Where to start....

I have an E6550 and of course it has 1333mhz FSB
ASUS PK5-VM
Kingston PC2-8500 DDR2 1066mhz (KHX8500D2K2/2GN)
BIOS v. 0704 (latest for M/B)

My question is...Is the memory bottlenecking the CPU or not ?

If so, can I safely overclock it to 1333mhz with just the heatsinks that come with the memory and the 80mm & 120mm case fans ?

Something else I will mention is that the M/B is supposed to support this memory @ 1066mhz 2.2v and Kinston says the same but when I put it in it was set to default of 800mhz 5-5-5-9 and I don't have 2.2v option in BIOS only AUTO~2.1v

Currently I have, in BIOS, memory @ FSB 333(options 200-800) clock 1066mhz latency 5-5-5-15 AUTO voltage
ASUS and Kingston disagree on website about supported "activate to precharge" value for 1066mhz 2.2v. One says 15 the other 18. So do I need to overclock for CPUs benefit and can I w/o melting down the memory or losing stability ?

Hope it's clear enough.

You might need someone else with that motherboard to be able to help you with the BIOS part.

However, it is possible that you will have to enable advanced settings or similar in the BIOS. Check your motherboard's manual for that.

Also, it was all the rage before (but I'm not sure about now) to run the CPU:RAM ratio at 1:1. Might want to set it, and then change the clock to match the faster component (most likely the RAM). Although, at this speed, it would be tricky. You'd have to set FSB to 533mhz to match RAM speed, which brings your CPU FSB to 2132mhz. Correct me if I'm wrong here, its been awhile.

Setting your "activate to precharge" values to either one might cause you to lose stability, but the second worst thing that could happen is for you to need to reset the BIOS. This shouldn't cause any permanent hardware damage. (Of course the worst thing that could happen is that your RAM fries up, which could happen with ANY change you do. I think the chance of that happening is close to you hitting the jackpot in the lottery, but don't quote me on that).

As for stability, its all up to you to test it out. Using memtest would be your best bet, and if it runs overnight or something without any errors, you should be fine.

Your memory is running at 1066 Mhz, while the board is cabable of close to 1333 Mhz.... your system will run at the speed of the slowest component. You cannot speed up the memory in the Kingston, and I doubt you could tell the difference if you could.

I see. Thanks for the replies. If I left it at 1066mhz it wouldn't be overclocking so I'll try baby steps to 1333mhz and memtest. Maybe leave latency at original settings. I'm sure Kingston memory can handle a light jog. The memory is under $70 for 2gb anyway. :P

If my comp survives I'll post back for ppl that care.

Thanks to my M/B I wasn't allowed to use incorrect overclocking settings so nothing fried but I did change FSB between the 333-500 range and tried 1333mhz and nothing happened(F10 wouldn't get reboot, had to power off and F1) but since I know nothing about overclocking the only time any of my hardware will be is if I buy it that way.

@CMH: You got close... setting FSB in Memory settings to 533 you will get max memory clock option of 2136mhz. At least it seemed to be when I looked tonight, could be wrong I'm a bit tired.