Hi, I'm trying to oc my E2180, which I've read can go to 3Ghz on stock cooling. But I don't have any real overclocking options in my bios. The motherboard is a Foxconn mATX 946GZ7MA / 946PL7MA with a Phoenix bios. I can change the PCI-E frequency, DRAM timings and frequency (a choice of 667 or 573 i think), and FSB speed. There are no options for CPU:RAM ratio? Is that the right thing? or voltage options anywhere. Obviously if this means my motherboard will not support proper ocling could someone tell me and I'll just give up I can change the FSB speed to 220 however anything over that and I wont boot and I have to reset CMOS. I'm assuming this is due to lack of voltage? Is there some kind of bios upgrade or different version that will allow me to change everything properly so I can actually do a proper oc? really appreciate any help, safe

The chances of hitting 3.0GHz with that board/CPU combo are slim to none. The E2180 runs at 2.0GHz (10 x 200MHz) by default so to get to 3.0GHz, you'd have to crank up the CPU frequency to 300MHz (1200MHz FSB). I don't think that's gonna happen. Anyhow, not all BIOS's have an actual setting for CPU:DRAM ratio. If no option is available, you'll have to manually configure the RAM to match the CPU. For example, if the FSB is 800MHz (200MHz), the RAM frequency should be set to 200MHz (DDR400) to match. If the FSB is increased to 1066MHz (266MHz), the RAM should be set to 266MHz (DDR533). Also, make sure Fox Intelligent Stepping is set to Manual, the PCI-E frequency is set to 100MHz & Spread Spectrum is disabled. "And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"

Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't thought of that. But I still should be able to reach 2.6 Ghz because the board is rated at 1066 bus tops. Which is still worth doing if it's on stock cooling. My problem is that I can't find any voltage options so i can increase voltage and hopefully get a boot up rather than just nothing. How would I go about unlocking these options? thanks

If the voltage settings aren't available, there's nothing you can do about it. Get a better motherboard. "And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"