Throttlestop overclocking Desktop PCs

[SamirD]

If you could list what you have I can give you some idea which ones have potential.

Oh wow, thank you!
210L
745
755
330 with 380 motherboard
2350
990
4500S
4600
GX240
GX520
INSPIRON 620
670
2950

 

[Retrorockit]

Oh wow, thank you!
210L
745- QX6800 SLACP TS overclockable to about 3.45Ghz X6800 3.72 I think. 8GB DDR2 800
755- Q6600 SLACR BSEL tape to 3GHz but Q9650 is 10% better anyway. E7500 to 3.6GHz same mod.
330 with 380 motherboard- 3.33Ghz X5470 Xeon swap, 8GB DDR3 1066 also. Might be the best BTX Optiplex. E7500 tapemod also.
The rest of these I'll have to investigate later.
2350- Dimension? The only Dimensions that got past the P4 limit were the E520, and the 9200 series and XPS410 XPS210 but they OC nicely with QX6800 SLACP up to 4GHz.
990- Optiplex 990? i5-2500K, and 2600K running in those so TS should work. No confirmed overclocks yet.
4500S No info on this?
4600 Old P4 rig.
GX240
GX520 Stuck at Pentium 4 level.
INSPIRON 620- i5-2500K running , i5-2600K unconfirmed TS overclock candidiate.
670- P4 Xeons barely equals a slow Core2 Duo
2950- 2 CPU X5450 highest CPU I can confirm but very small sample size. "maybe" 95W CPU limit, but 2x CPUs. You might see what the guys in the Dell Workstation Owners thread know about this one.

 

[SamirD]

Thank you for all the feedback! As you can tell, most are quite old, but they still run so they're on the network and handed a task they can do well.

I forgot to mention the 745 and 755 are USFF which I know limits a lot. 4500s is a socket 478 so probably no chance like the other 478s. I have one 2950 with dual x5450s in it that I haven't configured yet and the other is stuck at 5160s since it's a series I. Didn't know if TS could do anything with those so I listed them anyways. Seems like the 2xxx series core processor based systems are where I have a chance.

 

[Retrorockit]

USFF has no GPU slot so not much can be done there. Socket 478 is 32 bit OS only. But laptops ran that socket well into core2 Quad and Extreme. If the opti 380 is an MT it's a good subject for an X5470 swap.
The 1st,4th,and 8th here are my Opti 380 project. The 5th is a guy I walked through the swap at Tomshardware Forum . He would be in 4th except no SSD.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-OptiPlex-380/1942

 

[SamirD]

Yeah, there's not much hope for them besides the e8600 I already have in the 755 and the q6600 in the 745. Interesting to hear about the 478 in laptops.

Ah, I have some other 380 Motherboards I was thinking of swapping into the other btx cases as upgrades so that's good to know. The current 380 has a x3360 in it. Do you think I would be able to overclock that using TS?

 

[Retrorockit]

TS requires an unlocked CPU and those are all 130W. ASFIK alll the Optis except the 745, and 380 are 95W limited. The 380 goes 120W but not 130W. The PentiumD suppport of the 745 allows 130W Core 2 Extremes but only the 266fsb versions. The SLACP is the only G0 stepping, the others are B3 and crap out about 1 multiplier lower. The 2 core X6800 is B3 also or it would be a 4GHz CPU. The X5470 is the fast 380 setup and Setfsb gains almost nothing. Q9650 in the 755.
All the 333fsb Optis can run the E7500 266fsb 2 core at 3.6Ghz with just a piece of tape.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2125877/tape-mod-bsel-mod-intel-q6600.html
If you can find more Voltage then the Q6700 to 3.33GHz, and E7600 to 3.8Ghz can be taped also. It can be done but it's a CPU by CPU process and not so easy to describe.
The X3360 is the same as my Q9505s, Q9500 CPU and there's nothing wrong with that setup. But my hobby is showing what the maximum is for old Dells and publishing it to help others.
They called 478 Socket P and in laptops it's been thoroughly overclocked. getting a BIOS to run one on a 478MB would be the hard part. I suspect it has been done. But that would be MB by MB.

 

[SamirD]

Awesome info. Thank you!

