Q6600 overclock details.

fiddy · Rated PG Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

Hello people,

I'm new to this forum, and as somethings said here could help me quite a bit, I decided to post a message about my problem.

I own a Q6600 (G0 revision) for a few days now, and tried to overclock it. My previous CPU was a E6600 overclocked rock stable to 3.2GHz (+8hrs Orthos).

Thus, I'm trying to overclock my new Q6600, but it seems like I can't get it much high. First, here is details about my config:

- Intel Q6600 (G0 revision)
- Thermalright Ultra120 eXtreme
- Asus P5W DH Deluxe mobo
- Corsair DDR2-8500 Dominator (2x1 GB)
- Seasonic S-12+ 550w power supply
- Antec P-180B case
- eVGA 8800 GTX KO ACSÂ³

So, I followed your instructions posted previously in this thread, and first tried overclocking my Q6600 to 3GHz, using 9x333 FSB, Ram set to 667MHz, vCore et to 1.3250v.

Running OCCT for 30min stress test reports a stable computer (didn't try to run Prime95 for several hours yet).

Though, as soon as I try to overclock to 344 FSB, the computer posts and boots into windows, but OCCT crashes after 8 seconds. Getting the vCore a bit higher has the exact same result, OCCT crashes after 8 seconds. I then tried to get the FSB Termination Voltage a bit higher (1.30v), as well as the MCH Voltage (1.55v), but results are worse: OCCT crashes after 2 seconds.

Would any of you have any advices on what I should do?
I'm not even sure it's 100% rock stable at 3.0GHz, though I heard most Q6600 should go that far...

Thanks Smile

acruxksa · Posted: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:17:00 Post Subject:

Try upping your vcore to 1.35v. Your cooler should be able to handle that without too much trouble.

Also, some motherboards are pretty sensitive about FSB settings and which fsb strap they are using. I'm not sure what the break points are on the P5W, but you should try several fsb speeds around 344 just in case you are on the edge. ie......try 340 and maybe 350. You should also give 400x8 a try, your memory can handle it.

PyroSith · Rated PG Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 5

I am new to overclocking and i just recently custom built a quad core pc

I would like an oppinion on how to overclock my pc here are my specs:

2 x 1 GB patriot gaming ram with heat spreaders
Q6600 Core 2 Quad 2.4 Ghz FSB 1066
Intel D975XBX2 (bad axe 2) Extreme series Motherboard(first intel board able to overclock)
Geforce 8600 gts Video card
Rosewill 550 watt power supply
1 x 500 GB Samsung Sata Hard drive

I would appreciate any suggestions

Razon · Posted: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:49:37 Post Subject:

I also have a Q6600 B3 but on a GA-N680SLI-DQ6 motherboard (F4 bios-latest) with a Thermalright ULTRA-120 Extreme Cooler, Crucial 8500 ram, and a 8800 Ultra.
I was able to oc to the following settings (which is what I'm currently running) , but it will not go any further:
- cpu: 1.35v
- DDR2: +0.4v (2.2v total
-all other voltages: +0.1
Memory linked,
ratio 1:1
300Mhz, X9
So this gives me 2.7Ghz, 1200FSB, with the memory running at 600Mhz, 1.344VCore (from CPU-Z)
I tryied unlinking the memory, setting it at 667 , then tried to go up and even jumping straight to 333-334 bus speed but without success.
However once i jumped the bus speed to 340, i put the cpu at 1.5v and with the memory at 667 it did boot Win Vista 64. It crashed a few minutes later, and wont boot again at those settings.
I also have set bios to alarm in temps go over 40C. I never heared the buzzer. (the temp monitoring software doesn't work propperly after I swapped the cpu cooler...now it shows temps of 16C. It's over 20C in my room)
It will start loading windows up to a bus freq of 310-315 but will always crash before windows finishes loading or shortly after that.
If anybody has any suggestions that would be great.

acruxksa · Posted: Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:23:26 Post Subject:

Razon,
What is the actual voltage your cpu is running at? You can set it at 1.35v, but most boards suffer some "voltage droop". This is especially common with quads and pre-P35 chipset boards. I'm not current on the Nvidia boards, but would assume they suffer some of the same problems. A little droop is OK, but you very easily could be setting 1.35v in the bios and actually only getting 1.29v to the cpu. I would recommend you change your alarm temp to something a bit more realistic, like 65c or 70c, these cpu's idle at 40c, so you basically have it set to alarm right when it's turned on. Also, try upping your voltage setting in the bios a step or two. Your cpu cooler is pretty good and should handle it. Please do this with care though, as nothing is certain when it comes to overclocking, so keep an eye on your temps. I recommend using coretemp for this, but intels Thermal Analysis Tool (TAT) works great too.

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:25:18 Post Subject:

Razon · Posted: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:20:55 Post Subject:

So, I downloaded Speed Fan 4.33 for temp monitoring.
It looks like the temps are 39 degC for cores 1 and 2 and 35 degC for cores 3 and 4. This is right now...at idle.
The core voltage is at 1.344v in CPU-Z and 1.34 in Speed Fan (with the setting at 1.35v).
Since you're using CoreTemp, I just downloaded Core Temp 0.95.4 and it gives me 54, 54, 50, 50 fore cores 1,2,3,4 respectively. This goes to show you how accurate these programs are.
It's about 24 in my room right now.
Core Temp it's telling me I'm running at 2400 (400x6), but I'm actually 266X9. The thing is that the processor multyplyer goes down to 6 automatically when there is no "load"...so at idle it's actually only running at 266x6 =1600.
I'm gonna go to 1.4v with a X6 multiplyer, unlink the memory and try to increase the bus speed again.
Do you know who offers free web hosting so I can maybe post some screenshots?

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 07:29:18 Post Subject:

That temperature disparity sounds crazy!!

Razon · Posted: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:14:58 Post Subject:

Thanks Doctor Feelgood.
So while I was in bios last night, I looked at the temps that are posted there and I had 22 for the cpu and 34 for the system. (again, with ~23deg in my room...going by the thermostat).
Increasing the voltage made the temps go a little higher, but still couldn't push the speed any higher (I went all the way to 1.46v effective with a 1.5v setting).
I kept the memory at 800MHz in bios so 400MHz clock in CPU Z. I then tryed 1240MHz (620MHz) and it was just as stable, but it seems to be the top limit for the memory.
It seems that the limmiting thing for me is the FSB which will only go to ~1240 MHz (with a 310MHz entered bus speed). The selection for the multiplyer is 6-9.. I'm using 9 so I'm allready maxed out there.
So what I'm thinking:
1. There is a problem chipset
2. Since the max speed it's the same as the memory limit maybe they're still somehow tied together (the FSB and mem speed) even though I unlinked them....I doubt it though.

For solution I'm thinking to try an older bios that allows me to select a higher multiplyer (F2 I belive goes up to 15) (I'm using F4 now).
How important is to have a high bus speed with a small multiplyer as opposed to smaller bus speed with a high multiplyer???

qwwwizx · Rated PG Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 23

Hi there,

Back again running q6600-G0@3.285 Ghz. All I have done is tweaking my bios FSB to unlinked, and adjusted the FSB (QDR) to 1460 MHz, save and reboot. All other bios settings are factory. I still have the Zalman 9700 CPU cooler to do the job for me.

The computer have been running stable for a few days now. Unfortunately coretemp wont run under vista ultimate 64, so I cant read out the temperatures. If possible I will create a little application that can read these values my self next weekend.

PS. I have this Asus Striker Extreme motherboard. I nearly cant overclock with bios 1305, so I am back on 1303 beta. Just in case someone else have the same problem.