OK, about to overclock but need some help

Hi guys. Ive been considering buying a new processor and stuff and getting Windows 7, but unfortunately my money has been spent on more important things.

WIth that said, I have a strong rig...my processor is bottlenecking me. Here is my build:

C2D E6400
Asus P5Q SE mobo
2x1GB G.Skill memory, DDR2 800
nVidia 9800GT
550W PSU

I recently updated my BIOS (was nervious as hell lol) and downloaded cpu-z. My current numbers are:

CPU
core speed: 1596 (fluctuates to 2133 or so every now and then, is that normal?)
multiplier: x6.0 (fluctates to 8...also, is that normal?)
bus: 266

Now, as for my strategy, I have read that it is as simply as simply slowly cranking up your bus until you bus x multiplier = desired speed.

Do I need to change my multiplier? I read setting it for seven or eight is appropriate, but I am not sure. I am not looking for an insane overclock, by the way...maybe just 3.0-3.2 GHz.

I have attempted to overclock before, but every time I did it I had to reset my CMOS jumper because it wouldnt boot, and it got really annoying unplugging and plugging in my computer so I sort of gave up.

Thanks everyone

anyone?

You should really read up on the subject, but I'll give you a few pointers. You'll need to disable Intel Speed Step in the bios to keep the speed from fluctuating. Then disable spread spectrum for everything, and disable all of the extra CPU features, except for the second core of course. Then you'll want to unlink your RAM and CPU, which means setting your RAM to run at a set speed, despite what you raise the bus speed to. Once you know that you're not overclocking your RAM along with your CPU, you'll want to start raising the bus speed. Try raising it to 300MHz first, which will give you 2.4GHz. If you can't get into windows, then raise the CPU voltage until you can. When you can make it into windows, use Prime95 to test the stability of your overclock. And be sure to monitor your CPU temp. If it fails the stress test, but the temps are fine, then reboot and raise the CPU voltage until it passes. Once you get the hang of it, raise the bus speed, and voltage as needed, until you find the max speed for your motherboard. If you can get to 3GHz, you'll likely need to raise the fsb and NB voltage too. You would need to raise the bus speed to 375MHz to reach 3GHz, but I'm not sure if your motherboard will hit that speed. And you'll want to add a fan to the NB, so you don't ruin your motherboard. Also, overclocking the regular P5Q caused sound anomalies when using the onboard sound, but I never got to mess around with a P5Q SE, so you may not have any problems. But anyway, I hope that this helps. Good luck, and have fun!superclocked

I agree on everything you said except for disabling everything under the extra CPU features. I highly suggest the OP leaves "CPU TM funct." enabled, as it'll throttle the chip if it reaches it's thermal throttling temp.

Increase the multiplyer to 7-8 then just work your way up, and keep testing for stability.

Those advice are very sound. Personally i never overclock more than 13-15% above the cpu speed for a good stability.

It is not very much but my computer as been stable for the past 3 years.

Those advice are very sound. Personally i never overclock more than 13-15% above the cpu speed for a good stability.

It is not very much but my computer as been stable for the past 3 years.

foxtrot4239

10-15%? lol someone should have told me before I overclocked. I got my Q6600 (stock 2.4) to 3.9, but I was quite happy with 3.4, so now its just that.