 

[Retrorockit]

While things are quiet here I guess I'll post about the Optiplex from hell. I just found out about the Optiplex XE ( Extreme Environment) designed for up to 50*C. ambient service. It's the only Optiplex i've ever seen with 4 phase VRM. So of course Dell only sold this beast with 2 core 65W CPUs! G45 Chipset, heatsink on the NB and SB chips, 4 DDR3 1066 slots, PCIe x16, and x1 slots so maybe a SetFSB unlock via SATA card? G45 supports Xeon swapping. Very few examples at Userbenchmark but one with Q9650 so there's that. 120W Xeons? 130W Core 2 Extremes? It only came in DT and SFF sizes, but the DT has 4 expansion slots like an MT. The PSU size seems generous 300W DT,280W SFF until you read the label and find out it's powering a 24V. rail for a 24V. USB port on the rear. WTH is that for? 24V. seems like military stuff to me. Anyway I ordered a DT motherboard to see what I can figure out. It has it's own cooling setup. Copper finned heatsink in a metal shroud. I hope the BTX standard coolers fit it. It is an LGA775 BTX Optiplex. I've had very good results with 4 phase Dell BTX MB. 4GHz with a QX6800 on a Dell Dimension E520.
It also has 2x RJ-45 network connectors, PS2 ports that most Optis don't have. Even the T3400 BTX workstation which goes past 4GHz easily with a QX9650 doesn't have 4 phase VRM.

 

[jbkelly80]

New guy sent over from Tom's Hardware. About to put my T3500 with a X5687 , XFX RX 580 8gb oc+ , 32gb Corsair Vengeance , Corsair GS800 , Corsair LL120 RGB all around, in a Phanteks P400TG. Obviously not able to OC, but any other advice?

 

[Retrorockit]

Welcome aboard. It's been kind of quiet here during the holidays. Might take a while for a reply. But you're in the right place. Maybe you'll do an OC after you get it built. But we like "Mission Impossible" stuff here. I personally haven't done this sort of swap but others here have.
I went shopping for an Opti XE. Too expensive on Ebay. Only saw one for sale on Craigslist. Drove 100 miles to see it. Came back with 3 of them and a T3500 for $80.
I guess this is where I find out what P.O.S. computer really means.

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

You mean Piece of Shi...oh, Point Of Sales...yeah.

 

[Retrorockit]

Yeah, there's not much hope for them besides the e8600 I already have in the 755 and the q6600 in the 745. Interesting to hear about the 478 in laptops.

Ah, I have some other 380 Motherboards I was thinking of swapping into the other btx cases as upgrades so that's good to know. The current 380 has a x3360 in it. Do you think I would be able to overclock that using TS?

There's one possibility I didn't mention for the Opti 380 because it's unconfirmed. It responds to SetFSB overclcoking but just a slight amount. This may be due to SATA bus freezing. On some other systems this has been resolved by moving the SATA controller to an add in card. But the 380 has no PCIe x1 slot so it would have to be an old PCI controller. Probably OK with an HDD but might defeat the purpose of an SSD setup (like mine).

Got a good look at the POS. Unsupported by SetFSB PLL chip SLG8XP523T. The 4 phase VRM has 2 MOSFETs per phase, but room for a third one. They even went so far as to have solder dots on the pads already for the 3rd MOSFET. Cooler bolt pattern is different than other BTX. Shared only with Optiplex 960, but that gets me a 4 heatpipe cooler assy (ordered). I have an old Opti 745 DT 6 pipe cooler I can easily mount, but the fan duct will need to be made. I'll wait and see if I need it. This is my first DT size computer, Dell offered a little known 90* PCIe bracket to use full height video cards on these (ordered NOS). I think an SATA PCIe controller will get the SATA data cables out of the way so I can get a 2 slot wide GPU in there. ZOTAC GTX1050 Ti Mini looks good to go, and the MSI GTX1060 3GB also. Not sure what's available PSU wise for these. An old 2 rail Pentium D era Dell PSU will get some power but no PCIe cable.
I was hoping a Xeon swap with an SATA card would get a nice SetFSB overclock but the PLL chip issue will require some investigation. So for now it's up to the BIOS dudes to get an unlocked CPU running. They say a QX9650 C0 has a good chance of running. I think that's what I have.

