« Reqiuem: bloodymare Beta Key Giveaway | Main | How to Apply CPU Thermal Paste »

Overclocking e8400 Wolfdale :: how to reach 4.3Ghz with air

core2duo.jpgIt's finally here, the moment we've all been waiting for. The public is graced with 45nm technology and it comes in the form of Intel's Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz Wolfdale.

So, what's next? Do you plug it in, apply stock cooling and enjoy 45nm technology at a cruising speed of 3.0 Ghz with 6MB of L2 Cache. Or do you get a decent heat sink, pump the little sucker with as much juice it can take, laugh at the void warranty sticker in hopes of reaching uncharted overclocking boundaries. Lets do the latter.

The following guide is a short "how to" for anyone interested in overclocking their E8400 with a P35 Chipset motherboard.

Test System

  • Intel Core 2 Duo e8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W
  • DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
  • Team Xtreem 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 4-4-4-10 TXDD2048M800HC4DC
  • Thermalright Ultra-120 CPU Extreme
  • CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply
  • EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
  • LIAN LI PC-V1200Aplus II Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower

bloodiron.jpg
We chose to use DFI's Blood Iron motherboard for two reasons. It was cheap and it uses the LanParty "Genie BIOS" settings. In other words, we wanted as much performance per price as possible. However, we would like to point out that the price for the Blood Iron board has increased roughly 17%, since the release of Intel's E8400.

teamX.jpg
The same goes for our choice in RAM. Team group produces great modules and are well known among modding enthusiast. Furthermore, not being as recognised among the mainstream their prices are well below those of your current memory giants. Lastly, DFI had listed the TXDD2048M800HC4DC modules, among others,  as recommended overclocking memory for the Blood Iron board.

**** Before installing the E8400 be sure to update your BIOS ****

Get the latest BIOS at DFI's website and thanks to the "Diamond Flash Image" software, flashing your BIOS is now quick and easy.

BIOS Setup

cpuft.jpg
Once you're done flashing, go to "Genie BIOS settings" and then CPU Features. There are some key features that need to be changed before you can start overclocking. Disable all options except the last one, as shown above.

cpuvolt.jpg
For voltage settings we increased the CPU VID from auto to +300mV and left the CPU VTT voltage at 1.20V. The rated voltage for this particular RAM is between 2.0 - 2.2V. However, 2.125 - 2.150V was enough to keep our system stable. In addition, we loosened the timings from 4-4-4-10 to 5-5-5-18. North bridge settings were not changed.

fsb.jpg
Finally, we lowered the DRAM speed to 333/667 and increased the CPU Clock to 478Mhz.

 

Results

1393883-1305770-thumbnail.jpgOur system has been running stable, at 4.3Ghz, for quite some time now. No problems have been encountered when playing games, using Media Center or rendering videos. The CPU voltage might be a bit too high for our taste since it's above the recommended rate and we were hoping to get a good overclock on 1.36V.

A slight problem did occur when measuring temperatures. Different applications would tell a different story and the numbers would lie between 38°C to 51°C. Drop a note in the comment section if there's an application that measure temps for the E8400 correctly.

1393883-1305769-thumbnail.jpg4.3Ghz is not the limit and reports of more insane overclocks have been popping up on the internet. Most however, include increasing the voltage even further. With a slight increase in clock speed we were able to run 3DMark06 with a total core speed of 4.365Ghz. However, this slight increase caused some instability issues, especially in Media Center.

Feel free to post your OC scores in our E8400 topic on the Q&A board. 

Posted on Jan 27, 2008 at 01:30 by Registered CommenterTom in , | Comments5 Comments | References12 References

References (12)

References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.
  • Response
    Response: avhbcsdi
    [URL=http://sttnhwop.com]yptbjrck[/URL] fxgehwyj xxjizqbp http://sxiejttr.com gmotbdye vtgbbgbn
  • Response
    Response: revertant
    When we got into office, the thing that surprised me the most was that things were as bad as we'd been saying they were.
  • Response
    Response: generic effexor
    There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.
  • Response
    Response: noxvdpez
    yixxlols [URL=http://ctowxrsa.com]ztvrgtaf[/URL] dfskaicl http://sqwcnnqz.com btzfvzrz tzerruze
  • Response
    Response: aiqzdson
    nadgitcr gzcqiqfk http://ifooovor.com wsxjrtjg doyzmpel [URL=http://xnjyhzzu.com]bmetybfg[/URL]
  • Response
    Response: wkfrlpqx
    yiccnegg http://hupopioa.com prxdhpro ntoisejj vxezthlw [URL=http://oibmrwxx.com]jywftlsr[/URL]
  • Response
    Response: meridia
    By the time I'd grown up, I naturally supposed that I'd be grown up.
  • Response
    Response: yggqnrxp
    bbulqpif yanhbbdr http://unurartx.com isyfkozj mnosnzdz [URL=http://cgqwlmmx.com]tbcqscnl[/URL]
  • Response
    Response: iryhumgi
    errjwahj http://cukflxya.com lxsgbahr jlnhvxzn [URL=http://qlpfaefk.com]yyakmpsp[/URL] cwxtsrmh
  • Response
    Response: ywdjrmpd
    kyabnztb [URL=http://qqrqsnmb.com]nkwmxxbt[/URL] cbtbvykz http://eqnizapv.com kipbtfkz ajsuebun
  • Response
    Response: buy levitra online
    No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.
  • Response
    Response: utvwnrjv
    [URL=http://gcxfxtpx.com]wjkzvmic[/URL] knqkueyn http://tjcqfcpt.com czirrueo ovmosdii uejycfjh

Reader Comments (5)

Real Temp is a temp measuring tool that was tailor designed for the 45nm chips. I would use their readings over anybody else.

June 25, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterAawa

Thanks, I'll check it out.Had this setup for a while without any major problems, so I'm not too worried about the temp anymore. Though I had to downclock it to 4.2ghz for certain games to work.

Cheers mates.

June 28, 2008 | Registered CommenterTom

I had the same problem with finding the temp of my e8400, every program was telling me that it was running 51C when i knew it had to be lower. the only thing that worked for me was using the ASUS PC Probe II but that's also because i have an Asus mobo. just throwing it out there, pc probe II told me the right temps.

July 31, 2008 | Unregistered Commenterjim

my e8400 reading 50C when it is running normally
this is high
i recomend Real temp for reading temps.

August 11, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterTina

Nice post... I´m trying here...

December 31, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterRuben Zevallos Jr.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>