It's so difficult to reach 3.6 in a E6600...

Have you tried flashing the BIOS?

Yes I have version 10 (newest). I have heard that version 7 is pretty good, but never have tried it.

Newer isn't always better, so if you flash back (no pun intended) to 7, it's well worth the effort if it solves your problem. I'm running 1305 instead of the current 1707 on my P5W DH due to stack overflow errors, so the BIOS bugs don't bite me

Hope this helps. 8)

Yeah well the F7 BIOS is know for being a good overclocking BIOS, but it has some issues with cold boots (the BIOS resets itself for no reason). That was corrected in F10. But maybe it worths a try...

You're so close, so if you can get past this speed bump, your Vcore at 1.42 is still low enough to allow you to make 3.6 at 1.45 or so, without overtemping. If you're running at the stock multiplier of 9 x 395, you may be stuck on an FSB bump, so you could try 8 x 450 @ 1.45 Vcore.

Also, check out the following topic:

Core 2 Duo Temperature Guide

Hope this helps. 8)

I will try moving the multiplier now and will post the results

I tried 8 X 450 @ 1.45 and was able to run TAT for about 10 minutes but after that the PC rebooted :-(. The temp was stable at 65º 64º at that time, idling @ 44.

Excellent!  

But crashing after 10 minutes of TAT doesn't mean that I'm pretty much unstable?

Sounds like a bit more Vcore may stabilize your system. Try 1.475, and perhaps another .01 bump on Vmch may also help. 8)

I'll try 1.475. Vmch is already +0.3  

That may be enough to attain stability. 8)

Watch your temps! your already pushing it as it is.

I had to pump my vcore up to 1.55 to be stable @ 3.6 / 3.7

Ok, TAT ran for 15 minutes without any problems. The only problem is that the CPU was @ 68º loaded, and that's with a Tuniq Tower.... I don't think that extra 50mhz worth an extra 6 or 7º in temps... 3.7 or more, that's another story...

At least you got past the 395 speed bump. You're probably pushing against temps at 3.7 with 1.55. Can you reach stability at 3.6 with 1.4875 or 1.5?

I'm stable 3.6 @ 1.475

So 8 x 450 solved the puzzle?

You need to run something like dual P95 for 8+hrs error free before you can make that assumption.

It did, because before I wasn't stable even @ 1.475. Now it's stable. But the temps concern me a little. Now I'm idling @ 48. Maybe I should check my Tuniq and reapply some AS5.

BTW, isn't 1.475 a lil bit high for the CPU?. It won't short the processor's life?

Just because you can boot to windows and surf the net for a few hours doesn't mean your truly stable. Dual P95 with no errors overnight ensures that you are TRULY stable and will have no crashes or corruption of your windows installation.

If your memory is Overclocked you also need to check it for stability.

Read the link above for the C2D Temp Guide, but the short answer is 1.475 is less than a 10% overvolt, which is fine as long as you can stay within the thermal envelope.  

That's true, but for me stability means to run without crashes. That depends of course of the tasks you perform with the rig. I'm a heavy gamer, so I think stability to me means play for hours without crashes.

Thanks Tronix for your help (also thanks to everybody)... Now I can aim for 3.7  

Good point, since he changed FSB from 395 to 450. 8)

Your very welcome, and don't forget to update your profile!  

Enjoy! 8)

Done  

One question, why I was able to reach the speed with the 8X, and not the 9X?. What was holding me back?

Some 965 chipsets motherboards have FSB speed bumps, or clock regions which are unstable, for example 390 through 430. Sometimes all it takes is driver updates, but more typically, it requires leapfroging over the uncooperative clock regions. However, as RobsX2 pointed out, don't forget to tweak Vdimm and / or timings for stability at DDR2-900.



Typically, above 1.35 Vcore, each .05 increase = ~ 100 Mhz increase, and ~ 3c temp increase. 8)

I reinstalled my Tuniq and now the temps are 3º lower. So I think I'm ok for now.  

What kind of paste are you using? if its artic silver 5 paste then it should get even lower over the next few days as the paste cures as long as you didn't put to much on it.

