Failure! Complete and utter failure.

I spent hours last night trying to improve my speeds, with really no luck. Best I could get was 3.4, and I BSOD'ed after playing Quake4 for a few minutes, so even that wasn't stable.

Did I get a bum chip? Here are my specs...
e6600
4G GeIL DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 (2.0v)
evga 8800GTS 640M
evga 680i A1 (p28)
Zalman 9500
Antec p180b
2x 500G Samsung HDD
OCZ 700W PSU

The temps never got above 52 with all my efforts, so Im unsure if temp is a problem or not- but I dont think so.

So a couple of questions... does the ram, if I am linked and synced really come into play? The GeIL ram I am using says from the manufacturer it is 4-4-4-12-2T, although it defaults to 5-5-5-15-2T in the 680i bios. I set it to the 4's, maybe this is messing things up?

Also, since with 9x I cant hit 1600, I am underclocking my ram- it is supposed to be stable around 1000, so I was hoping to take advantage of that- but I dont know how this fits into the picture.

Then, here are my other settings:
FSB@1520
Linked/Synced
9x multi is putting me at 3420.0
RAM 4-4-4-12-2T
CPU Core 1.49375v
CPU FSB Auto
Memory 2.0v
SPP 1.4v (def)
MCP 1.525v (def)
All other voltages and speeds at default.

I tweaked with these things a lot, and couldn't get any more stability out of the system.

From all the suggestions I have seen on other forums, there were a couple that said I had to use 8x vs 9x- I can get my FSB higher then, but my overall speed is slower, so Im not sure how this will help me.

Everything I have read from other users and overclockers say that 3.6 should be attainable, or at least 3.5, but once my FSB (at 9x) is above 1530, no matter what I do with the CPU or FSB volts, I crash.

Help! What can I do? This is my first OC, so Im hoping that my inexperience is the issue, and that education will help me attain at least 3.5, but so far no luck. I need advice and suggestions!

Wow, that's a pretty serious overclock for your first attempt. You have guts.

I'm just gonna take a guess and say that it's your modules. The timings you quoted there (4-4-4-12 2T) are the SPD at stock frequency (800MHz). The reason it's defaulting to the looser timings (5-5-5-15 2T) is because BIOS is detecting the SPD data for these modules @ ~ 1000MHz.

Try again with looser timings.

Step incriments is the key in OC'ing. Set the ram speed to spec settings at 800, test it, then slowly clock it up.

However, 1000MHz rated ram is quite a stretch for 800 rated ram. I suspect you'll be able to hit 810 to 820MHz if you're lucky. Try lower a few volts on the cpu here and there.

Try a lower divider it might sync the cpu with the ram better.

And as far as temps, I think you shouldn't be over 50c.

Hope this helps... G/L

I agree that the best way to overlock is to increase incrementally. In this case, since it's an Intel based platform, perhaps in units of +5 FSB. Of course he should run memtest etc after each overclock.

But, to be fair, the OP said that he was told that his modules are stable at ~ 1000MHz. Wouldn't suprise me at all if they reached that. My Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 (6400) are completely stable running at 1000MHz 5-5-5-15 2T. Never had a problem. But I did have to tinker with the timings. I mean, you have to choose between higher frequency and lower latency. Can't have both, right?

Hello,

Just wondering. Are you using the stock heatsink?\

Change Memery timings back to SPD/Default settings 5-5-5, Run Memtest.

Better cooling? Increase Voltage.

My new E6400 Likes 400*8=3.2ghz