Hi, I would be indebtted to someone very much if they could please send me exact voltages for the cpu and ram.. for a maximum stable overclcok, for the following. im looking for max values @ stable. i will be upgrading to the "KINGSTON HYPERX 4GB KIT DDR2 PC2-8500 ram soon (latencies 5-5-5-18 2t @ 1.8v .. and tweakable. but not for a few months as im a student and cant afford it. i got this system in aus for $320 and am having all manner of drama with system crashes ..iv never had a problem b4 with stability with my overclocking. hmm anyway, any info would be helpful, i just hope that a mad guru comes across me and gives me all the specs i need. thx in advance Gigabyte EP45-UD3L Wolfdale E8400 3.0Ghz Kingston valueram PC2-6400 2gb <-- the weak link probably) and nvidia geforce 9500GT OC 1gb

i realise its not the flashiest machine, but im a budget user and need to squeeze as much out of my money/computer as poss. and at the mo its just not cutting it. i rely heaily on my pc for gaming and media centre and all the while other students are usually using it too for various things. well, i hope someone gets back to me. :D

To start with, you're posting in the wrong forum.... And you need to know three simple rules when overclocking an Intel system: 1. the faster the FSB, the better the performance 2. the optimal CPU:DRAM frequency ratio is 1:1 or if you can pull it off, 1:2. 3. always overclock manually in the BIOS. Do not use built in overclock settings & do not use overclocking software. The E8400 runs at 1333MHz FSB (333MHz freq) by default, so with the CPU it's stock settings, the RAM should be run at 333MHz freq (DDR2-667) for 1:1 or 667MHz freq (DDR2-1333) for 1:2. Your DDR2-800 RAM (400MHz freq) will allow you to increase the FSB to at least 1600MHz (400MHz freq). But you need to know how to pull it off. 3.6GHz (9 x 400MHz) should be a piece of cake. Here's a few constants: - lock the PCIe at 100MHz - disable EIST (speedstep) - disable all spread spectrum options - disable CIA2 - manually configure the RAM settings, both timings & voltages. If you don't know what they should be, check the label on the RAM. If it's not on the label, go to the manufacturer's website & dig up the specs. - to maintain a 1:1 ratio, adjust the memory multiplier setting

Hi Jam, Thank you for posting. I did not realise i was in the wrong forum, actually im new to posting in these types of forums.. full stop. In future i will endevour to 'do the right thing', rather than annoy you with my nO.Obish tediums! What is you opinion of this machine? Is there any speed i should be aiming for, in order to max the system.. whilst keeping wear and tear to a min, and stability to a max? I have done the following: Changed ram timing to 5-5-5-18-2t , 52 fsb to 399 <- intel burn test seems stable after 1 hour test, though heated up max to 76'C (obv i will need better cooling, can you recommend .. keeping budget constraints in mind?) CIA2 = off i never use software modifications, only bios manual pcie = locked @ 100mhz im not sure what is meant by spread spectrum options.. is that where the bios automatically changes to lesser multiplication factor whilst in idle? ..or is that an normal feature anyway?? it seems to only max out speed when its doing something 'heavy'. should i bother with getting better/faster ram?? would this improve much?? my slowest component is my ide HD @5400 rpm, .. need a better sata 2 or something. do you recommend?? what are your thoughts on the 8400 gt oc 1gb nvidia card? im frustrated now knowing that there are better ones with gddr3 ram, half the memory that s**t on this card (so i hear) @ reasonable prices. Again thank you for your prompt response and the time you have taken with me. Regards, Gerard