OC Your Proc

Posted 08/20/2009 at 2:50pm | by The Maximum PC Staff

Ask the Doctor Logo I bought an E6850 because I’d read how easy it is to overclock. I followed the instructions in your article about overclocking Intel CPUs and I can’t get an extra 10MHz out of mine before it locks up! I’m running the CPU on an Asus Striker Extreme, with 2GB of Corsair Dominator RAM, a Raptor 150GB HD, an 8800 GTX, an Enermax 850W PSU, Win XP SP3, etc. The CPU and GPU are water cooled and run at about 40 C under load.

Each time I raise the front-side bus speed in the BIOS it boots fine and runs for about two minutes before locking up. I tried unlinking the RAM; still no luck. Everything is running at stock settings, but I want to be able to OC the proc.

Any ideas on what the problem might be?

—Andy Saint

First, remember that overclocking can be risky and that it’s no guarantee you’ll get more out of your system. There are a few things you can check. One, you may have to increase the voltage to the CPU, chipset, and RAM to achieve higher overclocks. Second, you should check your BIOS version. If you’re running a very old BIOS, a newer revision may actually let you hit higher speeds. For example, BIOS rev 1305 for your mobo “Enhances CPU overclock capability of FSB1333 processors.” Also remember that your Core 2 Duo E6850 runs on a 333MHz front-side bus and has a 9x locked multiplier, so getting it to extremely high speeds would require very high front-side bus speeds. To get to 4GHz, you’d need to push a 450MHz front-side bus. Although overclocking techniques differ, the Doctor prefers pushing CPUs that have lower front-side bus speeds rather than those with higher speeds.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes.

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OC Your Proc

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