Hi, i new to overclocking and just had a few questions...hoping 1 of u gurus can help

1. I can overclock my e6600 to 3.6ghz (9x400) on a p5b-deluxe using an artic freezer pro 7, but i'm afraid to run orthos for long because core temps show 70+ degrees!

I know you might suggest reseating the hsf, but i already did that plus I believe it's suppose to be high since my vcore is set to 1.6v. Is there a way to lower the vcore without losing stability? (orthos will fail in <10secs if my vcore is any less than 1.6v).

I tried increasing all other volts and lowering vcore, but nope...cpu wants at least 1.6v to run orthos. I'm just wondering how other people can get 1.4-1.5v to run 3.6ghz (that is significantly less vcore).Maybe i got a poor ocer?

2. I have a 500w athena power supply(it's pretty good imo) and 2g adata 5-5-5-18 pc6400 ram. I know these have an affect on how high you can oc, but do they have any affect on the cpu's vcore usage?

3. Would I really notice any difference if I opted for a higher end hsf or water cooling? Any high end water cooling kits worth mentioning?

Thanks in advance!

Call me a misery, but I would suggest lowering your Overclock and voltage. Do you really need 3.6Ghz? I mean its nice to have extreme speed, but at those kind of temperatures your going to destroy your CPU very quickly :!: Even at stock or mild overclocks that CPU packs enough punch.

Your temps are way too high.. IMO, decrease that OC. Just one question, can you OC to 3.0GHz without a vcore increase with E6600?

yeah i run it at 3.4ghz to keep the load temps in the mid 60s. To be honest i dont remember my vcore for 3.0 ghz, but i'm pretty sure I increased it just a little bit.

My stable vcore for 3.2ghz is 1.3875v though if that helps. Load temp was about <60 degrees.

OK, well i OC'd my pc to 3.0GHz and I didnt bump up the vcore (Turned off C1E feature in BIOS though). I was playing C&C 3 as well as Call of Juarez at max settings for hours without any problems. I even encoded a 350MB video file without any hassles.. Load temps went up to about 55 degrees. I set my cpu back to stock speeds the next day because i didnt see much of a gain while playing the games.

I don't really notice the difference either, but my reason for oc'ing is so I can get the most bang/buck for my money. Its kinda like having some people buy an e6600, e6700, x6800, etc. Will most people feel a difference bet. the models? prob not. But people still buy it right? yep!

Now, having your lower end model run just as fast as the best model out there at no additional cost... why not? The chance of the technology becoming obsolete is waaaay greater than the risk of your cpu dying. I mean quad core is already out for awhile now... so what about the next few years to come?

I see what you're getting at but the thing is, our CPU's are not rated to run at those speeds. Sure we can get a slight performance boost if we OC, but can we afford to replace the CPU/MoBo if we fry it? You also admitted that you dont really see a performance gain in your day-to-day PC use, so why risk damaging your hardware by overclocking when you dont really need to?

I run my E6600 at 3.2 during the summer with no voltage change at all. I'm running on an EVGA 680I with a Tuniq Tower. I can push it to 3.4 but things tend to get a bit unstable without adjusting my volts at that speed. Back in the winter I was running it at 3.5 rock solid stable barely got past 50C at load. But damn this Georgia summer heat. :-( I can't seem to run very stable with this heat. Granted I didn't adjust my volts to try and find the lowest possible to stay at 3.5 but I was in a lazy mood and the temps staying at 50 kept me from really worrying about it. I should go home and find the magic number now so I can keep it at 3.5. Good luck either way dude.

It's your CPU and your decision, but It will be lost bucks if it all goes wrong.