Overclocking my CPU

Hey there. Completely new to overclocking anything on my CPU, but would like some advice on it. Right now I have a core 2 duo E8500 running at the normal 3.16ghz. My cooler is just a Zalman 9700. Case is an antec P182, 3 120mm fans. Overall I don't think I have anything special in the cooling department, but I heard that the E8500 OCs without requiring a lot of extra cooling power. Any advice on the best method of doing this? What to use, how far to take it? Total newbie here, any advice would be really great!

They sure do. What motherboard do you have?

My motherboard is a "GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R Intel P45 ATX Intel."

Standard disclaimer… anything you break is your own fault.

The usual way to overclock is to go through the BIOS - tapping the Del key while you boot will do this.

To overclock, go into the M.I.T. page, and change the desired settings. To give you a starting point….

Robust Graphics Booster: Fast
Host Clock Control: Enabled
PCI-E Frequency: 100MHz
C.I.A. 2: Disabled

DRAM
Performance Enhance: Standard
Extreme Memory Profile: Disable
Frequency Latch: 400MHz
System Memory Multiplier: 2.00D

You must set all of those, and manually set your memory timings.

Then, you can slowly increase the CPU Host Frequency from 333mhz (standard for an E8500)… rebooting each time to check stability. If it doesn't boot, Gigabyte has a failsafe which will revert to the previous working settings. You want to make sure that the memory frequency it states does not go above your current memory's stock frequency.

Once you are happy with your overclock, check stability with both memtest86+ and Prime95.

I agree that Prime95, running for at least 24 hours is required to be sure of stability. Be sure to use the method to load Prime95 on each core. You load two copies of it, and run each copy on an individual core for maximum stress. I have done a little over clocking. I prefer to use stock voltages, and just increase FSB speed as suggested by Raktor. I have found that pushing it any further will create a lot of heat and stability problems. If you want your expensive CPU to last a long time, I would not recommend pushing any voltages out side of the normal operating voltage. Just go as high as you can on FSB. In my experience, usually about 25% increase is possible with standard voltages on FSB. But, that can all be dependent on hardware and combinations of hardware. In my experience, if I don't push harder than that I can hardly register the increase in heat on the CPU, which means next to no added stress on the CPU, and no reduction in life span. Also, I don't think it is possible to do any permanent damage by just raising clock speed. If you increase voltage you will easily damage components if done carelessly. One last note, only change one parameter at a time and thoroughly stress test the system so you know exactly what it is that is causing instability if you have a problem. This process can take several days as you tweak it to the maximum you can get and stress test each time. Good luck.

appleoddity has reminded me about this website.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAPK

It specifies the voltages you must keep within - going outside of them will surely void your warranty and possibly cause irreparable damage to your chip.