And BTW I know you may not think its important to be dual Prime 95 stable for 8+hrs as you say stability to you is just gaming for a couple of hours but what you dont realize is that your cpu and mem can be unstable and not necessarily make your system crash during gaming but over time it will and can corrupt your windows xp installation causing a reinstallation of XP in order to clear it up.

Yes, I'm using AS5... I expect that after the curing process I will gain a couple degrees more... (less) lol.

I know what are you saying about the corrupted system, mostly by RAM issues. I will run Prime95 tonight until tomorrow to check stability, but I think it should be ok, since TAT is A LOT more stressful than Prime.

What is tat? I have ran about every test out there orthos etc... to check for stability and so far my system has passed them all with flying colors. I would like to try tat if you can give me a link to it please?

Dual P95 is the most stressful test I have yet to find but I would like to try the tat that you speak of.


My E6400 is sitting nicely at 3.5ghz with just 1.4v core and idle temps are 33c with Dual P95 load temps of 57c 8)

I am also using the Tuniq Tower.

TAT is the "Intel Thermal Analysis Tool" and is a program that absolutely puts the more pressure in your CPU I have seen. It puts both cores @ 100% all the time. You will see temps up to 10º more here than in Prime or Orthos. A link is HERE

I'd also mention that the ds3 likes to have air blown on the passive northbridge...

Dual P95 also loads both cores at 100%. Anyway I just ran Tat for a few minutes and the temps I get are just like those under dual p95, thats what I expected it would do.

Is kinda difficult to put a fan in the top of the NB, because the Tuniq is SO HUGE it blocks some of it. But yes, would be nice. Later I will decrease my NB overvolt in 0.1, to see if I remain stable after that. I have heard that the DS3 can reach high speeds even with the NB @ stock speed.

You should tell me how you do it, because if I run 2 instances of Prime, each one assigned to a core, I just get 55-56º loaded, when I get 66º in TAT. If I check the Task Manager I can see each core is 50% pushed, when in TAT is 100% pushed.

You should tell me how you do it, because if I run 2 instances of Prime, each one assigned to a core, I just get 55-56º loaded, when I get 66º in TAT. If I check the Task Manager I can see each core is 50% pushed, when in TAT is 100% pushed.

In dual P95 you need to run the small fft's test in order to get both cores at 100%.

I do, but in Task Manager I see the 2 versions of Prime just @ 50% each one. 8O

Well that makes zero sense so I dont know what could be wrong. When running dual p95 and using the small fft's task manager reports 100% on both cores for me.

Strange indeed.

Well, I can use Prime to test 50% and TAT to test 100% then  

Hi, what is a normal temp for overclocked CPUs?
thanks!

Yeah that should be good enough man.

Of course, the lower the better. Computronix wrote a good guide about it. Basically you need to be under 60.1º @ load in the BIOS, and under 50º to be absolutely safe. 50º measured by the BIOS means about 70º in some testing tools like TAT, or 65º in Core Temp. Anyway, find it by yourself HERE

Of course, the lower the better. Computronix wrote a good guide about it. Basically you need to be under 60.1º @ load in the BIOS, and under 50º to be absolutely safe. 50º measured by the BIOS means about 70º in some testing tools like TAT, or 65º in Core Temp. Anyway, find it by yourself HERE

Thanks for the info.
My temps are a little high (400 fsb, 8x). Make sense to lower the core volts a little (from the automatic setting)? I tried this before and it seems stable. I got a good expensive ZALMAN cooler, it should be better than a stock cooler.

Some Artic Silver 5 should help  

Here's something much better than AS5:

DaClan Review: Thermal Interface Shootout

Hope this helps.

Comp 8)

Tronix, I'll take a closer look at that paste... Maybe that's the one to get now... My AS5 tube is almost finished... so... :wink:

It's under my ACF7 Pro. It works as advertised in Ninja's review. I'm seriously impressed. My temps dropped 4c. I'm still fascinated with the CPU temp graph in SpeedFan.  

And what about the "Coollaboratory Liquid Pro"? I was researching the Shin Etsu and found this. The review in Overclock3d.net is pretty brutal....

Battle of the Goop

Here's something much better than AS5:

DaClan Review: Thermal Interface Shootout

Hope this helps.

Comp 8)

Thanks for the info. I will check the other grease when my AS5 runs out. How fast are you able to get your E6600 with AS5 ?