Asrock P45-TS Low voltage on Q6600 when on load

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drtrucks

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So I'm new to overclocking. I've done ALOT of research about this, and I get the concept of overclocking. So where I'm stuck is when i adjust the voltage for CPU in BIOS everything looks good and runs good. When i start up windows everything is ok, but when i get past an overclock of about 3.10GHz and run Prime95 my pc freezes up. I just noticed that under a load my voltages drop to about 1.28v under a load... No matter what i set the CPU voltage under BIOS i get a HUGE drop in volts. So as of now im stuck, I've even tried Google and looking at 100 different forums. Any new advice is good advice at this point. I know this CPU is able to get higher then 3ghz.

I'm not sure of what I'm supposed to list for my rig so I'll try my best haha:

CPU: Intel Q6600 2.40GHz
MOBO: Asrock P45-TS Motherboard
MEMORY: 2gb (x4) (not sure what kind to put here)
GPU: Nvidia 8800 GTX
PSU: Corsair 750w
CASE: Antec 900

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm really looking forward to getting all this figured out!


Justin
 
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jimmysmitty

jimmysmitty

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Is it a Q6600 G0 stepping? If so, it will at best hit 3GHz on stock voltage which is normally 1.35v, although most CPUs are different and may need more or less.

While under load, it will have what is called VDroop or voltage droop, which means the voltage will drop a bit under load.

What you need to do is up the voltage in the BIOS a little bit, by as small an amount as you can, then try again and see how it handles it. Rinse and repeate as that is how you overclock stable.

Now one thing I didn't see was what cooler you are using. You are not using the stock cooler are you? That wont be able to cool it enough.
 
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drtrucks

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Its is G0. I try to up the voltage in bios but no matter what i set it as it drops, by alot. I even put it at 1.5 for one try and soon as i ran Prime 95 it dropped to about 1.3 I have an OK air cooler. I dont want to put money into a nice one until i know i can get higher overclocking. if im stuck at 3.0GHz then the cooler i have now is fine.

 
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jimmysmitty

jimmysmitty

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The VDroop is not that important, you will always have VDroop. What maters is if it runs without freezing/restarting and at decent temps.

Problem is that you might not be able to get much beyond 3GHz if the cooler is not pulling enough heat off of the CPU with higher voltages.

1.5v seems a bit too high for 3.1v. As I said most G0 steppings only need to have the FSB changed to 1333MHz for 3GHz and will run that on the stock voltage. I had one that I actually ran at 3GHz at 1.25v which is lower than the stock but I got super lucky.

One other thing, how are you doing the OCing? Some motherboards do not accept the 9x multiplier with a higher FSB and you need to lower the multiplier and raise the FSB, that is how some people hit higher frequencies, for example putting the multi to 8x and the FSB to 450MHz while also pushing the voltage to probably 1.38-1.4v. Others just don't have the VRMs to provide the voltage reliable enough and you might just get stuck at 3GHz.

After looking at the board on ASRocks site, I don't think that board will OC much more than 3GHz. I didn't see any better VRMs on it so it might just not be a happy OCing board.
 
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drtrucks

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Last night i actully tried to put the multipilier to 8x and it wouldn't start. The only thing im really confused about is the FSB settings. The other day i saw the jumpers on the MOBO but i didnt change them because i dont know what it does.

And the fan I'm using is working good enough just for testing. When i turn it up a little my CPU temps dont go over 58c. But I am planning on buying a new one once i get this figured out. That and maybe a new MOBO and CPU. I do understand that they are both getting older at this point haha.

Oh i forgot to mention that any time i adjust anything with the RAM it seems to freeze. So I've been keeping it on auto.
 
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jimmysmitty

jimmysmitty

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The easiest route is probably new board and CPU, for example a 2500K from Intel has a unlocked multiplier so overclocking is easy.

But back to your Q6600. I did forget that memory is different than in newer Intel setups. Unlike my i5 4670K where the memory controller is built on the CPU and has its own clock speed separate from the CPU BCLK, the Q6600 does not have a IMC but rather the memory controller is in the chipset, the P45 to be exact in your case. Due to this, memory is normally tied into the FSB and is much more finickey when OCing. What you want to do is set the memory to its exact specs (speed, voltage and timings) in the BIOS and not much more.

As for jumpers, I have only had to use them on one more recent board and that was a ASRock G31 that had jumpers to change the FSB to support certain CPUs but the P45 shouldn't need that.

Best way to check is to look at the manual and see if there are jumpers listed in there for anything specific to the FSB.
 
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drtrucks

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Ok, I think I am just going to look for i5 or i7 and a newer mobo. Heck im still using DDR2 haha. I will just leave this at 3GHz since its running fine now. But thank you for advice and for you taking the time to look things up.

 
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drtrucks

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OK so just for a quick update... I was able to overclock my CPU to 3.21GHz with no issues so far! I think my biggest problem was that i was being way too careful with the voltage. i brought it to closer to 1.4v (knowing that it was gunna drop a bit anyway). Then just kept an eye on the core voltage with CPU-z just to make sure it didn't drop too low while i was running a stress test. Also the temp never hit 60c so i think i got it now. I guess it'd just a matter of risking it a little, even tho i know I'm way under its limits haha. Thanks again for the help!
 
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drtrucks

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Yea, I have been reading alot about all this overclocking and i really got it now. Pretty much just going to buy new board and processor, and use these ones to really push my limits so when i get the new parts I'll know what/what not to do :) I got these parts for the whole rig for 110$ from a used part shop so when I do mess everything up it's not really a loss haha.
 
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