New to overclocking, could use some help:

[Brandon7s]

I recently put together a new PC (recent as in, a few hours ago), and I am trying to overclock the CPU. Now, as the title says, I am new to overclocking. I feel somewhat lost, and have a few questions; and generally, I could use some advice.

My some of the new system specs:
Intel E7200
ASUS P5Q Pro Intel P45
ATi 4870, Powercolor
Corsair TX750w
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800

I'm using a XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler for the CPU, obviously.

I managed to overclock the chip to 3.8, as seems to be entirely average for the E7200, but I've got stability issues, and something kinda wierd happening with CPU-Z.

Prime95 fails almost instantly; so stability is my main issue, naturally. How can I fix this? Should I keep bumping up the vcore? I already have the vcore set in my BIOS to be at 1.36, which seems rather high, from what I've seen on the large E7200 thread. Is there something I could be missing?

The other issue is, what's going on with CPU-Z? Two screenshots coming up. Notice the Core Speed and Multiplier being different? Well, these were taken seconds apart. The speed and multiplier are flickering back and forth every few seconds. I don't know if that's normal, but I'd imagine it's not.

Please, feel free to advise me on anything that I'm doing wrong, that you can tell from these screenshots. I could really use the help.

[Gautam]

When you're starting out, it's a good idea to take things a little slowly; i.e. not going from 2.53 to 3.8 in one shot. ;) Not all chips are alike, too, so you can't always copy someone else's results.

Looking at what you've got though I'd say the only thing that looks off is your vcore, I wouldn't feel shy in trying 1.45 or so as your temps seem well where they should be. (I'm not a big subscriber to the fear of high voltages with 45nm)

Anyways, I'm moving this thread to Intel Info and Support, which is where it belongs. The Xtreme Overclocking section is to be used to post xtreme results. :cool:

[Brandon7s]

Thanks for the advice, and for moving it to the appropriate forum. :D

I did get 3.6Ghz working fine, for the short time that I tested it - I just wanted to make things a little more exciting though. Haha.
I'll give upping the vcore a shot, too. Going to go a little slower with that, however. Don't wanna fry anything if I can help it...

[[XC] gomeler]

The frequency issue is simply EIST ramping the clocks back when it detects the processor is idle. It's a nice feature, helps save power when idle. I'm with Gautum on the voltage issue, give it some pain/volts. I imagine you'll need ~1.4v to get 3800MHz stable through Prime95 for an extensive period of time. Considering how cheap the chip is.. 1.45v is only calling your name ;)

[Brandon7s]

Well, after some more testing, with FSB at 400 and 3.8Ghz, it's relatively stable at 1.40vcore. 1.40v in the BIOS, that is. In CPU-Z it shows up as 1.352v. Drooping that low normal?