Help needed with OC setup: Core 2 Duo plus old GA motherboard
Help needed with OC setup: Core 2 Duo plus old GA motherboard
Hello everyone,
I'm new here and have been exploring OC ideas. After checking various sites, recommendations, and so on, I decided to experiment with some twerks around it. The outcome? CPU frequency stayed the same, completely unchanged.
Details:
CPU: Core 2 Duo E8600 @ 3.33Ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-945GCMX-S2
RAM: Two 2GB DDRII 800 PC2-6400 modules (maximum capacity available)
Extra: Thermal paste was recently applied (about three days ago). Model: NOCTUA NT-H2
Air cooler: Default GA cooler, photo attached.
I understand it's not the optimal setup, but I don’t plan to upgrade for overclocking purposes. My goal is to observe how much the CPU speed could increase under these conditions without modifying the board or heatsink.
Here’s the situation:
- The CPU frequency should be around 3.33Ghz according to Intel’s official site, but it only reaches 2.67Ghz. Why?
After rebooting and checking BIOS settings, I disabled certain recommended options and then enabled the third one, which has a 1333Mhz FSB option. When I rebooted again, that setting reverted automatically. If I increased voltage, I adjusted the values.
I started Windows and used CPU-Z to monitor. Nothing changed. HWMonitor showed updated voltages, fan speeds (which are loud), and temperatures at 34°C.
Another time I restarted the PC, modified some BIOS settings, but nothing altered. The BIOS even changed the FSB1333 option back to "disabled" despite it being supported by the CPU.
Windows properties and CPU-Z both indicated a frequency of 2.80Ghz, yet the BIOS showed 2.67Ghz.
I’m not sure if I’m doing anything wrong. Why isn’t the CPU frequency changing? Why does the BIOS treat the FSB1333 setting as disabled even though it’s valid? And why does the BIOS display a frequency of 2.80Ghz while Windows reports 2.67Ghz?
Apologies if I haven’t been understood clearly. English isn’t my first language.
Thanks for reading my blog.
And what is your intention behind this? What outcome are you aiming for?
Well, you see I'm feeling a bit bored, so rather than spending the whole day on Netflix, I chose to do something productive and try to learn more about PCs. For example, how to perform an OC over an old PC and check if it actually works or not, and why.
I’m hoping to get some higher MHz or even GHz values. The base frequency is supposed to be around 3.33Ghz, but the CPU is only at 2.67Ghz—definitely something’s off. Then there’s what I mentioned earlier about the difference between the 2.80Ghz frequency shown in the BIOS and the one displayed by Windows or CPU-Z. Lastly, why does the BIOS change the O.C. FSB1333 option to “disable” even though it’s clearly supported by the CPU?
So my goal is at least to get some quality answers.
Occasionally luck plays a role, and pushing overclocking relies heavily on chance.
The main pair performed well for overclocking. I'm uncertain about a gigabyte board though. This seems to be from a long time ago, so it might not be accurate. The CPU had a speedstep feature that needed to be turned off. I still have mine with the ASUS board somewhere, which I boosted to 5.5ghz using some intense cooling.
So, the issue seems to lie with the NorthBirdge chipset? I adjusted some settings in the BIOS, but after rebooting everything stayed the same and it just went to default:
Well, actually, the CPU frequency did increase slightly. It's now 2.68Ghz. Not a big change, but it's noticeable. As you can observe from the images, even at the base frequency (3.33Ghz) it didn't make a difference.
That's why I'm really upset about this...
Clear CMOS, reset all components to their standard settings. Adjust memory frequency to its rated value and then gradually raise the host frequency. Start with an increment of 1.45v for the CPU voltage core.
It seems like everything stayed the same. Probably the NorthBridge chipset or the motherboard is to blame. Thanks to everyone.
It's a very basic board. Although there are alternative methods to boost higher fsb via software, I wouldn't bother due to the power delivery limitations on that board.