCing my Q6600 to 400 MHz x 9 (B3 Stepping). I need to use 8 multiplier.

Noob Question - How do I reduce CPU multiplier? Because I want to use 400 MHz X 8 = 3.2 GHz, set DRAM : FSB ratio to 1:1, and pump some minute voltage.

And if you don't mind, please post your OC'd settings so I can study them and plan my nooby OC accordingly. I am not OCing for dolphin. I am OCing for future games which might be taxing on Q6600 on 2.4 GHz.

(01-14-2011, 09:55 PM)Arpit Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-14-2011, 04:41 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]If you have the B1/B2/B3 steppings you probably won't be able to get higher than 3.3GHz no matter what you do (like me).

You just shattered my plans of OCing my Q6600 to 400 MHz x 9 (B3 Stepping). I need to use 8 multiplier.

Noob Question - How do I reduce CPU multiplier? Because I want to use 400 MHz X 8 = 3.2 GHz, set DRAM : FSB ratio to 1:1, and pump some minute voltage.

And if you don't mind, please post your OC'd settings so I can study them and plan my nooby OC accordingly. I am not OCing for dolphin. I am OCing for future games which might be taxing on Q6600 on 2.4 GHz.

present game FFXIV is heavily cpu limited at 3.15 ghz on my quad.

350 * 9
Voltage auto (Which equates to 1.3v at 3.15, but lower when cpu underclocks itself automatically)
4:5 Ratio ( Run ram at 437)
G0 stepping

Quote:Noob Question - How do I reduce CPU multiplier?

In the bios setup just like everything else. The multiplier range for a Q6600 is locked from 6-9.

Quote:Because I want to use 400 MHz X 8 = 3.2 GHz, set DRAM : FSB ratio to 1:1, and pump some minute voltage.

Bad idea. On LGA775 FSB ratio should be unlinked and dram frequency should be set as low as possible while still being at least half the FSB. Either that or use 2:1 ratio. Number of ram dimms and frequency/latency of ram dimms both have an impact on how high you can set your fsb. Keep in mind that when you're using a 1:1 ratio EACH MEMORY CHANNEL is running at 1600MHz not 800MHz. Also lowering your multiplier is a bad idea since high core clock rates are safer and easier to achieve than high FSB clock rates.

Quote:And if you don't mind, please post your OC'd settings so I can study them and plan my nooby OC accordingly. I am not OCing for dolphin. I am OCing for future games which might be taxing on Q6600 on 2.4 GHz.

FSB clock (depending on your bios it may report real bus speed or effective, this is effective I'm showing, real bus speed x 4 = effective bus speed): 1422 MHz
Core multiplier: 9x
Core Clock: 3200 MHz
Core voltage: 1.3v
FSB voltage (sometimes called bus voltage): 1.3v
NB voltage: stock/auto

Mem ratio: Unlinked
Mem Clock: 800 MHz (mem clock must be at least half the FSB in dual channel)
Latency: 5-5-5-15-2T (lower memory speeds will allow you to achieve a higher FSB speed on LGA775)
Mem Voltage: 1.9v (my ram sucks)

Even if you had a G0 stepping and a strong enough mobo you would still have trouble getting to 3.6GHz just because of temperature. As I said earlier only a couple of air coolers out their can keep this thing cool enough to OC that high while maintaining stability. And that's with a well ventilated case and low ambient temperature. 3.2GHz on the other hand is easy to achieve, in fact it seems almost as if this cpu was made to run at that speed but forced to a lower clock rate due to the limited thermal dissipation of the stock cooler.



@-DLS-

You might be able to go higher if you just lower your ram frequency, raise the latency, and unlink the ratio.

Quote:Wtf is causing my system to be unstable past 350?

I'll repeat what I said earlier: "Their are many possible limitations (NB, memory, FSB voltage, stepping, core voltage, temperature, power consumption) and so your real job is to figure out which of those limitations is what's holding you back, which is tricky and requires constant fiddling with values in the bios setup and testing. "

Your Stepping is fine
I'm assuming your temperatures are fine
Power supply is enough
You already tried raising FSB voltage
You already tried raising core voltage

This leaves NB and memory. Try what I said earlier and if that doesn't help then you have the same problem I ran into, and insufficient NB/mobo.

Quote:Bad idea. On LGA775 FSB ratio should be unlinked

Sorry, I can't find any way to do so... I'll need to update my bios.

Quote:3.2GHz on the other hand is easy to achieve, in fact it seems almost as if this cpu was made to run at that speed but forced to a lower clock rate due to the limited thermal dissipation of the stock cooler.

Relieved on hearing this... Because I am not depending on a class cooler ... I will only be able to get support on Hyper 212+... Good for me