 

[jbkelly80]

I got the T3500 in the Phanteks P400TG. Tight fit. Need help with the Dell front connections. How can I get the MB to work with the new case? It boots up. Works like normal. Would just like to use the power button and usb ports on new case.

 

[Retrorockit]

I got the T3500 in the Phanteks P400TG. Tight fit. Need help with the Dell front connections. How can I get the MB to work with the new case? It boots up. Works like normal. Would just like to use the power button and usb ports on new case.

There is an internal USB socket right in front of the MB Battery for an FDD bay card reader. Should be able to run some USB ports off of that.
I found an interesting cooler for LGA 1366 workstations (yes it's made for them) Dynatron G17. It's very much like the cooling mod I showed Mangupta in the workstation thread but with one more heatpipe. I ordered one.
https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Prod...J43TpvvOlmBUTvloRg8aAiknEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I just realized that with the T3500 I picked up for $20 with the 3x POS computers, and the W3580 I already have, I can actually build an overclocked X58 system for $40.

I dug into the $20 T3500. it has no hdd so no OS. Clean as a whistle though. No dust bunnies at all. It had a W3520, I stuck my dirt cheap W3570 unlocked Xeon in it, It came with 12 GB DDR3 1066(3x4GB) which is perfect for this. The cooler I put together for Manguptas 50*C. weather issue will fit with the HDD tray closed. But finding 1.8A 12V, and the blocked mounting screw issue had me just hang a fan on the original cooler like every body else does. Of course you guys know me it's going to be a bigger fan with a couple other tricks thrown in. I dug around and found a 92mmx32mm .6A, Delta fan with Thermal Sensor Control. 9 blades instead of the usual 7. No need to splice into PWM. It speeds up when the air temperture passing through it rises. I made some music wire "sprongs" to hold it in place. I had to trim the corners of the fan to clear the screw heads, but they weren't completetly covered like the 92x38mm Mangupta fan. Dell p/n C8563 Delta# EFC9012BF
I couldn't find the specs for that exact model, but another one the same size and power is 95cfm.

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

Just thought I would mention that the HP Z400 is compatible with SetFSB. Still haven't got an unlocked CPU for my GF's PC...but playing around with SetFSB allowed a mild overclock on her W3565...stock all core turbo is 3.33GHz (133x25), I got it to 3.425GHz 137x25...anything past that would lock the system up.

 

[BouziGolouM]

Out of topic, Aaron, is 3.86 your max with t3500? Just wondering as I was able to push mine a little bit further

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

Out of topic, Aaron, is 3.86 your max with t3500? Just wondering as I was able to push mine a little bit further

I believe I am only stuck at 3.86GHz because I am using an older 45nm Xeon, the W3680 and W3690 are unlocked too, but 32nm...and as it goes, tend to overclock a bit further with the stock voltage. I am under the assumption that most any W3680 or W3690 will do at least 4GHz at stock voltage, maybe even 4.1+GHz if you're lucky with the silicone lottery. Basically, I bought my W3570 just to test out the overclock capability, with the eventual plan to get a W3680, but just haven't got there yet...too many other expenses like our TV breaking right before Christmas, among other things.

Also...I can push this W3570 to 4GHz, but...I get the odd random crash...like once every couple days...and 3.86GHz is rock solid and haven't had a single crash ever.

 

[BouziGolouM]

It's odd, I have both W3570 and W3690 and my 3570 was able to hit 4.1 no crash on the dell board and the 3690 only 4.0 on the same board.
Didnt try my W3570 on an aftermarket board but I know I can achieve 4.7-4.8 on my sabertooth...
Seems odd because I thought I'd be able to reach at least the same OC with my t3500/3690.
Though, just a heads UP on an aftermarket board, those chip are just beast, Im able to bench as much as a stock 6700K wich is to me, phenomenal.

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

It's odd, I have both W3570 and W3690 and my 3570 was able to hit 4.1 no crash on the dell board and the 3690 only 4.0 on the same board.
Didnt try my W3570 on an aftermarket board but I know I can achieve 4.7-4.8 on my sabertooth...
Seems odd because I thought I'd be able to reach at least the same OC with my t3500/3690.
Though, just a heads UP on an aftermarket board, those chip are just beast, Im able to bench as much as a stock 6700K wich is to me, phenomenal.

