This guide is general but there are some parts “Gigabyte Specific”

Note:
I didn’t fool around with many core 2 duo supporting motherboards so this guide will never be
as general as the AMD64 one.

Very Important Note:

Make sure to download the latest available bios from your motherboard manufacturer official
website, earlier bios releases were not allowing good over clocking potential.

Step [0]: Gigabyte users press “Ctrl + F1” after entering the bios screen
Disable any performance mode:
Smart frequency control, CPU temp threshold and any other unusable device on your
motherboard, like if you have a sound card, disable the onboard audio, if you have no use for
the FireWire, disable it as well, all from bios, this should decrease the stress of your chipset and
may boost your over clocking performance.

Here is a list of the things to disable in Gigabyte 965P-DS4 (Advanced Settings) “Probably in
other Gigabyte models as well”:
Note: These mentioned below stuff may be named differently on other motherboards, you
should look around your bios and disable whatever looks like these.
-Limit CPU max ID to 3 [Disable]
-No-Execute memory protect [Disable]
-CPU enhanced Half (C1E) [Disable]
-CPU thermal monitor [Disable]
-Virtualization Technology [Disable]
-Full screen logo [Disable]“I personally hate this thing”

Step[1]:
Go to Frequency and voltage control menu:
-CPU host clock control [Enable]
-CIA 2 [Disable]
-Memory Multiplier [2.00] “will tell you why later”
-System Voltage Control [Manual]
- lock PCI-E frequency at [100 MHz]
-DDR2-Overvoltage [Default is 1.8 adjust to suit your memory manufacturer specs, if not +0.1]
-PCI-E Overvoltage [Normal or +0.05]
-(G)MCH Overvoltage [+0.1]
-FSB Overvoltage [+0.1]
-CPU Voltage [Set it to 1.4v to begin trying with]

P.S:
The mentioned above settings are the settings we’ll begin over clocking with and we’ll adjust
them if needed later on.
Step [2]:
Raising FSB & Frequency Calculations:
As mentioned before in the AMD64 over clocking guide, FSB is core to over clocking. FSB stands
for Front Side Bus which links memory and all other devices on the motherboard to the CPU.

In the same Frequency and voltage control section below the “CPU host clock control” you will
see the default value 266, this means that your processor is running:
FSB x CPU multiplier == CPU Frequency
Like if you raised the FSB from 266 to 333 and you got an E6400, this means:
333 x 8 == 2.664 GHz “above stock speed by 25%”

Here is a list of the available core 2 duo Multipliers:

-e6300 x 7
-e6400 x 8
-e6600 x 9
-e6700 x 10
-x6800 x 11 “unlocked multiplier"

People with good mathematical background should’ve realized by now that the lower the
multiplier the higher the FSB you will be raising to maintain higher speeds with your processor,
meaning more stress on your motherboard and also meaning higher memory speeds as we’ll
see in the coming section.

Step [3]:
Memory Multipliers:
Unfortunately unlike the AMD, there are no memory dividers, meaning the lowest ratio you
would be able to run with FSB is 1:1, but how will this affect you?!

FSB x Memory Multiplier == Memory in DDR Speeds

400x 2 == DDR2-800
500 x 2 == DDR2-1000
400x2.5==DDR2-1000

Meaning the higher the FSB the higher clocks your memory will be able to reach, the higher
their prices will be as memory prices are directly proportional to their speeds.

Many people refer to the memory multipliers as dividers, I don’t know why, but anyway don’t
be fooled by these references THERE ARE NO MEMORY DIVIDERS with Core2Duo “don’t know
about the 680i from Nvidia though”.

Q-One may ask “Why did we set the memory Multiplier to 2 not Auto or 2.5?”
A-There is an issue called “memory strap”, where a performance hit occurs whenever any other
multiplier other than the “2.00” (in other words 1:1 ratio) is used. Search Google for the
keywords “Core 2 Duo Memory Strap” for more details. Long story short, memory DDR2-800 at
2.0 Multiplier is better in the overall performance than the DDR2-800 at Higher Multiplier “Both
at the same CPU frequency of course”
Bottom line:
Setting your memory multiplier to 2.00 will allow you higher limits of FSB for cheaper memory
modules and will perform better, generally speaking.

