Folks, I wish to OC my trusty stock E6600. I would be happy with 3.0 Ghz and from the good reading on this forum, that looks very possible.However, I may have struck a snag with RAM. I am running 4x1Gb DDR2 PC2-5300 (333Mhz) Kingston. All the OC advice appears to recommend DDR2 800.Where does this place me in terms of overclocking?Motherboard GA 965P-DS4 (Rev1)Any advice would be most appreciated.RegardsJock McIntyre (YMML)

If you google overclocking guides, you should be able to find some very good material out there as to how to overclock your system.I believe I'm correct when stating that the E6600 has a locked multiplier, meaning the only way to overclock in your case is to increase the FSB speed. The key is to have effective cooling (an oversized air cooler will do) on the CPU and the north bridge, and be very slow and patient with the process. Overclocking is dangerous/expensive business if done incorrectly - be very patient and safe.The general steps are:1)change values in the BIOS, not in the overclocking tools - GA's tools are horrible. If your GA BIOS can save multiple configurations, save the current setup you have. Even if you can save it, write it down so you can reference it later.2)lower the memory to CPU multiplier so you stay in range of the memory specs while being able to increase your FSB. On GA, that is 2x normally. Make it 1x or 1.5x. Also, increase latency so that memory won't be a bottleneck. Also disable CPU speedstep if you have that - that lowers CPU multiplier / voltage internally based on load and messes up your tests.3) increase FSB by 5MHz at a time, then 1 MHz at a time when you start having issues.4) run torture test (Prime95) to verify temperature, voltage correct to sustain with no errors for 30 minutes (here's where the patience comes in).5) when CPU starts failing, increase voltage by the minimum step allowed in the BIOS. Watch temperature when running test. Stay under 70C at all times during torture test.6) Once you have your max FSB, stable, start increasing memory multiplier and run memory tests. You will probably have to increase voltage to your memory to get best results, again, stay within manufacturer specs.7) Tone down by 5MHz (longevity), and decrease CPU voltage to minimum it can handle.You may be able to increase stability with the north bridge by boosting its voltage by 0.1V off the bat.Also, not all components are made the same day, so you may not be able to match other published materials out there because you have a unique set of components. The other thing to watch for is you will see some pretty amazing numbers/claims - take with a grain of salt. Some invest quite a bit into extreme overclocking, even if the system runs for a couple of days only - you want something that will boost your performance a little, while not ruining your hardware in a week.Again, use at your own risk - this can be dangerous business.Hope this helps,Etienne

Etienne, Thank you for your advice.RegardsJock McIntyre (YMML)

The E6600 has a 9x multiplier. 266Mhz FSB speed x 9x CPU multiplier = 2.4Ghz CPU speed. With default bios setting All DDR ram runs at Double the Data Rate (DRR) of the Front side buss (FSB). Right now your ram is running at 2 x 266 or 533Mhz. So you want to overclock? How fast can you go with ram rated to run to at least 667mhz mhz (PC-5300)? The FSB cannot go above 333Mhz. Remember the ram is going to DDR the FSB. 333 x 2 = 666. If the FSB can only go to 333Mhz, then the max CPU clock available will be 333 x 9 = 3.0Ghz. It is likely that CPU will go to 3.6Ghz, but the FSB must the go to 400 x 9 = 3.6. Your ram 333 will explode. If you want the rest, you will need to get ram that will run at 400 x 2 = 800mhz. That's called DDR2-800 or PC 6400. You will also need a CPU cooler:http://www.directron.com/u120e.htmlThat last 600Mhz will cost about $125 (ram + fan + cooler). It will get you a 20% increase in FPS (3.6/3.0 = 1.20). If that's worth it to ya, go for it. (If you're gonna run the PMDG airplane, it's your only hope!)