I've been keeping my eye open locally for a better X58 board but I am not spending what some people feel they are worth...if I happen across a deal though...

 

[BouziGolouM]

Yeah I was like you, if you're lucky they can be found for dirt cheap but wasn't lucky enough, I paid the price but the extra features are quite good honestly.
I really wanted to mess with OC and for real, that chip is a pure monster, the dell OC is good, but when pushed it's just amazing, aroud multi core perf of a stock 6700k with a lower sing perf.
The thing I really wanted was an EVGA SR-2 just to mess with but hell, those are quit expansive.

 

[Retrorockit]

Just thought I would mention that the HP Z400 is compatible with SetFSB. Still haven't got an unlocked CPU for my GF's PC...but playing around with SetFSB allowed a mild overclock on her W3565...stock all core turbo is 3.33GHz (133x25), I got it to 3.425GHz 137x25...anything past that would lock the system up.

Some times SetFSB locks up because the SATA bus goes out of spec. A PCIe SATA card can fix that (if that's what's happening. )I've been thrashing on the Optiplex POS project. I took it to OCN LGA775 Club. I'll bring it back here if I can get a Core2Extreme to run on it. GTX1050TI and 130 W Pentium D heatsink so far.

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

Some times SetFSB locks up because the SATA bus goes out of spec. A PCIe SATA card can fix that (if that's what's happening. )I've been thrashing on the Optiplex POS project. I took it to OCN LGA775 Club. I'll bring it back here if I can get a Core2Extreme to run on it. GTX1050TI and 130 W Pentium D heatsink so far.

I was curious if it might be the SATA bus...I think I might just do a Windows install to a USB stick and see if it goes any farther...if it does, I'll grab a PCIe controller for like $7 on eBay. The Z400 will eventually get my W3570 when I upgrade my T3500 to W3680. But it's fun to play with SetFSB for now. And also curious about those POS systems you've acquired...I'll slide over to OCN.

Also...due to ATX compatibility and now SerFSB capability...I would say T3500 should only be recommended over Z400 if price is significantly cheaper. Well...I guess there is still the issue of the proprietary 24-pin, but the pinout for that is well documented.

 

[Retrorockit]

I got the T3500 in the Phanteks P400TG. Tight fit. Need help with the Dell front connections. How can I get the MB to work with the new case? It boots up. Works like normal. Would just like to use the power button and usb ports on new case.

Aaaron do you have any advice for jbkelly80? You're the ATX guy here. Also when mentioning the Z400 don't forget the early MBs with 4 RAM slots that should be avoided.

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

Aaaron do you have any advice for jbkelly80? You're the ATX guy here. Also when mentioning the Z400 don't forget the early MBs with 4 RAM slots that should be avoided.

I missed that post but can certainly help here...the Z400 is in a Deepcool Tesseract with the power button and the USB 2.0 front panel hooked up. I'll have to pop open the side panel to have a look since it has been awhile since I built it...but I will at some point today.

Edit - missed it was referring to T3500...my T3500 hasn't had the front panel hooked up. I did pinout the header on the motherboard...and found USB and power switch...but I lost that pin out diagram I made...and honestly I probably won't bother to do the pin out again unless I end up pulling my rig apart for some unforeseen reason. I've just been using the rocker switch on the PSU.

Also...something strange I found with T3500 board...using CM Storm Spawn has a weird issue...when at the post prompt of press F1...pressing F1 does nothing...I have to hit F2 to enter BIOS, then reboot, and then F1 works...thought it was just how the motherboard behaved until I recently swapped mice for a Corsair Katar...and now F1 works as it should on first boot...strange, eh? Lol

 

[Retrorockit]

The best computer advice i can give anyone is don't ever buy an espresso machine! I now own a Mac Pro. FBDIMMs and all. LGA771 the hard way!
It looks like 150W CPU, 1333fsb, but 65nm quads only. Looks like my E520 on steroids. Come to Poppa!

Ordered a pair of 6 pipe heatsinks for a later Macpro. $20 +7. The damned thing is built like a puzzle. They went to socket head screws on the tall heatsinks. Who the hell has an 8" long 3mm Allen wrench.
Well actually I do. A trip to the storage locker but yeah this things coming a part.