P.S:
I didn’t mention anything about memory timings, you should follow the manufacturer table of
specs for the memory you bought, you may try to tweak it up a little, but that’s a matter of trial
and error, so there is nothing I can help you with there, just be reasonable, a rated DDR2-533 at
5-5-5-x memory module will never be able to run at DDR2-900 at 4-4-4-x “Miracles happen, but
don’t expect yourself from the miracles receivers before they happen TO YOU.”

Step [4]:
Revisions and Cores:
Some revisions are known to be extremely over lockable, some aren’t as lucky and some just
suck. Google for some Core 2 Duo revision over clocking database and see where your processor
is standing in the over clocking potential chart. Some people succeeded to raise their E6300 to
3.5 GHz 100% stable at slightly higher voltages than stock while others, like myself, failed to
surpass 3.4 GHz stable with my e6600.

Note:
E6600 models and above have larger L2 cache size, which means higher power consumption &
temperatures at higher clock speeds.

Step [5]:
Temps & Cooling:
Most people are reporting load temps between 40c & 50c with the e6300 & e6400, while most
of the e6600 owners are reporting temps between 45c and 55c at maximum load. In my opinion
keeping your cores below 52 for the e6300 & e6400 and below 60c for the e6600 is very
favorable and shouldn’t be costy.

Those results mentioned above are with maximum over clocking results with very decent air
cooling solutions; review Xbitlabs.com for more details about the coolest cooling after market
CPU cooler.

Note:
There are rumors “didn’t check them myself” about bad finishing of Intel new core heat
spreader. It is said that some processors have the center of the heat spreader curved in,
meaning the contact area between the processor and the cooling fan is not optimum and
meaning cooling efficiency is decreased. So if you are getting relatively high temps you may
want to check your processor’s heat spreader and read about lapping your CPU through this
link.

Step[6]:
Stability Testing:
Now after over clocking your system you should take care of the over clocking consequences,
there is no meaning at all if you over clock your system to its new limits without maintaining
stability, here are some tools to know if your system is stable or not:
[i] Prime95: stress test >> the one in the middle ---> running for 6 hours is enough to tell you
your system is in the stable side of the over clocking equation, no errors for 24 hours means
your system is super stable.
Note:
You should be 100% sure of your processor temperatures before stressing it for 24 hours.
[II] memtest86: Will test your memory settings, 25 loops of test 5 means you are stable, 25
loops of both test 5 and 8 means you are super stable.
[III] OCCT: A fast testing program to your system stability. Takes like 30 minutes. Saves you time
before running other tests which take longer time.
[IV] And finally Intensive Gaming.

Note:
If your system was stable then you may want to reduce voltages a bit, Vcore to begin with,
others later, the lower the voltage the lower the power consumption, the lower the heat
produced, the cooler your processor/system will get.

On the other hand if the system was not stable, you may want to increase voltages a bit, FSB,
Chipset & Vcore, don't be unreasonable though, there are limits for the motherboard or
processor or memory that you may have reached already, so don't push it too hard.

I had no problems to maintain 14 hours dual prime95 stable with my current settings in the sig,
but I totally failed to reach 3.5GHz stable even at 1.55 Vcore, that's the limiting factor i am
talking about.

Step [7]:
Time for Benchmarking and Comparing Results:
The idea from over clocking is to get the most performance gettable from your system, but
which is better?! Should I go with (450x8) or (400x9)?! Higher memory speeds with loosen
timings or lower memory speeds with tightened timings?! All these questions are answered with
Benchmarking tools AND lots of trials and restarts.
Here are some to give them a try:
[i] Sandra.
[II] Everest - sadly home edition is not available anymore.
[III] 3DMark 01, 03, 05, 06
[IV] PcMark 04, 05

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post your questions there if any.

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