Overclocking (Main Thread)

Hey, I'm not sure if this has been covered yet—I don't really have the energy to scroll through everything right now.
How high can I push an Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 using just the stock cooler and some 800MHz DDR2 memory?

With an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, you could potentially hit 5GHz—and honestly, if you’re willing to crank up the voltage, you might even push past that.
But if you’re truly looking to max everything out, I suspect hitting 6GHz might be within reach, though you'd almost certainly need to swap out your cooler for a high-end 6GHz-rated setup first.
That being said, wouldn't 5GHz be more than enough for your needs?
Regarding your memory choice, would it not have been better to opt for DDR3? It offers much higher clock speeds, reaching up to 1800MHz, which is a massive step up from the standard 800MHz modules.

You misread me—I was asking about the 200. As for DDR3, the price is just too high for me right now. Unless you have a solid recommendation for something more budget-friendly?
Also, regarding what you mentioned about 5GHz—is that per core??
I know this sounds like a total newbie question, but I honestly can't believe if that's actually how it works... Anyway, I’ve been looking at the E8400, and I've seen it available at some stores for $400, which is more than fine by me. I might just go with that instead...

swiftcobra65 said:I think there was a misunderstanding; I am actually asking about the Intel Core 2 Duo e8200. As for DDR3, it's just out of my budget right now. Do you happen to have any solid recommendations for something more affordable?

The Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 and E8400 are essentially the same processor; they simply differ in their multiplier, meaning their maximum clock speeds are nearly identical.

Aha. So, is the 8400 actually better? Because if the Intel Core 2 Duo hits 4GHz, and this one can reach 5GHz using just the stock cooler—what's the catch? Is that 5GHz per core or what? I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to Intel processors—I've always been more of an AMD guy myself.

Edward Peterson70 said:The Intel Core 2 Duo and the E8400 are basically the same chip; they just have different multipliers, so their top speeds are pretty much neck and neck.

😕😕😕

swiftcobra65 said:Gotcha. But is the 8400 actually better? If the 8200 hits 4GHz and this one can reach 5, what's the catch? And is that 5GHz per core? I'm not exactly an expert on Intel chips—I've always been more of an AMD guy.

Hitting 5GHz with a stock cooler😕

Oh, I’m just pulling your leg! What's gotten into you? Where on earth would you find 5GHz? Unless we're talking about submersing this thing in liquid nitrogen, there's absolutely no way to hit those speeds like this.

The real distinction between the Intel Core 2 Duo and the Intel Core 2 Duo lies in the multiplier—specifically, whether you're looking at an x8 or an x9 ratio.

If you’re aiming for 5GHz, you’re going to need a 550MHz FSB. Not every motherboard out there can handle that kind of stress, and even if yours can, you'll have to crank up all the voltages just to stay stable. Running it at stock settings? Yeah, there's zero chance.

Wait, so the Intel Core 2 Duo and the Intel Core 2 Duo have the exact same max clock speed? Are you kidding me? What's the point?

Daniel Nguyen3 said:Actually, I’m just pulling your leg—what are you even talking about? 5GHz? You’d need a constant stream of liquid nitrogen for that, because there is absolutely no way you're hitting those speeds on this setup.

The only real distinction between the Intel Core 2 Duo and the Intel Core 2 Duo is the multiplier, specifically moving from x8 to x9.

🙂🙂 Just look at this, right here: http://xtreview.com/images/wolfdale%...400%20oc01.png

Well, honestly, it doesn't really matter right now; I am simply saying that there is absolutely no way he is going to reach 5GHz.

I’d probably go with the P35-DS3 for the motherboard—it should be solid enough. I’m thinking of aiming for about 4.0 GHz to start with. Honestly, in this day and age, I doubt I’ll need anything more than that. Would the stock cooler handle it? If not, I’d just grab a BigTyp 120 VX, then I'm certain it would work fine.

Wait, are you seriously aiming for 4GHz?
What on earth??
😲😲😲

And what kind of heavy-duty tasks are you actually running?
If you aren't doing anything intense, you probably don't even need 2GHz, let alone 4GHz.

swiftcobra65 said:Well, if I were following that logic, I’d probably just grab a P35-DS3L motherboard because it should hold up fine. I'd aim for about 4.0 GHz to start with—honestly, in this day and age, I highly doubt I'd even need more than that. Would a stock cooler actually survive that kind of heat? If it doesn't, then I'd just pick up a BigTyp 120 VX, and I'm certain that would do the trick.

But what do YOU think that processor actually is??? Seriously... it's one of those things where you suddenly think, "Hey, maybe I'll try pushing my 6000+ to 4.3 GHz," based on some random thing you read online, provided you have a water-cooling setup... but obviously, hitting 4GHz isn't going to happen with a stock cooler, and frankly, that depends entirely on the rest of your hardware too.😂😂😂

Edit: even Daniel Nguyen3 told you (and he knows what he's talking about from actual experience) exactly where the limit of reality lies.

Nah, it’s not just about necessity—it's more about being able to tell my friends, "Yeah, sure... I'm pushing for 4 gigs per core"... hehe...
But realistically, I don't think I need anything beyond 3.0. Right now I've got an AMD Athlon XP running at 2.17, though I overclocked it slightly to 2.3, which is plenty—the other components are the actual bottleneck here...
For instance, the GPU—an NVIDIA FX 5200—is too weak to be any more significant... 😁
Or how the hard drive starts "screeching" whenever I'm typing or reading something... I run a defrag and it's fine for maybe two days—quiet and smooth—and then the grinding starts again... 😁

edit:
But seriously now...
3.0 is more than enough for me, especially paired with an 8800GT. Plus, I'll pick up some OCZ memory... aiming for 800MHz. 1066 is just too expensive for me right now... but we'll see...
If I actually find myself needing more than 3.0 in two years, I'll just grab a BigTyp 120 VX, though that would mean I should have gone with 1066MHz memory today...

swiftcobra65 said:edit:
But seriously now...
3.0 is more than enough for me, especially when paired with an 8800GT. Plus, I’ll just grab some OCZ memory and overclock it to 800MHz. Paying for 1066MHz feels like a waste right now... though we'll see how things play out...
If I actually find myself needing more than 3.0 in two years, I'll just pick up a BigTyp 120 VX, but if I go that route, I really should have grabbed the 1066MHz RAM today...

Just grab the Kingston 800MHz. You don't need 1066MHz anyway, and you can always overclock this stuff (though 2x1GB or 2x2GB won't get you very far)

Yeah, I’d go with the 800MHz option—but honestly, I’d probably lean toward OCZ instead. Since the multiplier on the Intel Core 2 Duo is 9x, it changes things... if you're looking at a lower multiplier, you really ought to pick up some faster memory...

Do you honestly believe that the OCZ brand guarantees better memory performance? Not a chance, my friend... you're really just paying extra for the label on the box. 🙂 Kingston is where the real quality is at.

@ swiftcobra65

You're talking nonsense...

Just grab a decent motherboard without that "L" branding—it's the only real $27 difference here. Go with the P35-DS3. Pick up an Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 for $200 and you can easily overclock it to 3GHz using the stock cooler. If the temps actually start creeping up, you can always pick up a better cooler later, but I doubt you'll need to... and just stick with that Kingston memory at 800 MHz...

For next to nothing, you’ve got two cores running at 3GHz that'll hold their own whether you pair them with an HD3870 or an 8800GT...

That leaves you with enough cash left over for a solid hard drive and a decent monitor... maybe a 20" one... that's where your friends are gonna have to chip in.😉

darkowl72 said:Look, if you push a CPU the way this guy does, no game or app is ever going to touch its limits... he’s basically running it through a meat grinder compared to Orthos...

darkowl72, I assume you aren't actually mad about this quote.😉
Is there any truth to that? To me, it looks like it's 100% accurate regardless of the stress test used. Maybe in Orthos, you should set it to in-place large FFTs—like you would in Prime95—to hit peak heat and power draw. Then use small FFTs for maximum CPU strain. If that's the case, they actually beat out what this guy is doing.

I’ve been seeing higher temperatures when running TAT
I haven't touched Orthos in quite a while, so I think I'll give that a shot a bit later today.
In my experience, Prime95 doesn't even fully utilize the processor—it barely scratches about 50% capacity.